Barton Photos 1968 - 1982

[acklington]

I continue to plod through my slide collection, scanning and restoring images. My past travels occasionally took me past Barton, heading north up the M6, and here are a few photos from my fleeting visits;

G-AOTK, G-ASZY, Barton, 1 Aug 76 fw by Philip Pain, on Flickr
An interesting line-up, including the rare Druine Turbi G-AOTK, and a the WW1 painted G-ASZY a Clutton FRED 2

G-ASPF, G-APTP, Barton, 1 Aug 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
This Jodel D.120 G-ASPF proudly displays its construction number No.2, plus 1955 build year

G-AHCL, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Pretty dark in the hangar, but including four registrations in one photo

G-ARLW, G-AVRY, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Nice December sunshine, even if the aircraft weren't that special

G-BGEI, Barton, 13 July 82 sw by Philip Pain, on Flickr
A Baby Great Lakes in the hangar

G-BHEK, Barton, 13 April 80 psw by Philip Pain, on Flickr
A nice Super Emeraude, probably a brand new reg at the time.

G-OLEE, G-ATFX, Barton, 26 Nov 80 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
More nice winter sunshine

XF914, Barton fpw by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Provost T.1 XF914 was a bit of a 'gate guardian', but since exported to the USA, and now flies as NX435WV with the spurious serial WV435.

I'll add more photos as I come across them in my collection.

[acklington]

Six more photos I've just restored;

G-ARND, Barton, 7 Jan 68 fw by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Piper Tri-Pacer, 7th January 1968
G-ASDK (VF631), Barton, 7 Jan 68 fw by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Beagle Terrier 2, formerly an Auster AOP.6, currently under restoration to fly on.
G-ATDO, Barton, 7 Jan 68 fw by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Bolkow Junior, 7th January 1968
G-AVDU - N9837Y, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Aeronca 7AC Champion, also wearing former american reg N9837Y on tail, 28 December 1976
G-AVEH, Barton, 5 Sept 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
SIAI-Marchetti S.205, 5th September 1976, and that hot dry summer still much in evidence.
G-AVIL, Barton, 1 Aug 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Alon A-2 Aircoupe, 1st August 1976, goes with earlier batch of photos, above.

[Samba]

I was working the Upper Deck cabin one day going to Miami or Lax, can't remember which one and up popped Dave Vernon
the owner of India Lima, he was ex BA and Cambrian and remembered by all at Speke. After the meal service he came back to the galley for a chat
and he said he'd had the aircraft shipped back to the States because it was easier for him to go over on staff travel for a few weeks at a time and fly the
aircraft as much as he wanted in nice weather and the costs where minimal compared to operating back in the UK. Dave passed away many years ago now, but who
can forget the sight of a purple Aircoupe gracing the skies over the North West.

[viscount]

G-AVIL Alon A.2 Aircoupe

G-AVIL Alon A.2 Aircoupe. Built by Alon 1965 (who had bought the production rights to the Forney F-1 Aircoupe in 1964 and introduced improvements) with c/no A-5. Registered N5471E, exported to the UK 1967 and registered 14.03.67 as G-AVIL to importer/dealer K.F.P.Cowling of Essex. A sucession of owners with the West London Aero Services at White Waltham (from 01.68), Ulster Flying Club at Newtownards (from 08.68), D. Kendall, Radlett (from 11.70), Shackleton Aviation (12.70), Aidon Robinson (06.71), then Shackleton Aviation again (09.71) and sale to Veronair Ltd (11.71). The dates in brackets are 'paperwork' dates. Veronair was a company set up by Capt. Dave Vernon at a series of Isle of Man addresses, however the aircraft was delivered to Liverpool Airport 23.10.71 from Coventry and resident at Speke for the following 8 years. Capt. Vernon had strong connections with the Southport and Merseyside Aero Club and the aircraft was available to suitably qualified club members. It was resident at Liverpool until flown to Manchester for overhaul 23.07.79. Subsequently based at Woodvale, having been registered directly to D.Vernon (17.03.80) at a Formby address. After 10 years at Woodvale was sold to M.Close of Folkestone (10.91) then D.Hulks of Ashford (03.00) and most recently to G.Wilson of North Devon and appears still to be airworthy.

