Effoh wrote:I used to live in sight of the Isle of Arran.
Colin- I also have fond memories of that Coast. As kids, Dad used to drive us up to Carradale, Kintyre (just over the water from Arran). It was a full two day journey from Surrey in his Morris Minor Traveller (no motorways in the 50s), but we loved everything about it. My uncle had a herring Drifter (there were still herrings then!) and we sometimes went out all night with the fleet and on days off he'd take us over to Arran for a picnic on the beach. We had Mum cremated a few years back and Dad and I flew her back there and scattered her ashes at our favourite spot on Carradale Bay. I told him he should have waited until she died, but he'd made up his mind :roll:
I spent the first 20 years of my life in Ayrshire before getting itchy feet and going wandering. Our local port was Ardrossan and there were still a few fishing boats around then. At that time I wasn't into aircraft, which is a shame really, because I imagine Prestwick would have been stuffed with the very things we all love on this Forum ! I can still remember the sonic booms out over the Clyde when Concorde was up at Prestwick doing crew training though :dance:
I try to get back at least once a year to recharge the batteries.
Garry,
Would that be one of the crash sites behind Largs by any chance? I remember hearing about them but have never visited or know any of the history. I'm also conscious that I've hijacked/derailed your thread - sorry!
Rgds,
Colin
Rgds,
Colin Gentleman (n.) Someone who knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn't
Effoh wrote:I imagine Prestwick would have been stuffed with the very things we all love on this Forum !
I don't know how long ago that was, Colin, but in the 70s Prestwick handled scheduled BOAC/BA 707s and VC10s flying between London or Manchester and Toronto/New York. As crew, our trips would consist of pax on BEA to MAN, then do four Atlantic crossings transitting Prestwick (and sometimes Montreal as well!), finishing in MAN again and pax home to LHR. If there was fog down south, Prestwick could sometimes see as many as 10 long haul aircraft diverted there at one time.
I expect you regret your lack of interest even more now
The Scottish Trans Atlantic had to go through Prestwick at one time which is why BOAC chartered those two Viscount 701's from Cambrian for the feeder services.
I'll have a look up that Viking info
Don't worry about the thread hijacking ...........the best information comes out this way.
Still very Scottish............like having tart 'n custard after tea :roll:
Garry
Garry
"In the world of virtual reality things are not always what they seem."
I left Ayrshire in 1983 and can vaguely remember seeing the BOAC liveries at PIK. 747s stick in my mind but I can't remember anything else. Do I regret it - yup, you bet :sad: What's even worse is that same year I caught my first ever flight from Glasgow to Gatwick - can I remember what I was on or who I flew with? - nope! I remember my second though - same day, Cathay 747, Gatwick - Hong Kong
Garry,
You're a mine of information mate! I walked those hills as part of a Duke of Edinburgh thingie as a lad, but didn't come across the crash sites. Following your second link to the black and white photos shows a group of schoolchildren from Ardrossan Academy - attended by my father as a pupil and where my uncle worked as a lab technician. Small world!
Rgds,
Colin
Rgds,
Colin Gentleman (n.) Someone who knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn't
! I can still remember the sonic booms out over the Clyde when Concorde was up at Prestwick doing crew training though :dance: 
Always great when Concorde was training at Prestwick, turning base for runway 13 over the bay :dance: