Spectacular Britannia Arrival in Kemble 1997

[Richjam]

Saw this posted on the UKAR forum shows some low passes by a Brittannia arriving at Kemble in 1997 don't think it would go down well with the CAA these days!

https://youtu.be/tlVdPh0pcZs

[Simpo Two]

Oh that sort of Britannia! I was wondering how the Royal Yacht was going to get to Kemble...

[hammo19]

Stunning, beautiful airplane. Brings back memories of listening from my bedroom window and hearing the Britannia’s in and out of Manston

[Eric Mc]

Richjam said:

Saw this posted on the UKAR forum shows some low passes by a Brittannia arriving at Kemble in 1997 don't think it would go down well with the CAA these days!

https://youtu.be/tlVdPh0pcZs

I don't think they'd do anything, to be honest. It wasn't an airshow. It wasn't a formal flying display.

[grumpy52]

We flew out to Singapore in 63 on British Eagle Brittania then back in 65 , on leaving Istanbul on the way back we had a hydraulic problem and diverted to Tehran , in the middle of some sort of civil or military shenanigans. 24 hrs confineď to the hotel and a full military escort to and from the airport . A big adventure for a 10 year old .
We flew out again in 67 on a Brittania and back again in 70 on a RAF VC10 .
All the old joys of the West London air terminal then a coach journey out to Stansted airport. I do remember the Brittania as a beautiful aircraft only outdone when the VC10 came along .

[Eric Mc]

The Britannia always suffered from various glitches. It had the nasty habit of sending one or more of its propellers into reverse pitch, without warning. That caught out a Britannia coming into Shannon Airport in 1977.

[andy97]

Eric Mc said:

The Britannia always suffered from various glitches. It had the nasty habit of sending one or more of its propellers into reverse pitch, without warning. That caught out a Britannia coming into Shannon Airport in 1977.

Was that an ex RAF Britannia? Just judging by the paint scheme?

[MarkwG]

andy97 said:

Was that an ex RAF Britannia? Just judging by the paint scheme?

https://www.xm496.com/xl658-adhara/ - yep, life story here.

[Tony1963]

A friend of mine organised that arrival in the original post.

[Glosphil]

In 1959 I flew to & from Singapore in BOAC Britannias.
On way out at the stop in Zurich a ground vehicle ran into the nose cone and we had to wait for a replacement to be flown out from the UK.
On the flight back to the UK, at Calcutta, the brakes failed on landing.
The following year in a Comet an engine failed just after take-off from Rangoon. The flight home was uneventful.

[Eric Mc]

andy97 said:

Was that an ex RAF Britannia? Just judging by the paint scheme?

It was. Many of the ex-RAF Britannias were sold off in 1976/77 to small scale operators. Quite a few of them came to sticky ends.

[Trevatanus]

I rather like this landing at Brooklands

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmakSwlYLs0

[lufbramatt]

Presumably the flypast in the OP was the last ever flight by a Britannia hence the arrival in style

[Eric Mc]

I'm pretty sure it was the last ever Britannia flight. They were very elegant aircraft and sounded so distinctive

[RoverP6B]

The whispering giant... I miss it. I do hope that one can someday be restored to flight. They were arguably the swansong of great British aircraft design and manufacturing.

As an aside, the black Hunter T.7 camera ship is still around, known as Firefox, and I think IIRC the owner is a PHer?

Edited by RoverP6B on Sunday 8th December 10:51