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Elmdon Airport

Neville, what year did they move from old to new ? I seem to think it was the old when we first flew in the 70's. Eric
 
Pedrocut said:
Looking on the Plane Finder App there seems to be just three arrivals at Elmdon today. In the 3D app you can follow the aircraft over earth view as it lands. Here are the screen shots of the early arrival from Dublin.
Click to expand...

Pedrocut your post brought back happy memories to me , my mother used to fly to Ireland every year during the 70/80's . The one memory that sticks with me was when she flew from Elmdon it always seemed to be the same flight number EI265 that took her from here to Dublin , then it was on to Limerick . We used to make a day of it because it was always during the school Summer holidays the kids loved watching the planes coming and going and I used to have a pint or two while we were there, then all on the bus to come back to Brum .
 
Hi everyone, new to this site and a lady spotter too!

Started at old terminal, up the spiral staircases or in the snack bar overlooking the apron if it was raining. Could spend all day there during school holidays. Remember flight announcements containing aircraft type as well as usual info. The outside domestic luggage pick up that resembled a bus shelter. Then, when Wardair began flights to Canada, the 747 parked just outside the large glass windows. Don't think they had a special assistance vehicle suitable, as most of the elderly passengers negotiated the many steps supported by helpful airport staff. Heard that Doug Ellis used to man the check-in desk for his package holidays, never saw him though.

Then the new terminal opened, including a new viewing area with live ATC transmissions. Last time I used it, entrance fee was 30p. Outdoor area at bottom of long-stay carpark had picnic benches. When Eurohub was built got great close-ups of aircraft at gates 1-5? Many pilots waved from here or when taxiing out to Rwy33. Sadly, extortionate parking fees and increased security limited spotting choices. Did see Concorde; didn't know it was due and just wanted a few hours of spotting. At carpark barrier, policeman observed "don't know what the fuss is about, it's only an aeroplane!" My reply was "but it's a very special aircraft, we may not see anything like it again". He agreed and let me in.

Moving on, Sheldon Country Park is now my chosen spotting location. Living in Sutton Coldfield, it's easier to get train as parking's a pain. Don't go during school holidays though. Last year, met very interesting guy who'd worked at airport. Haven't been this year yet, due to lockdown but still seen some unusual aircraft. RAF C-17 has been frequent visitor and a Mustang (American version of Spitfire). Thank goodness we now have FlightRadar24.

Currently writing blog for a spotters site and articles for another. Had honour of seeing AN-225 over my house Sunday 2nd August. Now waiting for Emirates A380 to return to BHX. Starting again in September with B777 4xweek. Must be patient for a bit longer....

Many more memories so will post again.
 
Morning everyone

Firstly thanks for the add to this wonderful forum.
Following on from the Austin Aero works thread we thought you may like to watch the attached video about the Elmdon Airport Terminal.
Both Gary and myself have an interest in the 1940s time period, with Gary also being a big band vocalist.
We put this video together to show a little of the history and published it to coincide with the anniversary of the opening.

Travel back in time with Gary and enjoy the terminal in all it's magnificence.

 
Brilliant film, and my first flight was taken from there to Dublin in a Dakota DC3 of Aer Lings with my uncle in 1952. My father had died in the February of that year whilst I was still at school, so this was a treat for me. Difficult to remember much detail now and it was all over so quickly, both the flight and the three week holiday in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, but butter was still on ration in the UK and I remember bring back two packs of Irish butter. Thanks for the hazy memories, Gary & Lucy.

Maurice :cool:
 
No more 747’s from BA..

“Amid grey clouds and rain in west London, British Airways' last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747s have made their final flights, after the airline brought forward their retirement because of the downturn in air travel during the coronavirus pandemic.”
www.bbc.co.uk

Final call for BA 747s

British Airways' last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747 planes have departed from the airport on their final flight.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Pedrocut said:
No more 747’s from BA..

