Gerry RPossible Wyvern Burial Site
Hi Rob,
The number 2 I mentioned in the Wyvern serial was obviously the letter Z from your last post, and glad to oblige with the image, (apologies for the poor quality).
I have located the map showing the proximity of the old gravel pits to the airfield boundary, this map is from the mid 1930s of an ancient tracks survey, Fort Grange is ommited for clarity, the cross is of an ancient Saxon settlement or remains of, that was discovered in a dig in 1971, so maybe there is hope yet for discovering something more modern. The line of the road past the Officers Mess is still extant today, I have drawn in the position roughly of the 1950s aircraft dump at the top of the map opposite Rowner Church, I will be passing this info on to the other group who are busy musing over other possible Wyvern burial sites, all this is a very long shot, but who knows;).
Gerry R
Gerry RHMS Siskin/Grange Airfield Dump
Just been introduced to the site by “Roborough”, as an old Gosportian & ex Fleetlands man, interested in Siskin burials. As a lad in the early 1950’s we used to play around on crashed/abandoned aircraft on a corner of the airfield. It was opposite Rowner church, entry via a crash gate. There was a pill box/shelter on the right of the gate. I spent many happy hours crawling in & out of Fireflies, at least one Seafire, I do remember an Attacker there as well. One day we arrived to find the gate padlocked & dire notices placed. The aircraft disappeared shortly after. Hope this is of interest. John
Hi John,
You were n’t from Bridgemary by any chance were you?, please see post 30 we did the same and had a whale of a time, and welcome to the forum.
In another post 49, mention is made of aircraft buried in chalkpits at the airfield, there were two old gravel pits on the southern side of the airfield near was/is the Officers Mess, I have a map showing the location of these pits and will post it when retrieved;).
The Hangar above the Wyvern in post 50 is one of two demolished to make way for the RN and RM Records/Drafts building which is now HMS Centurian within the present day HMS Sultan complex, photo is looking north. The aircraft dump location is where I remembered it as a kid, again please see my post 30 on this thread describing our find:).
Finally, just thought I would post some old newspaper pics, I asked permission to photograph these pics, they were in a certain Library but in a very large ledger which was too large to photocopy, they were taken at the 1952 Air Day at Lee-on-Solent by The Hampshire Telegraph, (I was much too young to attend this one I am quick to add!),
I think the second one will appeal to Wyvernfan especially:D, what is interesting are the still bomb damaged Hangars 6 years after the war. The serial below the wing has the numbers 2 and 7 I think, the other two types are also incorporated in this thread pictured at the same Air Day.
Gerry R
Gerry RCaravelles at Edinburgh
Hello all,
Some Caravelle images taken at Edinburgh in the late 1980s early 90s, all were shot during French Rugby invasions, I was lucky to see some but not all Caravelle movements and they slowly disappeared from the scene by about 1993/4.
Image notes:- 1. A Corse Air 6N parked on the Cargo apron 1988?, 2. Star AL 10B at the GAT apron 1992, 3. Air Service Nantes 10B arr/dep pics 1992, 4. Caravelle 12 of Air Provence parked on the old 08/26 runway threshold,5. A comparison in fuselage lengths of a MK 12 and a MK 10B, at the main terminal 1992,6. Air Provence 12 taxying for the 30 threshold of the secondary 6,000ft (1,829m) runway, 7. An aerial shot showing roughly the position of the 12 on the taxiway, taken from a Cessna 172 and before major airfield work 1998.
Gerry R
Gerry RNice ones
EC,
Very nice pics in several colour schemes, and types sometimes a little neglected too, thanks for posting.:)
Gerry R
Gerry RPics, Route Maps, Tower Bldg, developments.
Hello All,
Some more 1960s Paya Lebar pics after a dig in the archives!. The route maps are from some 1962 airline timetables, Malayan AW, Garuda, and Thai AW, Malayan became Malaysia Singapore AL, before they separated into MAS and SIA as we know them today.
The new Control Tower building in 1961, it was not immediately occupied once completed, and with no initial security, myself and two other pals were able to get on to the roof via the internal stairs for a couple of weeks, but this soon ended once the move from the old terminal was initiated. The other pics show the new terminal alongside, and the last two is the same building over the fence of the RSAF base (as it became), on 2007 and 2009 visits to the Island State.
The final images are of a landside view of the old terminal, and the proposed expansion of Paya Lebar but not proceeded with, due to the decision to develop Changi as the future civil airport for Singapore.
Gerry R
Gerry RMore Edinburgh 1990s,(a couple fm late 80s)
Thanks to all for the feedback.
MSR777, the Air Toulouse Caravelle is one of my favourites, these classic type were once commonplace at Edinburgh during the french rugby invasions!, I have afew more images of the type and will post a Caravelle special next as I think there are quite afew fans of this classic jetliner out there besides myself.
Image notes:- 1. A couple Air Inter types, A300 at lift off 1992, 2. Mercurie just departing the terminal 1996 (my one and only sighting of this type), 3. Two from the late 80s, Air Atlantis B707, and I got lucky just in time to see this departing Jetstar, both from former viewing gallery, 4. Peach Air Tri-Star returning to Cardiff with rugby fans about to turn and line up, not sure of year, 5. Arriving AF 747-200 from Paris CDG, 6. Another substitution for the usual TNT 727, Canadian First Air, pic taken same year and stand as Cargo Lion DC8 1998, 7. Surpise visitor to the GAT/Exec apron, DH Dove G-ARHW, these were getting rarer even in the nineties, I just had to take this pic, I have not found out much about this particular aircraft and is still abit of a mystery to me!:(
Gerry R
Gerry RCargo lion pic
OG,
I decided on an elevated angle and climbed to the top of a handy set of passenger stairs, the DC8 was a substitute for the usual TNT 727, thanks for the comments, I will post afew more soonest.
