Random Stuff!

[Ray Finkle]

Yes, Mr Prescott was not happy about Birmingham building the tallest tower outside of London and duly put a block on it.

What ever happened to the Regal Tower proposal?

 

[Brum X]

Yes, Mr Prescott was not happy about Birmingham building the tallest tower outside of London and duly put a block on it.

What ever happened to the Regal Tower proposal?

The Regal tower proposal was always going to be a hard one to get out of the ground as it was proposed in the middle of the financial crash in 2008. We all had our doubts about that 200 metre tower getting built, nobody was even building in the regions back then. We have a new proposal now on this site which is due to start very soon, nothing on the scale of a 200metre tower, however it gets another surface car park and the rundown bit of broad street redevloped which has to be a good thing.

It will now be a 70ish metre apartment block next to an 55ish metre hotel which i believe will be an Innside (Part of spanish hotel group Melia) so a good quality operator. Broad street not doing too bad as the new Park regis has just opened. Should liven this area up a bit.

 

[richard winterbourn]

Skyscrapers?, try flying into Sao Paulo Congonhas. The skyscrapers are so tall that when you are landing between them you can see what the Paulistas are eating for their supper. Hairy or what!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Changing track slightly but still on heights.

Has everybody viewed this?

 

[wolfheze]

This had me shaking my head saying no, no,no.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

They both make my knees go all wobbly. How those guys in the US in the 1930's built those skyscrapers, I'll never know. Walking along girders, hundreds of feet up with no tether .

Kevin

 

[JENNYJET]

A couple of items if I may be so bold. I thought there was a Nostalgic thread but since signing up to join, the Entire forum is different, I had to trawl e-space to find you again...Anyway......1:

Anyone recall being on the grass by the fence where the Freeport now resides? The place I watched the Viscounts and the then rare 1-11s were woken up not forgetting the BMA DC-9s! This was where there was a small hut and a table market where one could purchase books, badges and patches, pictures and postcards of aircraft and if Lucky, some gentleman would have an icecream wagon for us to indulge.

This was the place where I first saw Concorde in the fog and it not visable from that spot when it departed.

Anyway, it was my regular walks along the fences at Hatchfood Brook Golf Course where the Air India B707, the Cyprus Airways B720 and the BMA 707 entertained me with the smoky engines and that glorious din not forgetting the Aer Lingus B737-200 and Ryanair BAC 1-11, oh there is much more but cannot forget seeing WARDAIR DC-10 take off and marvel at the climb rate that still defies belief!

2:

Going back to the grassy bit by the fence, is there someone somewhere with possession of the ear of Messr's Keyhoe et al that can organise a functional, safe, secure and potentially beneficial area on the airport site for the people, wellwishers, spotters, students and heckl, even journalists to congregate for the only purpose of enjoyment of aviation?

If Manchester can manage something, why not Birmingham? Forgive me but using car parks and hotel rooms is disrespectful. My flying life and long life interest in aviation and BHX was because of that little bit of grass handed over to that little flying club and I remain eternally grateful! By way of perspective, I was 7 yrs old, now close to 57....hey hum such is life.

 

[JENNYJET]

Sorry, 17 not 7 years....apologies again as my mind 3 sherries into to evening!!!

 

[JENNYJET]

Yes, Mr Prescott was not happy about Birmingham building the tallest tower outside of London and duly put a block on it.

What ever happened to the Regal Tower proposal?

Hello, I read somewhere not so log ago that there is a height limit for buildings in Birmingham owing to the need to allow an unobstructed approach from all directions into the airport. Given the airfield is relatively close to the city and the prevailing winds favour R33, it is seemingly open for debate.

My regular visits to west London suggests also that the favoured runways are well away from the City and the towers whilst no hazards exist West of the airport.

 

[Brum X]

Hello, I read somewhere not so log ago that there is a height limit for buildings in Birmingham owing to the need to allow an unobstructed approach from all directions into the airport. Given the airfield is relatively close to the city and the prevailing winds favour R33, it is seemingly open for debate.

My regular visits to west London suggests also that the favoured runways are well away from the City and the towers whilst no hazards exist West of the airport.

