Back to:

Glasgow  for COP26  Eddie Douglas

COP26 and Prestwick revisted 60 years on.

 

The aircraft moments for the COP26 Climate Change conference in Glasgow over the 31 October to 14 November period that were centered mainly on Glasgow, Prestwick and Edinburgh airports have been well documented elsewhere and this light hearted account with photographs offers a slightly different take on the proceedings linked to some reminiscences from my aircraft spotting time. The EGPK website visitor log over the period of my visit is reproduced with kind permission of the group and gives details of the range and number of movements including the COP26 delegate aircraft some of which positioned to or from mainly Edinburgh and Glasgow but also other airports around the UK maybe to return later sometimes at the unusual arrival and departure times shown. The Prestwick 23 runway was closed for the duration of the conference to give extra parking space for the visiting aircraft and three of the engineless ex Norwegian B787s had been moved there to vacate space on the main ramps.

My visits to Prestwick in the early 1960s were in the heyday of worldwide transatlantic props, the first jetliners, refuelling stops of a wide range of civil and military traffic on operations or delivery and many happy days were spent staying in the locality for spotting and social activities with some memorable successes. This trip however started badly with the last minute cancellation of our hotel accommodation near Prestwick that was booked for the first three days of the COP26 conference from 31October to 2 November. After a frantic scramble to get an alternative at a busy time a seafront flat was sorted but not having done Air BnB before there was an element of uncertainty about how it would work out. The plan had been to review arrivals at the last minute and decide if an early Monday departure from Newcastle to Edinburgh, Glasgow, then Prestwick was best but in the event we set off direct to Prestwick in pouring rain for a very wet drive westward. About 20 miles from our destintion the traffic cones started on the roadside and with police cars around that raised some concern as stories about restricted spotter access for security reasons had been circulating but the cones only lasted for about five miles around Dumfries House owned by Prince Charles where himself and some of the great and good were perhaps staying. Arriving at Prestwick to the well known elevated mound and parking area that had been set aside by the authorities for the expected public we found about 30 cars with spotters and photographers already in position looking over to the old USAF ramp, the runway and taxiway from the great vantage point. The impressive collection of about 20 aircraft included an Air Vietnam B787, Indonesian government B777, Qatar A340, Egyptian government A340 and Air Force aircraft from Colombia, Honduras, Bolivia, Ecuador, Croatia and Sweden plus other civil biz jets. Details are given below in the EGPK Movements list. Unfortunately the wet and poor light was not great for photography at this stage and there was not much action going on unlike my recollection of the same crowded ramp in 1962 when 100 Air national guard F-86 Sabres, four C124 Globemasters, based HC54 Skymasters and UH16 Albatross were present to support the fighters transit to Keflavik after the Stair Step deployment to Europe during one of the many Berlin Crisis of the Cold War.

 

With the rain starting to ease we made contact with old friends, the banter flowed and information on where COP aircraft had located to other airports was exchanged. President Biden's entourage at Edinburgh and Leuchars was a bit too far to travel but a run up to Glasgow Airport became a good option and after refuelling, taking lunch on the move we headed north to improving weather and arrived to find a good selection of about 15 aircraft including Indian government B777 K-7066, Italian AF A319 MM62009, German AF 319 15+02, Spanish AF A330 T.22-1, Greek AF Falcon 7X 273, Czech AF A320 3085 and two French AF Falcon 900. However Glasgow had no designated viewing area and no stopping with more of the dreaded traffic cones everywhere so the solution was to drop off the photographer who went round the fenceline while the driver spent 15 minutes going round a circuit trying not to get dizzy before a hasty pick-up that held up a convoy of police motorbikes, fortunately without incident. Security was super tight with Glasgow polis everywhere on foot, bikes, cars and vans and we noted that the Boris A321 G-XATW and the Macron Falcon were parked on opposite sides of the airport. With Glasgow done and the satnav set for our Air BnB we headed back south with a stop only for coffee and to pick up a can of Irn Bru for an English visitor to try, Scotland's first after the amber nectar. The hastily booked flat in Troon turned out to be a real winner with a fine view over the sea westward toward the island of Arran and of the runway 12 approach at Prestwick and we got our bearings helped by departures of a Turkish AF A400 15-0051 and Thai AF A320 HS-TYT just on dusk as a red sunset suggested better weather to come the next day. After a meal and drinks there was a great evening of banter and an ADSB session back in the flat watching outbounds from Prestwick out of the front window and from Glasgow out the kitchen to the west at medium level, although "bulbs" were not allowed for the numbers list I was told. At one time a stream of ten outbound COP26 related aircraft were on ADSB headed by the two French AF delegation Falcons from Glasgow.

