When I was young I lived around a mile out from the end the main runway at Southend Airport and we used to get Carvairs, Bristol freighters etc on finals literally over the house next door but one. By the time they got to the far side of the park opposite our house it felt like you could resch up and touch the aircraft. I had always been interested in aviation but the move to that house was the real catalyst that fuelled the interest.
Even in those days we had neighbours who objected to the airport. One neighbour who had been quite a vocal protestor came round with a petiton because he was convinced that all the “small aeroplanes” had been told to turn off their engine over the park when climbing out and then dive directly at his house to scare him. I did explain that what he witnessed was standard training for an engine failure on take off and that it was in his interests that pilots underwent this form of training as it meant they would be better equipped to find somewhere other than his roof to perform a forced landing if the worst did happen and that the large area of allotments behind his house was probably one of the better alternatives (along with the park) which was probably the reason why they seemed to dive at his house. He went away very annoyed but also a bit chastened and we heard no more of the petition.
There is also a lot of opposition from thise living close to Southend airport to the new expansion plans. truth is that if the anti jet lobby in the late 60s had allowed the longer runway on the site of the now disused 33/15 to go ahead we would have had a thriving airport years ago and much of the take off and landing paths would have been over comparatively unpopulated areas rather than over the densely populated areas that will have to be overflown if the new development goes ahead.
The worst anti aircraft protest I ever heard of was a more physical protest. I did hear that in the late 70’s early 80’s a new housing development was built under the approach to Panshanger. I was told that some of the early residents of the new development used to grab bricks from the building site and throw them at aircraft on finals. Just goes to show how stupid some people can be!

Autocrat You are quite right T5968 was G-ANNN – I knew it was allocated a civil registration but couldn’t remember what it was after all these years. I am amazed that it survives. I used to pass the fuselage frame regularly every weekend going from the hangar where we kept the Fiat G46 and Stampe French AF 609 (allocated G-AYHV) and worked on Proctor NP303/G-ANZJ to the main museum building. All I ever saw was the fuselage but maybe the wings were in there somewhere.
The scrap hangar was a real aladdins cave.As far as I remember it contained Vikings G-APOP and G-APOO, Dove AP-AGJ, at least one Dakota and the Rapides, Tiger Moth and probably others which I have forgotten. Several other Daks were parked outside but I seem to remember that most had no wheels and were stood on their UC legs. It was a quiet and quite ghostly place where every little noise echoed around the building.
In the grass round the back was the fuselage frame and uncovered wings of Short Scion G-AEZF.
When I first saw this in about 1968 the frame and wing structures were intact but after Channel Airways folded the wings got flattened – allegedly someone drove a tractor over them – and at some point the fuselage was sawn in half.
I know the museum eventually recovered the fuselage but I don’t know if they got the wings. As far as I remember the tail unit wasn’t there in the first place. I was told at the time that Jack Jones hung on to much of the contents with the intention of starting a museum but sadly it never happened and most of the contents went to the scrapman.

There are arguements for leaving wrecks in situ but with the current high price of scrap metal it is likely that any wreck left in situ will be cleared by someone with no regard for the history of the site.
It is also worth bearing in mind that many sites are inaccesible to many of us so I would rather see parts from several wreck sites combined to make one aircraft then several wrecks slowly but surely disappearing through the actions of scrap dealers and souvenir hunters.
The integration of new material into a wrecked airframe is also a thorny subject. As an example I believe that the Brooklands Wellington uses a good deal of new material but having been given a guided tour during restoration and having seen the finished job it is a magnificent piece of work and I, for one, prefer to see a complete aircraft standing in the hangar rather than a heap of bits (many of which would be unrecognisable to the general public) as recovered from the bottom of Loch Ness.
Anyone who has looked at the website covering the restoration of Bluebird K7 can’t fail to be impressed by the work that has gone into the project. They have made huge efforts to reuse original material but as I understand it much of the front of the boat and the sponsons will have to be new build simply because the original parts weren’t there to recover BUT I would sooner see a complete (and hopefully running) K7 – a sight I was never fortuante enough to witness when I was younger – than the battered remains that came out of Coniston.
The remains of NF920 do need looking after. If that means removing them from the crash site then so be it and as Richard says it is, after all, his money and he is free to spend it as he wishes.

I do feel sorry for all those that bought Saturday tickets but having seen the pictures of the standing water I don’t think they had much option other than cancelling the show.
I remember skating around in the mud at Biggin Hill Air Fairi and Farnborough (my first) in 1968. I got soaked through at Farnborough and although the display went ahead as far as possible it did mean that my first farnborough is memorable for all the wrong reasons.
I remember attending Wings and Wheels at North Weald with a trade stand in the early 90’s and it rained so heavily on the Sunday that they had to get a tractor to tow out most of the vehicles. It would have been impossible to tow out everyone at a huge show like Fairford so maybe the decision is the right one.

I think there was a Dragonfly around at that time as well but from memory it was restored by Helicopter Hire at Southend for an overseas airforce museum – possibly Argentina. I suppose it is possible that Trent did some work on it or is my memory playing tricks and it was a Widgeon that Helicopter Hire resurrected.
We had one of their Widgeons in the museum at Southend for a while but off the top of my head I can’t remember which one. I have got to scan my Southend newsletters for a forum member and should turn up more details then.

First flight was in Cherokee Six G-AVTK from Southend in about 1968/9. I had dragged my parents into the airport car park (one of my regular haunts) on the way back from visiting relatives. The ticket seller for the pleasure flights wanted to sell the last seat and offered it to my parents for child price. I had been an aircraft enthusiast for years but was very apprehensive about going alone but once airborne I was quite happy. I think the next two flights were a Cherokee 140 return trip to Ipswich and an aerotow from Dunstable behind a Tiger Moth in a K-13.
My other halfs first flight was in Jackaroo G-AOIR out of Old Warden at a DH Moth Club Charity Flying Day about 1995. Wind was gusting to 40 knots and the turbulence was really bad until we got well clear of the ground. She wasn’t keen and the sight of 4 x F-18’s passing under us when we were at about 1500 ft left here even less impressed. Managed to get here onto a Dash 8 to Jersey a couple of years ago but she prefers to keep her feet well and truly on the ground.
Last light aircraft flight was in the Shuttleworth Tiger Moth and included some formation work with the Magister. Certainly the most memorable flight I have ever had closely followed by the trip in the Air Atlantique Dak at the original launch of the Corgi Aviation Archive which was passed to me by my then boss who said he wouldn’t fly in anything which had less than 4 jets. He just doesn’t know what he is missing.

I saw Geoff fly many impressive displays but there was always something that made me have doubts about the state of his aeroplanes and a little part of me was always concerned that it just might end in tears although thankfully it never did. He was certainly a character but I don’t know how he would have fitted into the regulation of modern airshows.