Belfast????

[VP8]

Anybody got any news on the Belslow??

Last I heard it was indoors in a hanger in PIK

VEEPS :ok:

[Conc]

I flew into Prestwick last week and it was still sat outside the Polar Air Hangar. I was talking to one of Heavylifts former senior engineers at the Coventry airshow and he was perplexed why anybody bought the aircraft after they went bust. He reckoned the aircraft only had about a years life left in it even robbing bits of G-BEPS. Still a great shame to see it sitting abandoned. Hopefully the new owers might donate it to a museum such as Duxford if the issues to return it to service cannot be resolved.

[HZ123]

Are they able to use the one at SEN for spares as with all that has gone on who actually owns the SEN one. The other might as well have stayed at Southend as far closer to Duxford.

[kpiko3]

``it arrived last week??????

It arrived 9 months ago mate.

In that time it has been in and out the Polar Hanger.It got repainted in there and it still has to get a rej.It has supposidly been sold on to Transpacific PTY Limited(whatever the hell that is)in Australia,but there has been something happened in the deal and it has went off,rumour.
OH,and the guy that runs the Polar Hanger is the owner.;-))

[Hockham Admiral]

Well, here goes my first post! For all you purveyers of doom out there I can only say that my old girl has a very positive future and will shortly be leaving PIK for warmer parts: and she will hopefully have a long future out there. O

[thetexpat]

Following article from AIR TRANSPORT WORLD:

HeavyLift to enter crowded Pacific island cargo market
Dateline: Friday September 05, 2003

Competition in the Pacific island market intensified after the International Air Services Commission gave approval to HeavyLift Cargo Services, which is owned by Transpacific Pty Ltd., to begin operating international freight services into and out of Brisbane with a mix of Belfasts and 727s.

HeavyLift this month will take up operations providing for the carriage of up to 60 tonnes of cargo per week to Papua New Guinea, followed by the Solomon Islands (50 tonnes per week) in Oct. and Vanuatu (25 tonnes per week) in Nov. It will compete with national carriers Air Niugini, Solomon Airlines and Air Vanuatu on the routes.
HeavyLift also has expressed interest in extending its network to Nauru and New Caledonia when the rights become available. Another Australian startup, Transpac, obtained rights to those points but has not yet utilized them.

IASC in its determination of HeavyLift's application raised concerns that forecasts of likely volumes on the Pacific routes appeared "optimistic," particularly in relation to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. However, it was satisfied that the airline has the financial backing, resources, skills and experience necessary to implement its proposals.

"While the Commission does have some concerns about the ongoing viability of HeavyLift's services, it is not necessary for the Commission to be certain that a carrier will maintain services over the long term," IASC said. It has given the carrier until March 2004 to use capacity fully on all three routes.--Ian Thomas

Thought y'all would be interested!
thetexpat:ok:

[FDMS]

Belfast made a 15 minute test flight from Prestwick today, as 9LLDQ.

[Eric T Cartman]

9L-LDQ departed Prestwick 1648z 16/9/03 for Malta :-(

[Unwell_Raptor]

Good luck to the old lady. Like so many aircraft (or ships) she has gone from Queen of the Skies to tramp steamer in her late middle age.

I want to think of a Bogart lookalike skipper, with a battered cap, and a grubby shirt. I want to think of a keen young copilot, who is so keen to get into the air that he will happily pole an aircraft that is as old as his mother. The engineer will drink coffee from a mug that is furtively topped up from a hipflask.

And what better venue to operate in than steamy Pacific airstrips, and what better cargo than 'general freight' around PNG?

I can visualise the movie already. I want Draper to play the engineer, I have a skipper in mind but the libel laws are too strict.

And on the ground is a sassy Oz girl pilot who flies the near suicidal rescue mission when the old Belfast finally runs out of puff on an upcountry airstrip where the locals prefer pilots to pork in their stewpot.

The Oz GP? Reddo, of course.

[JW411]

I love the picture that you paint but the "steamy Pacific airstrips" bit is unlikely to happen unless the said airstrip has a bloody good LCN.

If my memory serves me right, the old girl has a pretty high footprint.

