Manchester Airport Forum | Ringway Through the Decades (2)

Good morning,

Uploaded onto the website today has been the following:

1978 - Movements
Schedules
First Visits
Diversions (Plenty of them!)
Photo Gallery

Also uploaded are pictures of the first Tristar into Manchester, N305EA, on 16th August 1972.

http://ringwaypublications.com/

Many thanks for that.

An unusual diversion day was Fri. 13th Oct. 1978 when MAN took about 40 diversions, during the night and later that day. What was unusual was how relatively few wide bodies there were - several Tristars and 1 Air India 747 but mainly smaller stuff. It looks as if this was partly because 16 diverts arrived between 01.00 and 06.00, largely in the form of charters and freighters but taking up valuable parking space.

However, my old note book shows that we were closed due fog between 09.45 and 13.00.
As a result, Prestwick took 19 diversions, of which 18 were wide-bodies, including an Iraqi 747. One of those "what if" situations perhaps as to how many MAN would have accepted during that morning period had we not been foggy.

E563XVR - Apologies, I should have made clear the information above was credited to the lists on Ringway Publications web site, particularly the diversions to Prestwick. My own note books were inadequate even for diversions to MAN, but did note the fog here that day, although the closure times were only approximate.

Yes, it was another one of those 'what might of been' days.

I remember so many things about that day, even 44 years later!, one of them was seeing all those B.747s going north whilst at school. Although MAN was fogged out, it was one of those low-lying fogs and the sky above was crystal clear

You obviously weren't learning Maths at school - I make it 34 years. Only joking!!
Yes, I can recall some of those diversion days only too well despite being at work by then. Phone calls to contacts at the airport to find out what was happening and a quick visit on the way home.

If I had to guess, I'd say the wind that morning was 210 degrees at 3 knots or at least somewhere between south and west. If it drifted round to the north/east you knew there was a chance of the fog clearing.

How bizarre! Yes of course it was 34 years ago, but that morning I had double maths!!!!!!!

I think you are almost certainly correct, the weather was dominated by a large high pressure sat over Spain and whatever wind there was, it was S-SW. All that week prior to today it had been sunny and very warm for October.....all this boring stuff I had to keep out of the book

I used to keep records of the ATIS around that time (SAD OR WHAT!) but a vengeful ex-misses got rid of them.

Good morning,

The site wishes to bring everyone up to date with what this unique website has given you so far;-

A complete listing of Airport Movements 1970-1978 inclusive
A complete listing of Diverted Aircraft 1970-1978 inclusive
A detailed breakdown of all airlines serving Manchester, including aircraft used and routes served 1970-1978 inclusive
All Airline and Biz-Jet first visits 1970-1978 inclusive.
1979 will follow soon, as will the Sixties, Eighties and Nineties.

The website has also covered the following;-
Dan-Air & Fairey Aviation hangar movements during the 1970's.
A major undertaking to list all South Side residents from the 1960s onwards
Ringway Spotters looks at all the faces that could be seen spotting at the airport during the decade
Ringway Stories paints a picture in words of what it was like to spotting in our younger days!
Where Are They Now - Those aircraft that were regular or a 'special' one-off
Photo Gallery - Covers a multitude of photographic subject regarding Manchester-Ringway such as the first B.747 or the first Tristar, along with many photographic contributors such as Geoff Ball and many others.

Many thanks so far for all contributions to the website and we are always looking for more with your help.

Ringway Publications also brought you a unique publication, SEVENTIES RINGWAY, which we are now able to offer at £17.99 inc.free UK p&p.

The follow-up to this major work, EIGHTIES RINGWAY will be published in coming months.
Also to come is a major photographic collection that Ringway Publications is very proud to secure. The collection is from a gentleman who was very active at Manchester from the 1950s onwards and these will be uploaded over the coming months in their entirety.


Visit the Manchester Airport historical website

http://ringwaypublications.com/

Good afternoon on this wet Easter Monday,

Uploaded onto the website today has been the following:

1979 - Movements
Schedules
&
Diversions

This virtually completes the uploading of all data for 1970-1979.

SEVENTIES RINGWAY is still available.