The purple scheme in the photo was adopted in the late 70s, covering a rather bland white with a pale blue cheat-line scheme. One of the subsequent owners had G-AVIL marked as VX147 to represent an Ercoupe 415 (ex G-AKFP) evaluated by the R.A.F.

Either Dave Vernon was referring to moving the aircraft to Southport as cheaper than Liverpool, or maybe a period after he sold the Aircoupe then did his flying in the USA as being cheaper. Certainly G-AVIL has an unbroken record of British owners with British addresses.

As an aside I was flown by a Southport & Merseyside Aero Club member in July 1976 and March 1977. Recall the later flight as we went off on a photo mission over North Wales on a very windy day, directly down runway 08/26. We took off 26, climbed very rapidly and after some 25 minutes, ATC politely enquired as to why we had not called zone clearance at Neston. We replied with an estimate of 5 minutes, to which his reply was "ah yes, I can still see you". After a few orbits near Mold, we called Liverpool Approach with an "estimate zone entry at Neston in 5 minutes" even before setting course back. I met Capt Vernon just the once, when on a cockpit visit on British Airways Viscount G-AOYM while en route Liverpool to Dublin in August 1977 and corresponded with him regarding the history of the Southport and Merseyside Aero Club sometime in the early '90s.

Two decent photos of G-AVIL in the two schemes worn while resident at Liverpool for a nearly a decade on: derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/3524/southport-merseyside-aero-club

[acklington]

Seven more photos, these aircraft with G-AX-- and G-AY-- registrations, from my slide collection;

G-AXFN, Barton, 5 Sept 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AXHV, G-ARXN, G-ATBU, Barton, 1 Aug 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AXLI, G-AREV, Barton, 13 April 80 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AXUY, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AXXH, Barton, 13 July 82 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AYFV, Barton, 13 pril 80 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AYIJ, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Ice on the ground, and Xmas decorations in the clubhouse windows.

[northbynorthwest]

Really enjoyed the pictures taken at Barton. Always was the premier general aviation field in the northwest, despite the lousy drainage making it unusable at times in the winter months. Have an interesting titbit to share about Dave Vernon, who owned the Alon Aircoupe G-AVIL. Sandy, a co-worker of mine at Northwest Airlines bought a 1946 Ercoupe in 1991. One day, he asked me if I knew of a British Airways pilot from the Liverpool area who had owned a purple Aircoupe. Turns out that they had been in communication about Ercoupe issues through their membership in the Ercoupe Owners Club, and had got to quite good friends due to their airline backgrounds. Sandy ended up selling his Ercoupe in 1994 and bought a Beech Sundowner instead due to having a family. He offered to sell the Ercoupe to me for less than $8000, but I had two young kids and a mortgage - if only....

Sandy still remained a member of the Ercoupe Owners Club, and I know that he and Dave still stayed in touch for several years. They talked about meeting up, but sadly this never happened despite Dave spending a lot of time in the USA. In fact, Dave owned a couple of US registered aircraft, an Ercoupe and also a Mooney Cadet, which is basically an Aircoupe with a standard tailplane configuration.

[acklington]

Another four Kodachrome 64 slides, just scanned and restored;

G-AYWD, Barton, 13 July 82 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AYWK, Barton, 31 July 78 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AZCB, Barton, 5 Sept 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-AZCJ, Barton, 5 Sept 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

More to come .............

[acklington]

Here's the final (maybe) batch of Barton photos from my slide collection. There may be a few stragglers yet to find, plus possibly some 35 mm b & w negatives;

G-AZYA, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-BBAT, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-BBFL, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-BCBR, Barton, 5 Sept 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-BCHP, Barton, 17 Feb 83 (1) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-BCHP, G-BIFV, G-AREV, Barton, 17 Feb 83 (2) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-BCPG, G-ARYH, Barton, 31 July 78 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-BCVG, G-AYGC, G-AXWE, Barton, 28 Dec 76 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
G-BCUL, Barton, 13 July 82 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

Many thanks for looking, and for the comments.

[jbmack]

Re G-AREV I went for a pleasure flight in her from Ramsgate airport in 1961.

[avro748]

Great idea for a post. I recall a number of these aircraft in your photos, but think the only one that is still based is the legend that is G-AYGC?.