Bristol Freighter - First Taxi In 20 Years
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
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Bristol Freighter ZK-CPT - First Taxi In 20 Years
In 1986 the Bristol Freighter ZK-CPT ('Merchant Courier') was flown into Omaka Aerodrome (Blenheim, New Zealand) and retired. The aircraft engines were subsequently run on several occasions, but this has not occurred for over 20 years.
Enter Alastair Marshall - ex RNZAF Engine Technician, now commercial pilot, and a piston engine enthusiast. Over the past few months, Al has been working on the two Bristol Hercules engines on the aircraft, with the goal of getting the old girl to come to life once more.
On 27th September 2008, both engines were fired up, and the aircraft taxied about on Omaka Aerodrome for the first time in approximately twenty years. Congratulations to Al and his team of willing helpers.
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My first operational tour at 109KU 1wing RCAF Marville France 1964 to 1967. Three years and 2100 hours flying the Bristol Freighter to many points in Europe and the Middle East. As a 20 year old with a new set of wings, it was a great experience. Many memorable moments.
Grew up in Blenheim, right under the flight path Woodburne to Wellington, Dad drove for the local trucking company and used to take a load out near every night. We moved from Blenheim when I was 17 and I had to escort our horse to the north island on one, may even be the same aircraft. lumbering and slow but definitely nostalgic, safe air, long time ago now, 1975
I remember playing in one of these, for hours and hours, every weekend, when I was a kid. It was parked at Essendon Airport, and we'd sneek over the fence. Also played in a Canberra Bomber, from time to time. What a blast from the past. Great job.
Thanks Allan, yeah we left that trapdoor open as on that day, we didn't have any internal handles on the door latches. There were a few of us on board that day, in the cockpit and in the hold so we wanted to make sure we could all get out if we badly needed to. There was more ground clearance than it seems but at times the door probably got pretty close to the ground.
As an RAAF Australian, I was lucky (?) enough to see what the kiwi's called 'The Frightener/20, 000 nuts and bolts flying in close formation', at Whenuapi back in the late 70's. A Freighter flew over the grass parallel to the airfield, and a bunch of blokes parachuted out, all good, except for one. His 'chute' didn't fully open he landed very hard, one broken leg. The 'gut truck' wasn't sent out to him, he had to gather up his chute, and stumble, walk about 50 yards to the assembly point and climb up into the back of the Bedford truck. Not one sound from him. These blokes were 'hard' Men!.
Great to see and hear it. I flew to the Chatham Islands and back in one in 1975. They had built a passenger pod and slid it in. I think there were 16 or 20 seats but not sure. Looked like the inside of the Fokker Friendships that NAC flew.
The flight was 3 hours long at 180 knots and 8000 feet. They weighed the passengers and their luggage. Quite unforgettable experience
just went to the Omaka museum last weekend and sat in the cockpit, you don't know how amazingly high that is until you sit in one. Great video
I remember seeing them fly over our house in Blenheim in the 1960-70's or thereabouts. you could hear them winding up and roaring down the runway at Woodbourne as well. Usually you heard them well before you saw them.I am proud to say my Nephew from Wellington was involved in getting her running again.
Gidday Scotty, nice to hear from you! After techs course I was posted to ERS and spent seven years working on J-52's and RR Vipers. Upon leaving the RNZAF, I joined SAFE Air and did a lot of work on the Allison T-56 line. I fly for a living now and enjoy the reliability and performance of a couple of beautiful CFM-56's. However, they don't have the charm or personality of the old oily, rattly, noisy and stroppy radial engines that we all love.
Cheers,
Al
Anyone else think she's beautiful? Gotta dig up the old Airfix kit.
If only I could find one these days
Wonderful to see again, reminds me of the early 60s when as a schoolboy I used to lay in the ditch at the end of of the runway 35 Hurn (now Bournemouth) airport (UK) and watch the Siver City Bristols Freighters land and take off just a few feet overhead. Later Siver City moved to Lydd in Kent. I never saw another running until this vid. Thanks for posting and good luck
When I was a child, I flew twice from Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca. Great experience!
