Wednesday 7th February 2018
Report by Chris Smith
DTVA enthusiast, DTV Movements contributor and pilot Matt Falcus made a new year resolution to visit more airfields during 2018 by air...if you're going to bother with new year resolutions that's the kind to commit to!! Naturally I jumped at the chance when Matt invited me along for the ride. In the typical style of all new year resolutions however it was nearly all just talk as today was our fourth attempt in the last five Wednesdays, but adverse weather be it wind or snow had stopped us previously.
Regardless of when we finally got chance to do the trip grass runways were always going to be ruled out as it's still too wet for those, so the choices were Blackpool, Humberside, Retford Gamston or Sandtoft with Carlisle and Leeds East ruled out on the basis that Matt has flown into them before (although I think the former is closed for runway upgrades ahead of passenger flights commencing - more unneccessary competition!). Sandtoft was quickly ruled out as it would not be high yielding enough in terms of airframes in the log book, although having never been I'd have probably done ok. My suggestion of Biggin Hill was quickly ruled out - can't think why! The evening before Matt settled on Humberside, neither of us having been by land or air. I was also making my debut in a Traumahawk!
Looking at Google Earth, I was surprised to find about a dozen hangars crammed into what is a fairly small acre site, I was going to hastily trace the tenants and send some e-mails off to see if we could gain access, but in the end I decided to just, ahem, wing it!
On arrival at DTVA we hadn't long since missed the VistaJet Challenger, luckily it wasn't required by either of us, nor was the easyJet or the first two Tucanos unfortunately. We had Eden Flight Training PA-38 G-OEFT booked several days in advance, but an instructor went and put a student in it just before we got there! Luckily G-BTFP was available and following completion of some non-essential maintenance tasks not too long ago she goes like a rocket and we enjoyed 90kts both there and back.
Durham Tees Valley Airport
MME / EGNV
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| G-EZFU | Airbus A319-111 | easyJet | Crew training |
| ZF204 | Short Tucano T1 | Royal Air Force - 1 FTS | |
| ZF264 | Short Tucano T1 | Royal Air Force - 1 FTS |
Humberside has many similarities with DTVA, probably the same size overall but condensed into a much smaller area, and instead of a couple of big hangars they have several medium sized hangars which is exactly what we could do with. Oil helicopter traffic probably edges them past us in terms of busy...for now! Similarly the parts of the terminal we saw are better than ours at present, that will almost certainly change when our revamp is complete. Their cafe is busier because all of the resident air operators and companies are within walking distance and are therefore more inclined to use it, whereas some of our equivalent companies are too far away from the terminal, or the terminal is too far away from them, whichever.
As we were starting up to leave the tower controller advised us of a Falcon business jet and Typhoon 3 minutes out in an 'I can tell you're spotters' kind of way - much appreciated!! No sign of the Typhoon but the Falcon was one of our own and did an overshoot. Oddly, I noticed Humberside Airports registered head office is Redhill Aerodrome!! Presumably the Bristow Helicopters connection as I think they have an operation down there.
One of Matt's main draws to Humberside was the BAC 1-11 on the fire dump, and in a somewhat belated achievement he's now fleeted the BA pocket rockets!! We were both surprised at how many aircraft Eastern had offline, especially Saabs!
Humberside Airport
HUY / EGNJ
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| 1129 | BAC 167 Strikemaster Mk.80 | RJ Mitchell Aircraft Maintenance Academy | Preserved, on display |
| G-ATLM | Reims/Cessna F172G Skyhawk | Private | |
| G-ATUF | Reims/Cessna F150F | Private | |
| G-AVMP | BAC 1-11-510ED | Humberside Airport Fire Department | |
| G-BAIW | Reims/Cessna F172M Skyhawk | Private | |
| G-BCRL | Piper PA-28-151 Cherokee Warrior | Romeo Lima Flying Club | |
| G-BGHJ | Reims/Cessna F172N Skyhawk | Airplane Ltd | |
| G-BPOM | Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II | POM Flying Group | |
| G-CDEB | Saab 2000 | Flybe (Eastern Airways) | All white |
| G-CDYI | British Aerospace Jetstream 41 | Eastern Airways | PWFU, fuselage only |
| G-CFLV | Saab 2000 | Flybe (Eastern Airways) | All white |
| G-CIHD | British Aerospace Jetstream 41 | Lease Co, ex Brindabella Airlines | Marked VH-XNE |
| G-CIHE | British Aerospace Jetstream 41 | Lease Co, ex Brindabella Airlines | Marked VH-XNF |
| G-CIMI | Grob G115 | Private | |
| G-FRAT | Dassault Falcon 20C | Cobham Aviation Services | Overshoot - "Vader 61" |
| G-GCJL | British Aerospace Jetstream 41 | BAe Systems (Operations) Ltd | PWFU, in bits - prototype J41 |
| G-ILHR | Cirrus SR22 | Private | Circuit training |
| G-JMAC | British Aerospace Jetstream 41 | BAe Systems (Operations) Ltd | Marked G-JXLI |
| G-MAJA | British Aerospace Jetstream 41 | Flybe (Eastern Airways) | Hangared, freshly painted with medium Flybe titles |
| G-MAJE | British Aerospace Jetstream 41 | Flybe (Eastern Airways) | No engines |
| G-MAJH | British Aerospace Jetstream 41 | Flybe (Eastern Airways) | No engines |
| G-MCGE | Sikorsky S-92A | HM Coastguard / Bristow Helicopters | |
| G-MCGH | Sikorsky S-92A | HM Coastguard / Bristow Helicopters | |
| G-OUCP | Piper PA-31-325 Navajo C/R | 2 Excel Aviation (Scimitar) | |
| G-SELB | Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II | POM Flight Training | |
| G-SNSI | AgustaWestland AW139 | CHC Scotia | |
| G-SNSJ | AgustaWestland AW139 | CHC Scotia | |
| ZA542/035 | Panavia Tornado GR4 | Royal Air Force - 31 Squadron | Overshoot |
| ZA553/045 | Panavia Tornado GR4 | Royal Air Force - 31 Squadron | Overshoot |
| ZK531 | British Aerospace Hawk Mk.53 | RJ Mitchell Aircraft Maintenance Academy | Preserved, on display |
| Thunderbird 3!! | |||
| Noted in flight | |||
| G-CGKW | Grob G115E Tutor T1 | Royal Air Force - 10 AEF | AEF needs confirming |
On leaving Humberside, Coningsby Typhoons and Cobham Falcons made up the bulk of very busy air traffic, with "Triplex", "Cobra", "Vader" and "Zodiac" all on frequency.
On return to DTVA the easyJet A319 was still crew training and we just missed the last batch of Tucanos departing, not that they were required. Both the KLM and Loganair aircraft went in the book.
Durham Tees Valley Airport
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| G-CERZ | Saab 2000 | Flybe (Eastern Airways) | |
| G-LGNC | Saab 340B | Loganair | |
| PH-EXC | Embraer ERJ-190-100STD | KLM Cityhopper |
A very fun day out, with Matt hinting at more to come, possibly in the four seat Warrior so more can go. It was fantastic to get behind the controls of an aircraft once again and in a sign of the times I was able to broadcast aspects of the flight live online, which was a thrill in itself! Once again a huge thank you to Matt for inviting.
Click here for Matt's photos, here for Chris' photos, here for a video of the outbound leg, and here for a video of the takeoff at Humberside.
We hope it's been an enjoyable read! Thank you if you got this far!
Matt: 11 frames (not including the tins)
Chris: 21 frames