The day Birmingham has a 200 metre tower proposal then some kind of limit may be imposed, however we dont have any such towers planned at the moment. The ones that we do have planned for the city centre will all be less than 150metres so these will be fine.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Anyone recall being on the grass by the fence where the Freeport now resides? The place I watched the Viscounts and the then rare 1-11s were woken up not forgetting the BMA DC-9s! This was where there was a small hut and a table market where one could purchase books, badges and patches, pictures and postcards of aircraft and if Lucky, some gentleman would have an icecream wagon for us to indulge.

I recall the area between the terminal building and the A45. We used to hang around there occasionally, but my main memory of it was a dumpling ground for old equipment and particularly old airline seats.

I actually flew on a BMA DC-9-15 from BHX to LHR. My Dad was giving a friend a lift to Heathrow and I managed to persuade him to drop me off at BHX. I bought a standby ticket for what was meant to be a Viscount flight. That aircraft went tech and was substituted with the DC-9. After the initial climb, full power was applied and the aircraft went into a steep climb. Very shortly afterwards, a Britannia 737-200 passed below us (not very much below us) right to left'

I remember there was another lad about my age sitting a couple of rows in front of me. When I got to the top of the car park at Heathrow to meet my Dad, I saw the same lad there. He'd done exactly the same as me, booking a standby ticket and meeting his Dad at Heathrow.

Anyway, it was my regular walks along the fences at Hatchfood Brook Golf Course where the Air India B707, the Cyprus Airways B720 and the BMA 707 entertained me with the smoky engines and that glorious din not forgetting the Aer Lingus B737-200 and Ryanair BAC 1-11, oh there is much more but cannot forget seeing WARDAIR DC-10 take off and marvel at the climb rate that still defies belief!

Yes, I remember all of those along with CPAir DC-8's, BCAL and JAT 707's as well as the regular Wardair 747's.
I was on the grass viewing area (the new side) one day awaiting the Wardair flight (which turned out to be a DC-10) and there was a film crew present. They were from either BBC or ITV Midland news to film the 747. They recorded sound from my airband radio, but were very disappointed it wasn't the 747. I can't recall if it was ever used on TV.

Going back to the grassy bit by the fence, is there someone somewhere with possession of the ear of Messr's Keyhoe et al that can organise a functional, safe, secure and potentially beneficial area on the airport site for the people, wellwishers, spotters, students and heckl, even journalists to congregate for the only purpose of enjoyment of aviation?

There's a whole thread dedicated to that -

http://www.forums4airports.com/threads/2313/

Kevin

 

[wolfheze]

A couple of items if I may be so bold. I thought there was a Nostalgic thread but since signing up to join, the Entire forum is different, I had to trawl e-space to find you again...Anyway......1:

Anyone recall being on the grass by the fence where the Freeport now resides? The place I watched the Viscounts and the then rare 1-11s were woken up not forgetting the BMA DC-9s! This was where there was a small hut and a table market where one could purchase books, badges and patches, pictures and postcards of aircraft and if Lucky, some gentleman would have an icecream wagon for us to indulge.

This was the place where I first saw Concorde in the fog and it not visable from that spot when it departed.

Anyway, it was my regular walks along the fences at Hatchfood Brook Golf Course where the Air India B707, the Cyprus Airways B720 and the BMA 707 entertained me with the smoky engines and that glorious din not forgetting the Aer Lingus B737-200 and Ryanair BAC 1-11, oh there is much more but cannot forget seeing WARDAIR DC-10 take off and marvel at the climb rate that still defies belief!

2:

Going back to the grassy bit by the fence, is there someone somewhere with possession of the ear of Messr's Keyhoe et al that can organise a functional, safe, secure and potentially beneficial area on the airport site for the people, wellwishers, spotters, students and heckl, even journalists to congregate for the only purpose of enjoyment of aviation?

If Manchester can manage something, why not Birmingham? Forgive me but using car parks and hotel rooms is disrespectful. My flying life and long life interest in aviation and BHX was because of that little bit of grass handed over to that little flying club and I remain eternally grateful! By way of perspective, I was 7 yrs old, now close to 57....hey hum such is life.

