Another day in paradise (aka Kirkwall Airport)

Those magnificent men in their flying machines

I mentioned in my last post that I would have some interesting pictures this week and hopefully you will like what follows.   The 8th May is the 75th Anniversary of the inaugural air service from Inverness to Kirkwall by Captain Edward (Ted)  Fresson.

To commemorate this, the Fresson Trust has commissioned monuments in Kirkwall and Inverness to mark the occasion and a plaque was placed in the terminal building.

This was made a very special event by the arrival of a group of pilots who arrived in Orkney to assist the event with a commorative flyover.  Before I come to that, we had a visitor in a few days ago in the form of OY-PBW, a Danish registered Short 360, in australian livery called "Spirit of Fraser Coast"

And, as usual, the inside

Then on the 7th May, things became extremely interesting, originally we thought the veterans were going to Lamb Holm, a grass strip owned by local farmer and aviation enthusiast Tommy Sinclair, but as luck would have it, they all decided to come here.

The first to arrive was Mark Preston in G-ADNE, who are becoming regular visitors to the islands, I have a few pictures on the blog in my photo album.  Just as I was heading home, I spied G-ACUS about to land so had to do a U-turn and return to the airport.  Here it is, a DH85 leopard Moth owned and flown by Ron and Valery Gammons.

And the inside

Next we had G-AOJK, a stunning DH82 Tiger Moth owned and flown by Bob Willies

And the inside

Followed shortly after by G-AHUV, another beautiful DH82 owned and flown by Andrew Gordon from Blair Atholl

And the inside, front and back

And in the name of Bruce lee's most famous movie, "Enter the Dragon" , G-ECAN piloted by Henry Labouchere

And the inside

And the passenger compartment

Finally on Wednesday, the "star" of the show, Ted Fressons original aircraft G-AAWO, a DH60 Gipsy Moth owned and piloted by Nigel Reid.  This aircraft is displayed in one of large lino prints inside the main terminal.  I have heard about it but had never seen it until Wednesday.

And the inside, front and rear

The final pictures of the day were as the aircraft were being made safe for the evening, first G-AAWO in folded up mode

And parked up for the night

And a picture of some of the fire crew on duty

L to R Mark Rendall, Ivan Rendall, Craig Barclay and Albert Bruce

The next day was going to be busy with more aircraft due to arrive, the terminal presentation at 1100, the monument unveiling at 1200, and the arduous task of a buffet and drinks at 1300.

First to arrive was G-ANGK, a Cessna 140 which was here recently and a photo is on file.  Next we had G-ANFV, A bright yellow DH82 both based at Shempston Airfield in Moray.  FV was an aircraft bought for Orkney Flying Club in the 50's for around £25 according to one story.

And the inside

 Thanks to Air Traffic Control and the Airport Manager, the apron was organised to fit as much as possible in without disrupting schedules.  The Dragon and the DH60 were brought up to the apron to allow the public and visiting guests to see them clearly.

AS they arrived we had another couple of more modern visitors, first OY-EJD, a Falcon 2000

Followed swiftly by VP-BLS, a Bermudan registered Pilatus PC12

Another personality shot this time

L to R Mick Bain ATCO, Alan Bews (Hub) SATCO, Ian Cooper Security Agent, David Blackman Airport Manager and Michael Firth, technician and the most valuable man on the airport as he knows everything there is to know about the place.

Then it was time for the main event at 11am, the guests gathered in the terminal building for the unveiling of the plaque.  The introduction was by Hugh Lawson, ex MD of HIAL and the unveiling by Scott Grier, OBE and Chairman of Loganair.  Very appropriate as Scott has pioneered modern air services, air ambulance services and inter island services for the last 4 decades within and without Scotland.  Loganair continues to grow from strength to strength with an average of 25 scheduled flights a day outwith Orkney.

The first picture has Hugh on the left and Scott on the right

And the unveiling

And a close up of the plaque in the terminal.

Next it was off to the old aerodrome site where Ted Fresson was based for the unveiling of the monument.

There are a number of unsung heroes connected with this monument.  First of all the monument was donated by Paddy Casey of Casey Construction.  Not only was the monument donated, he provided 2 stonemasons to ensure the target date was met and I can confirm when I left the airport the night beofre the event, the men were finishing off.

Credit must go to the men who completed the monument namely Charlie Juhlenski and Paul Hewison.  Well done to you all.

Shortly before the unveiling we had a spectacular fly past by the vintage aircraft

And then to everyones surprise, Nigel Reid flying Ferssons original aircraft G-AAWO, landed in the field where it it all happened 75 years ago to the day

When the aircraft came to a standstill, the passenger was Richard Fresson, Ted's son who had joined the procession flight.

 to

Nigel Reid and his father have owned the aircraft for a total of 52 years and is a Jumbo pilot by day.  He gave a short reading from the original log book to the small crowd of visitors, guests and onlookers. 

Appropriately, Henry Labouchelle passed overhead and the flypast had ended.

After the unveiling, Nigel and Richard were back in G-AAWO and it was off to the St Magnus Centre

Then it was back to normality as we were expecting a visit from a group of students from Orkney College.  The timing could not have been better as just before they arrived we said goodbye to the last of our visitors

That's about it for this week, I have many more photographs and have been sent many more by Kenny Christie and Gemma Knutton from Loganair, I am not quite sure how best to deal with them but may end up creating a gallery of the last few days.

Where do I start with the thanks on this one, the assistance I receive to assist with my hobby in my free time is immense and greatly appreciated.  Thanks to the OIC (Hi Colleen) and the Fresson Trust for the invitation and the outstanding event.

Sincere thanks must go to all the pilots who made their aircraft accessible to everyone and to all who assist in helping with this blog.

Finally, for those that look at the webcams, they no longer have a 5 minute delay, its now 5 seconds and shortly I intend to provide a live feed, just need to work out how to do it.

Take care and have a good weekend

Re Pictures

20:14, 14 May 2008 .. Posted by Laura

Some fantastic photos have been posted :o)

Would love to get up to Kirkwall myself one day to see the action for myself...i am a regular checker of the webcams and am a very beginning spotter :o)

Hi Laura

22:57, 14 May 2008 .. Posted by orkney

Thanks for your visit glad you like the pictures, hope to get the webcams ordered next week, still trying to decide which ones are needed.

All the best

Neil

Lucky lucky b....

20:31, 19 May 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous

You lucky beggers. All we got to see was G-ADNE flying high overhead at Sumburgh. As an aside G-SMMA just landed here about 30 mins ago, didn't look too bad although I am still undecided. Hopefully get a pic before it leaves tomorrow.

Keep up the blog, nice to see what life is like on 'the other side'!

Cheers,

Craig (www.crcshetland.co.uk/gallery/)

Thanks for the visit

21:49, 19 May 2008 .. Posted by orkney

Hope you like the site, lucky you seeing G-SMMA, I havent seen it yet as it was in the hangar when I was in Inverness last week.

Great to hear from our neighbours

Regards