dodgy-alan

Crackin' shots, The Hawk is a real success story and is still evolving even now.

Good to have you back young padawan! The Force must be strong in you!

Implacable

Just a few of the many hundreds of photos I've taken since the 1970s, some are taken on 35m, some on a C126 cartridge film and others are digital from later cameras. A few were taken from my parents back garden in Cranford, others from Hatton Cross, Myrtle Avenue, another set from the Eastern perimeter road crossing point(before it was closed off) and others from the central car parks. A few more were taken airside when I worked as a coach driver. Now of course the security at LHR has had a major upgrade since the spectre of terrorism has arrived and as a result many of our old haunts are inaccessible. Anyway these are ones that I've uploaded onto the PC so far. Most of them are in racks of 6x4 prints whilst other later ones are on CDRs. I daren't post them all, you'd be here for years! LOL A bit of fun with a multi exposures in the same frame, the same aircraft on approach to 27R at LHR Thanks for viewing, I hope you enjoyed them

1969, I was 9 years old. Then when the first one came into Heathrow in January 1970 the whole area came to a standstill. I was at Cranford Junior School and our classroom was on the end of the building. Now that particular school is literally just over the fence from BOAC's, (Now BAs) maintenance area and aircraft coming in flew very low right over our playing fields. All the lads in the school were aircraft mad at the time so you can imagine the stir the 747 caused. The very first time I saw one I was sat in class listening to our Headmaster giving us a lesson as the regular teacher was elsewhere. Our classrooms had huge windows on both the back and sides of the room. I had been idly watching the other aircraft coming in on the regular 30 second gaps when suddenly the gap was longer, I looked out of the back window to what was next only to see this huge aircraft heading towards us quite slowly, I was overcome with excitement and in the silence of the classroom yelled ou "JUMBO!!" at which point everyone ran to the window to see this magnificent aircraft come into the airport. Even the Headmaster came to view the spectacle, This reaction became commonplace for many months everytime one of these aircraft came in. Even as a child we all knew that this was the start of something big. Heathrow was, and still is, a major employer in the West London area and there was a buzz amongst all those that worked there as the "wide-body revolution" took hold throughout the 70s. Passenger numbers shot up and the infrastructure in the whole area suddenly became a lot busier. The 747 changed the way people travelled and although I was oblivious to that side of things to a degree, my Dad who was then working for Dunlop Aviation Services at Hatton Cross (on the south east corner of the airport inside the official boundaries.) his workload was suddenly a lot busier. (When a Jumbo needed new tyres there were a lot more of them! ) On the weekends and and school holidays all us local kids would flock to the airport fences, (just a two bar wooden affair back then, no security!) and sit on the grass just inside it watching the aircraft arriving and departing, literally yards away, Our other favourite haunt was the Queens Building in the central area which had a superb multi tiered roof garden and viewing area which meant we could see all the action in all its glory. They were heady days for us kids and I for one will miss the 747 when they are no longer flying.

The thing is Sala was offered a commercial flight which would have been a lot safer but apparently he turned it down and arranged this flight privately! He then sent a tweet saying that he was in a rattly old aircraft! He could quite easily have declined to take the trip if he felt uneasy. It's all rather odd.

Now they have recovered the body of Sala, the next thing that seems to be happening is the press's character assassination of the pilot Dave Ibbotson. His body has still to be recovered, however question marks are arising over the airworthiness of the aircraft and indeed his own competence on the type! He was recorded as saying to a friend on social media that he was "A Bit Rusty" on certain procedures! However until the wreckage is brought up its hard to know what happened. Did he have an altimeter malfunction, poss caused by a frozen pitot tube, why did he descend from 5,000 ft to 2,300? Who knows? Certainly the bloody press don't! I just hope they recover not only the pilots body(who everyone seems to have forgotten) but the aircraft itself to ascertain what caused the tragedy. Either way it's a sad time for the football fraternity and whatever is deemed the fault, two people have lost their lives in the accident. May they both rest in peace and may their families find closure. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-47172509

Tribulation

Very nice, always love flying the P40.

Such a shame, the Morris Minor is an iconic car. A real British success story. https://www.mmoc.org.uk/

Good capture of a classic aircraft. I have to admit though, I'm not a fan of the "letterbox" format. I would have preferred a more normal type of presentation. That's just me though.

Very nicely done.

Great set of captures.

Superb, the Falcon is a good looking biz jet.

Hipsters