Great to see & hear the old girl again. Very nostalgic.... they had 3 of these & flew 2 of em where I learnt to fly in Terrace, BC. Dave Menzies and the boys of Hawkair were serious bush pilots flying supplies into the mines & camps in Nth BC in mid 90's. They taught me many life-saving tid bits which served me well.
Thanks.
I was lucky enough to actually visit this airport and go inside this aircraft! It was amazing!
New Zealand has a real knack for keeping these planes in good nick! Especially with all the high end restorations taking place there! I also hear that a Sea Hornet is being rebuilt in NZ! That would be something to see! Keep it up NZ!
Not to mention a new mosquito not long finished...Brand New from blue prints :-)
Two of these used to fly over our house all the time from a Mine in Northern British Columbia. Late 1990s
The look on his face when he came out of the hatch said it all!
"keep the faith people, and keep on keeping on"
I love the way those centrally mounted headlamps flared .....as though the old beast had just woken up!
Greetings,and Congratulations ! Great stuff,you guys keep that iconic aircraft 'tickin over' !
Always one of my 'faves',used to watch 'em fly into Manchester Airport,I lived then,on the approach,way back then.Anyway,I'm curator of the Wellington Aviation Museum,in Moreton-in-Marsh,England,we have a Bristol Hercules Aero Engine,on display.Designed by Sir Roy Fedden,in my opinion,an engineering 'masterpiece'.I've just been given a sleeve valve,from a Herc Eng,gonna get it polished,an turn it into a table lamp.Lovely !
One of the greatest events in my young life was a being shown around (and sitting in the pilot's seat) of one of these marvellous birds on a school excursion. Brisbane, Australia in about 1963. Great to see that one preserved and it sounds fantastic!
It's just nice to see an old lady like this meander around under her own power....
They bring this aircraft out at the Classic Fighters Omaka air shows, held every second Easter, and taxi it around in front of the crowd to let everyone hear a pair of 2,000 horsepower Hercules motors. Very noisy and spectacular.
My last memory of one of these flying was in early 1968, when I was in the New Zealand Army. We were training in the foothills of the Southern Alps and needed a supply drop. An Air Force Freighter showed up, manoeuvering low over ridges and hills and started throwing out supplies on parachutes. The first two drops missed the drop zone in a river bed so the pilot ordered the DZ cleared - I was the platoon radio operator, so I was the first to know about it - and threw everything out on the last run. This time he hit the target and that was the last time the Air Force saw their parachutes - we Army grunts found a lot of uses for parachute silk and risers and some of us thought that we looked very stylish in our home-made silk scarves.
The Company Sergeant Major thought we looked like idiots.
This looks like the plane I recall flying in from Southend across the Channel to Brussels in 1974. It flew at a low altitude and I remember that a lot of air leaked into the cabin around that joint where the nose door opens. And it was very noisy!
I flew with my mother in one of these planes from Blackpool UK to the Isle of Man for a day trip around 1958. Nice to see one again.
I saw her today at the Omaka air show,
brilliant sound. Well done guys..
Great to see. As a kid in the 50's used to travel with my Grandad from Newmarket to Cambridge to load horses onto these. Well Done. (I should have popped in last year when I travelled)
Thirty Thousand rivets in loose formation! Now that brings back a memory or two, well done to you guys!
Wow this brings back memories - last flight out of Tengah Dec '77 for 41 sqdn - have lots of dad's old photos of this flying next to a RAAF F-111, taxi runs in SEA scheme and low altitude cargo drops. Apparently the doors at the front needed to be closed and sealed carefully or the drafty flight made for a grumpy crew. Not a sound you'd forget those engines.
I got a ride in a Bristol Freighter once.. Wgtn to ChCh.. Thanks for this 👍
had several trips in these 41 sqn based at Tengah Singapore in the 70 s great old bus !!
I can remember watching these things fly over my primary school every day when I was a kid. Ah nostalgic moment to see it alive again
The last time I flew in one was on a 2 hour test flight in October 1988 from Ardmore Airfield in Auckland, New Zealand prior to it being sold and flown off-shore. I remember that the air actuated brakes were shocking. There was a short ladder leading up to the cockpit and even a small toilet in the rear, the rest of the aircraft was just a metal shell and quite noisy.
This was a work horse for many years, particularly between New Zealand's North and South Islands, it has a very roomy interior and could handle bulky loads at a reasonable cost to and from less than ideal runways.