The next in the 'RINGWAY THROUGH THE DECADES' series of books, 'EIGHTIES RINGWAY' is due for release end April/early May.
Full details will appear on the website.


http://ringwaypublications.com/

you have no idea how much I worship the ground you walk on. Consider Eighties Ringway to have at least one advance sale because seventies was just so utterly superb.

What about a fifties and sixties photobook? Is he cost of that prohibitive to have printed?

Sadly 1979 was not such a good year for wide-body diversions as can be seen by the amount of traffic that went to Prestwick, Shannon and elsewhere on occasions.

In part this was due to bad weather at MAN coinciding with similar conditions at the London airports.
However, there was a significant loss of potential diversions due to Industrial action affecting British Airways or the Airport itself at various times. A very frustrating period for enthusiasts at MAN, not to mention the travelling public.

Wow! I have never been worshipped before! I dont think!
OK, I will add you to the waiting list, we will do a personal e-mail to everyone who bought SEVENTIES RINGWAY and also a general one from the website, advising when we are taking definate orders.

FIFTIES RINGWAY is unlikely but not rules out, while SIXTIES RINGWAY is probable.

Absolutely! January was a very frustrating one, particularly the 21st!

Your book got me through a VERY shitty day in Hope Hospital so I've got two reasons for having enjoyed it.

Gotta say, I'm working through my copy very slowly, mainly because I want to absorb every item and also because I remember most of the highlights from '72 onwards.
Makes me envious of the stuff I missed too!!! Info was so hard to come by in those days.

The photo on page 68 of the Air Anglia Dak brings back particular memories as I must have been stood right next to the person who took that photo which was taken from that small area at the top of the stairs near the Pier A turnstiles. I had decided that I was going to park myself there that day. I was only just old enough to be allowed to go on my own and I figured that I could run for the bus at the last minute from there, maximising my time on the terraces. (Incidentally the photo caption has the wrong date - the text has the correct info 7/4/73).
After the 2x Anglias came in, a Cally 707 landed: remember it clearly like it was yesterday.

Had to dash then to meet my mates outside OT to see the Utd/Norwich match; as the book correctly points out - a bottom of the table clash !! How times change.
Can't believe it's just over 39 years ago.

A fabulous archive - many congratulations on such a thorough piece of work.
I'm definitely on for the 80s book.

Am glad you are savouring every moment.
I wasnt allowed to go on my own at this point, not until I was 13!
Yes, it was funny all spotters had there favourite parts of the airport, there was certainly many places to choose from.

Thanks for spotting the mix up on dates, it was thoroughly and thoroughly checked and double checked but I suppose the odd typo was inevitable.

Keep an eye on the website for further announcements, although something I am sure will appear on PlaneMad also.

The top of the steps / bottom of Pier A was good because there was a sturdy wall on which to rest your binoculars which could then be pointed at THAT point in the sky where an approaching aircraft could be seen.
Of course extra excitement when you could see smoke first and aircraft second !!!

The other plus point for this vantage point was that you could hang on until the last possible moment before you dashed down to catch your bus (369 to Stockport in my case), because you had clocked it coming onto the stand! Or at least we did..

yep 369 for me too.
Upstairs you could keep a beady eye on the approach pretty much all the way to Stockport.

Although the summer offered the option of going the quick route back to Stockport on the Trans-Lancs Express, the no.400, which went briefly on the motorway(!) and stopped only once in Cheadle, although it may have stopped at Gatley as well. Think it did the trip in about 15-20 mins rather than about 30-40 on the 369..

Now you're talking! The old bus station with the staggered stands that offered no protection if you just happened to have missed your bus. Used to get the 44 which metarmorphosed into the 43A (now 43) and jiggled its way to route via Wythenshawe and omit Gatley. Funny how it's gone full circle with the restoration of the 44 route into Gatley but missing out West Didsbury/Northenden.

When we had access to the terraces, I normally ventured to the intersection of Piers B C in decent weather. Occasionally, if it started to persist down, I'd be near the staircae by Pier A leading to the patio.

Yes, we all had our favourite spots didn't we?

The very first time I spent a full day at the airport was Saturday 21st June 1975.
It was hot day and even managed forty winks sat upright on a bench outside the toilets/shop area!!

