| Re: Very unusual aircraft Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 22:39, 12th September 2025 |     |
Picking up on the "one of the crew has family there" ...
One of my cousins, 'J', was in the British Army, flying military helicopters out of a base in Cornwall. On one occasion, apparently, he landed the helicopter on a headland on the north Cornwall coast very near to where my uncle has a cottage, and he and his crew then strolled over to enjoy an afternoon tea with him - quite unannounced.
I probably shouldn't post this in public, but 'J' isn't in the Army now - he's a Captain on passenger airline flights in the far east.
CfN.
| Re: Very unusual aircraft Posted by TonyK at 20:13, 12th September 2025 | |
Either way, it's a very logical route for an aircraft that wasn't built for extremes of altitude or speed. Flightradar24 shows
[/url]which avoids London airspace, keeps over land as much as possible, and staggering to the dizzying altitude of 2,200 feet for the bit over sea, to give as much room for handling emergencies as possible. Ironic really, given what it did in the Atlantic during WW2. I would guess that the circuit around Earley, near Reading, was because one of the crew has family there. There's a Squirrels Way inside that loop. Possibly similar near Warsash.
| Re: Very unusual aircraft Posted by CyclingSid at 05:55, 11th September 2025 | |
Might be connected to the recent death of the last WWII VC recipient https://www.forcesnews.com/heritage/wwii/last-surviving-ww2-vc-recipient-dies-aged-105-81-years-after-being-wounded-72-times
VC awarded for attacking and sinking a U-boat in the Norwegian Sea.
| Re: Very unusual aircraft Posted by Clan Line at 21:53, 10th September 2025 | |
I lived in Eastleigh many moons ago, the controllers at that time were dab hands at getting unusual aircraft in the vicinity to do a fly by at the airport, it seems to current crew are following in that path ................
| Re: Very unusual aircraft Posted by TonyK at 20:13, 10th September 2025 | |
Lovely photo, and a fascinating story in that link.
I was given an Airfix kit of a Catalina when I was about 8, which I've almost finished, and developed a fascination for the type. I've never seen one in the flesh, although I have been to Catalina Island, a very nice place. I see that particular aircraft is now in Jersey, where it did four 9-minute flights after arrival from Duxford yesterday afternoon. Alas, I have prior appointments.
| Very unusual aircraft Posted by Clan Line at 16:25, 10th September 2025 | |
I was sitting having a coffee at Southampton Airport yesterday, when this suddenly appeared - flying low and slow along the runway. I grabbed my camera and managed to get a couple of reasonable shots of it.
It didn't appear on FlightRadar24, so resorted to a web search - found it eventually. Never knew that this aircraft existed in the UK.
https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/catalina-flying-boat-gpbya-history-miss-pick-up
