Civilian Aviation

You will not believe the incredible luck and timing involved in my getting these photos, I will explain later, anyway another box ticked in my life !!! always wanted to get a Beluga at Hawarden, yes it seems to have three names now ??? but I prefer Hawarden !! .... So a few photos from yesterday .....

Keith

F-GSTA.

nice pics Keith , I await the explanation with interest!

It's hardly a thing of beauty though is it!

thanks for posting the pics
Andy

Nice to see these beasts, is it a difficult place to take photos ?

Great shots
Paul

Thanks Andy .... One of my recent 'must haves' the Beluga .... got it .... I think it is so different it is beautiful ????
As for the event we were going to Birmingham for a family visit on Saturday so I booked an extra night at a hotel I know near Hawarden for Saturday night as I know the Beluga's fly on Sundays .... anyway we left Birmingham early afternoon Saturday and as we got to the area I thought I would drive around 'Chester Airport' .... as we passed the end of the runway my partner said she saw lights from an aircraft landing .... quick spin around the roundabout .... get camera .... find missing memory card doh! and bingo a Beluga appears .... how nice was that ?? especially as there were no flights at all on Sunday ! Lucky or what ?

Paultojo .... Thank you also .... No I don't think it's too much of a problem taking photos there ?? But the crash gate where I got these is very very well signed 'no parking' etc and surrounded by double yellow lines ... though I did notice lots of local people turned up to watch the event and even parked on the road ?? Luckily no Heddlu in sight !!

Keith

F-GSTA.

Excellent work catching that Kevin. Most interesting ... but I agree with Andy, it's ugly!

Thank you PorkScratching .... But Kevin wasn't there it was just Susan and I And I still think it's a work of art and a beast of beauty .... but each to his own ????

Keith

nice catch, you got some great shots well done

I for one think it is an ugly beast but i would take every opportunity to take photos of it

I live in wales so it is about an hour and a half to hawarden for me and i have seen the Beluga many times but only managed to photograph it once

Hawarden is a very quite airport and it is only worth a visit if you want to catch the Beluga, i wouldn't spend a day at hawarden on the off chance i would only go there if i knew the beluga was in, I have never been a football fan but may become an Airbus uk broughton FC supporter and start attending all the home games

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-w ... us-9412760

you can get a great view of the runway from the football ground, and depending on rotation if using runway 22 you can get departure shots from the crash gates on the chester road to get here i would park in tescos car park or the retail park and walk down to the roundabout on the chester road, this spot is also good for taxi shots and i suspect that is where Keith was

if they are talking off on runway 04 then you can get departure shots from the wales coastal path by parking in the coastal path parking area on the B5129 and walking down the banks of the river Dee until you can look down the runway

I am in the fortunate position where i could look at flight radar watch the Beluga take off in france and get to Hawarden to see it land have some brekkie at tesco and then watch it depart

For good photo opportunities of the Beluga try the little industrial park down Manor off of the B 5125 to the left of the airfield if viewed on Google Earth.
Not been able to go for a long while but there were loads of easy places to park with no yellow lines to worry about.

beefsteak wrote:For good photo opportunities of the Beluga try the little industrial park down Manor off of the B 512 to the left of the airfield if viewed on Google Earth.
Not been able to go for a long while but there were loads of easy places to park with no yellow lines to worry about.

That is the B5129 where i went on to the coastal path, can you park anywhere on the industrial estate?

when i went down that way every pull in had lots of no parking signs and lots of cross hatching on the road to try and deter parking near the end of the runway

OKAY I'll try again.......................................... :-
What I said was "Not been able to go for a long while, but there were loads of easy places to park with no yellow lines to worry about." Meaning just that !!!
And according to my maps the industrial estate I'm talking abo is still on the "Manor Lane" just off the B5125 !!
Sorry if that sounds snotty!

keithnewsome wrote:Thank you PorkScratching .... But Kevin wasn't there it was just Susan and I
Keith

Oh dear, many apologies Keith (and Susan!) - I'm clearly getting my K's mixed up.

I think you're getting yourselves in a 5 and 9 over the roads rather than the more common cockney 5 and 8!

the B5125 runs along the south side of the airfield going west from the roundabout on the A5104 (another number to add to the confusion) and past the 04 threshold. meanwhile the B5129 runs along the north side beyond the railway under the runway 22 approach it the swings south-ish to a roundabout where a road links to the B5125 and that is Manor Lane with it's industrial estate between the road and the airfield (to the west of the airfield).

There's a road through the industrial estate (Manor Road) which looks like it goes right along the airfield boundary with a small car parking area which might be where you mean. There's also a retail park east of the airfield and roundabout with a cineworld - is that where Tescos is?

I'll have a look on google streetview later to see if I can work out where the hatchings are. If you can PM me more info I will try to write a guide.

Meanwhile, back to Keith's photos ( which started this topic), they are good and despite it being on very ugly beast I wouldn't be averse to getting some pics of it myself just for it's uniqueness. There is actually a Beluga sitting on the apron on the bing aerial view BTW.
Andy

Many thanks for all the valuable input her gentlemen .... Whilst we were there Saturday and Sunday I did check Manor Lane industrial estate, expanded a lot since I worked there 10+ years ago, and there are no yellow lines or parking restrictions at all ! you can get really close to the airfield boundary fence .... with what looks like a spotters car park to the left of the new roundabout and Beluga 5 with it's nose open showing on the ramp in Google Earth !

Keith

that last shot really shows off the unusual/ugly shape of the Beluga

My lad still wants to be a Beluga pilot, 6 years on from when he first said it. (either that, or work in a bank like his Grandad but that's only so he can 'retire' at 55!

some machine looks as aero dynamic as a brick with the nose of a dolphin !, thats the good thing about aircraft they come in all shapes and sizes nice catch

is there any rough timetable when they fly
in april i'm paying a visit to Toulouse & Hamburg Sunday-Sunday bascally and i got to get one of them on film

mach one .... I still love it !!!! But my first love was the ATL98 Carvair ???? Maybe I just like oddball oversize aircraft .... So where can I find a Dreamlifter

beefsteak ! Just let him go for it ??? with the A330 version on the horizon and the massive backlog in orders it's going to be ongoing for many many years ??

retro11 .... Yes like people they come in all shapes and sizes but each have their own character !

AirbusA320 .... I rather think I saw you at Norwich earlier today ?? I have no idea of any timetable ?? Maybe someone can help ??

Meanwhile another photo from Saturday .....

Keith

F-GSTA.

I did ask a mate of mine (Who is a delivery pilot for Airbus, based in Toulouse) if he knew of any rough flight times of the Beluga, so we could take my lad over again, he said he didn't think there were any, but he would get back to me..................... That was in November and I'm still waiting


I think she's absolutely gorgeous by the way

Must admit I preferred the Guppy. Ive got a pic of it with a Laker DC10 at Manchester some time in the late 70s early 80s. Any reason the Guppy used to go into Manchester and not Chester?