Its funny what you remember!

We used to get the 44 too, would take us two hours to get to the airport hopefully in time for the SWR/KLM DC-9's and AFR Caravelle which left around 0900, and then stay till the Lufti B737 which came in around 1600.
Sometimes we'd get the 400 too.

Used to go onto Pier B unless it was raining then it was in the glasshouse.

Happy days.

The 400 was the only way to travel!

I agree, but wish it would have run later was the last bus from Airport to Oldham about 7.00pm

More of an early 80's-on spotter (I'm only young you see) but the 7am 369 from Stockport 2ce a week, every week in the summer holidays - loads of sarnies, blue ribbond biscuits, tins of coke and we were sorted! Used to go as early as to try and catch the AF 7-2 from the night before. Used to hang around just after the shop on the benches with a canopy over them for protection from the all too frequent downpours! Didn't dare go into the glass house as that's where all the 'old blokes who swore a lot' hung out! Came across my 1st scanner in that place, must have stood there with my trap wide open for about 5mns! Used to love going down the piers and getting so up-close-and-personal with a TransAmerica 10 or a Wardair lump.

Excellent stuff, nice one.

Yes, as a kid I found the glass-house quite an intimidating place, unless there were lots of you!

As the 787 is due in this month it sent my mind back to the first big twin jet i seen at man,a TEA A300 OO-TEA think it was first of type,also seen the first B767 at man,will have to see B787 and in 20 years post that on a web site.god i'm getting old

Totally agree. The trick was to linger so that you could hear the ATC.

My favourite pad was Pier B. Pier A was better for approach, but infested with flying ants and the Tridents stank! Why was that? Kerosene smelt the same except from the Tridents.

Trying to listen in to other folk's radios without it being too obvious before I got my own was quite a challenge.

Agree about Pier B. I used to count pax on and off the European scheduled flights to get an idea of loads. With my own radio later, pax figures for inbounds were sometimes given on company frequencies. Delighted that Emmas Dad and TOM787 are posting some pax figures on here.

That could have been me, except I probably had Jacobs? club/golf/orange etc biscuits!


Love to take credit for that but it's JimsDad that kindly provides us with that info.

My apologies to you and to JimsDad but the information on loads is much appreciated anyway.

You did that the pax figures from the radio as well??
Thought I was the only one!

Me too! I was obviously in good company.

There were only certain BA pilots who gave the pax figure when calling ops. And if you couldn't hear the pilot, you had to rely on the Ops. guy reading the message back in full. I must say, BA got some good loads on the 1-11s - often a full house of 99, especially the evening flights from Amsterdam and Paris.

Still, mustn't get too nostalgic

Also, only certain ones gave their registration, as I was also obsessed with getting the reg on as many as I could.

Diverted aircraft were always interesting as they gave full pax details, reg and captains name!

There were some interesting characters (male and female) in BA Ops. at MAN. Not fair to mention any names but some sounded more 'friendly' towards diversions than others.

Not a reg. collector myself, but certainly enjoyed listening to ATC when diversions were streaming in.

Certainly, I preferred to listen to ATC rather than go to the airport when there was a diversion 'situation'.

Although I was fortunate to have a choice as I lived on the flight-path and missed nothing anyway, apart from low cloud or Runway 06!

If you ever catch yourself at MAN during the winter especially when there's a load of diverts, tuning into a handling agents frequency is pure comedy, especially the 'I want it and i want it NOW' captains I'm lucky enough to work for one so I get paid to listen to it

Good morning,

Uploaded onto the website today has been the following:

1962 - Movements
Schedules
Diversions

1980 - First visits

We are also proud to announce the next instalment in the 'Ringway Through The Decades' series of publications. ''EIGHTIES RINGWAY 1980-1984'' will be on sale from the 24th May, Full details available on the website.


http://ringwaypublications.com/

Good morning,

We are proud to announce the latest book in the Ringway Through The Decades, EIGHTIES RINGWAY 1980-1984, is now on sale, via the website.



Visit the Manchester Airport historical website

http://ringwaypublications.com/

and promptly ordered.