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Hastings Arctic Crash

by | Sep 16, 2024 | Aviation History, Spotting, Wrecks and Relics

16th September 1952

An RAF Hastings operating out of Thule crashed today 72 years ago. The crash happened during a supply mission to the British North Greenland Expedition, during which the aircraft had to make a forced landing.

The aircraft a Handley Page Hastings C.2 was dropping supplies from 50ft when it entered white out conditions. During the run a wing stuck the ground at 125 Kts IAS, compelling the crew to make a forced landing. The aircraft remained mostly intact and all 12 crew survived but were standed some 500 miles from Thule. The members of the crew with injuries were medivaced on a specially adapted Grumman Albatross fitted with snow ski’s and RATO.

The aircrew of the Hastings had sufficient supplies for 10 day, the aircraft was assigned to 47 Squadron,

The extraction would be effected by the American 6th Air Rescue Squadron, based at Thule in Greenland.

 

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Battle of Britain Day

by | Sep 15, 2024 | Aviation History, Spotting

15th September 2024

Today is Battle of Britain day, a commemoration of Winston Churchill’s the few. Many people more knowledgeable than me have hypothesized and theorised on the way that the Battle of Britain should have, could have or would have gone under other circumstances.

On the day in 1940 after almost 10 weeks of continual air combat over Great Britain, the battle came to a climax. Many of the claims made by both sides over the course of the battle were inaccurate or exagerated, but there is no doubt it is considered a British victory.

The battle delivered the required outcome, with the German Operation Sea Lion (the invasion of Britain) being postponed – as it turned out indefinately. But RAF fighter command was one component of the RAF, others were in action on this day in 1940.

Bomber Command VC

What follows is the citation for 18 year old Paisley man John Hannah, the youngest Victoria Cross of the second world war. For his actions on the 15th of September 1940, the day that RAF Fighter Command blunted the tip of the German spear.

 

The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the VICTORIA CROSS on the undermentioned officer in recognition of most conspicuous bravery :-

652918 Sergeant John Hannah :-

On the night of 15th September, 1940, Sergeant Hannah was the wireless operator/air gunner in an aircraft engaged in a successful attack on an enemy barge concentration at Antwerp. It was then subjected to intense anti-aircraft fire and received a direct hit from a projectile of an explosive and incendiary nature, which apparently burst inside the bomb compartment.

A fire started which quickly enveloped the wireless operators and rear gunners cockpits, and as both the port and starboard petrol tanks had been pierced, there was grave risk of the fire spreading. Sergeant Hannah forced his way through to obtain two extinguishers and discovered that the rear gunner had had to leave the aircraft. He could have acted likewise, through the bottom escape hatch or forward through the navigators hatch, but remained and fought the fire for ten minutes with the extinguishers, beating the flames with his log book when these were empty.

During this time thousands of rounds of ammunition exploded in all directions and he was almost blinded by the intense heat and fumes, but had the presence of mind to obtain relief by turning on his oxygen supply. Air admitted through the large holes caused by the projectile made the bomb compartment an inferno and all the aluminium sheet metal on the floor of this airman’s cockpit was melted away, leaving only the cross bearers.

Working under these conditions, which caused burns to his face and eyes, Sergeant Hannah succeeded in extinguishing the fire. He then crawled forward, ascertained that the navigator had left the aircraft, and passed the latter’s log and maps to the pilot. This airman displayed courage, coolness and devotion to duty of the highest order and by his action in remaining and successfully extinguishing the fire under conditions of the greatest danger and difficulty, enabled the pilot to bring the aircraft to its base.

London Gazette

1st October 1940

 

Of the first five Victoria Crosses awarded to members of the Royal Air Force, four were awarded to Bomber Command personnel.

There are too many stories like this in any war, where people are defending something they hold dear. The bravery and actions of the wartime generation are to be remembered, the people of that generation – nearly all gone now should be celebrated for what they were and the legacy that they left behind.

 

Global Airlines – The Old Story

by | Sep 13, 2024 | Airport News, Aviation News, Spotting

Global Airlines Narrative

As an enthusiast you’ll appreciate that Global Airlines, founded in 2021 by travel expert James Asquith. And from a glance at the Global Airlines web site it will be driven by his passion for travel and his dissatisfaction with the subpar experiences he’s had on countless flights. With his experience visiting 196 countries by age 24, James knows the airline industry well and aims to fix these issues by focusing on exceptional customer experience. Remember the magic of flying as a child? Global Airlines is committed to bringing that feeling back. Now, with a top-tier team of aviation experts, Global Airlines is ready to take off—while you simply sit back and relax.