P.S. If you didn't want to take a ferry between the two islands you had the option to fly across in one of these, with your car and all :-)
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Had a few flights in these aircraft back in the day, Silver city from Southend.
She was static for many years, until one enterprising engineer (Alastair Marshall) came along and worked on the engnes and got them running again. Hopefully it will stay this way for many years to come.
What a sight...brilliant.
Must have had fun moving about on the grass..
Bit like 14 year olds riding mopeds in fields..
Well that's what we did...all good fun..
Great video...thanks
Absolutely
Fantastic work Al. Keep ur hands greasy and keep making a difference.
Form follows function. Yes, she's beautiful. Great footage!
Great to see a Bristol Freighter moving again.
Nice pair of Bristols!
Managed to see this old bird whilst touring NZ last year (2019) there was a version with a longer nose known as the super freighter I believe
That would have been the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy on didplay
I flew on what was apparently the last commercial flight of one of these Safe Air Bristol Freighters. My fathers Falcon Ute was loaded in the cargo bay. We were issued with ear plugs before take off...
Alleged conversation.
USA control tower: "What plane ya got there?"
British pilot: "Bristol Freighter"
USA control tower: "Make it yourself?"
We used to call it the Bristol Frightener
@@donaldripper3354 The "Bristol Vibrator! more like! Instone Aviation (?) had one at Stansted in the early '80's, when I was with Transmeridian. We used to know them as "Flintstone Aviation"!
Usually the engine have to be turn over by hand before starting in those older radial engines by turning the props so the the oil gets into top cylinders since it collects in the bottom cylinders.
Went on one as a boy in Plymouth Robourgh air port in the 50s. I believe she was brand new at the time loved to have flown in her.
Great to here the old girl alive, must make the trip north one day to see her.
My Grandfather was the original RNZAF test pilot for these aircraft. He flew up to Bristol in 1952 aboard Dakota NZ3546 to test the first Freighter's NZ 5901 and 5902. While there he flew the Bristol Brabazon which was at the time the biggest aircraft in the world.
Thanks for the vid.
After reading all the comments I am gratified that so many people have fond memories of this aircraft, I count myself very fortunate to have flown one of these aeroplanes from a now bygone age. This aircraft did what it was built to do very well and operated at an affordable cost which is more than you can say for most modern aircraft.
The Bristol Freighter harkens back to the WWII era aircraft/gliders with their wide opening fronts/doors and large load carrying capacity.
I believe that New Zealand was the last country to use the Bristol Freighters on a regularly scheduled service and I don't think that a suitable replacement for them was ever found.
The Bristol Freighters are unique and sadly they are/were the last of their breed. I am heartened to know that at least one is being preserved in Blenheim, New Zealand.
+Dan NZ I was talking with an ex-RNZAf Bristol Freighter pilot over the weekend who flew the type in Vietnam. He said they were incredibly tough and reliable, and did the job that was asked of them every time.
+Historical Aviation Film Unit Yep they were strong and basic so not too much to go wrong and now that you remind me, years ago I remember seeing more than one parked at Whenuapai RNZAF Airbase and even occasionally at Hobsonville, Auckland, NZ.
The only ting capable of replacing theme and the Super Freighter was the Aviation Traders Carvair.
I could have flown in RNZAF's freighter from the base near Aukland [I'm not going to attempt to spell it] to Rotorua when on an anti-submarine exercise in the '70s. I didn't relish it, the wing fell off one [I assume exRAF] based in Adelaide so I opted for the DC3. There was one in the hanger having a main spar mod done the whole time I was on the base.
Dan NZ i
Excellent film footage and sound.
Thanks :-)
...love the ole gal...used to hang 'round Bankstown , outta Sydney in the '50s and there seemed to always one there....
I was living in Kawhia in 1984 and would hear the Bristol freighter flying over head most nights, it was doing some sort of freight run between Auckland and the south island and would fly up and down the west coast at night.
I seen these cargo aircraft flying around Alaska in the early 1980s. Neat looking plane.
I remember these flying over north canterbury back in the 1960/s. They flew low and slow you could just about see the pilots in the cabin. I believe one crashed into the Russley golf coarse around the same time.
