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Post by acklington on Nov 19, 2017 9:58:20 GMT 1
Those black and white runway marker boards were probably low visibility distance measuring 'equipment'.
Similar at the IOM Airport until early 1990s. In low visibility a fire crew was sent out to the end of the active runway and had to report (to ATC) how many marker boards they could see.
They were eventually classed as a hazard, and were replaced with more sophisticated equipment.
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Post by viscount on Nov 19, 2017 10:03:27 GMT 1
G-AMOE, more early than mid '60s. BEA handed over its Irish Sea routes to Cambrian March '63 and closed down its Liverpool Station. In 1964 the first visit by G-AMOE was delivery at the very end of March to British Eagle at Liverpool, in full British Eagle scheme, with Starways titles. Photo is most likely pre end of March 1963.
Great photo - I always feel the 'red square' scheme both bold and distinctive while very simple. In heat haze the tiny tail top regns were a swine to read-off at a larger airport!
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Post by Samba on Nov 19, 2017 10:25:19 GMT 1
Thank you oh wise one, i will date the accordingly. Bob.
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Post by ronturner on Nov 19, 2017 11:52:59 GMT 1
Still experimenting with my new toy. just spent many frustrating minutes trying to take a dust mark out of a cloud, only to discover the mark is on my monitor . !!! Anyway, I chose this photo because I like the subject. Not the best but its better than I started with. Cambrian DC-3 G-ALXL July 1963. For somebody that posted on another part of the forum a few days ago these are the machines that plied to and from Jersey/ Guernsey. Notice the flag in the signals square. I doubt if large airports like Liverpool actually have these today. Anybody? G-ALXL DC-3 July 1963 H by Ron Edwards, on Flickr
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2017 13:12:18 GMT 1
I certainly haven't seen them for many years, even at GA airfields. iirc the chequered flag basically meant 'ops normal', but I stand to be corrected. There was also a white T-bar, mounted on castors, which indicated which runway was in use in what as Ron says was called the signals square. Looks like a brisk northerly was blowing at the time, so probably 35 (behind the radar scanner on the left of the photo) was the runway in use that day!
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Post by ronturner on Nov 19, 2017 13:52:37 GMT 1
From my 1962 booklet of Air navigational Aids, you can see what the red/Yellow Chequered flag was for. The "T" was always displayed. I seem to remember the RH circuit being in force from time to time. Certainly the black ball was used sometimes and I also seem to remember the white dumbbell too. 2017-11-19 001 0011962 Shell?BP book of aeronautival signals by Ron Edwards, on Flickr
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2017 14:13:41 GMT 1
Aha! I used to have one of those, but it disappeared long ago! Yes, that answers the questions, Ron,although I don't remember flares or Aldis lamps being used very often,if at all, apart from to scare the birds. The white dumbell was often in evidence, but I know that Harry Patterson used to use the grass a lot, presumably after clearing it with ATC! He reckoned his tyres lasted longer and he may have had a point!
I can't remember now, but I imagine the black dumbbell would be displayed on the (rare!) days when there was no wind but it was clear and VFR/VMC was in force and ATC would advise as to the appropriate landing runway.
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Post by ronturner on Nov 19, 2017 14:52:16 GMT 1
The Aldis lamps were used on rare incidences. I remember somebody had a radio failure in one of the Colts and the tower were flashing white at him (Return to starting point) but the message was clearly not understood. Afterwards, Ron Irvine, the CFI gave us all a talking to in the rather severe way he had of doing things.
Another time , I was just on one of my pre test solo jaunts in a Colt, over the Wirral/ Hilbury Island when an Aer Lingus F-27 called up. Approach did not hear him but I did. After several tries I called the F-27 and asked if they wanted a relay which they did. For the next 10/15 minutes or so, there was I, somebody who had not even passed his test yet, acting as a go between for the F-27/ATC. For a while I felt like somebody important. One of the instructions to the F-27 was to look out for lamp signals, in the event that our link was lost. As the F-27 got closer to the airport, their radio link was re-established.
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Post by viscount on Nov 19, 2017 16:01:16 GMT 1
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Post by radiostationx on Nov 19, 2017 17:01:55 GMT 1
Thanks viscount for the link to the run down of the details, dates etc. Thanks also to @garstonboy who educated me regarding the runway layouts,landmarks and headings as I had some difficulty in trying to picture in my mind the old airport layout even with the assitance of the pooleys chart shown earlier. Thanks so much for explaining everything. I would wager that this thread will be long so I thought it best to add the information exchanged here rather than 40 odd pages further down the channel. So, here are some satellite images/diagrams to show some further details A quite modern colour image of the old airport site (left),And the same image but with an overlay of the Pooleys chart with added details of runway headings and location of the Tower (right). Click on the image to enlargeHope this helps some of our regulars and the many visiting guests to this site. Once again, credit and thanks to Pooleys Flight Equipment for the chart and Microsoft/Bing for use of their satellite image
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2017 17:11:26 GMT 1
The Aldis lamps were used on rare incidences. I remember somebody had a radio failure in one of the Colts and the tower were flashing white at him (Return to starting point) but the message was clearly not understood. Afterwards, Ron Irvine, the CFI gave us all a talking to in the rather severe way he had of doing things. Another time , I was just on one of my pre test solo jaunts in a Colt, over the Wirral/ Hilbury Island when an Aer Lingus F-27 called up. Approach did not hear him but I did. After several tries I called the F-27 and asked if they wanted a relay which they did. For the next 10/15 minutes or so, there was I, somebody who had not even passed his test yet, acting as a go between for the F-27/ATC. For a while I felt like somebody important. One of the instructions to the F-27 was to look out for lamp signals, in the event that our link was lost. As the F-27 got closer to the airport, their radio link was re-established. Yes, things were a lot more relaxed then. These days, the Aer Lingus aircraft would have found itself in the company of a couple of sound-barrier busting Typhoons! I trust he thanked you for your efforts, Ron?
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Post by ronturner on Nov 19, 2017 17:19:18 GMT 1
I discovered later in the week, the pilot left a few shillings for a pint of Guinness in the bar.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2017 18:02:57 GMT 1
I discovered later in the week, the pilot left a few shillings for a pint of Guinness in the bar. I thought as much. The Aer Lingus and Aer Turas crews were great to work with. And in those days you'd have got a pint for a few shillings - even at Robley's prices!
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Post by Samba on Nov 19, 2017 18:57:26 GMT 1
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Post by ronturner on Nov 19, 2017 19:16:58 GMT 1
Another very good photo. Note the grass cutting apparatus on the aerodrome. The flowers in the foreground set the picture up. Do you remember the peace and quiet after the engines shut down? You could hear conversations of passengers and staff, and the gentle ticking of the engines as they cooled down. Finally the peace was broken by the turning of the props., The smoke and sometimes the flame...and the aroma!! In this picture you can see part of the parallel taxiway linking 08/26 to a point about quarter way along 17/35. Refer to Mike's earlier postings
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