Midland Air Museum and Cotswold Airport

 When I got to Coventry and the Midland Air Museum, it was cold and drizzly.  It was the middle of a British summer!

Inside the museum it was very difficult to photograph the aircraft as they are all packed in so tightly. Here you can see a Slingsby Grasshopper XK789 and a Druine D.31 replica suspended from the roof and USAF T-33 51-4419.   SAAB J-29 29640 of the Swedish Air Force was the first European swept wing jet fighter and is the only one on display in the UK

Outside, the aircraft are much easier to photograph.  There is a varied collection of planes here including this Saudi Airforce Lightning T55 55-713  and Royal Canadian Air Force CF101 Voodoo.101447

Reminding me of air shows in the 70s and 80s were USAF F-4C Phantom 63-7414 and Danish Air Force F-104 Starfighter R-756

Something we never saw before the "Iron Curtain" came down were Soviet aircraft.  Here there is a MiG-21 of the East German Air Force, and a Mil-24 of the Soviet Air Force 

Royal Navy Sea Harrier ZE694 and RAF Javelin XA699 were also on display here.

 

Leaving Coventry, and heading towards Plymouth, I had time for a quick stop at Cotswold Airport (formerly RAF Kemble, and former home of the RAF's Red Arrows aerobatic display team)

There is an example of a Red Arrows Gnat T1 outside the airfield Café.

Cotswold Airport is a place where obsolete aircraft come to be "parted out" and subsequently scrapped.  Engines and other valuable equipment is removed, and the rest of the aircraft is cut up and sold for scrap value.  There are aircraft in various stages of dismantling dotted around the airport including Jet2 B737 G-LSAO, Air Portugal Airbus A319 CS-TTH and Bluebird Nordic B737 TF-BBJ.

This is also the home of the "Party Jumbo" G-CIVB.  This ex British Airways B747 is preserved here and plans are to open it as a venue for parties and conferences etc.

An ex-RAF Hawker Hunter T8 XE665 and Britannia C1 XV496 are also preserved here.

Also based here are Vertical Aerospace who are developing an electric vertical take off and landing plane, the VX-4.

Cotswold Airport is always an interesting stop.

Adelaide - Kuala Lumpur - Istanbul - Birmingham

The next few posts will be for my plane spotter friends! 😀 

On my recent trip to the UK, I flew from Adelaide to Birmingham via Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul.  Here are some photos taken on the way.  Apologies for the quality as they were all taken through windows, sometimes 2 layers of glass.

I arrived at KL just before sunset, so didn't have much light.  The Saudia Boeing 777 HZ-AK34 was just pushing back as I arrived.  As I was taking the bus to the main terminal we passed Batik A330 9M-LRC. There were many Malaysian Aiorlines planes including this Boeing 737 9M-MSA.  
A new airline for me was MYAirline with A320 9M-DAD. 

At Istanbul, I arrived just after sunrise. The first arrival I saw was RA-89076 a Sukhoi Super Jet of IrAero, a new type for me.  It was followed by Turkish airlines A321 TC-JRA, A330 TC-LNE, Air Albania A320 ZA-MMK.  As I was boarding my B737 Max 8, the same type TC-LCE was being pushed back from the next gate.

As i arrived in Birmingham, we were followed in by Aegean Airlines A320 SX-DVG. On the next gate was Sun Express B737 TC-SPE, and on the other side was TUI Fly B787 G-TUIF.

I was through immigration in less that 10 minutes, and 30 minutes later was on the road in my hire car.  Next stop, The Midland Air Museum at Coventry.

UK Trip

 I am just back from a trip to the UK, visiting family and friends.  I arrived into Birmingham Airport and was through immigration in less than 10 minutes. (I love Birmingham Airport - always quick to get through Immigration, and a 2 minute walk to the hire car - If I went through Heathrow it would have taken at least 2 1/2 hours)

I headed down to Plymouth to stay with Mum and catch up with family.   Sunday afternoon was family catch up time where I got to meet my brothers youngest grand-daughter Dolly.   She is so cute!

4 generations of the Plymouth family were there. Mum, me and my brother Colin, Colin's children Mark and Lisa with their spouses and their children (Mum's great grand-children)  Here are Mum, Colin and the great-grandkids (l - r) Arthur, Dolly, Scarlet and Sienna)

And Mark with his wife Keeley, and Dolly and Sienna, and Lisa with her husband Rich, and Arthur and Scarlet

One day I took Mum for a drive across Dartmoor National Park to the market town of Tavistock.  Dartmoor is renowned for its wonderful views, it's wild ponies and it's maximum security prison!

Tavistock is a lovely old town with beautiful riverside walks and a market which has been in existence since 1105. St Eustachius Church has been on this site since the 1100's with parts added in the 14 and 1500's  and a major restoration in the 1800's

My next destination was South-West Scotland, to visit my good friends Geoff and Sheila and their Scottish Terrier Lintie.  

Geoff and Sheila live in Kirkudbright, a lovely town on the coast of Dumfries and Galloway. Kirkudbright has a number of churches, including St. Cuthberts, and also MacLellan's Castle.   Outside the information centre is a large wicker horse.

One morning we took a walk into the forest behind the town looking for the local Red Squirrels.  Once prolific throughout the UK, these little beauties are now limited to a few pockets in Scotland and the far north of England having been displaced by the larger, introduced, Grey Squirrel.

After a few days, I was off again, this time heading East to Teeside in the North-Est of England to catch up with my cousin Felicity and her husband Ken, and their standard poodle Amy

One day we headed out to Richmond in North Yorkshire for a walk and lunch.  The walk took in the countryside along the River Swale and Easby Abbey before returning to the town

Last destination was Northampton, the home of my daughter Ileana and her husband Mark, and my grand-children Maggie, Alex and Eliza.   It was lovely spending time with them enjoying the local park, the playground, the ducks and, of course, Ice cream!

Finally, it was back to Birmingham Airport for the flight home.