Fishburn Airfield News 2017

Airfield information

Fishburn Airfield on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/fishburnair/, there is also a Fishburn Aero Club website and although it does not appear to be current it has some interesting photographs of Fishburn in ye olden days!. Link here; http://www.fishburnaeroclub.btik.com/

The Aviator Café on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/theaviatorbistro/, the All Day Breakfast for a fiver is recommended as is the corned beef pie with chips or potatoes and veg for  £4-50!

GA Livery

https://www.galivery.com/ and on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/GA-Livery-RS-Paintworks-742929239077575/

The Fishburn Historic Aviation Centre

The Aircraft Restoration Group is led by Mike Eastman and they hope to establish the Fishburn Historic Aviation Centre and build three hangars to house their aircraft collection. All enquiries and offers of help or support in cash or kind to Mike at; ARG@aircraftmail.com

Both the Dove and Venom arrived on the 2 February 2016 and are on loan from the de Havilland Aircraft Museum at London Colney with the Primary glider being acquired from the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum in 2015 and arriving at Fishburn in late February 2016. The ARG have several other aircraft which are currently in store elsewhere and will not be moved to Fishburn until the hangar(s) are erected to provide some protection from the weather. These include Flea G-ADRZ, the unique Thurston Tawney Owl G-APWU, Spitfire FSM BR954/JP-A, Sea Vampire T22 XG743/BY/798 and an as yet unidentified Oxford Mk1! The group website is currently under re-build but like most groups these days they also have a Facebook page;

https://www.facebook.com/Aircraft-Restoration-Group-1613873188864206/ .

Fishburn Reports 2017

Fishburn News 19 December 2017 David Thompson

My last visit of the year and sad to report that the Aircraft Restoration Group under the leadership of Mike Eastman have now left the airfield with their Eton TX1 WP266/BAPC 423 having returned to their store near Ripon. The Robin and Romney Hut hangar frames intended for the proposed Fishburn Historic Aircraft Centre have also been removed and the Dove and Venom remain on display but with their future here far from certain.   

New resident PA-28 Cherokee F-BOXT arrived on the 16 December flying from it’s previous base at Toussus-le-Noble south west of Paris and arriving at Fishburn via North Weald. Presently parked in the back field, the new owner is a local man who intends to build a group ownership around the aircraft and hangar it here once space becomes available but it’s not known yet whether the Cherokee will take up a UK registration? 

The airworthy Kraguj finally had it’s permit renewed in July and was registered to Airfield Aviation Limited on the 13 November. The Bellanca is one of only five of the type on the UK register and is normally based at the North Duffield/Birchwood strip near Breighton with Condor Aviation and is here for some fabric and wood work.

Hangered    
X4683/EB-N  Jurca Spitfire  Cherub, really G-MUTS
30140 SOKO Kraguj  really G-RADA, NFD 10-5-2013, minus wings
30146 SOKO Kraguj  really G-BSXD
G-AYFF D62B Condor  
G-AYTR CP301A Emeraude  
G-BOSM   DR253B Regent mtce
G-BSLW Bellanca 7ECA Citabria dismantled, under restoration
G-CDLS Jabiru J400 dismantled, force landing nr Whitby 17-8-2017
G-DAVE Jodel D112 mtce
G-DRIO Jodel DR1050-M mtce, registered 21-7-17 and ex-F-BNIO
G-HRLE Tecnam P2008-JC  
G-MYYS Team Minimax  
Parked Out    
J-1790 Venom FB54  
D-IFSB Dove Mk6  
F-BOXT PA-28 Cherokee  
G-CCVN Jabiru SP for sale
G-NIUS   F172N Skyhawk II open store, spares source and ex-Teesside
Flying    
N66MS PA-28 Turbo Arrow  arrived late afternoon from Elstree for a re-spray
G-AYKW PA-28 Cherokee  
G-BVOS   Europa  
G-CBAR Glastar  
G-TSOL Acrosport 1  

Fishburn News 30 September 2017 David Thompson

My first visit in over a month and it started to rain as I made my mid-afternoon arrival and as two residents land and get hangered it starts to pour down and so rain stops play! The new pilots hut has now been moved to its permanent position closer to both the runway and fuel bowser and with electricity now connected too it just needs to be rendered and officially opened, Beryl? With thanks to John Smith and his Dad for all their hard work in seeing this project through but which was just too late for the recent LAA Strut meeting on the 17 September when John Rogersons Jurca Spitfire G-MUTS successfully completed its first ground and taxy runs on what was appropriately enough Battle Of Britain Sunday.

Hangered    
G-BOSM DR253B Regent mtce
G-CGDM Sonex  
G-CHGM Groppo Trail  
G-CIPL RV-9 under construction
Local Flying    
G-BGMT MS235E Rallye t/f Breighton
G-CDEX Europa,  
G-RATZ Europa  
Open Store    
G-NIUS F172N Skyhawk dismantled
Parked Out    
J-1790 Venom FB54  
D-IFSB Dove Mk6  

Fishburn News 4 April 2017 David Thompson

Missing from the January reports was the mention of two notable departures, on Tuesday the 24th of the unique Voltair 86 G-CHTX which has been transferred into the ownership of Hartlepool College Of Education. With a NFD effective from the 3 March the Voltair will be used by the college in it’s aerospace engineering degree courses together with their two JP’s and Gazelle TAD airframe. The first aircraft of the dedicated PTT fleet, C152 G-PTTA left the GA Livery spray-shop for Newcastle on the 29 January after initially arriving as G-BJVT last November.

