As some of you might know, I'm back working for Menzies Aviation at EGCC (been back for a couple of weeks now, merrily doing all the currency training again), and I'm pleased to note that things are picking up a lot at Manchester. Recently it's been a bit of a ghost town where you can actually hear birds singing when out on the ramp, and it doesn't stink of jet fuel either, so it's a bit bizarre. But Jet 2 restarted operations the other day, Condor will be flying from there again shortly with their B757s. Aurigny start up again tomorrow with ATR-72s and Embraer jets. Aer Lingus will be expanding their ops again with an A330 to the US fairly soon (and I think maybe a long-range A321) and BA appear to be picking up the pace again. Vueling are starting more flights as well, so this is all pretty good news. 

Another good thing about all this is that in light of recent events and what it did to the general state of aviation employment, Menzies Aviation have revamped their ops quite a lot, and the improvements are very tangible, with a much improved structure to their operations; they were already pretty good prior to the lockdown, but I've noticed an improvement since being back, and it is really good to be back there. I noticed today at the security pass office that there were a few more pilots getting their passes sorted, so it's all looking quite promising. For those who are into environmental friendliness, it's worth noting that very much more of the GSE at Menzies is electric rather than diesel, with a lot of modern clean-running equipment on the way, so that's cool. 🙂

Chock,

Good for you mate. Going back to work and in an even better environment than you left! Enjoy!!

 

I'm really pleased that you are happy with the way things are going, let's hope things work out.

Sadly the latest UK covid figures suggest differently, we'll have to wait and see.

Good luck with everything!

Phil

Good to hear Chock, we will be seeing a very different aviation industry around the world as we move forward now hopefully for the better

Good to hear you’re back at Manch, sadly it’ll never be the same without the 747s  😔

25 minutes ago, jon b said:

Good to hear you’re back at Manch, sadly it’ll never be the same without the 747s  😔

Yup. Never worked on 747s that much myself, but it was always kind of fun when I did. It's only when you stand underneath on of those things that you really realise just how flipping massive they are. I used to have to stand on the nosewheel just to be able to reach the ground power socket, and even then it was a stretch. 🤣

That big fugly biffer, the A380, is still going to be operating from Manchester for some time, but it's not a pretty aeroplane. Personally, I'll not be sad to see that go, but I do however miss the A340; now that is a pretty aeroplane; it reminded me of the 707, albeit much bigger.

18 hours ago, Chock said:

As some of you might know, I'm back working for Menzies Aviation at EGCC (been back for a couple of weeks now, merrily doing all the currency training again), and I'm pleased to note that things are picking up a lot at Manchester. Recently it's been a bit of a ghost town where you can actually hear birds singing when out on the ramp, and it doesn't stink of jet fuel either, so it's a bit bizarre. But Jet 2 restarted operations the other day, Condor will be flying from there again shortly with their B757s. Aurigny start up again tomorrow with ATR-72s and Embraer jets. Aer Lingus will be expanding their ops again with an A330 to the US fairly soon (and I think maybe a long-range A321) and BA appear to be picking up the pace again. Vueling are starting more flights as well, so this is all pretty good news. 

Another good thing about all this is that in light of recent events and what it did to the general state of aviation employment, Menzies Aviation have revamped their ops quite a lot, and the improvements are very tangible, with a much improved structure to their operations; they were already pretty good prior to the lockdown, but I've noticed an improvement since being back, and it is really good to be back there. I noticed today at the security pass office that there were a few more pilots getting their passes sorted, so it's all looking quite promising. For those who are into environmental friendliness, it's worth noting that very much more of the GSE at Menzies is electric rather than diesel, with a lot of modern clean-running equipment on the way, so that's cool. 🙂

 

1 hour ago, Chock said:

Yup. Never worked on 747s that much myself, but it was always kind of fun when I did. It's only when you stand underneath on of those things that you really realise just how flipping massive they are. I used to have to stand on the nosewheel just to be able to reach the ground power socket, and even then it was a stretch. 🤣

That big fugly biffer, the A380, is still going to be operating from Manchester for some time, but it's not a pretty aeroplane. Personally, I'll not be sad to see that go, but I do however miss the A340; now that is a pretty aeroplane; it reminded me of the 707, albeit much bigger.

Love the A-340-600.  My most enjoyable flight on one was to Johannesburg, SA, from JFK quite a few years ago. It was a massive bird that performed so very well on that long flight (stop in Dakar, Senegal along the way).  Last year, I had the pleasure to fly on a Lufthansa A-340-600 from London to Newark, NJ, after a trip to Berlin. The 747 is also a plane I've traveled on frequently, and I loved every flight aboard that beautiful airplane. My favorite was last year on a 747-800, on which I was very fortunate to get an inexpensive last minute upgrade to Business Class on the upper deck.  What a fabulous experience that was all the way to Frankfurt.

Stan

4 hours ago, Chock said:

It's only when you stand underneath on of those things that you really realise just how flipping massive they are.

Nice feeling to get to work isn't it Chock?

The Roswell Airport is the last home for many cycled out airliners.  In fact they got permission from the FAA to close our third runway so it could be used for aircraft storage.

I went out to one of the salvage hangars with a friend who was looking to buy airliner seats for the Roswell Little Theater.  

While we were there the manager asked is if we would like to see a stripped down B747 that was on the ramp outside the hangar.

We entered the aircraft through a ladder in the nose wheel well.  Inside the main cabin everything had been stripped out.  All of the paneling, all of the ceiling, and all of the seats.  It looked like a huge cave.

You really can't get a feeling for how large that aircraft is from the outside or even from the inside when everything is installed.  The bare airframe is monsterous.

Noel