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| Coventry (CVT) |
Potentially one of the most interesting airfields in the UK, Coventry is the home base of Air Atlantique/Atlantic Airways, a major freight carrier which also carries out a large amount of oil pollution clear-up work around the UK. Coventry is easily one of the best places to see propliners in the UK, with Air Atlantique's fleet consisting mainly of DC-3s, DC-6s and Electras, and a number of other similarly tasty types often turning up on lease. An added bonus is that Air Atlantique is also heavily involved in the preservation movement, and is the only airline in the UK to have a 'Historic Flight', which currently includes such types as the Twin Pioneer, Anson, Dove and Dragon Rapide.
Unfortunately, photographic possibilities are extremely limited here in the normal way, with
the only real chance of a shot seeming to be if you're in the right place at the right time when
something is landing. However, Air Atlantique do run regular open days throughout the summer months,
when enthusiasts can get the chance to fly in one of their Historic Flight aircraft, as well as
taking a tour of the Air Atlantique facilities. Of course you have to pay for this privilege, but
it's probably one of the best opportunities you'll have to get photos of many of the based aircraft
here (as well as being able to fly in some extremely rare aircraft).
In 1999 and 2000 a 1950s-themed airshow was held here - hopefully this will continue in the
future. As well as being an excellent show in its own right, it also allowed access to most of
the airfield, another rare chance for photographs.
Wrecks and Relics
Coventry is home to a large number of wrecks and relics, although these are all stored in various locations on the active airfield. This means that your only chance of access is via the Air Atlantique open days or the airshow, as noted above - all the following shots were obtained during the 1999 show.
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| G-AMPO Air Atlantique DC-3 |
G-LOFA Air Atlantique Electra |
WT711 Hunter GA11 |
WR963 Shackleton AEW2 |
G-AOKO Prentice |
The Midland Air Museum is also based at Coventry airport.
The first show to be held at Coventry for 11 years, and an excellent show it was, too. Magnificent selection of aircraft, great flying, superb photo opportunities, good weather, not too crowded, and the chance to wander around Coventry airfield itself - what more could you want!? Thoroughly recommended if future shows are even half as good as this one was - long may it continue.
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| '215'/(G-HELV) Vampire T11 |
PH-DDS DDA DC-4 |
G-APRS Air Atlantique Twin Pioneer |
G-LOFB Atlantic Airlines Electra |
UR-PAS Veteran Airlines AN-12 |
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| Last visited on 15 August 1999 | Top of page |
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Click on the icons below to see various maps and images relating to Coventry airport. Note that these are all external links to other sites, and will open in a new window.
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| Official CAA Coventry airport map
Courtesy of: NATS Ltd. Note that you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (v4.0 or later) installed in order to view this. |
OS street map of the Coventry airport area
Courtesy of: |
General map of the Coventry area Courtesy of: |
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Coventry Airport Enthusiast's Website
Don't worry about the rather bizarre first page; if you can't find anything on it that tells you
what you're actually looking at you're in the right place! God knows how the site itself was
created, though - clicking on the links and back buttons seems to follow no logic whatsoever. If
you can put up with going all over the place to find the right window, however, this isn't a bad
site. Movements, excellent news reports, a very comprehensive residents listing, and a photopage
with a selection of good quality shots (albeit rather small) of some very interesting Coventry
visitors. A great pity it now appears to be dormant - the last update was around July 1999.
A day with Air Atlantique
Interesting account of a visit to one of Air Atlantique's open days held at Coventry. A well-written
article illustrated with a number of pics taken at the time. Sounds like a worthwhile visit from
this.
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