Gordons's wagon

[hawker750]

I am no fan of the Government and Gordon Brown but I am a fan of this Country (GB). I really think it is symtomatic of the decline of this country that Gordon went to the States in an old 757 that used to haul bucket and spaders down to Spain and now looks like the set from Star Wars. The operator is brilliant and there is nothing wrong with the aircraft but surely the Country could do better than this. We used to have pride. What was the reason? Gordon too tight to pay for something better or did BA poke two fingers when asked to provide? What ever the answer it has dropped our esteam down a few notches yet again. He would have done better to go schedule, he even looked embarrassed walking down the steps!

[M.Mouse]

BA did not have a spare aircraft and niether did the other major UK operators.

I fail to understand why he was unable to travel on a scheduled flight like a good socialist.

[hawker750]

M.M.
I suspect it was more a case of BA being hacked off with the Government for allowing BAA to put up the charges so much. If it was the case then good for BA.
But even Alitalia could russle up a jumbo for the Pope

[Dysag]

The solution...

http://jpanas7.faistonblog.com/wp-content/gallery/a-330/Photo%2007676.jpg

[soddim]

He should have saved more money and only travelled one way.

[Airbubba]

I heard the Pope was in the U.S. but never heard that Mr. Brown was there. Was it on official business? Or a vacation like that French guy with the nude model wife?

The state aircraft is a big deal in a lot of countries, maybe not in the UK with carbon credits and all that other green stuff. I think His Holiness was riding on an AZ B-777.

We promise to visit the UK with Air Force One sometime soon...

[Monkey Boy]

Flights for No. 10 are handled by a broker in LGW - thus making an expensive charter, slightly more expensive - that's our tax dollars at work guys!

[innvie]

:{Don't get me started on the state of our once great nation............

we are now a third world country, governed by a third world mob........

perhaps we should invite Mr. Mugabe to reside in No 10 !!

[Kurtz]

Nice one soddim, good to see his publicity machine was pushed off course by his revolting troops!

Speaking of troops, isn't it time we heard the last of 2 jobs Des?

Hands up everyone who's sick of hearing a Scottish voice when a Government minister is announced?

[AircraftOperations]

Would the broker not get a commission from the operator, as they are a regular customer, whereas someone ringing directly from Number 10 might get a price including commission?

[markrl]

I think the point about Gordon Brown arriving in an old 757 is a fair one and would quite agree the UK has little pride in itself any longer. Unfortunately Mr Brown recently reversed Tony Blair’s decision for a dedicated Queens’s flight RAF aircraft and so I suppose he must take his chance with whatever is available on the day. I have this comic image of him in my head arriving in the United States in the same way TV detective Lieutenant Columbo would outside a very large mansion in a dirty smoking old banger wearing a filthy crumpled old Mackintosh coat. Good old Mr Brown (or should that be Bean). :D

[creamhain]

You probably love Pakistani, Persian, Urdu or some other Middle Eastern Twitter.
I don't want to embarrass you by posting on pprune.
Creamhain

[soddim]

I think the point about Scottish voices was well made in the original post. Ministers, including the Prime Minister, who are elected by Scottish constituancies should not have a vote on matters that affect only the English.

In the words of the Red Baron "Anything else is rubbish".

[gdiphil]

Kurtz,
"Hands up everyone who's sick of hearing a Scottish voice when a Government minister is announced?"

I thought I was the only person in the country that noticed this, so my hand is definitely up.

[rockeye]

He probably chose not to travel BA to ensure his luggage did actually travel and arrive with him,hence avoiding the chance to let the incompetent idiots misplace it!

[JEM60]

Whilst not a supporter of this Government, I'll bet that if he had travelled on a better aircraft, people would be complainning on this site that he was wasting money by doing so!!!

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<We promise to visit the UK with Air Force One sometime soon...>>

I expect UK controllers will look forward to that. At Heathrow, our Queen and plenty of other VVIPs fly in and out with out trouble, but when your chap appears the whole world stands still. The CIA take over half the airport and do their own runway inspections and armed Secret Service people are in the tower.

But there were some good bits.... When I worked at Heathrow Tower some telephone lines were so bad we couldn't talk to an airfield 5 miles up the road but when Air Force 1 was due in a US-type telephone magically appeared in the tower. I picked it up one day and a lovely voice said "Good morning; it's the White House!" The SS guys used to dish out their calling cards so we could show them to our totally disbelieving kids - my young son said: "Real SS people don't do this, Dad, you got this from a comic".

And you know all the crap that pilots spin about being ultra-busy at take-off and landing when they can't talk or listen to ATC?? We got on real well with one SS guy and after AF1 departed he wished us well and disappeared. About half an hour later a departing 747 rolling down the runway said: "Howard asks me to send best regards to you guys".....

Happy days.... Did this all happen in the US for Gordon? (Who remembers that record by Jilted John??)

[Monkey Boy]

"Would the broker not get a commission from the operator, as they are a regular customer, whereas someone ringing directly from Number 10 might get a price including commission?"

AirrcraftOperations - you'd think so wouldn't you? However having experience of both companies involved I can assure you that it's not the case!

[AircraftOperations]

Thanks MonkeyBoy - I find that quite strange.

A copy of my post on this subject from "Questions" which remains unanswered.....

"Didn't see flightplans for it though - or certainly not with an AWC code.

Could it be flying without a published flightplan, such as Air Force One has done in the past?

I believe the aircraft is due back to LHR in the early hours of Saturday morning."

Can anyone who is in the know clear up the flightplan thing? I know that BA Charters for our VIPs usually have published BAW flightplans.

[VAFFPAX]

perhaps we should invite Mr. Mugabe to reside in No 10 !!
By saying that you don't have the faintest how bad Mugabe is. You would not want to wish him on anyone, including this country if you did.

S.

[Gar]

Nice to know us Scots are held in such high regard on here! Don't forget - we're all British, we're all on the same side

[Opsbeatch]

They used one of the callsigns for government flights...
Think it was 'SCROOGE 1';)

[Monkey Boy]

"Didn't see flightplans for it though - or certainly not with an AWC code.

Could it be flying without a published flightplan, such as Air Force One has done in the past?

I believe the aircraft is due back to LHR in the early hours of Saturday morning."

Can anyone who is in the know clear up the flightplan thing? I know that BA Charters for our VIPs usually have published BAW flightplans.

It was flying on an AWC code, but as you rightly guessed, it was flying on an unpublishsed flightplan, for obvious reasons.

I hope that helps.

[Just a spotter]

Well, here in little ol' Ireland, the Air Corps have a dedicated Ministerial Air Transport squadron (MATS) consisting of a Gulfstream IV, Lear 45 and Beechking Super 200 " to provide secure transport to An tUachtarán, An Taoiseach, An Tánaiste, (that's the President, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for those of you who don't speak Irish) members of Government and their staff, both on and off the island of Ireland.".

That said, the GIV and Lear are the only jets they have ... :sad:

Maybe your PM could do a George W, or V.Putin and take a back seater in a Tornado or Typhoon. I'm sure there's a refuler around the Atlantic somewhere. :}

JAS