Some strange attitudes on here: this has nothing to do with rich people and Cessnas, or even decreasing GA use. We have lost much of the aircraft manufacturing base which not so long ago rendered hundreds of very successful civil and military aircraft. Look not-so-far away and you’ll find Spain, France and Germany (to name just three), with thriving production lines and at least a semblance of an aircraft industry.

And please don’t bother to tell me about Airbus’ SA/LR/LA/XW & A400M wing build in UK. OK it’s better than nothing, but we don’t complete an aircraft bigger than what – a Typhoon? – these days.

Further to that, it’s about the fact that more and more of our cities are not even served by a local airfield, much less an airport. Cities that is, not towns. Let’s start with Oxford and Swindon (yes, Swindon is a city now).

My travels in Europe continue to demonstrate that it doesn’t have to be this way, and there are plenty of thriving local airports, feeding into the hubs and doing very well for it.

But all the while we tolerate the destruction of useful assets (Filton’s runway is a good example of that – and in a better place in terms of motorway links and weather than Lulsgate), nothing will change. There are plenty of useful brownfield sites that can be used for affordable housing before we get to digging up the first airfield.

TDY (from memory) is less than 90 days. But that applies to units, not aircraft singly.

I didn’t realise there was a book dedicated to reading IARCs, but it does make sense. My list came from a handwritten set of notes many years ago from Dave McLaren.

It’s good to see fellow IARC readers on here though – I was beginning to despair of the “Where on Wikipedia can I find…?” type of question, often rendering a, “I found this on Baugher’s list” type of reply. I had imagined a world where the term ‘historian’ meant one who was able to Google adeptly.

Mind you, I know of a number of books which have reached publication by using just this process.

Bushy Park. HQ only and not a flying field for ARS aircraft except possibly H-19s.

ARS = Air Rescue Service/Squadron. 9th ARS flights became squadrons circa 1953 and for example, the 9th ARS flight at Manston became 66th ARS. 9th ARS was concurrently upgraded to Group status.

I’d surmise an incident at Prestwick (engine fire/heavy landing etc) and subsequent recovery to B’Wood for assessment/repair.

Since both locations show ‘RT’ codes, it’s not correct to state either base as an assignment.

I doubt that the incident is recorded, but still worth looking for a mishap report for 8th May 1953. This looks to be the date it arrived at Prestwick.

Inverted Beaufort?

9th ARS HQ at Bushey Park: B Flight had C-82s.

I dare say it doesn’t help much, but 9th ARS at Manston operated C-82s 44-23029 and 48-568. The former was transferred to 66th ARS at Manston and retired in August 1953, probably to Burtonwood.

There were a good few still around in the mid-50s, but pinning this accident down might be a bit difficult – especially since these Maint Gps are usually less well-recorded than the front-line Groups.

As ever, I’d go through the aircraft record cards as a start. It’s a long process, but very rewarding. I’ve had a quick look and I don’t have record cards for anything pre-49FY though.