Aviation Nostalgia Thread

[Ray Finkle]

Sounds like this could be a good read.

Story of how Leeds Bradford Airport took off is published

The history of Yorkshire’s largest airport comes under the spotlight in a newly-released book.

Leeds-Bradford Airport Through Time traces the story from its early days as Yeadon Aerodrome in the 1930s, through the war years and to the present day.

Regular flights began from the airport in 1935, with a service to Newcastle, Edinburgh and London.

The airfield was used as a shadow factory during the war, and constructed almost 700 Lancaster bombers as well as almost 4,500 Avro Ansons.

Civil flights began again in 1974, and by 1978, regional airport status was granted on condition the runways were extended. The work on this began in 1982 and the new airport opened in 1984, with Wardair flying transatlantic to Canada.

Now in its ninth decade, the airport has continued to grow, with new terminal buildings and hangars.

Leeds-Bradford Airport Through Time is written by Alan Phillips, who was formerly in the RAF and was involved in acquiring exhibits for the RAF Museum in Hendon.

He is a member of the Airfield Research Group and has written several books on aviation.

In his latest tome, Mr Phillips said Yeadon aerodrome was planned from the outset for commercial flying with space for expansion, with 35 acres being acquired for an all-round landing strip and associated buildings.

“Even then some councillors doubted their decisions, as the area needed considerable work done to level the ground and install proper drainage. Being situated on a hill, the area was also prone to bad weather, which continued to plague the airport,” he said.

“Therefore, during the past 80 years or so, the airport has grown from a grassy uneven landing ground to an ultra-modern international airport. With proper investment and support from its owners, the councillors and local inhabitants, the airport will have a beneficial future.”

Leeds-Bradford Airport Though Time is published by Amberley and costs £14.99.

http://www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/new ... published/

 

[lbaspotter]

I'm taking a wild guess that this is actually a new revised updated version on Alan Phillips original book titled "Sixty Years of Leeds-Bradford Airport" which was released back in 1994 if I remember correctly as i have a copy of it. It covered the airports 60 year history up until the airport received its 24 hour operating licence..

Old version


New updated book

PS. I've just noticed you can buy the new updated book for £3 cheaper on the Guardian's bookshop website at £11.99 here http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781445606095

 

[White Heather]

I bought the original and was surprised to find a few inaccuracies in it. If the quote above is accurate, then there's another one, as civil flying obviously started at LBA long before 1974! I think 1954 would be closer to the mark, but there were certainly civil flights by 1957 operated (I think) by Silver City Airways DC3's mainly.

 

[Seasider]

Thanks for all the efforts and the answer (as far as my memory allows) is:
Dan AIr -HS748
Severn A/W - PA-23 Aztec, DH104 Dove
Metropolitan A/W - S330
Capital A/L - S360
Air Southwest DH3
Eastern A/W - J41/S2000/EM4
I don't think Knight Air, British A/W Express or Gill Air operated to BRS.

 

[lbaspotter]

Hi

You might be right about Gill Air but I’m sure I remember seeing them operate it for a short while back in the late 90's. I do know for a fact that British Airways Citi Express was running the Leeds/Bradford - Bristol route 2x daily along with services to Aberdeen, Southampton, Gatwick, Isle of Man & Dublin with 4x based BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft. That was until they announced that they were closing the airlines Leeds/Bradford base and combinding there 2 UK regional operations BA Cityflyer and BA Citi Express into the new look BA Connect in late 2002. Which also saw them get rid off the entire fleet of Jetstream 41 aircraft which was handed on a plate to Humberside based Eastern Airways.

Eastern Airways then picked up the Leeds/Bradford to Aberdeen, Southampton & Isle of Man routes while Dublin was already in competition against Ryanair whom got the route to themselves and have and it to themselves ever since. Meanwhile both the Gatwick & Bristol links were lost again for a period. Well that was until Air Southwest eventually picked up the Bristol service a few years later and then when flybe.com picked up the Gatwick route for which they operated for just 18 months with a Dash 8-Q400 after bmi british midland pulled the Heathrow service.

How ironic is it that the British Airways brand is coming back to Leeds-Bradford 12 years later. But this time been operated by there own aircraft and not a subsidiary like before?

 

[Aviador]

I seem to recall Gill operating Bristol for a time too? Has nobody got any old Air Supply timetables?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I can remember Air Southwest starting LBA-BRS in 2005, subsequently taken on by Eastern following their acquisition of ASW.

I couldn't remember any other scheduled LBA-BRS route in the 90s or between 2000 and 2004.

BA at BRS was Brymon initially (it had been wholly owned by BA since the early 90s). About ten years' ago Brymon and British Regional were merged to become BACitiexpress, subsequently BAConnect for a couple of years before it was merged into Flybe in 2007.

The BA franchisee at BRS was always a DH-8-300/ERJ 145 operator - no Jetstreams.

I checked my timetables back to 1997 and CAA stats back to 1990 and my memory seems to have been vindicated except for one thing.

CAA stats show that in 2002 over 3,000 scheduled passengers travelled between LBA and BRS. I have no record of this in my timetables and can't remember it. 2002 was the first year of BACitiexpress so maybe it was them.

Prior to 1990 my records are sparse though I do remember a Metropolitan operating the route in the early to mid 1980s, and something tells me it took over on the route from Dan Dare.

Capital certainly did the route for a shortish period in the late 1980s.

I can't remember Gill Air or Knight Air on the route at all.

 

[Malaga]

In 2002 Bristol was served by BRITISH AIRWAYS CITIEXPRESS starting 12/8/2002 but I do not have a finishing date but most likely at the the end of the summer timetable.
Twice daily Monday to friday and once on Sunday.

