Kemble 11-11-2013, some sombre sights on a sombre day

[andygolfer]

I spent a few days in the Cotswolds last weekend and into Tuesday and I spent a very dull and wet Monday at Bibury, Tetbury & Cirencester and managed to take in a brief detour to have a look at Kemble, I'd never been before so just used the vantage points along the A429 to see what was around waiting for the axe man to do his job, sombre weather for a sombre scene! I've tried to identify the various aircraft and remains as far as possible, the regular posts in the Kemble section have proved very useful for this and any corrections or additional information will be most welcome.

For those not familiar with Kemble (I wasn't) I took the pics from 3 different locations along the road, the large green gate at the western end of the road where it appears an old taxiway once crossed the road, then some through the fence opp the lay by about 1/2 way along and finally from the roadside at the eastern end opp the farm gate and track where I was also able to pull off the road.
starting with the pan outside the Rapid Racking hangar – the very tired looking MK B747s G-MKCA (white) & G-MKGA (metal finish), MKCA has an interesting hole cut in the side with 'IN' written next to it! - don't know where 'OUT' is maybe once you're in there's no way out!







Next the ASI pans and hangar area:
first a general view with an attempt to list the inmates, going left to right A320s EC-ICQ (Veuling) , M-RAFF (white), EC-ICR(Veuling) - part hidden , Meridiana A319 EI-DEZ - which only arrived on the 8th, Corsair B747 F-HLOV, and hidden behind it BMI B737 believed to be G-OGBD from other's logs



Corsair B 747, F-HLOV



A320s EC-ICQ & M-RAFF



newly arrived Meridiana A 319 EI-DEZ



And the scrapping area which is packed with all sorts of bits and pieces (literally!) as well as a few almost whole frames,
firstly a general view , going left to right...an unknown A340 cockpit (white), unknown B737 forward fuselage, Olympic ATR42s (fuselages) SE-MGE and SE-MGG - partly hidden behind the bizarrely painted Lucky Air (debatable name!) B737 B5092, it still has it's airline colours on the starboard side which confused me for a while as I didnt realise it was the same aircraft and could work out where the other had gone to (an age problem!) ex DHL A300 EI-OZI - behind the cutting machine waiting to resume it's work, and finally Meridiana A319 EI-DFA in front of Corsair B747 TF-AMG


from another angle (by the green gate) some of the same, the A340 cockpit, Lucky Air B737 B5092 (in it's 'proper' colours so you see how I got confused by moving a few hundred metres),Corsair B747 TF-AMG and Meridiana A319 EI-DFA


DHL A300, EI-OZI and an unknown B737 forward fuselage,(there's also what appears to be a tail sticking up near the A300's wing root but no idea what it is,


another general view, going left to right, firstly an Emb110 which looking back through reports is PROBABLY G-ODUB - anybody able to confirm? , the Lucky Air B737 in it's 'graffiti' colours, (ATR42 fuselages behind), Corsair B747 TF-AMG and Meridiana A319 EI-DFA in front of it, there's an unknown B747 cockpit in front of it and looking at the colours and old logs I think it might be the last remains of an Air India example (VT-EPX was one scrapped at Kemble some time ago) and finally there's the carcass of a Cessna 150, G-BOVS.


a closer view( a crop from the previous photo) showing A319 EI-DFA, B747 TF-AMG, the B747 cockpit and G-BOVS


another crop of a previous photo (the first of the scrapping area) showing the unkonwn B737 forward fuselage, the ex Olympic ATR42s and the graffiti scheme on the Lucky Air B737 (thank goodness it never flew like that!) and A300, EI-OZI


now 2 pics of remains in front of the B747 TF-AMG, (these were taken from the western end opposite the farm gate and track)
firstly a blue & white fuselage but no idea what it is but thought I'd show it in case somebody knows and can i.d. it for a future visitor



and then further back alongside the 747, a front fuselage of a Jetstar B737 (i.d. unknown) and the nose of another DHL A300 (also i.d. unknown)



and finally the Gulf Air A340 is parked close to the scrapping area but away from the other aircraft, substantially complete at present but some parts removed, as it was easier for photos I took 3 of it...







slighly different to a normal set of pics and a bit sad to see the aircraft in a state far removed from their former glory but hopefully it will help any other visitors with what is where and some identifications (although I realise that those that are capable of doing so may be moved around from time to time) and maybe others 'in the know' can add some more information on i.d.s

thasnks to Maltatripper who was there on Tuesday and provided a lod which helped with a few i.d.s:http://www.civilianaviation.co.uk/forum ... 09&t=16616

[DaveSheffield]

Great post Andy, the last time I was at Kemble there was an Airtours DC10 in for scrap - that long ago!

Will definitely need to pay a visit soon by the looks of this, I've never seen a Gulf A340 and I love that scheme. Hopefully it'll stay that way for a few weeks yet!

Cheers for the detailed and informative post!

[andygolfer]

thanks Dave, I thought I would give as much info as possible as it not a regular place to vist for most people so a bit of help should be useful.

I hope the A340 survives long enough for you but it is dangerously close to the scrapping area and already has a few bits removed, shame - it's a lovely scheme

[2e1var]

Shame but inevitable I guess. Those MKI 747's have been there ages, sure I saw them at Kemble 2010.

[Maltatripper]

I think that the 2 MK Airlines B747 have been there since 2009.

G-MKCA was used for a Range Rover advert back in the summer, (hence the holes).

The A340 nose must be from CS-TQL, (which was scrapped this year) although I had not noticed it there.

The Jetstar nose is VN-A191, (VN-A190 has gone to Wales, Barry Technical College iirc).

I think that the other B737 nose is from D-ADIH, and I think that the DHL A300 nose is from EI-OZB, (although EI-OZC is possible).

HTH

[SouthCoastSteve]

Very nice pics Andy.

To fill in a couple of details;

The DHL cockpit section is that of EI-OZB

The tail you see sticking up in front of the full-frame DHL is another shot of the Bany G-ODUB (you nailed it when you moved and took the next frame from another angle). Tail logos are the same.

The blue & white fuselage you're missing is that of a Hawker 800XP YL-NST, which was trucked in recently - (history unknown).

Oh and the bmiBaby 733 is G-OGBD, which still wears its UK regn. although it has been on the US-register as N4973S for a few weeks - registered to a leasing company in Suffolk, UK of all places...

Best

Steve

[Jet Ranger]

Hi Next time you are there just drive onto the airfield through gate off A433 you can use it to get to the cafe. Then you can go right down to where all the 146s are parked and also get a different angle on aircraft parked on the airfield.

Regards Steve

[andygolfer]

Hi Next time you are there just drive onto the airfield through gate off A433 you can use it to get to the cafe. Then you can go right down to where all the 146s are parked and also get a different angle on aircraft parked on the airfield.

Regards Steve

thanks Steve - I knew there was a cafe somewhere and wanted to go there for a bit of lunch with my wife but couldnt see signs for it, then on the way back from Tetbury to Cirencester I saw the airport signs (and the lovely Brittania) and realised that was the way in but by then we had already eaten in Tetbury.

Thanks for the info and I shall know next time. Unfortunately this was one of those occasions when I didn't do my research beforehand to find out what the access possibilities were - a lesson learnt!

[Maltatripper]

Actually, you can enter via either gate.

If you enter on the A433, then the restaurant is called AV8, (food was pretty good last time I visited).

If you go via the A429 entrance, there is a layby, which sometimes has a burger van.