First flight was in a Dakota in 1959. Blackpool to the Isle of Man with Silver City Airways. I remember the uphill climb to our seats as we sat by the wing. Air hostess handed out barley sugar sweets and little packets of cotton wool for your ears. Realised why once the engines started. The noise was deafening.Passengers just alighted from a British Midland Dakota reg G-ANTD in the mid 1960s. If your seat was at the front in a Dakota there was an 'uphill' climb to get to it. Those passengers may not have known that the aircraft they had just flown in was built in 1944 for the United States Army Air Force, and saw some service in the Royal Air Force until the early 1950s.
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I've flown in a few Daks mbenne, lovely sound.Air hostess handed out barley sugar sweets and little packets of cotton wool for your ears. Realised why once the engines started. The noise was deafening.
Hi Smudger - The only one I can remember at the moment is the Vickers Varsity. The 'bump' had windows at the front and was used for training bomb aimers. We had Varsitys at RAF Topcliffe and if you had a friendly pilot he would let you lie in the 'bump' for a magnificent view of North Yorkshire.
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Do you recall seeing a Chipmunk on occasions doing aerobatics over where Hatchford Brook golf course is. Regular air traffic then was mainly Viscounts and Vanguards. Don't know if it was permitted then. Certainly wouldn't be allowed now!I remember the yellow Tiger moths flying around