[Hockham Admiral]

EricTCartman, Hi;)

Are you sure it was Malta?? Thar's a funny way to go to Oz and the intention was Westabout.

JW 411, Hello:O

The Belfast has so many main wheels that she can operate off surprisingly low LCN's ( or pcn's as you wish). If the pressures are dropped to 120 psi you can operate down to 23 or so.
We operated into many short strips with very low strength pavements over the last 23 years without problems. Stopping was never a problem it was getting airborne that caused the odd rear twinges!

[Eric T Cartman]

Hi H. Admiral
Yes, I'm sure it was Malta, coz a) I've seen the flight plan & b) I spoke to the aircraft on departure from EGPk ;-)

[JW411]

Hockham Admiral:

Many thanks for that. I flew the old girl for 6 years with the original owners and I do remember that we had to pay a lot of attention to LCNs. We often had to get permission from the airfield owners to let us in on a temporary basis when the published LCNs were too low.

Mind you, it never occured to anyone to let the tyres down a bit! I suspect that such a notion would simply not have been countenanced.

Did you know that the Belfast mainwheel tyre was the same size as the B-50 nose tyre? One of our aircraft blew four or five tyres landing at a SAC base in the USA one day. They managed to swop enough tyres around to get it on to the ramp. It then looked like they were in for a bit of a wait while they waited for the replacement tyres to be flown from UK.

An enterprising USAF Staff Sergeant in stores made the B-50 connection and found someone who had hundreds of them still in his store. The replacements were delivered in just a few hours!

As for being a great stopper and a poor goer, I could not agree with you more! The DC-10 was exactly the opposite.

Hockham Admiral:

Further to my last; your quoting "lowering" the tyre pressure to 120 psi got my curiosity so I have just dragged out my old Pilots Notes.

The normal tyre pressures quoted therein are:

Nose: 140 psi
Main: 120 psi
Tail: 100 psi

So if you lowered the mains to 120 psi, what pressure did Heavylift usually use?

[allthatglitters]

I can confirm she passed thru Malta today, departed at 09:48 local, next stop unknown

[rottairp]

The Belfast was due for Muscat from Malta. No further details known to me

[CargoOne]

I'm not familar with Belfast performance but if memory serves my right you can expect Belfast to do Prestwick-Muscat direct with half load and even Prestwick-Colombo with nil load. Why they going thru Malta?

[Hockham Admiral]

JW11:)

Yes you are correct! The normal pressures were 120 main and the Flight Manual (I don't know where that came in to being from, but thought it was directly from the RAF manuals) recommended 100psi for the reduced LCN's. As you can probably guess a lot of the places we went would adjust accordingly if it was a commercial necessity to get into the field...or we paid enough!

Ah, days of the Falklands, Disasters, Wars (anyones!), French Strikes, before the 124..............we enjoyed them all..........it was all a grand adventure and I only hope the "few" enjoy themselves as much as we did!

Cargo 1,
I wish! In fact STN- BAH could take up to 13 hours.............empty!
So PIK-Muscat would be at least 16. About the maximum I ever did in "The Queen" (of the Skies) was 14.55 Ascension-BZZ
Pls keep the stories coming!:p

[JW411]

That sounds about right; Brize - Masirah was 15½ hours (with very little in the back).

I find it quite fascinating that G-HLFT is the one that has survived. She was originally XR365 "Hector" and was probably the most cantankerous of the fleet. She was known by all as "Silly Old Hector" (from the kids TV show) and the best advice was never to go flying unless her black nose was wet.

What used to fascinate me was that half of the 'B' Defects would disappear during a sector and then another half a dozen would come out of the woodwork before next landing!

I am totally fascinated by the reports that work is going on to get G-BEPS airborne again. She was the first Belfast to fly (apart from the prototype) bearing a civilian registration. From my logbook the date was 14 February 1978, the place was Manston and Heavylift hadn't even been invented!

