Pan-am Airbus at White Waltham....

[Tupperware Pilot]

Saw a photo on google earth of a Pan-am airbus which is claimed is at White Waltham in 1986..? Is this just a placement error or did it "land" there?

[treadigraph]

Damn, can't link it...

Looks like a low fly past, similar to the famous BA VC-10 in 1977!

[N707ZS]

The photo looks a bit suspect, has it been photo shopped? Should the main wheels be at that angle?

[treadigraph]

Gear looks normal to me. Assuming that is White Waltham, Pan Am may have been happy to do a low pass for an event.

Here's the VC-10 for entirely gratuitous reasons...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Aviation/VC10WW1977_800.jpg

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I have Google Earth, but how does one view the piccy please?

[treadigraph]

Make sure that "photos" is checked in the layers menu on the left hand side of Google Earth. The pic is in the middle of the runways.

[India Four Two]

http://http://www.panoramio.com/photo/35439468

OK, scratch that. Panoramio doesn't allow direct links. However, click here:

Panoramio - Photos by Peter Gooding > Aircraft (http://www.panoramio.com/user/4385723/tags/Aircraft?photo_page=2)

and click on the first column, second row.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

OK thanks.. I don't recall it, but then my brain is like rice pudding nowadays!

[RegDep]

OK, scratch that. Panoramio doesn't allow direct links. However, click here:

I42 you just had one 'http://' too many in your address....

Panoramio - Photo of pan am airbus white waltham 1986 (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/35439468)


http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/35439468.jpg

[Airclues]

The Airbus photo is not White Waltham!

Dave

[BEagle]

What makes you say that? Those certainly look like the old buildings which were there 25 years ago....

[Airclues]

BEagle

I bow to your superior knowledge, as I've only been flying from WW for 18 years (when I bought a share in a Jodel D9).

Could you tell me where those hangers were? There's been nothing like them while I've been flying there. It would be interesting to find out what's there now (I only live a few minutes away).

Edit;

Having looked at the WW history, those could be the old Fairey hangars in which case I was wrong about it not being WW. Foundation Park had been built on this site by the time I started flying there.

Dave

[Chris Scott]

Wherever it is, it's an Orca (A310). N707ZS, treadigraph is right about the main gear bogie (sorry, "truck") angle being genuine. Never did understand why, so unlike the VC10, the forward wheels hang slightly below the rears. But it seems to work fine - you can still grease them on.

Having done time in both types (not at White Waltham!), and loved them both, perhaps I can say that the "Ten" looks the prettier by a street, gear or no gear...

[Intercepted]

Yes, this is White Waltham and exactly the same picture is hanging in the bar. It was a low pass, not landing :ok:

[Chris Scott]

Which picture - the A310? (I've seen the VC10 one.)

[Intercepted]

Yes, it's the VC-10. Not sure if A310 is WW, but yes it could be where the business park is.

[Entaxei]

Re the PanAm airbus, I would agree that the hangars behind it are the old Fairey Hangars, I spotted at WW from about 1956 to 1960's. But did the Airbus actually land there, as per the VC10 (what a great picture) it looks more like a flyby, and without sufficient space to complete a landing, on greasy, muddy, grass?. When did the Fairey Hangars come down?

[Flying Lawyer]

Could you tell me where those hangers were?

Dave

They were between 07/25 and the railway line.


Tudor

[BEagle]

When Flying Lawyer and I flew from WW (1969-73), the hangars were used by 'Centri-Spray' or somesuch.

Neither the VC10 nor A310 would have landed at WW!

The location is now 'Maidenhead Office Park'; 'Foundation Park' is another site which is north of the railway line.

Virtually all traces of the old RAF site have now disappeared; you might catch the odd glimpse of them before they were knocked down when used as locations for car chases in The Professionals. When Bodie and Doyle are skulking around the old wooden Officers Mess, I half expected Mr Murphy to appear, to tell them that the bar was shut!

Next time I'm there, I'll go and see whether the hole in the hedge which allowed a quick route to The Beehive or for the QFIs living in the married patch at Walgrove Gardens to visit the Officers' Mess!

Happy Times, eh Tudor? Unfortunately The Plough at West End has now gone though....:{

[India Four Two]

As several posts have stated, this is definitely White Waltham, with the old Fairey hangars behind the Airbus and Ashley Hill in the distance.

It would be interesting to find out more about the fly-past.

When I did my Flying Scholarship at WLAC in 1966 (non-radio with Aldis lights and flares!), the hangars were still black but I think Fairey had already left. I lived in Maidenhead in the early 60s and in those days, there was a regular stream of Gannets, various helicopters and of course the Rotodyne, which lived in the big hangar. The two (?) Fairey Air Surveys DC-3s lived on the south side by the RAF hangars, alongside the ULAS Chipmunks and a couple of Ansons.

The thing I remember about the RAF site was that every day during my month at WLAC, we were picked up by an RAF bus and taken to the Airmen's Mess for lunch. Chips featured very prominently on the menu. ;)

[treadigraph]

My memory of the 1977 Queen's Silver Jubilee Airshow at White Waltham was that the hangar was black, and it was attacked by Leisure Sport's crazy flying Tiger Moth.

I was there with a school friend's dad who was a BA exec; I seem to recall he was a bit gobsmacked by the VC-10's pass!

Ah yes, memories, there was a Fairey Surveys DC-3 in the display, G-ALWC. Used to see it from time to time over my school near Godalming usually at lowish level, presumably transitting to and from assignments (clearing customs and other formalities at Shoreham?).

I also remember getting back to school that evening and everybody saying "did you see the crash?" It was the same day that a Jet Ranger hit a Tiger Moth at the Biggin Hill Air Fair.

[Airclues]

Was the hangar on the photo the venue for the famous Acid House Rave of 24th June 1989, attended by 11,000 people?

YouTube - Sunrise midsummer party rave (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HPEq-_93Sw)

Dave

PS. Clearer views of the hangar interior towards the end of the video.

[KING6024]

I think the hangar to the right of the Pan Am Airbus picture was originally the Rotodyne hangar.I was at a Royal Aeronautical Society Garden Party in 1957/1958,I was 15 or 16 at the time and had hitch hiked there from Watford,our last lift was a member who took us in.To the east of that hangar was an older structure which contained Gannets for the German Navy.Fairey's preserved aircraft were displayed outside,a Fulmar and a Firefly I think.The highlight of the day was a display by the Rotordyne,very noisy!!I can't remember what else flew.
Colin.

[BEagle]

Yes, the hangar was used illegally for a so-called 'rave' in 1989.

The 'rave' organisers had lied to the owners of the hangar, hiring it for 'film-making' purposes for about £1500. Ticket sales were estimated at about £150000, but it was the fact that a large number of underage children were being openly sold drugs of various types by a team of 20 drug dealers which prompted the Home Secretary to call for an urgent investigation. Which led to events of this size being largely stamped out.