Another GA Livery/PTT departure to start the month off with C152 G-PTTB flying out to Newcastle on the 3rd to be logged in as arriving there at 11:39! Previouslyregistered as G-WACTregistered as G-WACTregistered as G-WACT it arrived at Fishburn on the 10 January. The month got off to a good start with several visitors in on the 5th including Kitfox G-BSFX from Causey Park which is a regular Sunday visitor to Fishburn and perhaps more so for the All Day Breakfast than the clubhouse craic! Cessna F150H G-AWUN departed back to it’s home at Linley Hill Airfield, Beverley today after arriving on the 14 October for a respray. Looking nice and resplendent in it’s new scheme it managed to depart although the fading daylight and poor weather near home must have made for a tense return flight! 

A week later on the 12th the weather was so foul even the birds were walking! I was just passing so had to call in and although the Aviator Café was doing brisk business in all day breakfasts and corned beef pie, and both are thoroughly recommended!, only two hardy souls were in their hangars hard at work on their respective projects which should fly later in the year. Just as long as it stops raining…..

In for maintenance on St Valentine Day was the Peterlee Parachute Centre’s C182 G-PLEE which made the short journey down from Peterlee-Shotton Airfield leaving C208B Caravan N208UP at Peterlee for people to jump out of a perfectly serviceable aeroplane! Down in Hangar 9 GA Livery finished work on RV-9A G-CGXR which had arrived on the 8 October and it finally flew back to it’s home base at Carlisle on the 17th leaving only the engineless RS Aviation F150H G-AWOT and the runway caravan in their hangar! Arriving the next day was F152 G-BKWY from Teesside and one of the growing PTT fleet and like their two previous 152’s which came here before it, one of which G-PTTB and was the ferrying aircraft, possibly destined to take on a new registration before departure? Rounding off that week was a first sighting of new resident Flight Design CTLS G-LEGY owned by Russ Grief and previously based at Bagby.

A visit on the 22nd found the wind gusting at 15 knots straight down the runway with no flying taking place and very little activity elsewhere except for Cherokee G-RISA having her annual inspection and Jim working away on his Glasair Sportsman kit. 

Chipmunk WP859 languishes in the back of a hangar and is being sold for spares and with plenty of Chippy’s in the UK, airworthy, static display or as restoration projects, it’s future should be assured or at least parts of it! With Eric Bentley now owning both Jabiru G-CBOP and Zenair CH701 G-ZENA his Skyranger 912 has been sold to the Wexair Group and is now based at ILAS Field, Taghmon in County Wexford.

Elsewhere ex-Fishburn based Pitts S-1S G-BKKZ has left Greenhills Airfield at Wheatley Hill to return to it’s spiritual home at Chester-le-Street, aka Pelton International, possibly at the end of 2016? 

The ARG have continued their restoration work throughout the winter and spring and meet every Tuesday and Saturday morning between 10:00 and 10:30 in the Aviator Café and with the help of Fishburn resident John Burns have transformed the EoN Primary from a skeletal frame into a fully refurbished, re-covered and restored museum exhibit. Resplendent in it’s all silver colour scheme with yellow RAF training bands the Primary was allocated BAPC423 and has taken on the identity of EoN Eton TX1 WP266. For those not familiar with the Eton or Primary take a look at this YouTube video!; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5vtPkB1h3s . 

Other work to progress as the weather improves will be the Dove electrics and power and then the cockpit fit on the Venom and as ever volunteers are always welcome and can contact Mike Eastman via the new ARG group email address; ARG@aircraftmail.com  Another project the ARG are involved with is the Whirlwind Fighter Project, which, when the museum hangars are up, should see the Whirlwind airframe move up to Fishburn.

With thanks as ever to Dave and Phil Morgan for the airside access as well as to the owners and resident pilots for their continued help in compiling these notes.

 Fishburn News 1 April 2017 David Thompson

An early afternoon call meant that I had missed any chance of being the victim of an April Fool trick but all around the airfield April Showers were cascading down and television news reports later in the day showed lots of flash flooding throughout the area. Unsurprisingly the Aviator Café was busy.

Also busy were a group of intrepid aviators in Hangar 1 attempting to get Johns Minimax to turn over after having a new electric starter fitted. It failed to start, it started to rain and they retired to the café to await another drier day! I missed the chance of a visit the previous weekend but the airfield aircraft movements log showed forty entries over the two days which must be far and away the best weekend for months, quite possibly since the 2016 Wings & Wheels Day?

