Great video thanks. My Grandfather Sqn Ldr James Murray was the RNZAF test pilot for the Freighters. He took Dakota NZ 3547 up to the UK in 1951 and test flew NZ 3501 and 3502. While there he got to fly the Bristol Brabazon the largest aircraft in the world at the time. He never got to deliver the first Freighter to NZ as he took ill while there.
I am the last pilot alive to fly this particular Bristol Freighter for Lamb Air on May 30, 1974 (This Bristol Freighter crashed in Rankin Inlet NWT on May 31, 1974). It was a fantastic aircraft to fly - it turned back time to the 40's & 50's when you entered the aircraft, to climb up to the cockpit.
I arrived in Auckland aboard an Air New Zealand DC10 on November 28th. 1979, a truely dreadful day in the history of New Zealand aviation. Throughout the following year I worked my way around the country, turning my hand to 'whatever' to fund my travels. These took me, with rucksack and tent, to the Chatham Islands on a Bristol Freighter, for a week. Quite unplanned/unexpectedly I found work there as the airport bus driver between Waitangi and Te Hapupu airfield. The bus drivers duties included unloading/loading the Bristol freighter using a modified Fordson tractor. No training....just learnt on the job ! The regulatory fire appliance was towed out of a shed ' to stand by' by a 1950s Vauxhall saloon.Four months of living/working on the Chatham Islands is a tiny speck of ones life. But this and the two actual flights I made on your Bristol Freighters are a huge and magnificent memory for me. Terrific ! Quentin Henderson, Isle of Nevis, (St Kitts & Nevis),West Indies.
What an enjoyable video to watch! Brought back memories. I was an aeradio op in Papua/New Guinea in the 1960's. Both Ansett-Mal, and TAA operated two each. I'd see and hear them rumble by the control tower. I also saw a swag of them on the ground a Blemheim in NZ when I lived there from 1971 to 1973. Great old aircraft!
Great video. Great music. I'm a yank and an aircraft mechanic and am always looking for planes from my era, 50s thru 70s. The Bristol reminds me of the C-119 although the Bristol seems to have more cargo space. Love the oldies but goodies. Lots of nostalgia.
I was a Waterguard Officer at Southend Airport in 1960 and boarded many of these on their return from Calais. If there was a spare seat and you were off duty, you could sometimes get a trip to Calais and hope to get back in time for your next shift. One day being late to return, I had to dash off the plane, declare my 200 cigarettes and bottle of scotch, put on my uniform and clear the passengers I came over with to one or two odd looks. Aviation and security was far more relaxed then.
I don't understand how someone can watch this and leave a down vote? It was really interesting and well narrated. Thanks for putting this up there...as many a pilot must have said to those hercules engines!
I enjoyed 2000 hours flying the Bristol Freighter to many European destinations out of RCAF 1 Fighter Wing Marville France. Comment heard flying into a USAF base in Germany " Did you build it yourself ".
In the early fifties ANA (Australian National Airways) based at Essendon Melbourne VIC Australia, bought several early Freighters, all sans paint, and used as shiny riveted Freighters. Everyone called them "Big Bristols" seeing they looked like Mum's Breast.
They had a castoring tailwheel, which had to be locked before takeoff and unpinned after landing, to prevent the tail shimmying and travelling in a different direction to the rest of the aeroplane!
I fondly remember swapping my Wgtn Travel Centre Def HQ-issued vanilla turboprop Air NZ ticket from Blenheim to Wgtn in the mid-80's for a ride in the navigator's seat up behind the two pilots in one of the first Bristol Freighter flights from Woodbourne to Rongatai with a load of 3 Honda Citys in place of the more usual cargo of just 2 Honda Civics, making the C of G slightly forward of normal as I recall the loadmaster advising the Captain. Upon landing at Rongatai the pilots had their hands full with a majorly porpoising landing which was a huge lot of fun and very amusing. 'Boink---Boink---Boink---Boink---Boink' as the old girl went plunking her way down pretty near half the length of the runway, each time the Captain thrusting the column fully fowards to the stop and then back again with each rebound back into the air. They laughed about it with each other immediately afterwards taxiing-in, putting the full blame fairly and squarely on the Honda Citys. Those thick stubby wings were remarkably flexible under those conditions and looking sideways out through the cockpit windows on either side I could see them flapping up and down at the tips like two gigantic albatross wings. Take-off rpm was 2,200 and cruise rpm was 1,800. Those sleeve valve radials were absolutely transfixing.. impressively 'rough' on start-up, spitting, coughing, and vibrating marvellously, with an overalled guy with a BIG fire extinguisher standing down in front of each of them in turn ready immediately to extinguish any gush of fire that might erupt from the lower cylinder stubs (and both pilots reading out loud with evident earnestness, one to the other, the full 'Fire Drill', prior to starting each engine.. An era and time in aviation when flying was indeed hands-on 'flying' .. gone now forever in commercial aviation.
a little fact maybe not known about Bristol is that they also made Bus,coach, Truck Chassis's plus cars they built the Bristol RE bus Chassis's for Christchurch Transport Board in 1970s and 1980s although by this stage the Bus and Coach chassis side had been sold to British Leyland.