Regards

Malaga

 

[TheLocalYokel]

In 2002 Bristol was served by BRITISH AIRWAYS CITIEXPRESS starting 12/8/2002 but I do not have a finishing date but most likely at the the end of the summer timetable.
Twice daily Monday to friday and once on Sunday.

Many thanks, Malaga.

I guessed it might have been BACx.

I can't remember it but the fact that it only started in August and carried only just over 3,000 passengers that year suggest that you are right and it finished at the end of the summer season.

 

[48vanman]

Astraeus

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help jog my memory.I am trying to remember the year I first visited Gran Canaria.

All I can remember is that it was the first year that Astraeus had a based 737 at Leeds,I think for Thomson although that maybe wrong.

I also seem to recall flying Air 2000 from Leeds to Faro,is that possible or have I dreamed that? :dunno:

 

[Malaga]

The Astraeus 737 first appeared, as far as I know, in 2003 for charter work.

The Air 2000 did operate in 2003 to Faro, flight AMM639C/D 1305/1420.

Regards

Malaga

 

[48vanman]

Thanks for the info Malaga,I'm not cracking up altogether then!.

I seem to recall we went out on the first Air 2000 flight of the season,April?.

Did Astraeus operate for more than one year,because I went to Gran Canaria in May so it wouldn't have been the same year as I went to Portugal.Don't think it was 2004 because I went to Florida for my 40th.

I really wish I had kept some kind of journal of all the flights I have taken over the years.

 

[LUFC Jonno]

I think Astraeus kept an aircraft at Leeds until 2006. I can recall them having a flight to Gran Canaria delayed when I flew to Ibiza with Thomson.

 

[lbaspotter]

Astraeus LBA ops went something like the following if I remember correctly.

Summer 2003 = 1x weekly Malaga, B737-700 for Planetair/Leeds co-op travel
Summer 2004 = 1x weekly Malta, B737-700 for Malta Bargains
Winter 2005/06 = 1x weekly Chambery, B737-700 for Thomson Holidays
Base opens = May 1st 2005
Summer 2005 = 1x based Boeing 737-300 to operate for My Travel plus visits of several leased flybe B737-300's on the Exeter route.
Winter 2005/06 = 1x weekly Chambery flight for Thomson Holidays & 1x weekly Banjul for Gambian Experience for a 4 week period in February-March 2004.
Summer 2006 = 1x based Boeing 737-700 to operate for My Travel Holidays & also a 1x weekly trip to Funchal for Atlantic Holidays, Also a weekly charter to Taba in Egypt was planned but soon dropped before it even started.
Base Closed = Nov 1st 2006 due to losing Thomas Cook work to bmi british midland in summer 2007

 

[Malaga]

48vanman, it must have been 2005 then!

To jog your memory then flight AEU967/8 to Las Palmas departed 2015 Sat (late!) and arrived Sun 0600 (very early!). You should remember horrible flight times such as those.

Regards

Malaga

 

[Seasider]

LBA - BRS
I have trawled thro' my timetables from Summer 1994 (if you need any earlier I will have to go in the cockloft) and there weren't any services until Gill Air were to operate from November 1999. This was when BMA had taken over the LBA/GLA route from Gill Airand they had abased a/c at LBA. I don't know how long it lasted, but I believe Gill Air went bust around this time and it wasn't flown in summer 2000.
British A/W Citiexpress flew J41 from 12 August 2002 as an extension of the ABZ service. The aircraft operated LBA-ABZ-LBA-BRS-LBA-ABZ-LBA. It was down for winter 2002/3 but finished in March 2003 when Eastern took over the BA Citiexpress routes at LBA.

 

[48vanman]

lbaspotter-thanks for the comprehensive reply,is your real name mr memory?.

malaga-yes 2005 does seem likely!.

Does anybody know if there is anywhere that lists LBA charter flights over the years with destination/airline/aircraft?.

Going off at a tangent,as I mentioned earlier I used to live in Cookridge with a view of the runway.I recall watching Dan Air 1-11's literally rolling off the end of runway 14,and labouring into the air,those were the days!.

 

[White Heather]

48VANMAN, you asked about Air2000 operating to Faro? You may be interested to know that Air 2000 operated to Faro from LBA as far back as 25 years ago - 1987 to be precise, using a Boeing 757 which was pretty new to the airport (and the skies) in those days. I actually flew with Air 2000 on the Thursday before the 'Great Storm' hit Britain the following day - the one Michael Fish said didn't exist. So that was 25 years ago this Thursday. I had the holiday from hell with 2 weeks of rain and gales on the Algarve and flew back to LBA on the final flight from FAO of that summer season. As far as I recall, they continued to operate the route on Thursdays for some years. Later they changed their livery from red/gold to blue and then became part of First Choice Holidays. In fact I believe that Thursday Faro flight operated pretty much unbroken from LBA until TUi got hold of First Choice and instantly axed it after so many years.

I believe that in 1987 the flight I booked on was operating for Arrowsmith Travel, although I may be mistaken. I suspect Air2000 was actually Arrowsmith's in house airline to start with. Its a long time back. Some years after the route was operated by an A320 and if you look in my Nostalgia thread photos, there's a picture of it somewhere, as well as the Air2000 Boeing 757. The original 2 757's they operated were registered G-OOOA and G-OOOB.

Hope that helps

 

[48vanman]

Thanks for the info White Heather.

I'm sure it was an Air 2000 A320 that I flew on from Leeds to Faro,but I can't remember what year it was!.

 

[48vanman]

Dave Simpson Travel

Does anybody remember the flights that were operated by Bradford based Dave Simpson Travel?.Seem to recall a Spantax 737 operating flights to Malaga was it?.