[Bigears]

CargoOne,
'Cause its a full load.......of Irn-Bru, caramel wafers, whisky, haggis, Special Brew, bagpipes and jimmy wigs...all you need for a good party :ok: (apart from the lassies)

[kpiko3]

Will the Belfast ever be back for maintenance at Polar in Prestwick,also could we expect to see G-BEPS up here in sunny Prestwick for some maintenance?

Kris

[Red Four]

JW411 & KPIKO3

Dont hold your breath on GBEPS getting airborne. Still an awful lot of work needed to get it airborne! Can't see it happening myself.

[kpiko3]

I recently seen G-BEPS on airliners at southend.
No engines(only covers)
No Side Door and I wasnt to sure whether it had wheels or not,but if they can find one that is on display and nick some working parts off of them and replace with replicas,who knows.

Kris

[JW411]

The only Belfast on display is XR371 "Enceladus" at the RAF Museum at Cosford. I sincerely hope that they do not intend to let anyone else have or even borrow any major components!

I did hear on one of my grapevines that when G-BEPS was parked by Heavylift, all useful spares were carefully removed and stored. I have subsequently heard that a couple of engineers were equally carefully putting all the bits back on again.

This would certainly be a long process and, in particular, the poor bu**er who has to put the hydraulics back together again should be payed every penny that he asks for!

[HZ123]

G-BEPS is parked at the back of the dump at SEN an area usually leading to terminal decline and scrapping. Who owns the hull.

[Waldo.P]

It's good to hear that the Belfast has re-entered service.
Who will do the mx,there can't be too many experienced guys out there?

[kpiko3]

I think the Polar guys at Prestwick will do it as they got ten months experience on it while it was at PIK.
It would certainly be nice to see it back at Prestwick.

Kris

[Hockham Admiral]

:O Hello all you believers and doubters!

Despite all the bad tidings about the Queen of the Skies future I can tell you that she is earning a respectful living at the moment flying out of Townsville, Australia.
So what went wrong H&P? It was said that if the old HCA couldn't make a living out of her no-one could......................I'm afraid you've been proved wrong (yet again).

And I must think back, 'cos the first civil registered Belfast was GBEPE, the pre-production model, which we flew out of SIN during the early 80's. She weighed about 2 tons more than any of the others.....but could always (eventually) make FL 120 out of SIN with 30tons at ISA +15

And what about that 250,000lbs TOW out of Saigon in 1980? NOT intentional but we just about managed to survive it!

[Fris B. Fairing]

Hockham Admiral

It's my understanding that the Belfast is based here in Brisbane, having arrived late on 21 Sep. She positioned to Townsville on 25 Sep to operate an Australian Defence Force charter to Honiara in the Solomon Islands on 26 Sep.

She is a most honoured guest in our city!

Cheers

[Hockham Admiral]

Fris.B
Many thanks for the info, perhaps you would let us know any more info you hear about "The Queen". She has been flying for nearly FORTY YEARS now, but when I last saw the Tech Log had obout only 26000 hours total!!!
I know the crew very well and can assure any of your Oz drivers out there that they will get a warm welcome if they want to look around the FIRST cat 3 aeroplane. And it was all analogue..........
ledex switches and relays galore!
Again many thanks, perhaps you would spread the word in your part of the world about "Freight Dogs"?

[Fris B. Fairing]

Admiral

Have posted a link on the local enthusiasts forum. If there are any significant developments I'll post them on "Freight Dogs".

Cheers

[daruman]

Hello from Townsville in North Queensland Australia.

a BELFAST arrived here a fortnight ago. It is being used by the ADF to resupply the regional assistance mission to the SOLOMAN ISLANDS. The BELFAST replaced an IL-76 Candid and is supported by a fleet of RAAF C-130-J's. The BELFAST is white with red and blue and has the H on the tail.

[asw28-866]

Daruman, I think thats THE Belfast, singular! The 'H' is a leftover from her previous operators 'Heavylift' in the UK.

[Wirraway]

Hockam Admiral

Have received an email that the Belfast did at least 3 flights to Hir from Tsv for the ADF but i believe it has done quite a lot more.It is there for 4 weeks then back to BNE.