Fishburn News 12 March 2017 David Thompson

Surprisingly not very busy airside given the decent weather but the car park was full as was the Aviator Café which really seems to have taken off with both the residents and passing public, many of who are now regulars and on first name terms with the owner Mags Bain. I missed earlier visitors Eurostar G-CCEJ from Bagby and regular Pioneer 300 G-EWES which had flown down from Ewesley Park near Morpeth but saw Flight Design CTSE G-CESW which also came in from Bagby. The ARG Eton is now complete and looks resplendent in it’s guise as WP266 and shares the hangar with an engineless Minimax ‘YS and Jabiru ‘VN being readied for sale. The PTT C152 ‘WY has been here for a few weeks now and could well become the future G-PTTC, having already had some paintwork preparation work done? Hopefully more on this and GAL next time?

Fishburn News 3 March 2017 David Thompson

White rabbits, white rabbits or if you are Welsh and reading this, a belated St Davids Day!

Either way it had been a good flying morning but by the time I arrived at lunchtime the clouds had arrived and it was raining to the south over Teesside but that didn’t stop the Fishburn aviators from flying with Bill taking his Europa off to Breighton and Brent and Ray flying locally to get some air under their wings. With the recent poor weather there hadn’t been much air flowing under many wings of late with both Bagby and Peterlee airfields closing their runways due to waterlogging although Peterlee were advising that their 7 metre tarmac runway, that’s width and not length, was still open but only to experienced pilots!

Having just mentioned the water-logged runways a new temporary resident arrived from Bagby in the shape of F150M G-FFEN which had managed to un-stick from the mud there but on inspection after landing had most of the Bagby runway splattered under it’s wings! Owned by Danny Abel, this is one of two new residents he hopes to lease out and will be available to ‘hours builders’ like Simon who brought ‘EN in today. The other aircraft could well be PA-28 G-BDGM which tried to get into Fishburn two days later on the 3rd but had to return to Teesside due to poor weather with PA-38 G-BGGM acting as the crew ferry. Another new resident arrived today, or rather pieces of it did, in the shape of Meta Sokol L40 G-APUE which is being moved by road from it’s present base at Felixkirk. The L-40 Meta Sokol was a Czech sports and touring four-seat single-engine low-wing aircraft of the late 1950s with this example first appearing on the British register in June 1959 and it went through the hands of several owners before it’s CoA finally expired in 2015 whilst North Yorkshire based and were I saw it last at Felixkirk on the 11 August 2012 sharing a hangar with Pup G-AXPC, Acrosport 2 G-CCFX and Rans S6 Super Six G-RDNS. Interestingly the same owners are also recorded as having another L40, G-APVU, whose first British owner was William Roberts of Strathallan Castle and who later established the aircraft collection and museum of the same name. This second L40 was withdrawn from permanent use in 1989 and purchased by the owners of ‘AU in 1993, presumably as a spares source and it would be interesting to know if the airframe still survives today? Time will tell!

Back at the clubhouse the Aviator Café appears to go from strength to strength with the all day breakfast now being seemingly pushed into second place by the corned beef pie, other menu items are also available, and a quiet corner has been created were the office once was. The café Facebook page has details of it’s menu and opening times and is to be recommended; https://www.facebook.com/theaviatorfishburn/

Outside, the clubhouse decking area has been extended with the addition of a new path with more improvements to follow as time allows.The updated airfield Facebook page is here; https://www.facebook.com/fishburnair/

Fishburn News 22 January 2017 David Thompson

A cold crisp winters day saw some local flying taking place and some maintenance activity in the hangars which included a first showing of new resident Jabiru G-CBOP which is owned by Eric Bentley who seems to acquire new aircraft like President Trump signs Executive Orders! Another recently arrived Jabiru G-CDLS was having a new oil cooler fitted whilst Aerobat.

G-KOVU makes steady progress with it’s new avionics kit.

After some research into the construction and identities of the original EoN Primary gliders it appears that although the museum Primary could possibly be BGA1461/CDN which arrived from Flixton last April it’s true identity may never be known with WP266, WP271 and BGA2493 all now being touted as possible identities?

Fishburn News 11 January 2017 David Thompson

This was my Fishburn 2017 ‘first foot’ and understandably given both the time of year and the weather, things were very quiet on the aviation front ! Not so however in the clubhouse were Café 26 has metamorphasised into The Aviator Café with Margaret Bain, known to one and all as ‘Mags’, at the helm and hoping to reintroduce a normal service as soon as possible, in fact as soon as the new café furniture arrives! Basic hot and cold snacks are already back on the menu and themed meals starting with a Burns Night dinner on the 25th will follow as soon as the kitchen is fully up and running. All future events and news from the Aviators Café can be found on it’s dedicated Facebook page here; https://www.facebook.com/theaviatorbistro/ and a reminder that the new Fishburn Airfield Facebook page is also up and running; https://www.facebook.com/fishburnair/

Team GA Livery were busy with their second PTT Cessna G-WACT which arrived from Teesside yesterday after making the short hop down from Newcastle on the 9th and it is already down to a bare white finish ready for it’s new corporate colour scheme to match G-PTTA. The RV has been stripped right back to a bare metal finish ready for priming and G-AWOT is still waiting for the return of its engine so that it can depart up to Eshott to join the rest of the RS/Purple Aviation fleet.



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