Pullman99The two surviving early Comets could be put undercover and their long-term preservation assured.I can but dream…!
Hear hear! Is there currently a planned timetable for the removal of Sagittarius from RAF Lyneham?
Pullman99Very good item on the anniversary and excellent stills of the Vulcans and Victors too. A bit disappointing, however, that mention was not made by the BBC of the background to XH558’s first flight of 2012 as most viewers would assume that the aircraft is “officially” preserved and operated.
Pullman99Fascinating pic. OT (but related) I rode on the Portsmouth Trolleybuses when I was taken on visits to the city. Just one historic ship in HM Naval Base in those days. Not sure what’s been preserved from Portsmouth as their original collection that used to be kept in Old Portsmouth has been dispersed.
Pullman99[QUOTE=J Boyle;1807710]Excellent points.Classic and Sports Car mentions Genevieve almost monthly and Grand Prix is a nice reminder of F1 in the days before the cars and drivers became portable billboardsQUOTE]
Quite so. Maybe it’s just that many of us became interested in these things at roughly the same age. One of my colleagues on The Nostalgia Forum has a bit of an obsession about Monza’s famous banking that featured prominently in Grand Prix. Been there too. Even this year’s Italian Grand Prix coverage on the BBC mentioned the film more than once and there are quite a few of the (real) cars from 1966 in preservation including a truly heroic restoration of Jim Clark’s Lotus 43 although only one (I think) “fake F1” from the film is still extant.
I suppose that if you take almost any film of this genre – and The Italian Job (the real one, I mean) springs to mind – the interest that has been generated down the years seems to have the ability to enthuse subsequent generations. Re-creations / rebuilds of the original Mini-Coopers and the actual Jaguar E-Type having been restored are clear examples of this. Sadly, the cliffhanger ending Bedford VAL coach was scrapped some years ago despite the opportunity to preserve it.
Nostalgia. It IS what it used to be!
Pullman99[QUOTE=JDK;1807693]I would’ve started a new thread, myself. ;)HTH/QUOTE]
Wasn’t sure if doing so would result in getting shot down in flames! Other Forums to which I contribute seem to be a bit sensitive about this. 🙂
Thank you so much for that information. I will seek out the sources that you have suggested.
Pullman99I know that I’ve just resurrected an old thread but I am sure I am not the only one whose interest in aircraft – and aircraft preservation – was greatly influenced by the film Battle of Britain. I was still at school when the film was being made but I do remember the media interest and coverage of the time and even purchased a paperback on the making of the film.
I have noted that quite a number of features on other Forums and in various publications refer to the influence this film had on the nascent aircraft preservation scene in the UK and elsewhere. I wondered, therefore, if anyone had ever produced either specific articles, or a book, or even a learned thesis on this aspect of the film. Quite apart from the actual preservation of the aircraft involved, there seesm to be more than a suggestion that the UK’s aviation restoration industry can trace at least some of its origins to these events of more than 40 years ago.
There are parallels in the influence which Genevieve had on the preservation of early motor cars and, quite possibly, the 1966 film Grand Prix on helping to promote the world of Formula One to a wider audience. That film is often the subject of detailed scrutiny over on Autosport’s The Nostalgia Forum!
Pullman99Nice prog, didn’t notice R J Mitchell getting a namecheck though.
I missed the first couple of minutes of this but I didn’t notice any mention of the Spitfire’s designer nor any mention of Supermarine at all I think. A very good programme – with some excellent contributions – nonetheless but I do agree that the post-WW2 career of MH434 could have been covered including its position as a key example of aircraft preservation.
As the programme title was “Britain’s Flying Past”, is this the first of a series?
Pullman99What a sad sight. Sadly however everything can’t be saved, a shame though as an aircraft carrier would make a great home for a floating museum.
There was a fairly localised campaign going on over the last few years with the aim of returning HMS Invincible to Barrow-in-Furness. Although well supported by their website visitors, they did not seem to have the support of the MOD nor that of a very inward looking and disinterested local authority. Not sure about BAe Systems.
Website here:
http://www.bringinvinciblehome.co.uk/invincible_campaign_home.asp
The name lives on, however, as it is applied to one of Barrow’s Stagecoach Optare Solo minibuses (along with 17 other famous Barrow built ships)! Fleet number 47139 in case anyone needed to know.
Pullman99What a sad sight. Sadly however everything can’t be saved, a shame though as an aircraft carrier would make a great home for a floating museum.