Wirraway

[JW411]

Hockham Admiral:

I would just like to make a small historical correction to your piece on G-BEPE. The reason that she weighed so much was that she was the prototype and still had a lot of test wiring in the airframe. In fact she carried the first civilian Belfast registration with Shorts as G-ASKE.

In the pre-Heavylift days we had three Belfasts at Manston; G-BEPE (ex-XR362 "Samson"), G-BEPL (ex-XR369 "Spartacus") and G-BEPS (ex-XR368 "Theseus").

G-BEPS was the first civilian registered Belfast to fly (if we discount the "Short" time that G-BEPE/XR362 was G-ASKE during initial trials).

G-BEPL made a one-way flight to Hucknall and was swopped for (I believe) G-BFYU (XR367 "Heracles").

Heavylift also purchased G-OHCA (XR363 "Goliath") which was ferried to Southend and used for spares and G-HLFT (XR365 "Hector") which is the Australian based survivor.

Here endeth this historical lesson.

[BRISTOLRE]

Thks for the history lesson, good on ya!
So what did happen to the one that made a oneway trip to RAF Hucknall??
Never seen it down there...

[JW411]

XR364 "Pallas", XR366 "Atlas" and XR370 "Ajax" made one-way flights from RAF Kemble to Rolls Royce at Hucknall and were immediately broken up. Rolls Royce were only interested in the engines.

The same fate met XR369/G-BEPL when she was flown from Manston to Hucknall.

The tenth aircraft, XR371 "Enceladus" was flown from Kemble to Cosford and is on display there.

[zalt]

And the destination for the engines.... Libya and their G222Ts!

[turbynetrip]

G222's use Tynes? Must be an up-gunned version for sure!

TT

[zalt]

No just a bit on Anglo-Libyan sanction busting (the US would not sell the standard engines).

[Hockham Admiral]

;) Any of you guys in Oz any recent news on the location of the Belfast?

[Hockham Admiral]

My latest on the Belfast was that in the first few weeks of November she flew over 100 hours and NO TECH! She must like the weather........and I remember in 1980 and '81 GBEPE and GBEPS spent many hours flying out of Seletar and I can't find any cases of tech problems in my logbook! (Perhaps we weren't so regulated in those halcyon days!).
They hope to relocate to Cairns or Brisbane in the near future after flying both Mil and civ flights to the islands recently.
Anyone out there any more recent news?
Veeps, thanks for the info on H&P, good luck in your search for pastures new!:O

[HZ123]

Admiral; Do you what the condition of the Belfast at SEN is and I am fascinated to know who is the owner of the a/c. From across the field it looks to be all closed up and in a reasonable state minus engines of course.

[Hockham Admiral]

HZ, you don't say exactly where GBEPS is moored at SEN; that would give me a clue as to what the possible future is. I do know that the owner is the same gent who owns GHLFT (as was). And all the doubters said that FT would never fly again!
They are a very "can do, will do" set of people and it wouldn't surprise me if we did hear four RR Tynes roar off the end of SEN runway one day. Bound for PIK, of course! (initially).

[HZ123]

It is parked opposite the terminal at the end of the disused runway but still on the concrete. As stated the a/c via binocs appears to be in reasonable condition.

[Hockham Admiral]

HZ, in that case I am pretty sure they mean business. When she was over in the "wreckers" yard I had my doubts, but mooring on the concrete must cost between £50 and£100 per day. And if there were no further plans she certainly wouldn't be there.

[HZ123]

Only issue there is that the Bac 1-1 5N-HHH has resided on concrete for about 5 years and surely there are no plans for that. Though interestingly it has been moved to the hotel side amongst the two F27s that are being stripped.

[chimbu warrior]

I saw the machine parked at BNE airport yesterday. Seems to be in pretty good condition, and as it disappears every now and again, I have to presume it is doing some revenue flying. Have heard that it operates up to the Solomom Islands, but cannot confirm that.

[brizvegan]

G'day all
The Belfast is operating out of Brisbane as a Heavylift freighter to the Solomon Islands. It goes once or twice a week with a British crew, running in competition with pacific air express and thier AN-12. It spends its downtime at the Logistics (freight) apron on Lomandra Drive. Well worth watching it take off! Nice crew, too.