Would be wonderful to see in the air again...I remember vividly watching these take off & land at Wanganui airport, & lumbering across the skies...looking more like blimps floating...grand old times!
Loved loved loved every mesmerising minute of that video, thank you!
They had a very distinctive sound. We used to see them at Wellington airport
Safe Air flew them from Wellington to Blenheim as freighters in the 1960s. They did bad things to TV reception as they passed overhead. Amazing radial sleeve valve engines -14 cylinders.
These were used in the early 60s to carry horses to various race meeting from Dublin to the UK including Epsom Derby and Oaks
They used to fly in and out Southampton. I remember them coming over the office I was working in at the time. There was also a Carvair and I saw that on a number of occasions, quite often on three engines!
Aer Lingus operated the Freighter in the 1950s but didn't really get on with them and they were sold. In the 1960s, Aer Turas operated horse and freight flights using two Freighters. Sadly, one was lost in a fatal crash at Dublin Airport. The other (EI-APC) soldiered on until sold in 1972. I remember 'PC chugging out over my hose near Dublin Airport in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Great to see, remember then well at Changi, Singapore, 1970/71 with the RNZAF
It is so ugly it's beautiful.
Looks like the mudskipper fish.
Fuck you it’s only beauty
It’s like the dehavalind caribou it’s so wierd it’s actually awesome looking
Remember these from primary school days (58 years ago) flying into Lulsgate airport (Bristol International) over our primary school at Winford, Somerset; along with Cambrian Airway's DC3's, Britannias and Aerlingus F.27s, et al. Low enough to clearly read registration numbers. Lulsgate airport has grown a wee bit since then.
I had a flight from Wellington back to Blenheim main base in the jump seat marvellous experience will. Never forget it
I remember see one of these parked in the bush outside of Snowlake Manitoba.
Still going strong, a bit of history that's still working today. even if it's only a taxi or two every 20 yrs or so. Well done everyone.
That big thick, long, wide wing makes it look like a model airplane from the 1950s.
The Kiwis had them in Changi, Singapore in the sixties. Known as the Bristol Frighteners.
that open hatch at the front looks prime to dig in and rip off.
I remember reading of this aircraft in , I think in a Nevil Shute book, a British author from the 20's thru the 60's, he moved to Australia in the 50's.
I have always enjoyed his books, he dropped his last name, Norway, for the books.
He was also involved with the building of the Vickers R100 airship.
Neville Shute called it the Plymouth Tramp.
2.23secs..I blinked, and the chocks were gone. Many memories of these flying low o/head.
I flew in one of these from Tengah to Butterworth with 41 sqn RNZAF in 1973/74 we had to wear ear defenders and there was water lying in the window surrounds. It was a good flight because we were a quite at low altitude but was memorable
Have you got this Bristol flying yet,I flew from Hamilton to Christchurch in 1975 was so lovely going over the snow laden mountains,also lovely to fly in ,not as loud in side as it is out side,even had ten minutes in the flight deck that was so cool,hope to see you flying one day, 👍👌👍KIWIPIP👍👌👍
Unfortunately she's unlikely to ever fly again. Too much cost.
Historical Machines TV Sad,can remember when everyone helped each other and the cost was time alone, now it’s all about the DOLLAR and nothing else,most likely why I am rich in memories and not money,anyhow sad but we never know what is going to happen, lotto yahoo,regards Pippa Stone 🇳🇿👍😎✌️🙏KIWIPIP🇳🇿👍😎✌️🙏
They used to fly horses and newspapers from Dublin to the UK. I often wondered why they took a while on the runway to get going, and then took a while after landing to exit. A pilot told me that the tailwheel was castoring and, before takeoff had to be locked in place, then unlocked after landing before taxiing to the ramp. Some of the locks were just steel bolts that had to line up in the holes in the fuselage and the tailwheel, fun for the copilots who had to scuttle down the back to do it.
True Story.
A Bristol Wayfarer landed at Gander after a trans Atlantic Flight.
Gander Tower:'' What kinda airplane is that?'
Pilot: 'It's a Bristol 140 Freighter from England"
Gander Tower: long pause ' Did you build it yourself?'
Fabulous video- great to see an awesome piece of aviation history come to life again-congratulations to all involved.
