Channel Airways fleet [2009 Thread]

Hello,
I am writing a new book about Shoreham Airport and found the posts relating to it here very interesting. Would any of you chaps who follow the thread like to contact me?

Thanking you
spitsortie (Peter)

Here’s another. Sorry about the quality, but when I took these, it was probably with a box Brownie!

Just found this old Channel pic. I think it was at Stansted in 1970.

If so, Melv, it’s a good job it happened when it did and not today – otherwise there would be a posse of police and social services awaiting the arrival of the Rapide at Bembridge. The pilot would have been taken into custody and you into care!

Anyhow, my very first flight was in a Channel Airways Avro 748 from Portsmouth to Jersey and back. All I can remember of it was that the grass at Portsmouth was very bumpy.

Melv: Here’s a link to a photo of the very narrow pilot’s seat right in the pointed nose of the Rapide. Maybe you were on the lady’s lap. Lucky you.

http://www.antiqueairfield.com/articles/show/72-dehavilland-dragon-rapide-project-photos

When your a small 10 year old kid this aircraft would have looked like jumbo jet. 😀

I remember sitting somewhere down the back with my elderly Aunt, who was paying for the trip to Bembridge as she had never flown in an aeroplane before and this Lady pilot beckoned me up to the front of the aircraft so I guess I must have been sitting just behind her or to one side as I clear frontal view of what was going on during the take-off…… and we missed the perimeter fence unlike the 748’s 😉

Anyway stop spoiling my memories of my very first aircraft flight. If I did sit on her lap then that was where I was OK. 😀

Melv: Here’s a link to a photo of the very narrow pilot’s seat right in the pointed nose of the Rapide. Maybe you were on the lady’s lap. Lucky you.

http://www.antiqueairfield.com/articles/show/72-dehavilland-dragon-rapide-project-photos

I can’t remember which aircraft it was but in a desperate attempt to miss the busy Eastern Rd. the pilot retracted the landing gear which unforunately did little to slow the aircraft down having now turned the aircraft into a large sledge. 😀

If I remember correctly from the accident report, and not forgetting this was along time ago and this is from my memory of the event, the main contributing factor was that the grass had not been cut short enough and there had been heavy rain shower that day which caused the aircraft to skid/aquaplane on the long wet grass.

From memory also the potential aquaplaning speed of a 748 was 60 knts.

Channel had four HS.748 and the 2 accidents in one day at Portsmouth which also saw the type lose favour with Channel crashed on 15 August 1967.

Garry

Alan and Melv:
The Dragon Rapide only had one pilot’s seat, on the midline. Or was there a modification?

Dunno! But I sat up front with the Lady Pilot looking out over the Solent through what I would say was the front screen or side screen and I was 10 years old and it was a loooooong time ago.
Never been in a Rapide since so I wouldn’t know about front seat pilot /jump seat arrangements.

Alan and Melv:
The Dragon Rapide only had one pilot’s seat, on the midline. Or was there a modification?

I flew from Portsmouth Airport (now a huge housing estate) in a DH Rapide in 1956 from the airfield to Bembridge IoW. The fare for a child was 17/6d return (!) I was just 10years old.

The Pilot was Jackie Moggridge and she put me into the co-pilot’s seat for the journey to Bembridge.

The 2 Channel Island Avro 748’s operated out of Portsmouth circa. 1975 but both crashed through the wire fencing onto the Eastern Rd. in two close accidents.
The cause was wet grass aqua-planing by the aircraft for want of a better terminology.
I was serving at nearby RAF Thorney Island as a Sergeant Rigger at the time and I went with the aircraft crash gear to offer assistance as we were also operating VIP 748’s at Thorney so had the expertise to lend a hand.

I must look out a photograph of the 748 nestling it’s nose on the Eastern Rd.

These 2 aircraft accidents sounded the death knell for Portsmouth Airport/Airfield and aircraft operations wound down after these incidents.

Portsmouth Council closed the airfield and voted to build houses and that was that.

dailee1

I’m sure there must be enough material for a book to be written about all the mainly failed attempts to operate scheduled services from Shoreham in the past 50 years (and no I’m not offering to write it!:D). I would guesstimate probably 20 to 30 companies have tried, some of which can’t have lasted for very long as I’ve forgotten all about them.

Channel was probably the most successful and long running and most entitled to be considered as Shoreham’s own airline, even though they were never based here, and they suffered the difficulty of operating from an often badly waterlogged airfield, before they improved the drainage and before the advent of the hard runway. Many others have followed.

Stramsway Ltd. t/a South Coast Air Taxis, had ideas but only ever did pleasure flights with their Rapide G-APSD. They also used an Apache and the pair of Mooneys G-ASNP and ‘NR, the latter of which was the first ever transatlantic delivery direct to Shoreham. On one famous occasion they did a charter bringing in The Hollies pop group, an event leaked to the media in advance, which resulted in hordes of young girls trying to reach the aircraft before the props. had stopped.