[VP8]

How's her servicability holding up??:ok:

She always liked the warmer climates

VEEPS

[Hockham Admiral]

Brizvegan, G'day

I guess from your comment " take off is interesting" that you fly modern jets?
The Belfast at MTOW (231000lbs) in temps around 31 degs C is just on its WAT limit at sea level and 1013mbs. Water Meth is injected into each engine to keep the power up to ISA levels (about 5750 SHP!) She really is on the limits and must be flown very accurately in the event of EFTO after V1. When allowed we used to practise such things at a minimum of 10000lbs below MTOW; we had some very interesting comments from various International airports, most who thought that normal take offs were exciting enough!
In fact the planning involved for a flight with terrain drift-down problems and ambient temps much above ISA was considerable; every leg with a MORA or MEA much above 10-12000ft ( and lower immediately after t/off) had to be closely scrutinised, we freqently had to climb in holding patterns.....a vastly different world to that known by most wide bodies! Fortunately with Pacific flights they shouldn't have too many of those problems out of Brisbane.
I know the crew very well and two of them for over twenty years of operating the Queen! It was an exciting and rewarding career, we visited most disasters and war zones in those days.......but that's another story!
:D

[Civil Servant]

Hey Admiral,

Tha Wagon & Horses in Griston has changed hands if you wanna try a pint one night!!

[Fris B. Fairing]

I have been anointed.

The Belfast took-off from Brisbane this morning and over-flew my house heading north. Gleaming white against a bright blue sky.

Cheers

[Hockham Admiral]

Fris B, Hi

and did the sound of those four RR Tynes not bring back memories of another age? (The prop tips can be nigh on supersonic- about the only thing on the Queen that much exceeds 0.4mach!)

How long did the u/c take to retract? It should be within 25 secs but has known to be hours!

And a small warning: although the Queen is in cat "medium" in wake turbulence, cos of its weight, the actual turbulence from four 16 ft diameter props at 5000+ SHP has been known to invert an Argosy on finals.

"and what was a bloody Argosy?" you might ask (being a wild colonial boy)

"a small Beverly" I might reply!

It was all great fun at the time!

[Fris B. Fairing]

Hi Admiral

Although I have seen a Belfast before, this was the first time I had ever heard one, and what a pleasant sound it is too. I live not far to the west from Brisbane Airport and I heard the take-off of what I assumed must be the Belfast, so I didn't get to observe the u/c retraction time. What did strike me though was the fact that, having departed from RW19 heading (not unreasonably!) south, it was some considerable time later that the aeroplane appeared overhead heading north. This caused me to wonder just how far south he went to effect the turn. I imagine he was heavy but the temp can't have been above 25C at the time. Made my day just the same.

And yes this colonial does know what an Argosy is. We had three "Whistling Wheelbarrows" on the Australian register and all were scrapped with seemingly indecent haste with apparently no consultation with the local preservation movement. Considering how comparitively recent this was we didn't exactly cover ourselves with glory where the Argosy is concerned.

Cheers

[Specnut727]

It's certainly worth a diversion down Lomandra Drive to get a close up look at 'Hector'.

Does anyone know if it flies out on regular days/times. I would love to see and hear the take off. Alternately, how can I contact someone who may be able to advise the flight times. I've tried searching the phone book/internet for the operating company but no luck so far.

Thanks, Spec.

[Hockham Admiral]

Spec

Try contacting the F/E; he may answer to [email protected];
he is the chief F/E on the Queen

[Engineer]

HA

Has BF not retired yet?

[Hockham Admiral]

Engineer, Hi
No, Barry is still flying on the Belfast. He is at home tomorrow before going back to Brisbane if you wish to call him.

[Engineer]

Thanks JR will send him an email hope u and MJ r enjoying life

[Hockham Admiral]

Guys, Hello,
Sorry but I missed out an 'r' !!! It is: [email protected]
if you wish to contact him. Engineer, who are you that you know my fanily?

