[php] [/php]

Registers Update 16th September 2024

by | Sep 17, 2024 | Aviation News, Downloads, Registers, Spotting

Latest Register Files

So as soon as I say that I think the Australian civil register update frequency has dropped to once a month. A nuw update drops two weeks later, just to prove me wrong. The register files on the download page have now all been updated, with the files dated the 16th of September 2024.

Again feel free to download the files, for your personal use only. You should note that these are at the date specified on the downloads page, as is the record count.

As the Australian file seems to have the longest update interval, no I’m not going to specify the interval as it seems to change whenever I do. So all the files will carry the date where Australia updates the available register. The canadian and US files are updated on a daily basis, but the work of consolidating the data files on a daily basis is more than I want to do.

These files will be ahead of commercial products for just a short time, until the updaters catch up.

 

Support this site.

It does take some time and effort to create these downloads, also there are a number of costs associated with running the site. So if you can consider supporting this site with a donation it would be helpful, if you find the site useful then why not treat me to a doughnut – or even a doughnut and a coffee if you’re feeling really flush.

Or if you are thinking of ordering something from Amazon then you could click the link to get there, it doesn’t actually cost you anything. And it will help me to pay for the site hosting, which is getting more expensive like everything else.

But regardless of whether you donate or not, I hope that the contents of the files are of some use, also bear in mind that the files are as dated in the bar graph on the down load page – I will try and produce a new data set every month or more frequently if time allows.

Please note these files are provided for personal use, if you want to use them for any other purpose or if you want to make them available through your own site – get in touch first.

 

 

The Princess

by | Sep 17, 2024 | Aviation History, Spotting

The Saunders-Roe Princess

The Princess – Luxury Travel

The Saunders-Roe (SR.45) was to have epitomised luxury travel, there had been a number of desing studies before and during the second world war. And in 1947 the Pricess design was effectively finalised. This would be the largest all metal flying boat ever built, it would carry 100 passengers in luxury from Southampton to New York.Power would be provided by 10 Bristol Proteus engines in six installations, four coupled and two single.

After significant delays with the engine and ballooning costs, the prototype G-ALUN took to the air. As to be expected there were teething troubles, but more of an issue was the way the expectations for air travel had changed. The De Havilland Comet was already in production, the Boeing 707 was in build – jet transportation had arrived.

An Aviation Lesson – Times Change

In the inter war years, long distance flying was luxurious and dominated by the flying boat. Nearly all intercontinental routes were flown by the flying boat, few realised that the second world war would change that for ever. The war time requirement for larger aircraft with longer ranges and heavier payloads, meant that the days of the flying boat were numbered.

All the way from the first world war to the end of the second world war, the flying boat had a leading role in aviation. From mail planes through, air sea rescue and maritime patrol the sea plane or flying boat was pre-eminent. But during the second world war, literally thousands of runways were laid down in all parts of the world, followed by a huge surplus of cheap and readilly available planes and pilots.

It should have been apparent that the writing was on the wall, but Saunders-Roe pushed ahead with the Princess in anticipation of the expected upturn in the luxury travel market.

The War Legacy

After the second world war Great Britain was to put it bluntly, broke. The cost of the war had been staggering, with Britain running up huge debts. The Government of the day was in no position to fund anything, let alone a flying boat with potentially no market and no customers. There was talk of trooping requirements at the time, but there were other means of moving troops.

There were post war flying boat services operated by BOAC, formed by the merger of Imperial and British Airways. These services didn’t continue for long after the war years. A number of other companies did operate flying boat services in South America and the Pacific, noteably PanAm. Although it was just a matter of time before nearly all commercial passenger traffic, would cease for the flying boats.

It was in this environment that Saunders-Roe decided to press ahead with the Princess, to give some context. The Princess was nearly as large as the early model Boeing 747’s, it had a range in excess of 5000 miles. Was capable of flying at 40,000 feet and at 380 Kts, but didn’t have any cofirmed customers. The development costs soared, from £2.6 Million to £10.5 Million.

There was support from the Ministry of Supply, but that was only for the initial build. The British aviation industry was at its zenith, the Princess is testimony to that being almost 100% indigenous.

The World Moved On

The world had moved on, the large flying boat was now in its swan song. Like the airship, the potential for the flying boat was for the most part gone. The customers who had expressed an interest, now focused on the newer jet aircraft. Most large cities had a local airport, the infrastructure was already there for the land planes and there was no need to invest in infrastructure for flying boats. And so it was that the Pricess was relegated to a could have been.

Although there were a number of attempts to make something of the one that had been built and the two near completion, corrosion got the better of them and they were all scrapped in the late 1960’s.

 

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.

 

Support this site.

It does take some time and effort to create these downloads, also there are a number of costs associated with running the site. So if you can consider supporting this site with a donation it would be helpful, if you find the site useful then why not treat me to a doughnut – or even a doughnut and a coffee if you’re feeling really flush.

Or if you are thinking of ordering something from Amazon then you could click the link to get there, it doesn’t actually cost you anything. And it will help me to pay for the site hosting, which is getting more expensive like everything else.

But regardless of whether you donate or not, I hope that the contents of the files are of some use, also bear in mind that the files are as dated in the bar graph on the down load page – I will try and produce a new data set every month or more frequently if time allows.

Please note these files are provided for personal use, if you want to use them for any other purpose or if you want to make them available through your own site – get in touch first.

 

 

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.