Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2014 0:21:33 GMT 1
Recent banter on the forum about the newspaper flights from Speke made me realise that many forum members probably haven't a clue what we're on about. As one who was involved with both the back and front end of this operation over a number of years, I thought it might be of interest to some readers to explain the background to this and what used to happen.
Back in the early 60s there was a large newspaper printing industry in Manchester. Most of the big circulation newspapers had two editions, one printed in the north, the other in the south; such was the power of the northern press that the Guardian was originally known as The Manchester Guardian. The national daily papers for Ireland north and south were flown from Manchester. Those for the IOM were flown from Liverpool on the morning Cambrian freighter.
'The Sunday Papers' were an important part of life in those days. No internet, no celebrity magazines, only religious programmes on Sunday morning TV and anyway, 'The Sundays' would be full of exposures and gossip which the TV stations wouldn't touch, so they were eagerly anticipated. Ireland was no different from the UK in that respect, except that powerful religious considerations meant that the Eire editions were censored and would not carry some of the more salacious gossip covered in the UK editions. The newspapers which were regularly lifted were The People, The Sunday Express, The News of the World and the Times. The Sunday Mirror, the other big paper at the time, was printed in Belfast. The drivers who brought the papers would bring 'vouchers' - free copies of the (UK edition) papers - which were eagerly anticipated!
The Saturday night paper uplift originally ran from Manchester, but the airport got busier and there were constant works taking place in the operational areas, so it was decided to move the operation to Speke. They were brought by road from the printing works in the centre of town. No security considerations in those days, so the trucks were driven straight onto the apron. The bundles would then be unloaded onto the aircraft by a rag-tag bunch of casual labourers who turned up on a Saturday night to earn a few extra bob. Several of them, including myself, are still on the forum! The newspapers were arranged in priorities, because the vehicles would come from as far away as Tralee, Dingle, Killarney and Cork to collect them. Tralee is as far from Dublin as London is from Liverpool, so it was quite a drive! Obviously the papers for the southern counties of Eire went out first and woe betide all concerned if the priorities were shipped out of order! However, if the weather in Dublin was below limits for the return, they would divert to Shannon and the priorities would have to be reconsidered. All this was co-ordinated by a company called Higgs Air Agency. As we know, the weather at Speke is normally very reliable, but on a couple of occasions, poor weather meant that we had to decamp to Squires Gate. This would cause chaos, because the lorries would be late arriving, some of the temporary loading staff did not want to travel and there was much less ground equipment, such as ground power units, available.
On Friday afternoons a timetable of the operation would be issued, though in practical terms it was more of a guide than a confirmation. This would indicate the timings, the flight numbers and the registrations of the aircraft, but was very much subject to change. At 1800 sharp on Saturday evenings there would be a call from Aer Lingus ops in Dublin to confirm or amend the printed programme. The operation relied upon the aircraft returning on time from their trips to the Continent earlier in the day and the weather being good enough for them to return to Dublin, have the seats taken out and fly empty to Speke, although occasionally there would be 500 kg of mushrooms on board. Initially, DC-3s were used, followed by F-27s and ultimately Viscounts. However, if one of the Viscounts had gone u/s or they were late back from their 'day out' an Aer Turas DC-4 would be called in to fill the gap. If all else failed a Carvair would be used, but the high sill meant that the papers had to be loaded onto a scissor-lift by hand and then re-loaded onto the aircraft. As far as I remember, the 1-11s were never used for this operation.
One situation which could upset the whole programme was 'breaking news'. If it was sufficiently important, the front page would be held and the whole operation would be delayed. The middle pages which contained the scandal stories would have been printed during the week but the front and back pages were only put together once the sports results and reports were in and the headlines had been decided upon. Generally, the number of pages varied very little and thus the weight of the uplift was usually predictable, which helped a lot with the weight and balance calculations! However, I seem to remember that it hit a peak on the night of 30th July 1966 when the papers were late because of the extra time which had to be played to ensure the win and were of course bigger than usual. The total uplift that night was more than 50 tons.
Eventually, the whole operation was moved to Squires Gate. As the Viscounts were replaced by 737s, Aer Lingus found other uses for them, the costs of running the operation increased significantly and Higgs brought in Air Bridge Carriers based at Castle Donington. The whole system was changed and the uplift was done using Vanguards and Argosies. The loads were significantly lower than they had been from Speke and by the late 70s, newspapers had become victims of the economic situation and the introduction of electronic typesetting, together with gradually reducing newspaper circulation, meant that the uplift became uneconomical. As far as I am aware, the operation was completely unique. I am not aware – and I have checked where I can – of a similar operation anywhere else in the world.