[Hockham Admiral]

Engineer, Hi
:O : Did you manage to contact Barry in Brisbane? I haven't heard for some time how ex-GHLFT is going out there, any info?
Also I'm still intrigued as to who you are!

[hirsute]

Hey Admiral - were we on that same flight out of Saigon? Complete with giant live crabs in baskets?!!

Operating out of Tengah I think, not Seletar?

[Hockham Admiral]

Hirsute, Hello
Yes, if that was the 250,000lbs TOW one!!! Good job RM let me get on with the take-off, about 10kts after V2 as I recollect before she would unstick! We insisted on stress pads to weigh the freight after that one!
For those who knew the Belfast that was a 10 wet take-off at 30degs C, we were lucky to make it and I never wished to repeat the experience!:oh:

[cleo]

9LLDQ is currently sitting outside the Polar hangar at EGPK once more.

[VP8]

And contrary to my previous on other Belfast thhread it hasn't been impounded!!

Teach me to listen to rumours:uhoh:

VEEPS

[Piece of Cake]

Does anybody know roughly how long the queen of the skies will be staying at PIK?

(Hi VEEPS, how's life at the coalface? You had anymore of your lot impounded?)

Best Regards

[Cathar]

The rumour I've heard is that the CAA has grounded all 9L aircraft in the UK.

[411A]

...after Sierra Leone suspended/cancelled a lot of 9L registrations, so i'm told.

[VP8]

P.O.C.

Long time no here!!

Only the 2 in Goose and Brussels so far......

Short list for a job with the UN, getting the hell out of Dodge:}

Heard rumour mow ops decimated commercial to have NO cuts



VEEPS:mad:

[classjazz]

Somewhat lax I know but I've only just cottoned on to this Belfast thread - and very interesting it is too. I can guess the identities of some of the contributors even.
I flew the Belfast for 7 years as a flt engineer in the AirForce and then managed to give it a glancing blow when working with Heavylift. The item mentioning tyre bursts brought back some memories of a particular landing in Altus (Oklahoma) Somehow we managed to burst ALL tyres on landing. This was a C5 base and fortunately the last C5 had landed otherwise we would have been bulldozed off the runway. Probglem was getting jacks under the bogie beams to lift it up.
Frantic calls for help brought a new set of wheels into the local civilian airport (name escapes me but I think it was someones name) and we eventually left after a 3-4 day delay. Many stories like that but not for now.
How's the CRM going Mike?
And good evening to you Admiral

[Hockham Admiral]

:D MJ, HI
I've heard that she is staying in PIK until it's time to take the NZ Ams Cup boat back to NZ. Makes sense as PIK is the designated maintanence base for her and it must have saved $'s and $'s bringing her as far as Valencia on charter.

Have had e-talks with many others on the subject of the Queen, JM who was a QFI (?) on HMFC's Belfasts remembers checking out Bob Reynolds as the original Chief Pilot of HLA................what a cowboy Bob was!
On my first training flight, straight of Buccs, he asked me if I thought I could barrell-roll her.......Paddy T was the FE and I remember his face when I said I would try it.
Don't forget that I had never flown anything bigger than a Buccaneer....and had little or no idea of civvy rules and regs. No comments on that, please!
We got to over 90 degs when I started to run out of aileron and dished her out before the nose got too low....Paddy was rather pale but Bob just sat there totally unfazed.
I could spend hours on the subject of Bob R and the Belfast in HLA's early days, all on GBEPE, the original pre-production model, she weighed 2 or 3 tons more than the others.
I think David D is in on the chats, hope all goes well, David.

[antonovman]

hi guys
is ian nic still with you guys ?
thanks
stan ex HLA

[Trumpet_trousers]

CRM?? Who needs that new-fangled stuff

...ooh, dunno.....let's see......might have stopped one of HM's previous AAR assets running off a runway somewhere in Canada......allegedly....:D

[Hockham Admiral]

:O Anyone know when the Belfast leaves PIK? And how she is?

[Runway 31]

Just in case anyone is thinking of coming to see the old girl, she left a week or so ago back to Valencia.

[Specnut727]

Anyone know where to from Valencia ? Haven't seen her back in Brisbane yet.

