TheLocalYokel
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Reading another forum's post about pleasure flights reminded me that when I was at school at Weston-super-Mare in the 1950s Weston Airport, although I think we knew it as Weston Airfield, was still open and they used to advertise pleasure flights around the bay for 7 shillings and 6 'old' pence (37.5 pence in today's money although inflation would have intruded since then).
In those days I had zero interest in aviation so have no idea what type of aircraft was used. Some of my schoolmates and I determined to go up one day but I never did. I never learned if any of the others did.
Incidentally, Weston Airport was reputedly one end of the busiest air routes in the world for a very brief period in the inter-war years (I suspect as measured by movements, not passenger numbers). The route was to Cardiff (Pengam Moors) which was no more than a short hop across the Severn estuary at the point where it becomes the Bristol Channel. The route was certainly extremely popular, especially for holidaymakers in peak summer when it was a shuttle operation, but whether it really lived up to the title of busiest in the world or anywhere near it I somehow doubt.
The Weston Airfield site is slowly being redeveloped into housing, leisure and industrial units although one aviation link still remains - the Weston Helicopter Museum.
Much later in life I did manage some pleasure flights, including flying on an Air Atlantique DC3 (Dakota) in 1985 from BRS. This airline used to operate pleasure trips from a number of airports. My 30-minute ride took us south to overhead Cheddar, then to Weston, up the Severn estuary coast off Clevedon and Portishead before flying over the middle of Bristol and returning to BRS.
Going a bit further afield but still in the West Country my daughter once got me a pleasure trip in a glider at Nympsfield near Stroud, the home of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Gliding Club. We were towed up by a powered aircraft and spent a delightful 45 minutes riding the thermals off the Cotswold ridge near the River Severn.
After she and her family had moved to Australia over ten years ago she surprised me on one of our visits by driving us to the nearby 'airport' - Torquay (not the Devon one) on Victoria's Great Ocean Road - which was no more than a field with basic facilities although the owners possessed several aircraft of various sizes for pleasure trips. I was introduced to my mount and pilot, a young lad in his early 20s. My steed was a de Havilland Tiger Moth and I enjoyed a wonderful flight along part of the Great Ocean Road coast. As with the glider I was seated in front of the pilot. That was an interesting experience, especially with the glider as the landing approach has to be flown steeply to prevent stalling.
A footnote to my trip was that a few years later our daughter sent us a link to the local Torquay, Victoria newspaper that contained a report and pictures of a Tiger Moth that had encountered a problem and landed on one of the many beaches in the area. Fortunately no-one was hurt and the aircraft was undamaged, but a check of the press picture showed it was the very aircraft I had flown in (I have a CD of my trip provided by the aircraft operators so was able to confirm the aircraft registration).
Anyone else got any pleasure trip memories? -Doesn't have to be BRS-related but if they are that would be good.
In those days I had zero interest in aviation so have no idea what type of aircraft was used. Some of my schoolmates and I determined to go up one day but I never did. I never learned if any of the others did.
Incidentally, Weston Airport was reputedly one end of the busiest air routes in the world for a very brief period in the inter-war years (I suspect as measured by movements, not passenger numbers). The route was to Cardiff (Pengam Moors) which was no more than a short hop across the Severn estuary at the point where it becomes the Bristol Channel. The route was certainly extremely popular, especially for holidaymakers in peak summer when it was a shuttle operation, but whether it really lived up to the title of busiest in the world or anywhere near it I somehow doubt.
The Weston Airfield site is slowly being redeveloped into housing, leisure and industrial units although one aviation link still remains - the Weston Helicopter Museum.
Much later in life I did manage some pleasure flights, including flying on an Air Atlantique DC3 (Dakota) in 1985 from BRS. This airline used to operate pleasure trips from a number of airports. My 30-minute ride took us south to overhead Cheddar, then to Weston, up the Severn estuary coast off Clevedon and Portishead before flying over the middle of Bristol and returning to BRS.
Going a bit further afield but still in the West Country my daughter once got me a pleasure trip in a glider at Nympsfield near Stroud, the home of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Gliding Club. We were towed up by a powered aircraft and spent a delightful 45 minutes riding the thermals off the Cotswold ridge near the River Severn.
After she and her family had moved to Australia over ten years ago she surprised me on one of our visits by driving us to the nearby 'airport' - Torquay (not the Devon one) on Victoria's Great Ocean Road - which was no more than a field with basic facilities although the owners possessed several aircraft of various sizes for pleasure trips. I was introduced to my mount and pilot, a young lad in his early 20s. My steed was a de Havilland Tiger Moth and I enjoyed a wonderful flight along part of the Great Ocean Road coast. As with the glider I was seated in front of the pilot. That was an interesting experience, especially with the glider as the landing approach has to be flown steeply to prevent stalling.
A footnote to my trip was that a few years later our daughter sent us a link to the local Torquay, Victoria newspaper that contained a report and pictures of a Tiger Moth that had encountered a problem and landed on one of the many beaches in the area. Fortunately no-one was hurt and the aircraft was undamaged, but a check of the press picture showed it was the very aircraft I had flown in (I have a CD of my trip provided by the aircraft operators so was able to confirm the aircraft registration).
Anyone else got any pleasure trip memories? -Doesn't have to be BRS-related but if they are that would be good.