This has been compiled entirely from memory which, after 50+ years, may not be totally reliable. Any errors or omissions are my own and I would welcome comments/corrections/recollections from other forum members, whatever their age!
Back in the early 60s there was a large newspaper printing industry in Manchester. Most of the big circulation newspapers had two editions, one printed in the north, the other in the south; such was the power of the northern press that the Guardian was originally known as The Manchester Guardian. The national daily papers for Ireland north and south were flown from Manchester. Those for the IOM were flown from Liverpool on the morning Cambrian freighter.
'The Sunday Papers' were an important part of life in those days. No internet, no celebrity magazines, only religious programmes on Sunday morning TV and anyway, 'The Sundays' would be full of exposures and gossip which the TV stations wouldn't touch, so they were eagerly anticipated. Ireland was no different from the UK in that respect, except that powerful religious considerations meant that the Eire editions were censored and would not carry some of the more salacious gossip covered in the UK editions. The newspapers which were regularly lifted were The People, The Sunday Express, The News of the World and the Times. The Sunday Mirror, the other big paper at the time, was printed in Belfast. The drivers who brought the papers would bring 'vouchers' - free copies of the (UK edition) papers - which were eagerly anticipated!
The Saturday night paper uplift originally ran from Manchester, but the airport got busier and there were constant works taking place in the operational areas, so it was decided to move the operation to Speke. They were brought by road from the printing works in the centre of town. No security considerations in those days, so the trucks were driven straight onto the apron. The bundles would then be unloaded onto the aircraft by a rag-tag bunch of casual labourers who turned up on a Saturday night to earn a few extra bob. Several of them, including myself, are still on the forum! The newspapers were arranged in priorities, because the vehicles would come from as far away as Tralee, Dingle, Killarney and Cork to collect them. Tralee is as far from Dublin as London is from Liverpool, so it was quite a drive! Obviously the papers for the southern counties of Eire went out first and woe betide all concerned if the priorities were shipped out of order! However, if the weather in Dublin was below limits for the return, they would divert to Shannon and the priorities would have to be reconsidered. All this was co-ordinated by a company called Higgs Air Agency. As we know, the weather at Speke is normally very reliable, but on a couple of occasions, poor weather meant that we had to decamp to Squires Gate. This would cause chaos, because the lorries would be late arriving, some of the temporary loading staff did not want to travel and there was much less ground equipment, such as ground power units, available.
On Friday afternoons a timetable of the operation would be issued, though in practical terms it was more of a guide than a confirmation. This would indicate the timings, the flight numbers and the registrations of the aircraft, but was very much subject to change. At 1800 sharp on Saturday evenings there would be a call from Aer Lingus ops in Dublin to confirm or amend the printed programme. The operation relied upon the aircraft returning on time from their trips to the Continent earlier in the day and the weather being good enough for them to return to Dublin, have the seats taken out and fly empty to Speke, although occasionally there would be 500 kg of mushrooms on board. Initially, DC-3s were used, followed by F-27s and ultimately Viscounts. However, if one of the Viscounts had gone u/s or they were late back from their 'day out' an Aer Turas DC-4 would be called in to fill the gap. If all else failed a Carvair would be used, but the high sill meant that the papers had to be loaded onto a scissor-lift by hand and then re-loaded onto the aircraft. As far as I remember, the 1-11s were never used for this operation.
One situation which could upset the whole programme was 'breaking news'. If it was sufficiently important, the front page would be held and the whole operation would be delayed. The middle pages which contained the scandal stories would have been printed during the week but the front and back pages were only put together once the sports results and reports were in and the headlines had been decided upon. Generally, the number of pages varied very little and thus the weight of the uplift was usually predictable, which helped a lot with the weight and balance calculations! However, I seem to remember that it hit a peak on the night of 30th July 1966 when the papers were late because of the extra time which had to be played to ensure the win and were of course bigger than usual. The total uplift that night was more than 50 tons.
Eventually, the whole operation was moved to Squires Gate. As the Viscounts were replaced by 737s, Aer Lingus found other uses for them, the costs of running the operation increased significantly and Higgs brought in Air Bridge Carriers based at Castle Donington. The whole system was changed and the uplift was done using Vanguards and Argosies. The loads were significantly lower than they had been from Speke and by the late 70s, newspapers had become victims of the economic situation and the introduction of electronic typesetting, together with gradually reducing newspaper circulation, meant that the uplift became uneconomical. As far as I am aware, the operation was completely unique. I am not aware – and I have checked where I can – of a similar operation anywhere else in the world.
This has been compiled entirely from memory which, after 50+ years, may not be totally reliable. Any errors or omissions are my own and I would welcome comments/corrections/recollections from other forum members, whatever their age!