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Post by countryman on May 19, 2017 17:34:50 GMT
My last posting before I retired from the RAF after 39 years was to Northolt. There is a set of traffic lights on West End Road which, if I recall correctly, were activated by Air Traffic Control. Certainly an unusual occurrence although not unique (I think also at RAF Gibraltar). I also recall back in the 50s that the A30 was regularly closed at Blackbushe so that planes could be towed from one side of the airport to the other. Can you confirm that in the 60s a 707 landed there by mistake? I seem to recall they had to strip it out, chopped down some of the trees in West End Road,lined it up at the extreme end of the runway with just enough fuel to reach LHR. Can't remember if it was Pan Am or PIA Yes, it did happen. I'm not sure about the trees, but it was stripped out! Part of the problem was that there was a grey gasholder on the Northolt approach, and a similar one on the flightpath that they used to use towards Heathrow in wet and windy weather. I spent some time in Perivale Park watching planes fly in. The runway is no longer in use. They put lettering on the gasholders to indicate which approach the plane was on. I seem to remember seeing the Heathrow one fairly recently with lettering still in situ. See this www.geograph.org.uk/photo/173008
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Post by littlejohn on May 19, 2017 18:15:36 GMT
Yes, I remember it well, it was a Pan Am 707. The Northolt and Heathrow runways are almost parallel and each had at the time a gasholder on the approach (I think one has since been demolished). After the incident they were clearly marked (LH and NH probably) to show which runway they led to. I don't recall trees being cut down but certainly the 707 was stripped down to essentials with seats removed and minimal fuel. My friends and I took an unofficial day off school to watch it take off. As I recall when the 707 returned to the US its Captain travelled in it as a passenger. It was his last flight with Pan Am. If the Mods will allow a slight digression, I was born in Ruislip Gardens and after a career travelling the globe I ended up less than a mile from where I started. Sadly the house where I was born still lacks a blue plaque.
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slugabed
Zu lang am schnuller.
Posts: 1,480
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Post by slugabed on May 19, 2017 18:28:07 GMT
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Post by littlejohn on May 19, 2017 18:30:10 GMT
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Post by Dstock7080 on May 19, 2017 21:02:29 GMT
Unfortunately the Southall "LH" one is soon to be demolished.
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Post by John Tuthill on May 19, 2017 21:05:46 GMT
Can you confirm that in the 60s a 707 landed there by mistake? I seem to recall they had to strip it out, chopped down some of the trees in West End Road,lined it up at the extreme end of the runway with just enough fuel to reach LHR. Can't remember if it was Pan Am or PIA Yes, it did happen. I'm not sure about the trees, but it was stripped out! Part of the problem was that there was a grey gasholder on the Northolt approach, and a similar one on the flightpath that they used to use towards Heathrow in wet and windy weather. I spent some time in Perivale Park watching planes fly in. The runway is no longer in use. They put lettering on the gasholders to indicate which approach the plane was on. I seem to remember seeing the Heathrow one fairly recently with lettering still in situ. See this www.geograph.org.uk/photo/173008Thanks for that
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