Commanders of Blackbushe

[Lawrence Rippon]

I moved to Blackbushe a couple of months ago and was amazed by the number of Commanders based there, 11 in total. I've attached pictures of 9 of them over two posts, two still to photograph.

I haven't seen this concentration of Commanders in one base before, aside from the factory, is this some kind of record?

 

[Lawrence Rippon]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Last 4

 

[FS]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

I find it interesting that so many are parked with the nose facing the grass rather than the taxiway. Is that customary in Europe, are is it particular to Blackbushe?

What advantage is supposedly gained by parking nose in?

 

[N4843W]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

11 at ONE base? I'd say that not only is a record ... no one else is evern close. Anyone else have 3 or more at their base? There must have been a helluva sales guy there at one time or something. This cannot be a random occurance

 

[rjames01]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

11 at ONE base? I'd say that not only is a record ... no one else is evern close. Anyone else have 3 or more at their base?

Scott,

We have 5 here at ISP.

 

[Lawrence Rippon]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

I find it interesting that so many are parked with the nose facing the grass rather than the taxiway. Is that customary in Europe, are is it particular to Blackbushe?

What advantage is supposedly gained by parking nose in?

The aircraft are parked facing 250 degrees, the common wind direction. The parking area is a disused cross runway so it depends which side of the old runway you are parked on. Left side face out, right side face in.

I moved here for the quality of the runway and hard parking. Although there are no hangers and no engineering on site they have a very good aviation infrastructure. I had been operating from a grass aerodrome but got fed up cleaning mud from my gear wells all winter.

Interestingly, there are not many COG members here.

 

[VGIAMPA]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

11 at ONE base? I'd say that not only is a record ... no one else is evern close. Anyone else have 3 or more at their base? There must have been a helluva sales guy there at one time or something. This cannot be a random occurance

Four at POC.

 

[John_Ferguson]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

When I first got a close up look at a Commander it was at Blackbushe, there were so many I though they were comnon place.

Lots of new potential COG members there Lawrence, perhaps we need to leave them a note to get them involved.

 

[FS]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

We have 5 here at ISP.

Seven. Possiby eight come spring.

Myself, Sven, Bob James, Brian McCann, Paul Davis, Theresa Stein (non-COG), and Bill Cannady (ex-COG). I heard a rumor that Russ Bruinsma was going to move from FRG to the east side of ISP once the new tie-downs were completed.

 

[sfaret]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Seven. Possibly eight come spring.

Myself, Sven, Bob James, Brian McCann, Paul Davis, Theresa Stein (non-COG), and Bill Cannady (ex-COG). I heard a rumor that Russ Bruinsma was going to move from FRG to the east side of ISP once the new tie-downs were completed.

Stein, ? That plane IS original paint, interior and all. Flew 2 hrs in 2007. Zero in 2008. Sadly it's parked across from my hangar. She is totally uninterested in any COG type of thing. We chuckle watching the new nose tire (with sticker attached, former dry rotted) going flat slowly each week.

 

[FS]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Stein, ? That plane IS original paint, interior and all. Flew 2 hrs in 2007. Zero in 2008. Sadly it's parked across from my hangar. She is totally uninterested in any COG type of thing. We chuckle watching the new nose tire (with sticker attached, former dry rotted) going flat slowly each week.

Well, we didn't say we were counting ACTIVE Commanders. Just all Commanders at the same field.

 

[commander62j]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

I moved here for the quality of the runway and hard parking. Although there are no hangars and no engineering on site they have a very good aviation infrastructure.

Lawrence:

I wondered why all of the pictures showed planes with covers until you said there were no hangars on the field. With the kind of cold weather you guys experience, how far from where you live is the closest field with hangars and how much would an average hangar cost per month? I pay $220 per month for a nice hangar here in North Carolina.

 

[John_Ferguson]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

I fly from a grass strip which is about 20 miles from my home and hangerage there is £200 ($285) but I think that is cheap compare to some of my friends.
One of them pays £250 ($357) which is typical I think.
Hangerage at an airfield with good facilities will cost around £350 (this was quoted to me by Cambridge City Airport) which is $500 per month.

 

[Lawrence Rippon]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Andy

I live 5 miles from Blackbushe but I was based at White Waltham before which is 5 miles in the other direction. WW has hangers but I am number 49 on the waiting list and around 3 or 4 spaces a year seem to come up. Costs for my wingspan in there are between £350 - £450 per month depending on which hanger you are in. It's not unusual for aircraft to live outside in the UK, we don't have the extremes of temperature you get in the USA. Hail stones are rare and generally very small, we never have tornados, hurricanes usually fizzle out to a puff by the time they cross the Atlantic and a big freeze means around -5C for about 2 days. Recent snow for 4 days in a row, was the worst we have had in Southern England for 18 years.

Most hangers are shared ex-WW2 buildings, nice "T" hangers are rare.

I would estimate around 3/4 of the UK fleet is parked outside.

 

[commander62j]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Lawrence and John:

Thanks for the UK perspective on the hangar issue. We do have to worry about hail, tornadoes and hurricanes just about every year. A tornado hit our KINT airport in 1989 and destroyed several planes. And every August and September we track hurricanes coming from the Gulf of Mexico or up the Atlantic coast from Florida to hit eastern North Carolina or even further inland.

 

[Keith]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Not sure if there is as many as 11 but there's lots (8 or 9?)based at Guernsey..courtesy of Mike Perry. Mostly 114Bs and 115s and one Super Commander.

Keith

 

[LAldeen]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Blackbushe Commander Drivers

I still have some varied memories of Blackbushe. I solo'd there several years ago (before I moved to Houston) and I still remember what a nasty bunch they were in the tower (hope they have changed their attitude). With seconds to go to touch down on my first solo landing the tower called me and told me to hurry up we are closing the runway. I instinctively glanced at my watch and in doing so turned my wrist and you can guess the rest, but I did manage to recover and make a good landing (and it was not in a Commander) according to my instructor. I stormed the tower trying to find the culprit, but everyone denied having said it. It never occurred to me (I was a student pilot) that they could not have taken the runway away from me. Strange how the mind works under pressure. Obviously learned the lesson that I am the pilot in command and above all safety comes first. ATC can shout as much as they want.

 

[commander62j]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Blackbushe Commander Drivers

...I am the pilot in command and above all safety comes first. ATC can shout as much as they want.

Well said, Leo. Good to hear from you!

 

[Lawrence Rippon]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Blackbushe Commander Drivers

I still have some varied memories of Blackbushe.

Leo,

No, the FISO's are a lot friendlier. I've never had a problem. They do everything by the book at Blackbushe, there is a dangerous mix of GA and Business Jets, students and rotary traffic using one runway and relatively narrow taxyways. I'm sorry you had a bad experience there.

 

[sfaret]

Re: Commanders of Blackbushe

Blackbushe Commander Drivers

...With seconds to go to touch down on my first solo landing the tower called me and told me to hurry up we are closing the runway.

I remember that happening to someone at T82, but it wasn't the tower on the Freq.
Maybe the same side freq clown?

(Funny tho).