Irelfly too had plans but they only lasted five minutes and maybe couldn’t get an AOC for their ex B.K.S. Air Transport Dakota G-AMSH, which they brought in.

I can’t remember the exact chronology but others followed such as Haywards Aviation with G-ASDD Dove and G-AXXJ Islander and South East Air Ltd. with their Islander G-OSEA.

Later Brymon had a go with Dash 7s and also Aurigny with Trislanders. Another Trislander operator was Lyddair, which positioned up from Lydd for flights to Le Touquet, sometimes with just one or two passengers on board!

Blue Islands/Rockhopper, Alderney’s airline, operated flights there for a while with Islanders and Trislanders again and most recently Skysouth, until they stopped a few months ago, were sending passengers in their Navajos to Le Havre and a few other destinations.

Wicked Willip :diablo:

Jersey Airlines ceased to exist as such well before the Twin Otter existed. As mentioned above I think you are thinking of Jersey European. The only Twin Otter I can think of out of Shoreham at that time was Metropolitan Airways…..in full Dan Air livery……..Shoreham-Alderney for a short while.

I don’t know if they flew the route in their own livery defore the Dan Air tie-up.

JEA may have operated Twin Otters into there but I don’t know off hand

Garry

The only time I ever flew on a scheduled flight out of Shoreham was on 7/9/1981 to Guernsey and Jersey on Jersey European Twin Otter VP-FAQ, which I assume was a leased aircraft.

The return flight from Jersey, again via Guernsey, was four days later on their own aircraft G-OJEA.

Wicked Willip :diablo:

Jersey Airlines ceased to exist as such well before the Twin Otter existed. As mentioned above I think you are thinking of Jersey European. The only Twin Otter I can think of out of Shoreham at that time was Metropolitan Airways…..in full Dan Air livery……..Shoreham-Alderney for a short while.

I don’t know if they flew the route in their own livery defore the Dan Air tie-up.

JEA may have operated Twin Otters into there but I don’t know off hand

Garry

My memory must be failing,.

If Jersey Airlines didn’t fly out of Shoreham, whose Twin Otters operated a regular Channel Islands service during the 80s and 90s

Jersey Airlines became British United CI Airways in 1963 so I would think the Islanders and Twin Otters you refer to were Jersey European or infact with the Islander the forruner, Intra Airways-Jersey.

Did JF Airlines ever go to Shoreham with Twin Pioneer, Heron and Trislander?

Garry

Only the two Twin Pins as far as I remember.

Wicked Willip :diablo:

Jersey Airlines became British United CI Airways in 1963 so I would think the Islanders and Twin Otters you refer to were Jersey European or infact with the Islander the forruner, Intra Airways-Jersey.

Did JF Airlines ever go to Shoreham with Twin Pioneer, Heron and Trislander?

Garry

I worked at Ipswich Airport from 1963 till 72 as Chief Engineer Jack Squirrel’s assistant and I can remember G-AGTX as just a fuselage frame in the hangar. There was talk at one time of possibly restoring to add to the fleet but nothing ever happened. I don’t remember what happened to it after that.

Sadly although still appearing on the official register G-AIZY is unlikely to become an airworthy aeroplane again for some time if ever. Some twenty years ago it was seriously vandalised in a field near Caldicot and the remains were later transported to Brunel College of Technology (now part of the University of the West of England) in Bristol. At the time the local press reported that it was to be restored by students but the trail has gone cold. Does anyone have any idea of its current status and location? Hope springs eternal ….

On the subject of Channel Airways Ltd. Austers, Mk.5 G-ANHZ and J/1s G-AGXP & G-AJUE were also registered to that organisation and based at either Ipswich or Southend in the early 1960s.

Both G-AJUE and G-AIZY were purchased by Channel from Southend Corporation. For some reason they did not buy the third Auster G-AGTX. I did my solo cross country in G-AIZY from Ipswich-Cambridge-Luton in April 1965.

When I first became interested in watching aeroplanes at Shoreham in 1958/59 Channel were operating those 3 Doves regularly into here along with G-AOZW and the Rapides G-AEMH and G-AKRN. I can confirm that one of the pilots was indeed Jackie Moggridge.

Later they used the Bristol Wayfarers G-AICT (pictured) and G-AIFO and I recall several of their ex BEA Dakotas (three being G-AGZD, G-AJIB and G-AMDZ) also putting in many appearances.

Although the Vikings never came here I seem to remember they were regular overflyers from and to Southend and the Channel Isles.

Wicked Willip :diablo:

I can also confirm that Jackie Moggeridge flew for East Anglian Flying Services, which later became Channel Airways and she wrote a book called “Woman Pilot”, which I have a copy.

I flew to Jersey many times in Channel Vikings, Dakotas and Freighters and always overflew Shoreham. More interesting however was that we also went right over the top of West Malling and often saw USN Neptunes and the ocassional WV2 sitting on the tarmac!

As regards G-AGZD, I travelled as a passenger on the delivery flight from Heathrow to Southend!