“Amid grey clouds and rain in west London, British Airways' last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747s have made their final flights, after the airline brought forward their retirement because of the downturn in air travel during the coronavirus pandemic.”
www.bbc.co.uk

Final call for BA 747s

British Airways' last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747 planes have departed from the airport on their final flight.
www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...
One has gone to Kemble and one to the Welsh aeroplane scrapyard. I would have loved to have been there for their side by side take off and loop and low flight over LHR.
Bob
 
Bob Davis said:
One has gone to Kemble and one to the Welsh aeroplane scrapyard. I would have loved to have been there for their side by side take off and loop and low flight over LHR.
Bob
Click to expand...
The weather at Heathrow this morning was awful. It was never intended for them to take off side by side, but in opposite directions from the same runway was suggested at one point. There is a video on Youtube of the last one taking off but the weather prevented a clear picture. The last one is now at Kemble airport and is not to be scrapped, it will be put on display.
 
Watched BA 747s departure on BBC News this morning (got fed up waiting for Sky to do it!). They actually took off in tandem, due to the poor weather conditions. Saw the one land at Kemble on FR24. The scrapyard at St Athan was featured on recent tv series. Very interesting.

Had spotting day at BHX a few weeks ago, on the last really hot day we had. Saw C-17. Landed on Runway 33, had to taxi onto terminal apron, cross runway, to get to general aviation parking. Awesome sight!

May be cheeky here, but if you are interested in spotting, why not look at theplanespotterscommunity.co.uk

Excellent site giving opportunity to electronically record sightings, lots of great photos/videos and an amazing blog (that's because I write it!!) ;)
 
Reminds me of my first flight on a 747 in 1973 ... half a life time ago! I was in a long queue of 355 passengers boarding a JAL flight going to Tokyo via Anchorage Alaska. We had one of the engines fail over the North Pole but the other three kept us going.

On another 747 flight to Boston USA in 1984 I was upstairs in the 'bubble' and was allowed a visit to the flightdeck as we flew over the Atlantic.
:)
edit ... I notice I've mentioned the above 1973 flight earlier in the thread ... :rolleyes:
oldMohawk said:
My first long haul flight started from Elmdon in 1973 ... I was going to Japan.
We flew to Heathrow where we boarded a Japan Airlines 747 jet which were quite new in the early 1970s. A japanese holiday company had booked most seats with only a few british people aboard. In those days flights to Japan went over the North Pole with a stop half way in Alaska. We settled down for the long flight over the Arctic when suddenly there was a very loud explosion and out of the windows we could see one of the engines with bits missing off it. The cabin crew and japanese passengers looked worried so I got an airline map out and could see that we were 2000 miles from the nearest airbase and looked at the ice below and thought what now? We flew on at reduced speed to Anchorage where we saw blue flashing lights of waiting ambulances and fire engines as we circled above the airfield. After a slightly bumpy landing we had to stay in Anchorage overnight waiting for a replacement aircraft from Tokyo.
Click to expand...
 
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I never flew on a 747 although I would have liked the experience. Largest plane I ever flew on was a DC-10 British Caledonian flight from Gatwick to JFK
 
David, I have never flown on a B747 either but have flown on a B707 (post#661) more than once with my late wife to Malta from Birmingham in the early 80's with Air Malta. Eric
 
We have flown on 747 several times but we did fly last year on 787 from Denver Colorado to Heathrow now that is a great craft. Got First class treatment all the way. one of the many many advantages of marrying a Stew 57 years ago!!36715195_1408293272604038_2626694439367606272_n.jpg
 
www.google.com

National Airlines expands 747 freighter fleet by 150%

National Airlines - not National the car rental company - is adding three 747s to its freighter fleet at a time when shippers are desperate to find airlift.
www.google.com www.google.com

Seems overall freight capacity has fallen due to reduced demand for passenger flights. So maybe not all 747s are destined for the scrap yard yet (fingers crossed) A recent headline also predicted future capacity for .. World vaccine delivery 'will need 8,000 jumbo jets'.
 