What a lovely old beast, it's amazing how much capacity is in the loading bay. This featured in the Goldfinger novel, where Bond followed Auric Goldfinger to France, in his Aston Martin DB3.
Lovely aircraft. I used to cycle out to Filton in the 1950s and watch them on the runway. Mk 31 and Mk 32 long nose. Some were in moon and star Pakistan marking. In the UK Silver City Airways operated a service between London and Paris using the Mk 32s.
I live just of the centreline of one of Southend airports runways. Could always tell when one was coming as the tv would start pulsing and rolling finally breaking up completely as it went over. (In the Black and White 405 line tv days)
Well loved old ladies. Wellington was great in the old days.. Hallenstein school uniforms airfreight out of Dunedin... and of course the cherry runs....
Never saw this aircraft before but I really like it!! Those radials sound bad ass!! How could anyone complain about that beautiful radial sound?? Its music to my ears! You could fit alot coke on this aircraft. Wonder if was ever used for smuggling in the America's, South America to the U.S.?
What a marvelous video , it takes me back to the Bristol Britannia, another workhorse from Bristols ,pity the UK gov screwed them and the UK aviation industry up . Many thanks Cheshire UK
I flew them for about 14 years and wear hearing aids to prove it. We maintained that they were so ugly that we only flew them at night to protect the publics eyes and our reputation. We also maintained that the bolts holding the instrument panel on to the dash should have been holding the main spar together and the bolts in the main spar holding the instrument panel together. Went through six or seven cyclones in one and it never fell apart although it felt as if it would!
Some wiseass pilot saw one on the ramp in halifax and got in the radio and asked “did y’all make that yerself”? One correction, I think either the hawker tempest or typhoon also used a sleeve valve engine (also made by bristol).
I’m surprised that nobody thought to replace the piston engines with turbo props… Someone put Turbo props on a Boeing B17s and even C47s too. A bitter sweet tribute to the way things used to be….
Our (Aero Engineering) Structures lecturer at Bath University, circa 1968, Stan Thomas, had done his design work at Bristol Aeroplane Company on the Freighter. He said the only thing wrong with the Freighter was it was grossly overpowered - and consequently frequently grossly overloaded. On another occasion someone asked what was the longest crack that had been missed on inspection. Stan said 12' in one case on a Freighter - but it was in a difficult position!
I've always wondered....if the plane was re-engined with Turboprops rather then with piston engines whouldn't have been better able to compete with the C-130 Hercules which had gained more fame?
40 years ago I was lucky enough to be partnered with a "mainland girl from tuamarina even more fortunately on one of our manyvisits to hiomebush station the ferries were cancelled and replaced by one of these"soundproof" passenger container carrying wonders it redefined my idea of loud with the vibration trying to outdo the noise just wish I could do it all again at the time i didn't realize they were sleeve valve though their raidial nature was unmistakable nothing else had that bellow we lived in central wellington and the airport was miles away but with the wind the right way you could hear them hope to stay in the one converted into a motel up around waitomo one day
I remember watching them flying over Kapiti when Dad was ranger there in the early 70's. You could hear them coming for ages before you could see them. Wonderful memories, thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed that fine doco... well written, nice humerus anecdotes ,good research with clever shots and editing.The tune could be ... 'The Bristol Freighter Blues'.
I was stationed at RAF Changi Singapore in 1967/68 Bristol freighters would come down from Vietnam, I was on air movements then but it meant nothing to us living a life of luxury in Singapore to "process "these passengers, now of course i have some knowledge what thes men had just left.
I can still hear the Bristol vibrator coming over the Aotea harbour in my early years. After she went over and the noise disappeared we knew we were close to around 3 to 4 hours to sunrise. Great memories. And regular as clockwork. Thanks for the memory.
