Hallo TonyT….where’s here?….A Turbo Commander was doing parallel paths over Penzance in January 2011….I assumed it was for Bing Online Maps but maybe it was for the OS
I used to maintain one Lee, nice aircraft if it doesn’t clap it’s wings, there is one normally based here during the summer doing mapping for the OS.
And I would think Vickers made money with the Viking/Valetta/Varsity series
Later on I think the biggest blunders were made in the civil engine field…the downsizing of the Trident so the Spey was developed instead of the Medway then later on Rolls going for the RB-211 instead of building an engine for the market sector that the CFM-56 had to itself ten years later
[QUOTE=pagen01;?
Don’t misunderstand me, I love the British post-war aircraft, but what real advantage did the Vickers Viking/Valetta really have over the ten year older Dakota?[/QUOTE]
I can’t make out whether you’re agreeing or disagreeing with Stephan Wilkinson.I don’t think there was a pact…it was just a fact that the US had large modern airliner industry part (Lockheed) saved by a big British order (Hudsons), and Lockheed weren’t ungrateful…Kelly Johnson gave a lecture to the RAeS about 1943 about the advantages and importance of high wing loadings (its printed in Flight) and Bristol still went and built the Brabazon with its ridiculous big wing.
Post-war the US transport industry got into a bit of a technological rut until the 707 arrived….if the Comet hadn’t been flawed and Bristol had sorted the Britannia quicker history might have been different
This was one of the first CIA flights to the Middle East taking bunny rabbits to a place where they could be ticked almost to death in a vain attempt to find where the easter eggs were hidden. The bunnies were later transfered to Guantanimo Bay for cooking. 🙂 It was indeed a black day for bunnies everywhere! Happy Easter, folks! (And I mean that most irreligiously.)
Bunnies meet Hefner’s DC-9 at Heathrow South…youtube
The notes say 1969 but I thought the ‘Big Bunny’ a DC-9-32 with long range tanks first visited in 1970….the sharp-eyed will note Fields hangar and the 1955 Control Tower…it’s short http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6nxUtt6Cik&feature=related
You can see in Jur’s photos the way the Battle of Britain September Display was more centred around the RAF part of the field to the NW of the runway.
I find Jur’s whole neg scans a welcome change from the overcropped shots we get these days from powerful zoom lenses.
It wouldn’t surprise me if one or two of my shots were from the ‘wrong’ airshow!….I had a couple of static shots up on the abpic website captioned as Biggin Air Fair 1970 when it seems they were taken at Lee-on-Solent that year!
Don’t forget the input from his writing collaborator/musical arranger Chas Jankel and the multi-talented Blockheads (as much a cabaret/revue band as a rock/jazz ensemble ,who still play in various guises). The film with Andy Serkis is very convincing and very loud and the gentle character of Dury’s first wife Betty made an impression http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/nov/29/ian-dury-popandrock
Don’t forget the input from his writing collaborator/musical arranger Chas Jankel and the multi-talented Blockheads (as much a cabaret/revue band as a rock/jazz ensemble ,who still play in various guises). The film with Andy Serkis is very convincing and very loud and the gentle character of Dury’s first wife Betty made an impression http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/nov/29/ian-dury-popandrock
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