 

 

 

 

 

The Tuesday morning started early with an ADSB ping for the two Japanese Self Defence Force B777s heading toward the UK that showed over Scandinavia in 100 mile trail, one inbound to Glasgow, one to Prestwick. The arrival of B777 80-1111 in full sun was a fine sight and heralded the better weather so we decided to stay at Prestwick for the day as the clearer skies also gave the chance of picking up the nearby traffic to Glasgow, although the Korean AF B747 did manage to hide behind cloud while within viewing distance. It was mainly a day of COP departures from the busy ramp but the based HM Coastguard A189 helicopter flying, PC21 and Cessna 402 flights and arrival of UAE Government B787 A6-PFG and Aerolíneas Argentinas A330 LV-GHQ kept interest going. On Wednesday morning another early call at Prestwick was for a Kuwait Government B737 9K-GCC and three USAF C17 arrivals to collect COP related equipment with aircraft from the Air National Guard units of Mississippi, New York and North Carolina. The phone mounted ADSB was invaluable to keep track of the inbounds and overflights as COP26 aircraft repositioned to collect heads of state and delegations who were departing the Glasgow conference.  An Australian AF A330 descending for Glasgow defied a visual sighting but a high level UAE A330 MRRT tanker serial 1302 was spotted en route to 10 West with its three point tanking equipment clearly visible in the clear conditions. It brought to mind 60 years before identifying C124s plodding up to Stornaway or contrailing transatlantic jets by phoning or writing to air traffic at Atlantic House, yes they even replied by letter in those days. Air Force One had gone into Edinburgh and President Biden travelled to the Glasgow conference in a twenty vehicle motorcade, much to the delight of punters on the connecting M8 motorway I'm told. Of his three VH-60N helicopters of HMX-1 that had been airlifted to Scotland for the visit, two positioned at Leuchars and one at Glasgow but they were not used and remained mainly hangared with only a single  route proving flight from Glasgow to Edinburgh one evening along the M8. Three RAF Pumas were also Glasgow based and made flights around the local areas making a security presence known. Our trip had managed to catch the peak timing of the official delegations and main visitors for the COP26 conference but a trickle of civilian biz traffic continued for the full two weeks. Examples of possible COP related aircraft seen on ADSB into Prestwick were Global Express PP-GUL and PC24 OO-MBP and on the last day of the conference PC24 HB-VXB. Our all too short Prestwick visit ended with a visit to the cargo area cafe where we feasted on coffee and bacon rolls ordered amid the staff franticly packing of a huge 100 sandwich order maybe for the numbers of security staff on duty around the airport. After a last bit of banter we hit the road home and my last trip reminiscence came when driving over Beattock Summit on the M74 and was from the winter of 1984 when the snow was four inches deep and the going treacherous. That was on a 650 mile return trip from a successful visit to RAF Macrahanish and a US Marine Corps deployment, but that’s a different story for another time maybe.

 

Monday 1 November 2021       Courtesy of EGPK Movements

15-0051            A400M TUAF913 dep 2017
VN-A868            B787-9 HVN1              Vietnam delegation
A6-RJU              B737-7BBJ ANGOLA1  Angolan delegation
 A7-AAH             A340-3 dep 2246         Qatari delegation
FAC1202           B767-2                       Columbian delegation 
N271DV             GLF6 EJM4
FAH-001            EMB135BJ                 Honduras delegation
5B-DCW            A319 CYP004             Cypriot delegation 
9H-NYC             EMB190 AXY3111       Kyrgyzstan delegation
FAE-052            FA7X FAE001             Ecuadorian delegation
SU-GGG            A340-2 EGY001            Egyptian delegation    
FAB-001            F900                          Bolivian delegation 
102005               GLF5 SVF650             Swedish delegation 
5T-CLJ               B737-MAX8 MRT001   Mauritian delegation 
UP-A2001          A320 BEC002 dep 1900ish    Kazakhstan delegation
LX-EBO              FA8X LIB001                          Liberian delegation
L1-01                  FA2000 LSV101 dep 1305ish Slovenian delegation 
LX-LTI                A318 TOGO01                     Togo delegation 
PK-GIG              B777-3 GIA1                        Indonesian delegation 
A39-007             KC30A (A330-2) ASY324 dep 0123 Australian delegation 
HS-TYT              A320 RTAF207 arr 0605 dep 2129   Thai delegation
OY-EUR             PC12 arr 0727
OY-AWH            PC12 arr 0748
ES-PHR             H25B VPC5 arr 0900ish
N200A                GLF5 arr 1000 dep 1101
9A-CRO             CL604 arr 1033 from GLA                  Croatian delegation
ZZ173                 C17 RAF RRR6389 arr 1239 dep 1418
D-ITTT                CE406 TWG155/255 arr 1315 dep 1355
LX-JFU               PC12 JFA50B/00M arr 1356 dep 142

