FLASHBACK-G-AIKR Airspeed Consul at Baginton in the 1970's when in use by the Consul group,the aircraft was sold as a childrens plaything and went to Woburn Abbey until its importance was soon realised and the aircraft was shipped to Canada for eventual restoration,the aircraft is however still stored there.

The backbone of the Air Atlantique Pollution Control flleet has been the venerable Douglas Dakota,having given sterling service as oil slick sprayers the aircraft are due to be retired from this role in the near future,the future of the fleet of these aircraft is uncertain but already some have been taken out of service and stored outside,it is expected that at least one of these grand old ladies of the skies will be retained for pleasure flying,it was once said that the only replacement for a DC-3 was a DC-3 but the escalating costs of operating piston engined aircraft and with the plentiful supply of second hand propjet freighters has prompted many companies world wide to consider other more modern options.
Elsewhere in the aircraft movements section we show the Turbo Prop conversions of the Dakota aimed at bringing the DC-3 into the present age,many such aircraft are operated worldwide and may they continue to do so.
The slow flying characteristics of the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer have to be seen to be believed ,this was demonstrated at the fifties style airshow held in August year 2000 at Coventry.Here is 'Primrose' as she is affectionetly called with flaps extended and leading edge slats out flying very slowly indeed.The aircraft has been used in a variety ofinteresting roles roles over the years one of which was heat seeking loss tests done over the UK,the outcome of this was the saving of a lot of money in wasted energy from such diverse places as private homes to factories.
Flight One at Staverton and Shobdon once operated this unique aircraft as G-BCWF however it has reverted back to its original marks of G-APRS,the colourscheme is authentic as it used the raspberry ripple scheme when in service with the Empire Test Pilots School as XT610.
picture credit-Dave Peace.