I was based at RNZAF Woodbourne in the 1970s and I always remember flying between Woodbourne and RNZAF base Wigram in the RNZAF bristols and being seated in high backed canvas seats which were turned around so your back was facing towards the Cockpit and being occasionlly issued with airmuffs also watching the Bristols ,both RNZAF and Safe Air pilots struggling to over come, on exremely hot days, to over come the high thermal lift that developed off the runway .Later On after being transfered from Woodbourne to Wigram I was working doing turn rounds on two freighters, in the most atrocios weather you could imagine, which involved being on top of the wings doing a refuel. By the time I was finished I was like walking rag the wet weather gear being a waste of time, but that was the job ,you got on with it and moved on
These Bristol’s used to fly over the family farm in the outer Marlborough sounds near French Pass on their way to Wellington from Nelson. They would clear the hills by not a great deal, the sound of the engines filling the bay with an incredible throaty resonance and as kids we would always rush outside to watch. Very impressive to impressionable young children and it left a life long memory. I always felt that it was one flight crew that would do this and I am forever in their debt.
The RNZAF flew us from Phenuapau down to Rotorua in a Bristol "Frightner" in October 1971 for a great day out. The ride was rather noisy, but quite enjoyable. We were RAF 205 squadron, flying Shackletons for LONGEX 71.
"20,000 rivets flying in close formationI" thought that accolade was attributed to the Shakleton. I recall the commentator made that comment when l attended the very last air show at Exeter Airport. That was probably 20+ years ago ! Cheers .
Good to see one back at Filton. My very first flight in any kind of aircraft was in a Freighter, which carried our Moggy Minor & 2 other cars to Calais-Marck in the summer of 1961. After I'd joined the RAF, I was in Singapore, & got a flight on one of 41 Squadron's RNZAF Freighters. That, if I recall rightly, was when 60 Squadron went on detachment with their Javelin FAW9s to Butterworth RAAF station near Penang in 1968. The Freighter carried a load of kit & some ground-crew for us.
Air Express in Melbourne Australia had a few, lost one down near Wilson’s Prom. In the 1970’s the operations Manager was a guy called Jack Ellis. Jack was quite a character taught me to fly. I never want on a trip but if you had your radio licence you could talk you way into getting a flight as a Radio Operator. 1 pilot & a radio operator was its crew at that time. Went mainly to Tasmania from Melbourne.
Imagine if someone were to put a couple of Allison 501D13s and Aeroproducts Props on one in place of the Bristol Hercules Powerplants, she might make 200 MPH!
The Hallenstein Dunedin manufactured school uniforms all went north on these old ladies, great girls.... and then the summer Cherry runs from Alexandra and Roxburgh!
Shame there had to be a smart arse commentator. Great film though. Many memories watching cars being loaded and unloaded at Lydde and being ferried to France by Silver City Airways. There was always one taking off or landing only a few minutes between each other in peak summer time on the short hop across the channel. They were eventually succeeded by the Carvair the converted D.C.7 which was larger and could carry more vehicles. Happy days.🇬🇧
Lydd airport would have lots of pictures of celebs that had passed through on Bristol freighters. Think the pics. were all lost when the terminal burnt down.
I remember these and the BAF Carvairs in the late 60's early 70's flying out of Baginton airfield, UK. Ridiculously noisy. I remember thinking of them as 747's created by neanderthals. Somewhere there's cave drawings of the original B.F..
Great video. I remember a movie I saw at a cinema matinee as a child in the early '60s featuring a Bristol Freighter that had to make an emergency. I enjoyed it some much I watched it 3 times and have a lifelong romantic attachment to this aircraft. I made the Airfix model but have just bought one from a Czech manufacturer, Looking forward to hours of mindless fun
Dad used to service these things in his Airforce days in New Zealand. They used to call them the Bristol Vibrator. As a youngster in those days, Airforce family could get free flights from a base, in our case Whenuapai to Christchurch. Fond memories.
I remember flying from Wellington to Nelson and back with horses on board, It rained and I got wet, and we were lower than Stephens island I could never figure out how it actually flew
Interesting comments on the sleeve valve engine. Bristol could not make the sleeves to the tight tolerances required and Rolls Royce manufactured and ground these to size, great engines
Early 80's. I pitched the idea to TVNZ when I became aware they were running out of airframe hours. It was close to Xmas and I couldn't get anyone interested so six of us stole a TVNZ van, a CP16 with a 10X150 lens (Still have it) a few hundred ft. of Kodak 7240 reversal film and a tascam cassette deck to record the audio and a 816 sennheiser. SAFE Air tolerated us for about ten days at their HQ and every time one took off one or more of us were on board. We process the film as test shoots and found an editor prepared to cut it in down time until someone checked the mileage records of the news vans for another reason and our cover was blown. I was in the process of being fired for misleading young trainees when Frank Torley, Producer of NZ's "Country Callendar" saw a rough cut and intervened on my behalf. We finished the cut, mixed it and it went to air late in the summer. For my sins, I was sent to the children's department for about five years. Too much info? Regards, Bill de Friez