I hadan AIRFIX model of this type c. 1960's it was one of their biggest model aircraft kits & had opening front doors. Lovely to see the original in your video.
Really love the look of this plane.
Great job! I remember seeing a few of these out at Essendon Airport in the mid to late 70's. Apparently they were still being used by the Ipec company for transport at the time. Just goes to show how reliable and robust these planes were. A real pity that the cash isn't around to do a full restoration. I've seen many planes in this sort of state. There used to be a DC6 sitting out at Fogarty's airfield near Gisborne in Vic. Aust. that had met the same fate, no cash, no resto.
When I was a little boy age 6-10 my dad worked for Silver City Airways at Lympne and Lydd airports. where there was a fleet of these and the bigger Superfreighters,
I used to fly across to Le Touquet in the cockpit and remember how difficult it was for a little lad to climb up there on the ladder over the cars in the hold, That was nearly 60 years ago and one might have been that very plane, as some went to Canada and New Zealand.
I went Hurn/Bournemouth to Cherbourg/Maupertus.
A few coppers under £20!
Flash a passport, grin at the gendarme, and away!
(In my case in the wrong direction, to sleep on the beach, under the stars, at Harfleur.)
You have to feel sorry for today's passengers.
ps. The French 'Super' petrol was terrible in a high compression engine.
Back home, a gallon of Esso Extra cured all the ignition problems!
That was 60 years ago!
I remember flying in these to France with my parents. Not sure which airport . Le Touquet?
They seemed enormous to me and it was amazing to see our car get swallowed into its gaping maw!
I used to see these coming into my local airport (Eastleigh, where the Spitfire made her maiden flight from) they used to be operated by Instone air and they mainly were used for carrying livestock and race horses. I think the reg of the one I saw was G-BISU (which was sadly written of when it crashed on its way to an airshow) at least nobody was seriously injured.
Heavens above! I remember flying from Lydd Airport to Calais,cross channel, in c 1956 in one of these .The car was loaded into the front .I must have been 5 or 6 at the time. I see from the comments below that one or two others remember the same. Silver City that was the company
I was living on the North Shore of Auckland from 82-87...Had the chance to see one while at an airshow in Ardmore, boy....I was standing right behind one when it fired up, damn near blew Me off My feet!! :)
I seem to recall seeing an Argosy fly over the house once, but..its so long ago, it could be just My mind and wishful thinking.
Well done to all involved.
Used to watch these flying in and out of Southend airport. Which is where my brother-in-law used to work on them. They used to fly cars to the Channel Islands, and the continent.
I remember also , remember the Carvair too ?
*****
Certainly do. As a youngster I used to spend many hours at Southend, watching the various aircraft coming and going.
Man, I rode that airplane in 1966 for 6 hours with 66 passengers from Yellowknife to Inuvik waaaay up north...Of course, I still had fly my Otter another 6 hours further North again!
A Bristol Freighter, of course, with with engines that have sleeve valve engines, like the Typhoon...feel like a race engines...
They were landing on ice with six feet of snow...after, bragged off a grader off the nose
to clear the runway of the snow for C-46
(The C-46 would have got ripped off the landing gear in that deep snow...The Bristol was unbreakable!)
Lucky that they didn't rip the lower boarding steps off !!!
+paulinfrance5 Yeah, I wonder if someone just simply forgot to close it or just wanted to get some air in as I see that the top is also open. I can't remember if there was an open warning light or not, there must have been.
I remember these taking off from Speke Liverpool flying cars to Ireland.They would fly overhead and still be in sight 15minutes later. With a head wind they appeared to be nearly stopped in the sky, the year 1956 or thereabouts.
I remember these aircraft very well, there was a fleet of them named Silver city.
They flew in and out of Bournemouth Hurn airport for several years we watched then go over while they were very low and loaded, i lived directly in the flight path, we would watch them with amazement they seemed big and clumsy but i guess they were built to take cars to the channel islands , it seemed they took a while to gain height and very noisy engines
Richard Oram I grew up in Fordingbridge and a favourite treat was going down to Hurn to watch the planes including the Silver City planes. Plus one amazing day when our grandmother took us up in a Cesna for a trip over Bournemouth, amazing childhood. Could only dream of being rich enough to take the car to Guernsey, we used the old BR ferry out of Weymouth overnight.