We do not know if the vaccine would require refrigeration although if the hold was not heated this would not be a problem in the air but would be with the ground handling. I think that figure of 8,000 must assdume that the vaccine was produced all in one big batch which is not going to happen.
 
I lived in Croftdown Road, off Valley Road from 1949 till 1963, then moved up the hill to Rangoon Road. Started spotting at Elmdon in 1953. Unfortunately no logs but lots of emories. First a/c I can remember is DC3 taking off on runway 25? as was. so many intereesting visitors and club planes etc.
 
Memories that is. Now living near Stratford and on Saturday the evocative sound of a Vampire T11 engaged in air to air photography . How I remember that sound from 605 Squadron a/c overhead out of RAF Honiley
 
Don’t know if anybody can help? My father Flight Lieutenant J S Davis (b 1902) was a flying instructor at RAF Sealand 1941-1945. I have his water colour painting of Tiger Moth R-4774 dated 1942. I understood it had been give to him by a trainee at RAF Sealand but have since learnt that R-4774 spent its life at Elmdon with 14EFTS operated by Airwork on behalf of the RAF. Its a long shot but my father was a private pilot before being commissioned into the RAF late 1940/ early 1941, is there anywhere I can find out if my father worked for Airwork before 1941? Thanks.
 
Mike, I think you would be very unlikely to find any records going back to 1941 as the importance of archives was not recognised until more recent times. I remember once being asked by a security organisation about an employee of the company I was working for about someone who had shown on his CV that he had worked for us 25 years ago and I had to say that I could not even confirm that he had worked for us let alone give him a character reference.

However if you look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airwork_Services you will see that Airwork did operate 14EFTS at Castle Bromwich and 44EFTS at Elmdon before merging them at Castle Bromwich. After takeover of the non-American operations by Vosper Thorycroft and later by Babcock International, I can only suggest that you contact them but I would not hold out much chance.
 
Pedrocut said:
No more 747’s from BA..

“Amid grey clouds and rain in west London, British Airways' last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747s have made their final flights, after the airline brought forward their retirement because of the downturn in air travel during the coronavirus pandemic.”
www.bbc.co.uk

Final call for BA 747s

British Airways' last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747 planes have departed from the airport on their final flight.
www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...
50 years is a long time to be flying and still many of them being used as freighters. I used a BA 747 to ship equipment from India via London to Mexico City. The only plane large enough! Thanks Pedro!
 
A few images from a 1960s airport brochure. Viv.


The main concourse
E92707B0-02A7-4BE6-801E-7216DFF88A2D.jpeg

Customs control
D21C9196-AABA-4BA8-AF42-AF028D4D31A4.jpeg

First floor restaurant, viewing terrace and spacious bar in the International terminal building
B7305101-8B20-4271-9526-226717DDCF97.jpegBDFB972B-AA9C-4E45-B1F8-1FDC179E501A.jpeg1C766436-632B-4BEF-91A7-2B627E8B3555.jpeg

Duty Meteorological Observer taking temperature readings in the instrument enclosure.
F5039EFD-228D-4FDB-81BC-D728CC4021B3.jpeg

Aeriel view.
585380C6-2947-4F61-ACBD-84DE4E5B7528.jpeg


The brochure front cover
9CAA1C7E-B9D5-4C18-BA29-610DF079E3DD.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Vivienne14 said:
A few images from a 1960s airport brochure. Viv.


The main concourse
View attachment 153700

Customs control
View attachment 153701

First floor restaurant, viewing terrace and spacious bar in the International terminal building
View attachment 153702View attachment 153703View attachment 153704

Duty Meteorological Observer taking temperature readings in the instrument enclosure.
View attachment 153705

Aeriel view.
View attachment 153699


The brochure front cover
View attachment 153707
Click to expand...
Fantastic it was a fab old building and we had some lovely time plane spotting in the 50's 60's
 
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