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More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 27 Aug 2008, 04:30
by DispatchDragon
So.....I'm searching for Information on Hawker's facility at Langley, (NO not the one in Virginia! :-# ) to see if I could come up
with enough information to create a little afcad for three of the four Hawker flight department aircraft. (Auster had mentioned seeing them ALL (The Hurricane, Tomtit, Anson, and a fourth Miles product) in the hangars at Langley in the very early 50s) , First pass through Google revealed very little only that it had been a wartime production site for Hurricanes and
that the airfield had become first HS Nuclear then Ford Transit....but the consensus was that airfield disappeared post war.....well yes and no......Ralph (Auster) obviously saw aircraft there in 1951...so it was still operating then even in close
proximity to Heathrow. So I happened upon a forum thread about BSAA , who apparently used it as a maintenance facility until the early 50s - which in turn lead to this link http://www.flywiththestars.co.uk/index.htm which gave some very interesting
photos and information about BSAA (If this is old hat to everyone Im sorry it was new and very interesting to me) which lead
in turn to this map - http://www.flywiththestars.co.uk/Pictur ... 20Plan.gif

Amazing how much information you turn up - I was never aware that BSAA was such a large airline and that even then BOAC was playing the same game of Monopoly that BA plays today.

So there you have it - from a simple statement about a Miles product (actually Hawker flew two Miles aircraft over the years
a Hawk and a Whitney Straight) started me on a trip down British Aviation memory lane - what does amaze me is that
reading through the BSAA fleet there were at least 3 Yorks show RFS/WO at Luton in the early 60s - they must have been
long gone by 1964 - as I cannot remember seeing any trace of them.


Leif

Re: More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 27 Aug 2008, 18:55
by Jon.M
It does look like a good read doesn't it.

The cheapest I've seen it, at least for non UK dwellers, is here http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE ... 075094448X. It's the free world wide delivery that makes the difference, I've bought books from them before with no problems.

A Gloucester company too.

I wonder if you could make the Lancastrian pay it's way in the VA? :think:

I doubt it. You'd have to be into slow long haul flights as well.

Jon

Re: More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 27 Aug 2008, 21:31
by DaveB
Hi Jon..

We operate the Lancastrian at CBFS and it DOES pay it's way surprisingly enough. You don't get a great deal from a handful of pax but the revenue earned off freight makes it a goer ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

Re: More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 28 Aug 2008, 12:31
by Jon.M
Thanks Dave,

Nice to know it is possible. Still due to lack of time I doubt I'd fly it for the VA.

We've already got several long haul aircraft I never fly. :lol:

Jon

Re: More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 28 Aug 2008, 19:36
by DispatchDragon
Its ok Jon

I'll just pop out and buy a couple (NOT) Your right - the long haul aircraft very rarely get flown except by total crazies
(like me)

Leif

Although I might ask a certain painter if it would like to do Some BSAA paints for the York and the Lancastrian
oh yes and the Envoy/Consul - I wish there was a colour shot of BSAAs Consul it looks like its either dark blue
or dark red

Re: More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 28 Aug 2008, 20:21
by Jon.M
The Plane Design payware Lancastrian Mk3, which you've caused me to get out of the virtual hangar, :) comes with a BSAA paint job - G-AGWH "Star Dust" - which was the one lost in the Andes and source of conspiracy theories.

It also has a Skyways and an Alitalia version. It doesn't have Flight Refuelling or Silver City repaints.

Is the freeware model a Lancastrain 3 as used by BSAA or a Mk 1 BOAC type? Different seating arrangement and number of widows.

Jon

I'm relieved you're not going to buy one.

Re: More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 28 Aug 2008, 20:53
by Garry Russell
G-AGWH was found..in 2000 :o

Garry

Re: More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 28 Aug 2008, 23:09
by emfrat
Jon.M wrote: Different seating arrangement and number of widows.

Jon

I'm relieved you're not going to buy one.
:welldone: :lol:
I think that's called serendipity, or a Freudian slip or something....

MikeW

Re: More strange things in the trawl !

Posted: 29 Aug 2008, 08:12
by Jon.M
Definitely Freudian slip. :)

Jon