10:00 – 13:00 David Thompson
With a long cross-country car journey for an afternoon visit to
RAF Spadeadam it was also the perfect opportunity to spend the
morning at Carlisle Airport or to give it it’s full name , the
Carlisle Lake District Airport . My last visit was several years
ago and Stobart’s , the airport owners , had huge development
plans for the airport which seemingly were having to overcome
obstacle after obstacle and at one point looked as though they
would not go ahead at all but on the evidence of this visit
things look to be finally taking off . Pun intended !
A new roundabout has been built on the A689 on the south side of
the airport which has a still to be opened access road into a
new storage and logistics park which itself has been built on
top of some wartime aircraft dispersal areas . These dispersal
area’s were of both the ‘frying pan’ and ‘spectacles’ types
which also used as bases for blister hangars when the airfield
was home to Beaufighter aircraft of 17 OTU . On the technical
site the huge Stobart hangar which was still under construction
when I last visited in early 2008 is now complete and home to
several biz jets including Falcon 900B M-SAIR , one of the
Stobart fleet . Mention of course has to be made of the control
tower and in particular it’s Café Stobart with it’s Big
Breakfast and All Day Breakfasts which are to be recommended and
seemingly very popular during my visit ! More info here ;
G-CDCV R44 Raven II to Dublin
G-SIXG Rotorsport UK MTOSport local flying
Private Hangar
WP901/B Chipmunk T10 really G-BWNT
G-BUIR Avid Speedwing Mk4 minus starboard wing !
G-CBDP Mainair Blade 912
G-CDRH Thruster T600N
G-CGLM Rotorsport UK MTOSport
G-CGNX ditto
G-CGXR Vans RV-9A
G-CGYY Savannah VG Jabiru
G-CHLD Rotorsport UK MTOSport
G-JONL CZAW Sportcruiser
G-TUCK Vans RV-8
G-WINH EV-97 TeamEurostar UK
G-YADA Ikarus C42
G-YROH Rotorsport UK MTOSport
N60UK Aviat A-1C Husky
Hangar 30 flying school hangar
G-ASIL PA-28 Cherokee new resident
G-AZCK B121 Pup
G-BJNN PA-38 Tomahawk stored , fuselage only
G-BTDW Cessna 152
G-CEOF PA-28 Cherokee Arrow III
G-JLIN PA-28 Cadet
G-OECM Commander 114B
G-RNCH PA-28 Cherokee Archer II
G-WAVA Robin HR200/120B new resident
parked outside was ;
G-BBNZ F172M Skyhawk
Cumbrian Microlight Training Centre hangar
G-CDRP Ikarus C42
G-FIFT ditto
G-SARJ Quik GT450
Stobart hangar
G-BJMR Cessna 310R
G-TRJB Beech A36 Bonanza
M-SAIR Falcon 900B
Northumberland Aircraft Maintenance hangar
G-BIOK F152
G-BOIO Cessna 152
G-BXBZ PZL104 Wilga
G-OJHC 182P Skylane
parked outside was ;
G-BDFY Grumman AA-5 Traveller
With thanks to both Geoff and Steve for their help with air-side
access .
Solway Aviation Museum
http://www.solway-aviation-museum.co.uk/
The museum was closed but thanks to their chairman Dougie Kerr I
had managed to time my visit with a ‘working party’ day and was
allowed access . The Hunter was in the process of being
re-painted and a volunteer was trying to decide how best and
where exactly to put some new stencils on the Canberra ! The Sea
Prince continues to receive attention to it’s port engine with
both the propeller and engine covers removed but for me the star
exhibit is the recently refurbished Whirlwind which looks superb
in it’s Royal Navy ‘midnight blue’ colour scheme . With thanks
to all the volunteers for their help and co-operation .
Displayed inside the museum were ;
G-ADRX HM14 Flea
WB670/8361M Chipmunk T10PAX 1 AEF markings
WZ784 Grasshopper TX1 minus port wing for display purposes !
Outside were ;
G-ARPP Trident 1C cockpit section
WE188 Canberra T4
WP314/CU/573 Sea Prince T1
WS832 Meteor NF14
WV198/K Whirlwind HAR21
WZ515 Vampire T11
XJ823 Vulcan B2
XS209 Jet Provost T4 no serial number applied
XV406/CK Phantom FGR2
ZF583 Lightning F53
E-425 Hunter F51
The museum store cum workshop was shut , unfortunately !
DET