There was a fairly localised campaign going on over the last few years with the aim of returning HMS Invincible to Barrow-in-Furness. Although well supported by their website visitors, they did not seem to have the support of the MOD nor that of a very inward looking and disinterested local authority. Not sure about BAe Systems.
Website here:
http://www.bringinvinciblehome.co.uk/invincible_campaign_home.asp
The name lives on, however, as it is applied to one of Barrow’s Stagecoach Optare Solo minibuses (along with 17 other famous Barrow built ships)! Fleet number 47139 in case anyone needed to know.
Pullman99The first pic is misleading… note that the caption of the biplane photo is labeled “Rome, 1910”, not “Libya 1911”. If you go down the page, you find that he performed the bombing from another aircraft: As for the “Harman”… perhaps it was a model name, not the manufacturer.
I found the following pic, sold on-line: “Vintage ’10s Aviation Curtiss Harman Post Biplane Photo”. [URL=”http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-10s-aviation-curtiss-harm…“]Or perhaps it was indeed a Farman.
Thanks everyone for that. I did note that the photograph featured a different aircraft than that used for the “bombing mission” but I must say that I had not heard of the Curtiss Harman before. As the Farman brothers were just starting their production at that time, I wondered if it might have been a BBC error (surely not!)?
Pullman99The interest in the heritage of specific locations and artefacts becomes more diluted not only with the passage of time but also with ever diminishing number of people associated with the purpose of each building or factory in its heyday. Enthusiasts, for whichever subject you may care to choose, can only do so much to engender support.
In English Heritage’s defence, I would say that they are making great strides to encompass all aspects of the built environment and not just the traditional view of “historic buildings”. Their Blue Plaque scheme even extends to motorsport these days with recent recipients recording personalities such as Graham Hill and Sir Malcolm and Donald Campbell. The 20th Century Society, which was founded as The Thirties Society following a major exhibition of “between the wars” design at the Hayward Gallery in 1979, has been particularly influential in encouraging a wider view of heritage matters relating to more recent times and, especially, industry.
I do agree, however, that if aviation – and any other transport field – is to take its place alongside the likes of the Hoover Building, then any additional voices that can create or augment such support will be vital.
In the motorsport field, there has been much discussion already. This is a link to a relevant thread on Autosport’s The Nostalgia Forum.
http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=64736&hl=factory+sites
Pullman99Given the proposed “no fly” zone in Libya, and potentially David Cameron’s first “war” situation, you’d think there was a strong case for not only having retained the Nimrod programme but also putting the Vulcan back in service!
Pullman99Now, as you indicated above, the presenter has to be a “celebrity”. I was amused by The Mighty Oz’s mention of Mildenhall ’84 presented by David Icke and Fern Britton. I think the producer must have been having a joke!
To be fair, the BBC have moved on a bit on this front – and occasionally also strike lucky with a “celebrity” who is clearly passionate about presenting a subject not usually associated with them The (just ended) Michael Portillo series on Great British Railway Journeys using Bradshaw’s Guide springs to mind. Maybe a series giving wel-known people a chance to make a half-hour programme on their particular transport interest would produce a few gems.
Years ago, the BBC seemed to strike out in new direction with actually using “experts” such as Barbara Woodhouse and her series on horse training. Some others have been truly dire, and the ITV companies seemed particularly adept at this approach. Does anyone remember a Granada rival to Top Gear called “The Motor Show” fronted by their local man Eamonn O’Neal? Some of us are still recovering! Some of the others seemed positively inconvenienced by being asked to “present” a particular programme. Witness ITV / Central’s coverage of the Birmingham Superprix F3000 events back in the 1980s, for example. That was Tony Francis, who is still fronting Central’s programmes by the way.
I agree with an earlier post that James May would be good at possibly fronting a re-incarnation of The Air Show.
Pullman99The Time to Remembers series is very good (thanks to Pathe of course). I saw the programme repeated last night on its first airing a few weeks ago. There was also some aviation content in the recent series “Glamour’s Golden Age” (BBC4) on 20th-Century design (also featuring some superb footage of record breaking cars).
I agree with an earlier post about The Air Show from about ten years ago. Superb stuff and, with the possible exception of Hazel Irvine and Kate Humble, generally presented by experts including Julian Tutt and Alain de Cadenet. The items from the late Mark Hanna were superb. Does anyone remember watching live coverage on the BBC of Farnborough and other air shows. Usually fronted by Raymond Baxter. Time has moved on for such treatment nowadays, more’s the pity.
Pullman99So that’s where it’s gone. Well done to Brooklands. At least it’s a bit nearer to Southampton than Millom!
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