Do you mean the area at the end of the apron with the wall and glass/perspex windows? I had actually forgotten about that until I came across a photo taken from there of I think a CPAir DC8. Did you get to it from a Rd that ran down by the fuel farm?
We were regulars to the old terminal in the mid to late 70s so around the same time as yourself but I think only went to the open air viewing area on a handful of occasions, the viewing lounge being our place of choice to spend hours reading flight international and aircraft illustrated, drinking coffee from the machine in departures and if we were lucky see an aeroplane or two. I can remember we were quite often the last people in the viewing lounge at night in the winter and how frustrating it was having to leave at 10.20 to catch the last bus.

 

[wolfheze]

You've jogged my memory talking about the 737 passing you. My first flight was on a Viscount when I was three so around 1965. Despite my interest in aviation I didn't fly again until 1988 when i flew to Pula on a JAT DC9. To say I was apprehensive was a bit of an understatement but I had to act like the cool knowledgeable type in front of my fairly new girlfriend. After I'd recovered from take off the flight had gone relatively smoothly. I had decided to employ some reverse pchycology and brought a book called 10 worst aviation disasters to read on the flight, I had just finished the chapter about the Trident / Inex Adria DC 9 collision over Zagreb when I looked out of the window just in time to see a Nato marked AWACS flash past in the other direction, It was more than likely at a safe distance but seemed b****y close to me. The book was immediately put back in the hand luggage!

 

[richard winterbourn]

As i mentioned in an earlier post my first flight was to Faro in a BAC1-11 with 'Deadly Doug's' MATO the nimonic which i think stood for Midland Air Tours Operator and for reading in flight my wife had also bought me the magazine '10 Worst Airline Disasters'.

I was perfectly ok with it and enjoyed the reading until the flight home and we were bussed to our waiting plane - a Comet!!!! I quickly re-read the article on the Comet disasters and was mightily relieved to see that the plane we were on did NOT have square windows.

Postscript: Two years later when visiting my brother in Shirley i walked to the nearby shops and passing a church and cemetery on the way happened to look over the wall at the gravestones. And there, almost unbelievably, there was a gravestone to an air hostess who had died in the Comet disaster over, i think it was, Cyprus.

How strange is that?

 

[wolfheze]

Think that was probably the BEA comet taken down by a bomb in 67 en route to Cyprus from Athens.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

When we were bored on a quiet day, we used to try to watch one of the pay-tv's in the waiting area for gate 5.

 

[wolfheze]

Where was gate 5? What I can remember was when you came through the sliding doors to your left was the short tunnel which took you into the departure lounge, (was the carpet dark grey or brown with orange sofa's? ) on the right was the information desk with the arrivals and departure boards behind it, were there some toilets next to it? To the far right was a arrivals/departure (was that just for domestic) gate and a car hire desk while in front of you to the right and along the wall on the left were check in desks? As you walked towards the restaurant with the curved windows you passed the newsagents on the right where we would buy our magazines, postcards and sweets for the day. I have scoured the net for pictures but have only found two so if someone has any please put them up

 

[Jon Dempsey]

Where was gate 5? What I can remember was when you came through the sliding doors to your left was the short tunnel which took you into the departure lounge, (was the carpet dark grey or brown with orange sofa's? ) on the right was the information desk with the arrivals and departure boards behind it, were there some toilets next to it? To the far right was a arrivals/departure (was that just for domestic) gate and a car hire desk while in front of you to the right and along the wall on the left were check in desks? As you walked towards the restaurant with the curved windows you passed the newsagents on the right where we would buy our magazines, postcards and sweets for the day. I have scoured the net for pictures but have only found two so if someone has any please put them up

That was the area where the TV's were. All International departures went from gate 5.

Do you remember baggage reclaim !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wolfheze]

I have got a very vague memory of a TV in the lounge with the orange seats but don't remember trying to use it. Did use the coffee machine a lot though. You will need to remind me where baggage reclaim was, after 40 years it's hard to picture exactly how it was.

 

[wolfheze]

Latest addition to the diecast collection.
Served at bhx from 1971 to the early nineties View attachment 3145