The Vision – James Asquith

We are revolutionising commercial flying. We’ve all suffered for far too long with long security queues, late flights, lost luggage, inedible food and constant poor customer service. Global Airlines offers fast relief from the aches and pains associated with commercial air travel. We bring joy at every interaction and delight at every touch point. Take a deep breathe, welcome aboard.

Ready to take off?

Reading the blurb on the Global Airlines web site, they are going to be starting a scheduled trans Atlantic service in 2025. With that in mind, how are they doing up to now? Well they have acquired their first Airbus A-380 and have managed a trans Atlantic flight (positional). But the aircraft is sitting at Prestwick Airport, with no significant visible change. There has been some minimal activity around the aircraft, but nothing that would lead you to believe that it is anywhere near service ready.

Given Mr Asquith and his top-tier team’s vision, the remediation of all that is problematic for the regular flyer – the timescales may be somewhat optimistic. But we can all live in hope, it’s what dreams and nightmares are made of. Global Airlines has been silent on progress since early June, but they still have time to meet the tight timescales.

The Aircraft

Was stored in an arrid storage facility and is now parked in the damp, salty and corrosive Prestwick environs. The deterioration of the aircraft will only accelerate, it may well never leave Prestwick and end up being broken up in situ.

The Airline

Global Airlines went dark in June, nothing of any substance since. For a company that will need to establish and maintain a nearly 80% load factor to break even. They do not seem to be particularly bothered about generating interest in the business, they have spent even less time explaining how they will mitigate things outwith their control – like lost luggage and security delays.

The Future

I’d like to think that this would be a successful venture, but in truth I don’t see any progress – maybe I just don’t read the right stuff. The approach taken by Mr Asquith seems to me to be incredibly naive, this is someone who has no airline experience except as a passenger. And he is going to change the aviation industry, I don’t think so. Even if he surrounds himself with experienced airline people, most of them are going to be new to the world of startup airlines.

There seems to be issues with the airline name, although Mr Asquith decided on it years ago – running a search for “Global Airlines” doesn’t return the expected results.

I’d just love to see his business plan and given where all this seems to be headed, I’d really love to see his business continuity plan. Although before you get started on one of them, you should have customers that you care about.

The funding required for a project like this is immense, getting not one but four A-380’s getting them liveried fitted out as required. Along with the requirement for an AOC and all the hundreds of pre-requisites, will cost a lot. I’d go for a nine digit number and the first digit is not a one. I’ll carry on watching this with interest, but suspect that the A-380 will lie at Prestwick longer that the Norwegian 787’s.

 

The Cash and Carry Air Force

by | Sep 11, 2024 | Aviation History, Spotting

Before Lend Lease

Before the Lend Lease Act was enacted in March 1941, Britain had purchased materials on a Cash and Carry basis. Just how much is hard to fathom, but everything was obtained under those terms. If you can pay for it, you can have it.

With the fall of Europe, the American aircraft manufacturers had major problems with inventory. Thousands of aircraft in various stages of production cluttered plants, with the buyers for these aircraft gone. The saving grace here was that Britain effectively agreed to take all the inventory, saving much of the aviation industry.

What types had the Europeans ordered, it is a varied lot. The French had significant orders for the B-24 Liberator and the Curtis 75 or Mohawk, the Belgians had ordered the Brewster Buffalo. The Swedish had ordered the Vultee 72 coming to the RAF as the Vanguard, after the order was redirected.

On the aircraft front, Britain had ordered and paid for some 26,000 aircraft from America. There were many other types rolling off the production lines for the RAF, all paid for with cash and technology. As at December 1940 there were a total of 51 types on order, some like the Mustang designed to a British specification.

The Technology Trade

Often overlooked when the transatlantic trade in armaments is considered, is what went the other way. The British had a number or world leading technologies, these were effectively gifted to America. In September 1940, during the Battle of Britain the British government sent the Tizard Mission to the United States. A sientific mission to ensure that existing research could continue and thus benefit the war effort.

The British shared technology included the cavity magnetron (needed for Radar), the design for the proximity fuse, design details of the jet engine and the memorandum describing the feasibility of an atomic bomb. Though these may be considered the most significant, many other items were also transported, including designs for rockets, superchargers, gyroscopic gunsights, submarine detection devices, self-sealing fuel tanks and plastic explosives.