Some other notes on the first lot of images:- Caravelle (rugby charter) 1992, Aeroflot Il 86 its tow bar is being loaded back into the hold before dep, not sure of the year, Air Dabia 747 is the ex United AL example that had the unfortunate cargo door blow-out in Hawaii, pic from 1997, Tower Air 747-200 took a Scottish regiment to an exercise in the US departing direct to Boston, the Northwest DC10-40 was a Glasgow diversion due to fog, they bussed the pax from Glasgow and it is seen departing direct for Boston Logan 1993, the Transbrasil 767-300 arrvived direct from Sao Paulo and returned within an hour and a half having a second crew on board 1995.
Gerry R
Gerry RLatest airfield developments
The current airfield leaseholder Fly BN, now almost a year since taking over, is making some progress on the facilities for visiting pilots, although no word yet on a GA terminal. A cafe/kitchen has been completed at the tower but is not yet up and running, at the moment still only planned, is a pedestrian gate access enabling a 4 minute walk to the waterfront. With the Portsmouth Air Festival coming up in August, Lee could be an excellent base location for the smaller participants in the Festival maybe?.
Not exactly hot off the press, both borough councils Fareham and Gosport, whose boundaries disect the airfield, gave unanimous planning permission on Thursday 29th March, to enable Lee to become a centre for aviation, aerospace and marine employment, as well as up and coming existing and future recreational General Aviation usage. This will now unlock the funds to allow the 4,294ft (309m) runway to be re-surfaced and licensed along with new hangars and larger hardstandings to be built in both the northeast and northwest corners of the airfield, some redundant buildings not needed in the new development will be demolished, which may include some of the Admiralty ‘S’ type (Mainhill) hangars that are scattered around the airfield. I personally hope some will survive along with this 1950s prominent structure in the northeast corner, ex MARTSU Bldg?, apologies for the poor quality of the airfield image which is from 2005, the other two were photographed in 2010. The previous enquiry about the earthworks by hangar ‘A’ was to do with a new road scheme, the route of which will take it through part of the southside of the Daedalus site.
Gerry R
Gerry RKai Tak 1950s
Thanks for the posts and aerial shot, I did experience ‘The Aroma’ of the Nullah walking up from the ferry pier towards Haeco, it was a very dark colour too as if everything was in it!. The authorities have stopped all the pollution now and are cleaning the Nullah up to incorporate it in the leisure complex that is planned in the re-generation of Kai Tak.
Ken you might recognise the layout in the following pics before your helping hand in building runway 12/13!, the second one shows the flying boat moorings where you were shown over the Sunderland presumably, both pics are from the late 40s early 50s I think.
Gerry R
Gerry RLightning vertical, close to the VIP tent.
I went to many a Biggin Hill air show over the years, and never did see a Lightning on the ground. One amusing incident I must relate though, on one particular Lightning performance, the pilot decided to make one final pass from the valley end, and positioned the Lightning slightly to the left of the runway, once level with the VIP tent full power was selected and the aircraft went almost vertical, the two Avons blasting a spectacular cloud of newly mown grass and the dirt over that VIP enclosure for the next few minutes. I can imagine the phones were red hot back his base before the pilot even landed.
Gerry R
Gerry RLightning vertical, close to the VIP tent.
I went to many a Biggin Hill air show over the years, and never did see a Lightning on the ground. One amusing incident I must relate though, on one particular Lightning performance, the pilot decided to make one final pass from the valley end, and positioned the Lightning slightly to the left of the runway, once level with the VIP tent full power was selected and the aircraft went almost vertical, the two Avons blasting a spectacular cloud of newly mown grass and the dirt over that VIP enclosure for the next few minutes. I can imagine the phones were red hot back his base before the pilot even landed.
Gerry R
Gerry RMore on the EMB RJ145
Whiskey Delta, thanks for that, I will be looking out for those window inscriptions, as I have a US domestic flight on the very type in the coming days.
An additional fact that I did not mention before on the evolution of the EMB RJ145 design. Embraer at one time considered under wing mounted engines, but realised this configuration would necessitate a taller landing gear, leading to an increase in weight, just one factor in the company adopting a rear fuselage mounted engine layout for the regional jets final configuration.
Gerry R
Gerry REmbraer 120 Brasilia/RJ145 commonality
Hello all, I am answering my own question here:(, but wish to share what I have recently discovered and pass on as information/interest and perhaps to, just the curious;), in conclusion of the above subject.
The initial design of the EMB ERJ145 was a stretched, turbofan, straight wing modification of the EMB120 Brasilia turboprop, using 75% parts commonality. But after 2 further re-design stages, the ERJ145 evolved into the regional jet as we know it today, with slightly swept wing, T tail, and aft mounted engines. This final configuration did incorporate the Brasilia’s nose/cockpit and fuselage cross section, for both the ERJ145 and the newer and shorter ERJ135 regional jets.
Finally, I would just like to add, that the integrity and professionalism of the engineer I spoke to, was never in question.:)
Gerry R
Gerry REdinburgh Pics
Robert,
Another nice variety, thanks for posting.
Looking back at some of your 2011 pics, all are interesting, but I have to say your shots of the arrival of the Air China 747-400 in Feb are superb, thanks again.
Gerry R
Gerry RF4J
Stony,
I stand corrected, there is such a wealth of knowledge on this forum!, thankyou for pointing this out.:o
Gerry R
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