Grumman Albatross, Solent Airport

Aviation – Helicopters and Fixed Wing

A gallery of aviation related photographs.  Some of these are scanned from old prints so the quality is poor. Click on any thumbnail to view in a carousel.

Many of these photographs were taken at Solent Airport Daedalus including the approach / flypast of the Virgin Atlantic Airways G-VLAX B747-238B California Girl during one of the airshows in the 1980s.

I doubt if a B747 would be allowed to carry out an approach and fly past today!


My Background

In 1972, I joined R.N.A.Y. Fleetlands as an apprentice airframe/engine fitter. At the time Fleetlands was under the MoD and the training was second to none.

The apprenticeship lasted four years, however I continued at college for a further two years to gain a Full Technological Certificate in Aeronautical Engineering. Subsequent employment followed in Holland at KLM,  and the Sultanate of Oman before returning to Fleetlands in 1987.

R.N.A.Y. Fleetlands under the MoD eventually yielded to the will of privatisation becoming the Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation then the Defense Aviation Repair Agency before being sold to Vector Aerospace

With the out of service date of the Sea King looming in 2016, the last depth maintenance  finished its survey phase in early 2014 and an opportunity arose for me to leave the world of work and and spend a couple of years preparing for retirement and the end of my aviation career.

If you have any comments or questions please use the contact form in the left side bar and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for looking!

Photographs by Barrie Webb

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