Police Helicopter

Where we live in Hyde we are near to the Werneth Low Country Park, the main road from Hyde to Stockport, the River Tame, The Peak Forest Canal and various wooded areas. It's no surprise to us, therefore, when we occasionally see the police helicopter circling overhead searching for someone who's been up to no good and is proving difficult for the police on the ground to trace. Here are some photographs I took about 3 years ago of one such incident.

This particular helicopter (G-CPAO)  is the one operated by the Cheshire Police and is based at Hawarden, near Chester. It's a Eurocopter EC135 P2+, about which Wikipedia says the following:

'EC135 P2+ (Marketing name EC135 P2i)

Latest current production version with 498 kW (667 shp) PW206B2 (new power ratings based on a FADEC software upgrade), plus a 2,910 kg (6,415 lbs) M.T.O.W. upgrade, extended component time between overhaul (TBOs), and a change in the main transmission lubricating oil. Built in Germany and Spain.'

It's probably more usual in these parts to see the Greater Manchester Police helicopter (G-GMPX), based at City Airport (Manchester Barton), but there is an arrangement in place in the North West for aircraft from 4 different locations to be used across the region, as this Wikipedia article about the Cheshire Constabulary details:

'On 27 February 2009, the Constabulary confirmed that the Home Office had agreed to jointly fund the purchase of a new £1 million Eurocopter EC135 aircraft, to be operational 24 hours a day.

On 18 July 2011, the North West Air Operations Group (NWAOG) was launched. The NWAOG is a regional collaboration between five forces and police authorities. The service dispatches aircraft from a regional command desk to incidents across Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales.

The five forces in the North have four helicopters, based at four different locations throughout the North West, providing a service anywhere in the region, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With 24-hour cover, the collaboration will enable the five forces to cope better with demand, with efficient use of all four helicopters, whilst enabling forces to make further savings and maintain resilience across the region. This is a move away from the concept of having one helicopter serving one region, to adopting the identity of one unit with support provided to all five forces

The collaboration allows for considerable savings, while offering an improved air support service. Benefits of the arrangement include the facility to have the closest helicopter deployed quickly to any incident and if there are two incidents in the same force area, then two helicopters can be deployed as necessary.'

Incidentally, when I was looking at the photographs above I enlarged part of the first one to see a face peering down at me taking the photograph:

Alfa Romeo

Here is a car that took part in the 2 hour long 'VSCC White House Memorial Pre-war Sports Car Team Relay Race' at the Donington Park SeeRed meeting in May 2008.

It's a 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport, driven in the race by Nicholas Eden, and you can read here about the Alfa Romeo 6C.

Friday's Ferrari

Here are a couple of photographs of one of David Piper's confusing Ferraris, this time at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's shown in the programme of the event as a Ferrari 365 P1 entered by David Piper in the 10 lap Motor Sport Pre-'70 Le Mans Car Race for the John Woolfe Trophy. A driver change during the race was mandatory, but both drivers for this car as shown in the programme as 'TBN' (To Be Nominated). David Piper owned two cars with the serial number 0824 - as www.barchetta.cc explains:

David Piper owns two P1 with the chassis number 0824. One has a new frame (built in 90) and one uses the original frame (finished in 98).

- and it looks like this is the one with the new frame.

NB: The Ferrari 365 P1 is a 1964 model, but the 'H' at the end of the registration number 'UKT 66H' indicates a car first registered between 1 Aug 1969 and 31 July 1970.

SS2 Swallow

On the Jaguar Drivers' Club stand at the Northern Classic Car Show at the Belle Vue Exhibition Halls in September 1986 was this 1933 SS2 Swallow.

Swallow Coachbuilding Ltd was founded by William Lyons in 1922 and he founded SS Cars Ltd in 1933, the companies being combined in 1934. After 1945 the company changed its name to Jaguar Cars Ltd. You can read here what Wikipedia says about SS Cars Ltd.

Bedford TK Truck

The end of Edna Street in Hyde, where it meets Market Street, is a popular stopping place in the middle of the day for drivers to leave their vehicles and pop across Market Street to Kongs Fish & Chip Shop to buy their lunch. I've often seen the local council's refuse wagons stopped there, and even the occasional fire engine. A couple of weeks ago I saw this truck parked there, but whether he'd gone for his fish and chips I know not.

It's a Bedford TK truck which was apparently produced by Bedford from 1959 to 1986, and if the registration number LWT 308P was issued when it was new this particular vehicle was made between 1 August 1975 and 31 July 1976.

Friday's Ferrari

I've photographed this car several times, and here it is seen at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's Nick Mason's 1962 Ferrari 250GTO, originally owned by the Ecurie Francorchamps racing team of Belgian Jacques Swaters. You can read here the full history of this car, serial number 3757GT.

East Midland Aeropark

It's been several years since I paid a visit to the Donington Collection at the Donington Park racing circuit and I'd been promising myself for some months that I'd go there again. I found out recently that there's a collection of aircraft on display at the East Midland Aeropark viewing area so I decided a last week to make the effort and visit the Aeropark as well as the car museum. I went on Wednesday and first went to Donington Park where I spent a couple of hours going round the Donington Collection. The photograph below shows the display of McLaren F1 cars there and I'll show more of the photographs I took there some time in the future.

After I left there I drove the two minute journey just round the corner to the Aeropark to find it..........closed. It's my own fault for not checking before I went, but even in the summer (1st May to 30th September) it only opens Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. From October to April it only opens at weekends. Fortunately from the car park at the front of the Aeropark there's a footpath through a wooded area running round the side of the site and I managed to get a few photographs of some of the aircraft from there.

Avro Vulcan B.2A XM575 and behind it a BAe Nimrod R1 XW664

Vickers Varsity T.1 WL626 and the Vulcan & Nimrod behind it

English Electric Lightning F.Mk53 ZF588 with a glimpse of a Hawker Hunter behind it

Hawker Hunter FR.10 XJ714, Westland Wessex HC.2 XT604 & Westland Whirlwind HAR.3 XG588 to the left, There's an Armstrong Whitworth Argosy immediately behind, and the nose of the English Electric Lightning to the right.

Hawker Hunter T.7 XL569 with a Blackburn Buccaneer to the left and the Westland Wessex & Westland Whirlwind to the right.

Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B XV350 with a Morane-Saulnier Rallye MS880 to the right

The Morane-Saulnier MS880 G-BBED with the Buccaneer to the left, Hawker Hunter XL569 to the right and Argosy behind.

Armstrong Whitworth Argosy G-BEOZ with the Vulcan behind it and Hawker Hunter XJ714 at front left.

Hawker Hunter FR.10 XJ714 with the Argosy in the background

English Electric Lightning F.Mk53 ZF588 with the Argosy to the left and the front section of Vickers VC10 XV108 to the right.

Here is a view of the Aeropark, courtesy of Google Earth