[RampTramp]

Saw the old girl in BAH on Monday. Dunno if she's still there.

Gotta say she was looking pretty good:ok:

[Runway 31]

I noted a report that states she arrived in Cairns this morning 0742 local. The report also suggests that Cairns is now her home base due lower costs and also as it is closer to her main destinations.

[Engineer]

In BAH standing on apron nexts to an IL76 and opposite a Volga Depnr AN124 looked like the old days at Stansted Airport :)

[Yorky Towers]

Hi,

Is Brian still on the Belfast ?

Regards

Yorky

[chimbu warrior]

Will the 727 be moving to CNS as well? Have not seen it in BNE for ages.

[Hockham Admiral]

:} Yorky Towers, Hi

If you mean Brian Porter, then yes he is still there.

The crew is:
Brian Porter and Dave Duffy (pirates) and Al Rash (FE, LM and GE).
Mike McKeiver does the trons work (as Barry Fane recently told me). And the guys are certainly keeping her looking a hell of a lot better than her previous owners...but the new one is a pilot himself and an aeroplane man.

Barry now works with me in education...(oh the holidays!)

Antonov Man, I last heard that Ian Nic was working somewhere in the west country. RU Stan the Man?

And MJ, Jock Manson asked me if you had done anything with the pics of the 10 Belfasts he lent you?

[antonovman]

"Hockham Admiral"
i thought ian nic was with your lot
yes i am stan, who are you ?
BTW also been laid off from AFH, things are not looking good

[Hockham Admiral]

;) Mike, Hi

I only report "what they say!". Jock thought you had said you would scan and put in print the pics...let me have them and I have a photo enhancement prog I may try. If not, can you try to let us have the pic of the ten Belfasts in formation? Must be impressive!

Stan, try to remember the Belfast Capt who made the corned beef and chip butties at SPL on a cold night when you were loading! (Didn't we live.....?)

As CP ex HLA you may remember me? We used to have the od pint or ten..

So things ain't looking too good at AFH? I hear that H&P still lurk there...They always did look after #1 and to hell with everyone else!















still lurk in the background? VP8 , can you let us know what's happening there?

[VP8]

H A & Mike

I'm still lurking :E

Getting out of AFH :ok:

Moving To sunnier climes :)

Rest of Ops looking Dodgy!!


VEEPS

[Phileas Fogg]

Hi Veeps,
Had any recent barbie's on the fire escape!

How are things there, how many ops staff these days, as I recall, at the time I 'left' there were 2 on shift thus I guess 9 or 10 in total, is DT still the OM?

Good luck.

Cheers

[antonovman]

Veeps
"I'm still lurking

Getting out of AFH

Moving To sunnier climes "

veeps, youve been spouting that for the last 3 years that i know of
:}
Mike Jenvey
"My spies tell me that H&P might be looking for more staff soon, lots finding jobs elsewhere...."
i think its totally the opposite to what you've heard mike, there'll be no jobs to fill soon IMHO, loads been let go, nothing but doom and gloom for the future

[VP8]

Hi PF

No barbies since the fire doors were alarmed!!

DT still OM

Ops being run 24/7 on a 9-5 staff (4 Bods) manning level, just brought one of the redundancees back on contract pay to cover!!!

Antonovman
Veeps, youve been spouting that for the last 3 years that i know of

As I've put in PM I'm outta there:sad:

H&P seem to have something else in the bag but the troops are being kept in the dark.

VEEPS

[Rapid_Climber]

Mike,

Gr8 pics of the old girl, thanks for posting them.

Veeps,

Thought you were going last month, I'm sure you'll get the nerve soon, I still can't believe that Mr. Hicks left rather than stay to end.

I myself was dropped at the end of Sept in last cut backs.
I am still in process of setting up, but hopefully I will be back on scene personally just before Xmas.

Still selling of lots of HLA and Antonov gear on Ebay so don't forget to bid.

[Jamesov Bondski]

Still no real change at AFH, but as usual the 2 Rons are still out for #1. Pace has still got the porcshe so can't be that bad for d'management.

