Leeds Bradford: Aviation Nostalgia Thread

[Flying Yorkshireman]

Thank you White Heather for that detailed information. I think that the first 747 on 4th November 1984 though was actually G-AWND and the one for the promotional film was G-AWNO 'City of Durham.' G-AWND had no fewer than 4 names apparently, 'Christopher Marlowe,' 'Spirit of Yorkshire' for the Yorkshire Post charter on 4th November, 'City of Leeds' and finally 'Coniston Water' before being destroyed by the Iraqis at Kuwait on 27 February 1991.

 

[Starflyer]

Correct - the 747 on 4 November 1984 was G-AWND with the "Spirit of Yorkshire" name applied for the day. An all-LBA flight crew, with Mike Webster as Captain, Roger Greaves as F/O (whose dad instructed at Yorkshire Light for many years) and Barry Townley-Freeman (from Otley) as F/E. [Coincidentally, Roger and Barry were flying together on the BA9 volcanic ash four-engine flame-out incident with Captain Eric Moody in 1982.] Most of the cabin crew on the Yorkshire Post charters in November 1984 were also local, many of whom also worked in the BA Travel Shops in Leeds and Bradford at the time.

The aircraft which came later for the filming in the new Landor BA livery (probably 12 months afterwards) was G-AWNO and it was indeed Mike Webster flying. They were supposed to be going to Prestwick but the weather wasn't suitable so LBA it was.

After retiring from BA (the age for that being 55 at the time) then I also seem to remember Mike Webster arrived in a UAE 747SP for some crew training at LBA one day?

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Stan Greaves was the instructor at the flying club. What a gentleman.

 

[White Heather]

Thank you White Heather for that detailed information. I think that the first 747 on 4th November 1984 though was actually G-AWND and the one for the promotional film was G-AWNO 'City of Durham.' G-AWND had no fewer than 4 names apparently, 'Christopher Marlowe,' 'Spirit of Yorkshire' for the Yorkshire Post charter on 4th November, 'City of Leeds' and finally 'Coniston Water' before being destroyed by the Iraqis at Kuwait on 27 February 1991.

Yes it was. I thought I had typed ND but obviously my fingers had other ideas. I'd correct it but whilst wandering around Sainsbury's my window of opportunity to edit has gone. Thanks for spotting the typo.

Correct - the 747 on 4 November 1984 was G-AWND with the "Spirit of Yorkshire" name applied for the day. An all-LBA flight crew, with Mike Webster as Captain, Roger Greaves as F/O (whose dad instructed at Yorkshire Light for many years) and Barry Townley-Freeman (from Otley) as F/E. [Coincidentally, Roger and Barry were flying together on the BA9 volcanic ash four-engine flame-out incident with Captain Eric Moody in 1982.] Most of the cabin crew on the Yorkshire Post charters in November 1984 were also local, many of whom also worked in the BA Travel Shops in Leeds and Bradford at the time.

The aircraft which came later for the filming in the new Landor BA livery (probably 12 months afterwards) was G-AWNO and it was indeed Mike Webster flying. They were supposed to be going to Prestwick but the weather wasn't suitable so LBA it was.

After retiring from BA (the age for that being 55 at the time) then I also seem to remember Mike Webster arrived in a UAE 747SP for some crew training at LBA one day?

Yes the UAE 747SP was Mike Webster too. It seems to ring a bell that he was also flying the Air Hong Kong 747 too, though it might be my memory playing tricks.

 

[oldendays]

Yes it was. I thought I had typed ND but obviously my fingers had other ideas. I'd correct it but whilst wandering around Sainsbury's my window of opportunity to edit has gone. Thanks for spotting the typo.


Yes the UAE 747SP was Mike Webster too. It seems to ring a bell that he was also flying the Air Hong Kong 747 too, though it might be my memory playing tricks.

It was Mike Webster. He also did some type training on the UAE Boeing 707 at Leeds Bradford.

 

[Flying Yorkshireman]

Well here are the United Arab Emirates aircraft that Mike Webster apparently flew into LBA on crew training sorties. I have to confess that I wasn't present when the 747SP came in and someone else gave me a copy of the above photo. Please let me know if it was you, as it's a long time ago!

