What a blast from the past – great pics thanks!
I was a Production FTE with HP, in those days, on the Jetstream project. Towards the end those of us without families were leaned on, by the Chief FTE, to leave early if we had somewhere to go to. Two of my colleagues went off to be Flight Engineers (one to Balair on the DC6 and the other to Transmeridian on the CL44) and I went to Southern Ireland to become a flying instructor.
A year or so later I was involved with the ferrying of brand new Beagle Pups from the factory at Shoreham to Radlett where they were to be stored pending sale. I think HP and Beagle came under the same liquidator and the name Cork comes to mind. It was a most peculiar sensation taxying into the, by now, huge empty hangars where once I used to be involved with the Jetstream. I couldn’t swear to it but we may have moved between 12-15 Pups in total.
Fast forward a few decades and flying over it the other day it is indeed very hard to pick up anything recogniseable.
It would probably have made a most useful commuter airport for quiet aircraft. Being next to a main railway line and the yet to be built M25 would have made it very useful for relieving congestion at LHR and LGW.
Hindsight etc.
Apols for thread drift!
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