[HalesAndPace]

It's not a bl^^ding Porsche, it's a bl%%dy Bentley!! You just can't get the staff! http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/otn/other/11doh.gif

[Engineer]

It's not a bl^^ding Porsche, it's a bl%%dy Bentley!! Not bad for a guy who used to be a shoe salesman

[VP8]

It's still a Hairdressers Porsche!!!:p If it's a Bentley Mr H+P then I'd get your eyes tested and check your wallet for overspend!!! :E

R.C. Just got the travel docs this morning so looking at sometime in the New Year.... :ok:

justa gotta learna da Italiano :)

VEEPS:D

[HalesAndPace]

But the nice car salesman chap assured me that I would be getting a Bentley for the money - do you mean to say that some salesmen tell lies? :eek:

VP8, what's with the need to learn Eyetalian - we haven't got any 124s impounded in Italy...... :\

[Engineer]

As an aside I saw an advert in FI looking for DC8 crews Contact Kevin Keegan at Heavylift International are H&P involved in that venture?

It looks as if HL will never die :)

[VP8]

H+P

Seen the light and pulling the handle moving to Italy with new job!!

VEEPS:E

[Rapid_Climber]

Good Luck Veeps,

If you can head any charter info this way to a fresh broker much appreciated.

Mike,

I have ordered a couple of the new Gemini wings An124, and have a rather nice collection of HLA Herpa/BBird Herc, IL76's and A300. I was never paid enough to be able to afford the metal HLA models of the Belfast and Guppy that are sold by the boys down at LHR.
Mine link is THIS ONE (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25434&item=2288124270&rd=1) but I do also have some nicely framed B&W 5x7 pics of the Belfast and CL44 that I have tried to sell on Ebay but no takers, I feel being in KC puts people off. Just about to put a nice line of Antonov shirts on there too so keep you eyes peeled.

H&P are involved in the DC8s that are in Middle East, but acft belong to Farhad and so is operation, they are just providing support at moment. You have to keep the coffers full to pay for these earlier mentioned company cars.

[HZ123]

I remember KK at STN in 1972 when they had an office on the terminal side of the airport opposite the 'new police station'. He must be getting on a bit surely.

[Fris B. Fairing]

There is a thread going on the Key Publishing forum seeking to identify the location in a photo of an RAF Belfast:

here (http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36562)

Surely someone here will know.

Cheers

[Fris B. Fairing]

A friend in Cairns tells me that 9L-LDQ has been based there since returning to Australia. He tells me that the aeroplane headed off to Medan last week, he understands to uplift water trucks to Banda Aceh. Certainly she has featured in the background of television news coverage of the disaster area. So her former keepers can be assured that she is one of many angels of mercy doing the good work.

Same friend is writing a magazine article on 9L-LDQ and he is having difficulty finding a photo of the aeroplane in its former incarnation as XR365 "Hector". Can anyone help?

Cheers

FBF corrected spelling of Banda Aceh

[magdrops]

VP8 - Are you there ?
Thought you might be the best one to confirm the rumour even though this is nothing to do with the Belfast....

Hear me old mate Captain Siddy Fish has been relieved of his duties with ADB. Cannot understand why ? The word that has been used is ''Simonised''. Great loss to the operation if this is true. He has obviously been under valued as In my experience a good team leader and very tough cookie when It came to getting the job done, getting value for money and argueing the toss to protect the pennies.

Lost contact with him some time ago. Believe he moved from Luton to Belgium but not so sure. From an old friend please pass on my best wishes.

[Yorky Towers]

Any chance one of you Belfast boys might ask Brian P to contact me? any way will do...PM or via here.

Many thanks
Yorky

[VP8]

Mags

Check yr PM's:ok:

VEEPS

[JW411]

Fris B. Fairing:

I have some Belfast photographs with a very similar background. They were taken at Labuan during Exercise "Tiger Balm" during which XR367, 368 and 369 flew 230 Squadron and their 11 Whirlwind helicopters back to UK in October, 1966.

The only difference is that my photos have Twin Pins in the background instead of Pigs.

Send me a PM and I might be able to find you a photo of "Silly Old Hector".