 

[tonysmith]

L

 

[White Heather]

L

Care to expand on your comment? 🙂

 

[tonysmith]

Trying to send a picture don’t know how the L got there 😎

 

[markietg]

Does anyone know if we had a season of flights to Palanga(PLQ) in Lithuania in 2015 with Ryanair? My mate is convinced we did but I can’t remember any flights to there.

 

[White Heather]

Does anyone know if we had a season of flights to Palanga(PLQ) in Lithuania in 2015 with Ryanair? My mate is convinced we did but I can’t remember any flights to there.

No. Never to my knowledge. We did have Kaunas, and of course Vilnius.

 

[Starflyer]

CAA data for 2015 and 2016 lists only Leeds Bradford-Vilnius as a route for either of those two years. The only point in the UK with a service to Palanga (well, one tracked by the CAA data) was Stansted, which began in 2016.

 

[White Heather]

CAA data for 2015 and 2016 lists only Leeds Bradford-Vilnius as a route for either of those two years. The only point in the UK with a service to Palanga (well, one tracked by the CAA data) was Stansted, which began in 2016.

Pretty sure Kaunas was several years earlier. Only one season probably before they started Vilnius

 

[Starflyer]

LBA-Kaunas shows up in the CAA figures for 2011 and 2012. A low passenger number in 2011 suggests a November 2011 start and running through to October 2012 - there are no figures recorded for the route in 2013, but LBA-Vilnius did make an appearance from late 2012 and into 2013. Looks as though they did LBA-KUN for a year and then switched it to LBA-VNO.

 

[Aviador]

Just pondering over years gone by and have just been wondering how busy LBA would be now if all the airlines we used to have were all still flying today. Imagine if say BMI ,Jersey European and Sebena were all still flying.

 

[Finger66]

Well that could mean Heathrow, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brussels and CDG all having some or better service than now. Even SOU, ABZ, EXT and NQY if you morph JEA into Flybe (who of course are twice gone). Quite frightening really although nowhere near the same domestic potential these days anyway. Missing BRU and CDG (other than LS) is criminal though

 

[LBA4EVER]

Just pondering over years gone by and have just been wondering how busy LBA would be now if all the airlines we used to have were all still flying today. Imagine if say BMI ,Jersey European and Sebena were all still flying.

You share the same thoughts as me on that one. Imagine if capital were on the go still! We would have jet2 for holiday and leisure and capital as our in house european and domestic biz link airline, and if capital were still flying i wonder what aicraft type they would be operating now, pos a mix of dash turboprop and e145/95 jets? One wonders!

 

[Finger66]

Well just before BZ's demise there was talk of an ATR42 for the GLA/BRS/CWL triangle, so suspect the turboprop fleet would be 42s and or 72s. Jet wise the 146s would of course be long gone by now so I would tend to agree that E195s would be a good bet. That said, they were quite an aggressive airline so wouldn't put it past being Airbus family, even possibly up to the 321. They were growing their markets really well. Brown Groups finances clearly have a lot to answer for!

 

[paully]

Well just before BZ's demise there was talk of an ATR42 for the GLA/BRS/CWL triangle, so suspect the turboprop fleet would be 42s and or 72s. Jet wise the 146s would of course be long gone by now so I would tend to agree that E195s would be a good bet. That said, they were quite an aggressive airline so wouldn't put it past being Airbus family, even possibly up to the 321. They were growing their markets really well. Brown Groups finances clearly have a lot to answer for!

Yes Capital were making money out of LBA on targeted routes with the very efficient 'Flying Shoeboxes '...well run and managed by Adrian Thompson, if I remember correctly..As you say Brown Group lapped up the profits but the rest of the empire dragged down the only bright spot it had ..

Can't help but wonder if Capital had survived and expanded whether Phil Meeson would have set up Jet2 and or gone into LBA?...
We can but speculate, which is often more fun.

 

[Finger66]

@paully you are probably right re Jet2. They saw a gap in the market that was there at the time, but was unlikely to be so had BZ still been around. Also agree how much fun it is to speculate. We shouldn't in any way knock what we now have at LBA, mainly thanks to LS but equally FR and W6 contributing nicely. EI seem to be growing BHD and DUB and KL always supportive re AMS - subject to Dutch govt of course! Wonder what this thread will be reminiscing about in 20 years time? Hope I am still around to find out