Richard Oram i
Richard Oram thanks
Richard Oram
Went June 66 from Lydd or Southampton to Jersey with my car inside one of these.
When I was a kid I lived in the Hutt Valley. When those things started up each night you could hear em right up the valley. Would have hated to have lived right next to the airpot.
Piękna maszyna.
Nie zamknął luku wejściowego przy kołowaniu - mógł się wyłamać!
Szczęściarz ...
No właśnie... martwiłem się przez całego filmiku ;-)
Now that... was aviation! BRISTOL! The same company that made the BRITANIA. That plane still holds the distance flight record for a prop aircraft without refueling (Tel Aviv - New York if I'm not mistaken). I believe it was also at BRISTOL that work on the British side began on the CONCORDE. All of you, please correct me if my memory is faltering...
Philippe Renaud Remember these aircraft operating in PNG in the late 60's to 70's! Otherwise known as Bristol Frighteners!!😎😀
The Bristol Frighteners were a common sight around PNG in the late 60's and 70's if I recall. Ansett-MAL mainly operated them from memory possibly Sunbird Services as well? 🤔mm
Used to have these fly over our house in Renwick several times a day
J'ai vu des freighters pendant des années sur l'aéroport du Touquet . C'était la ville de mes vacances et j'adorais les voir chaque jours passer non loin de la maison pour rejoindre et revenir de l'aérodrome de Lympne. Le modèle le plus courant était le long nez qui emportait des voitures au dessus de la Manche. Cette activité a disparu avec l'apparition des aéroglisseurs au Portel près de Boulogne sur mer. J'ai volé pour la première fois sur une version nez court (uniquement pour passagers) en 1965 à l'âge de 14 ans pour un séjour linguistique en GB. J'ai toujours dans les oreilles le bruit particulier de ses deux moteurs Hercules sans soupapes. Ils servaient sous les couleurs de la silver city puis de la compagnie air transport. Vers la fin ils furent secondés par un Carvair, un DC6 converti en transport mixte voitures passagers avec le poste de pilotage surélevé , comme sur le freighter et dont j'ai des photos dans mes archives. Merci de m'avoir fait revivre cette période de ma jeunesse.
The old girl has to fly! Those engines are so great1
Beautiful !!!!!
A cool plane, went up 55 yrs ago from Auck.
Called it 100,000 rotating rivets.
None let go.
I remember seeing these at the Bristol Aviation Works at Filton Aerodrome on the outskirts of Bristol, in the 1950's . If I remember rightly they produced a bigger version, the Super Freighter , as well. Seeing this brings back memories of my youth.
Quite heartbreaking in a way - no airworthy aircraft left in the world! If this type had flown a year earlier, WWII enthusiasts would be going all out to preserve them and get them flying in warbirds events. Best wishes from London UK.
When they retired the one in British Columbia it flew to be housed in a museum in Alberta I believe. Even if they're not flying it wouldn't it still be airworthy?
These are so cool! If I was super rich I'd get one and convert it to turbo prop or something and fly it around. They look so cute.
It's a big, ugly beast of an aircraft - but you can't help loving it. I'm so pleased that one survives in working condition. It's a living connection to the halcyon inter-war years of flight, being a direct descendant of the Bristol Bombay.
brianartillery thanks! Didn’t know that. I came to this video looking for Bristol Hercules sounds on real aircraft. I’m trying to figure out how a Beaufighter sounded.
@@flugjung You might find out one day. There is one being restored to flying condition (very slowly) at Duxford.
@@EricIrl I hope they get it flying! Would love to see that. I took my 2CV to France in one, maybe 1969 or 70 (don't say coals to Newcastle!).
An absolute treasure
I just thought how much it resembles the gliders of WWII, interesting.
Yes, the Hamilcar glider.
It's a door for climbing up into the fuselage. The pilot left it open this day as they were only planning on doing a small amount of taxiing about the airfield.
Beautiful, i have some video from in the cockpit of the bristol in founders park nelson if anyone wants to see it, i took my son up there on my birthday, they were kind enough to unlock it for us. Best present by far
Very cool!
Remember the RCAF had these at Langar in Nottinghamshire when I used to go as a child.