The value of these technological gifts can’t really be estimated, but it was considerable – the Americans were far behind in many areas in 1940.

The Monetary Value of Cash and Carry

How much did Britain actuallt spend before Lend Lease came into effect? Well the figure that seems to be closest is £5 Billion, that is $20 Billion in dollars. This was in 1940, in 2024 dollars it is around $450 Billion. On December 28th 2006 Britain paid the final installment to the Unites States of America, some 64 years after the end of WWII.

September 70 Years Ago

by | Sep 10, 2024 | Aviation History, Spotting

Musings from History

A post covering some of the historical events from September 1954, when the British Aviation industry was at its Zenith.

Batlle of Britain Week

Remembering the Battle of Britain just 14 years earlier, a time where Britain and what is now the commonwealth stood completely alone. Had the country not held onto air superiority over mainland Britain, then it is likely that the Axis powers would have invaded and World War II would have taken a different course. On the 17th September the Royal Air Force held at home days at 56 RAF Bases.

 

The Victor and a production Valiant appeared at a number of stations in South East England; a Bristol Fighter and a Sopwith Pup staged a dog-fight at Biggin Hill; a large formation of Provosts toured various airfields; and a numbr of Sunderlands and formations from the Fleat Air Arm did likewise. Formations of many different kinds made tours, so that each station would be able to provide a view of the maximum variety aof aircraft types. Fighter Command alone provided no fewer than seventeen large formations.

A record total of 1,208,000 people attended the displays.

Flight and Aircraft Engineer

24th September 1954

Here are a few other snippets from the same magazine, these are just things that have taken my interest – the magazine is just a great read if you have an interest in aviation. There is as much to be gleaned from the classified section (all 30+ pages of it) as there is from the technical sections, I just love to look at these magazines when I have a chance.

Aircraft Prices

Seventy years ago aircraft were relatively cheaper, B.O.A.C traded seven model 049 Lockheed Constelations for model 749A’s, with a cash adjust ment of £1.75 million – the 049’s being valued ar £2 million. This gives a fly away price on a L.749A Lockheed Constllation of just over £535,000, some might say a bargain but an Auster with a full C of A was only £500.

This was a time where the war time inventory was still being cleard, R. A. Short were selling Mosquitos Mk 6, Mk 16, Mk Mk 33 and Mk 37 and advertising spares for all other marks.

Civil News

Airwork was awarded the UK Government troop contract, this involved transporting 7,000 troops a year to and from Singapore in Hermese aircraft with 68 rear facing seats rated at 9g.

Other News

Lockheed

Seaboard and Western received the first of their L.1049B Superconsellation freighters, capable of carrying some 18 Tons of cargo – clained by Lockheed to be the largest freight aircraft in the world. The R7V-2 derivative of the L.1249 Super Constellation with the new turbo prop engines (The same ones fitted to the C-133 Cargo Master) managed a sustained speed of 412 MPH, these were delivered to the US Navy on the 10th of September.

Fokker

The Fokker F.27 Friendship has moved to static test, where wing flexing test as developed at RAE Farnborought during the Commet investigation will be used to prove the soundness of the design.

Douglas

The Douglas DC-7C has gone into production, PanAm is to be the launch customer with deliveries to commence late 1955 or early 1956 with an expected range of 5,000 Nm.

Boeing

The Boeing 707 testing carries on, with the prototype having being fitted with air brakes and a drag chute, Boeing have stated that the testing will take the airliner closer to the speed of sound than any aircraft before it.

 

Survivor Series

by | Sep 10, 2024 | Aviation News, Spotting, Survivor Series

The Survivor Series

To I have decided to create a series of posts relating to survivor aircraft, the posts will be type based and for each type there could be four or more posts. The number of posts depends on the number of surviving aircraft, as an example for the TSR.2 it’s likely to be just a single post. For an aircraft like the Hawker Hunter or the North American F-86 there are likely to be more posts,

Post Contents

The posts will contain an overview of the known survivors, when I say known – they’re the ones that I know about. If I’ve missed some out, it’s not deliberate it’s because I didn’t know about them. So if you read a post and know of an ommission or error, let me know and I’ll fix the post. The data for these posts is in the main from my own database, as there’s a 25 year accumulation of data there is always the possibility that something out of date has slipped through the net.

Post Frequency

When ever I get a chance, I’ll do a little bit more for the posts. But there are other things that always seem to get in the road, it is easy to go off on a tangent.