Birmingham Airport - Picture Thread

[58terminus]

I remember going to LHR as a youngster and getting really fed up with Tridents. How I'd love to see one on approach again now.

I remember going to Elmdon as a youngster in the early 70s and getting really fed up with the one Trident.Memories serve tricks but it seemed to land every hour and was never substituted.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

I remember going to Elmdon as a youngster in the early 70s and getting really fed up with the one Trident.Memories serve tricks but it seemed to land every hour and was never substituted.

I have similar memories of BMA Herald G-ATIG, which was constantly back and forth to LHR. I swear, it was on a piece of elastic.

Kevin

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Here's something a little older -

Note the tractor (rather than a tug), being used to push back the BMA Viscount.

I've got lots of these old photos, but it will take me a while to dig out my negatives/slides which are probably at the back of a cupboard somewhere.

Kevin

 

[wolfheze]

Great picture. Typical elmdon evening, wet and cold . Can't ever recall seeing a tractor on the apron before. Was that taken from the spiral stairs?

 

[Ray Finkle]

I've got lots of these old photos, but it will take me a while to dig out my negatives/slides which are probably at the back of a cupboard somewhere.

I'm very much looking forwards to seeing those

 

[wolfheze]

Is that an hs 748 in the background between the two viscounts? G-AOHL flew with British Airways for the last time on the 2nd of April 1980 from Birmingham.

 

[wolfheze]

I have similar memories of BMA Herald G-ATIG, which was constantly back and forth to LHR. I swear, it was on a piece of elastic.

Kevin

G-ATIG ended it's days on the Norwich firedump and was finally scrapped in 2008 View attachment 4028

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Great picture. Typical elmdon evening, wet and cold . Can't ever recall seeing a tractor on the apron before. Was that taken from the spiral stairs?

Yes, taken from the spiral stairs.

Kevin

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Is that an hs 748 in the background between the two viscounts?

Quite possibly, it's difficult to make out. Alternatively it may be a viscount. It does look to have a thick dark stripe along the windows. which could have been the previous BEA colours. I seem to vaguely remember a viscount used for fire training, but I'm not sure where on the airfield it was located. It doesn't seem to have any lights on and going by the blur of the props on the BMA viscount, this was quite a long exposure so I would expect any beacons to show up.

Kevin

 

[wolfheze]

Don't suppose you can remember what year the photograph was taken? I too can vaguely remember a BEA viscount minus engines somewhere on the airfield. It might be that the fire training area was up near the end of the short runway at that time and was moved later to the site opposite the international building where I think it remains to this day?G- AOHL ended up at a paintball centre in Essex View attachment 4029

 

[58terminus]

I know this is starting to drift towards the nostalgia thread but does anybody know what the small two storey
building visible just above the BA Viscounts cockpit in Kevin's photo was?

 

[wolfheze]

I was wondering what it was too. Can't say I can remember a building being there but it may have been a year or so before my time.
When reading through the accident report of the Beech Baron crash in 75 it mentions that the aircraft flew very low over a meteorologists building so maybe it was that? .

 

[58terminus]

Thanks Wolfheze.Just looked at Airteam Images and it was there in 1971 and probably demolished for the new terminal. Same photos confirm it was an old BEA viscount next to it.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Thanks Wolfheze.Just looked at Airteam Images and it was there in 1971 and probably demolished for the new terminal. Same photos confirm it was an old BEA viscount next to it.

Wow, 58terminus . Thanks for confirming my memories (I was wondering if my old grey matter was starting to play up). Would it be possible for you to supply a link to the Airteam Images photo ?

Regards

Kevin

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Thanks everyone for the comments, regarding my photos. They seem popular, so I have a few more to add. Not from as far back as the Viscount photo, but hopefully still interesting -

Also, I'm currently working through some old BHX slides, but it's taking quite a lot of time. The quality is not great (give me digital every time!), but hopefully I'll have some older photos to post soon.

Regards

Kevin

 

[Jon Dempsey]

I remember when they didn't need push-back, just a kick of the engines with the front wheel on full-lock!!

 

[Kevin Farnell]

I finally found the slide adapter for my Nikon Coolscan IV ED. Here are some of my photos going back to the 1970s and 80s. Some haven't survived the years very well and have been attacked by mould (the Balkan TU-154 being the worst effected). I've done what I can with Photoshop to clean them up, but the quality isn't always great.
It's quite time consuming, as the scanner is very slow, taking 5 minutes or so to scan each slide. I hope to add more in the future when I get time.
I've included the Viscounts again, this time in colour.
Note that the Fire Training Viscount (and the building) are clearly visible in the background of the BAF Cargo Herald.
Well, here they are -

Regards

Kevin

 

[wolfheze]

Great photos. DC8 - 63 looks stunning. Noticed the Dan Air 727 parked in its customary position. Was it ever parked anywhere else? Now I've seen it I can now remember the BEA viscount being where it is. I think you could see it from the bus as it drove down Bickenhill lane to Birmingham international.

 

[Paulsstrange]

Excellent photos many thanks for sharing.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

And the Caravelle. First time I saw one was at Bristol and my description was a cross between a Viscount and a 1-11!

A year or so later, Aviaco started flying them into Birmingham.