05-5150              C17 USAF RCH495 arr 1538 dep 1730
LX-VCM             B747-8 CLX79G

Tuesday 2 November 2021

VN-A868        B787-9 HVN1
A6-RJU          B737-7BBJ ANGOLA1 dep 2224ish
FAC1202       B767-2
N271DV         GLF6 EJM4 dep 2013
FAH-001        EMB135BJ dep 1818ish to GLA
5B-DCW        A319 CYP005 dep 1741 to GLA
9H-NYC         EMB190 AXY207 dep 1819
FAE-052        FA7X FAE001
SU-GGG        A340-2 EGY001 dep 0810ish to GLA
FAB-001        F900 dep 1243 to GLA
102005           GLF5 SVF650 dep 1549 to GLA
5T-CLJ           B737-MAX8 MRT001 dep 1253 to GLA        Mauritian delegation 
LX-EBO         FA8X LIB001
LX-LTI            A318 TOGO01 dep 1957ish
PK-GIG          B777-3 GIA1 dep 1133

OY-EUR             PC12 dep 1459
OY-AWH            PC12 dep 1434
ES-PHR             H25B VPC5 dep 1840ish
9A-CRO             CL604 dep 1625 to GLA
80-1111              B777-3 JF02 arr 0942ish dep 1930ish       Japanese delegation

F-HLPN              FA2000 arr 1010 dep 1720
OO-LUM            FA7X BAF79 arr 1136 from GLA dep 1813 Belgian delegation
D-ITTT                CE406 TWG155/255 arr 1240 dep 1330
A6-PFG              B787-9 AUH06 arr 1358 dep 1735ish
G-LATO             CE680A BZE05C/05D arr 1512 dep 1628
D-CHIC              EMB505 AHO841K arr 1624 dep 1806
LV-GHQ            A330 ARG1099 arr 1548 dep1851          Argentine delegation 
ZE701                BAe146-1 RRF41 arr 1700ish
9H-VJR              GLEX VJT915 arr 2036 dep 2226
P4-BFY              GLF5 BFY103P/103R arr 2103 dep 2235ish

Wednesday 3 November 2021

VN-A868        B787-9 HVN1 dep 1100
FAC1202       B767-2 dep 0946
FAE-052        FA7X FAE001 dep 1320ish
LX-EBO         FA8X LIB001 dep 0831ish
ZE701            BAe146-1 KRF41 dep 0932
SE-MAP         BAeATP NPT37K/37F
04-4136         C17 USAF RCH895 arr 0309ish dep 0510    

01-0192         C17 USAF RCH4524 arr 0840ish dep 1157  New York ANG
9K-GCC         B737-9 KUG007 arr 0852 dep 1149            Kuwaiti delegation 
01-0197         C17 USAF RCH4594 arr 0935                      North Carolina ANG

OE-GFM        BE350 JAR11 arr 1000
HB-FRL          PC12 PCH40F arr 1143ish dep 1241
03-3113         C17 USAF RCH3202 arr 1154 dep 1439       Mississippi ANG
D-IFFF           CE406 TWG144/244 arr 1252 dep 1335
LX-PCG          F900 arr 1616
4K-8888         A319 AHY4016/4017 arr 1634 dep 1829
2-EMBR         EMB505 arr 1638ish dep 1705ish
M-DAWN       BE200 arr 1714ish dep 2348ish
EC-LTF          BD700 GES091F arr 1726
G-STMT         FA7X arr 1833
00-0175         C17 USAF RCH4594 arr 1934ish dep 2220

F-GUOC        B777-2F AFR6739
LX-VCH         B747-8 CLX37

 

Credits

Aircraft Lists EGPK Movements and Fighter Control

Photos           Eddie Douglas