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Infamous 'ghost plane' sighted again


Still Waters

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There have consistently been reports of ghost planes in Derbyshire, with people often identifying the plane as a Douglas Dakota - once flown by the RAF. 

And as the reports continue to show chilling similarities, we've found a news documentary from the 1990s which claims a Dakota did crash in the area some 70 years ago. Pam Orridge said the news of the new sightings prompted her to remember a sighting from a few years ago.

http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/video-have-you-seen-the-peak-district-s-mysterious-ghost-plane-1-8387566

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2 hours ago, acute said:

Is there really someone called P.orridge?

Yes, that's just what I was going to say.

Anyway, on to the story, there's similar tales to this about the moors over the direction of Woodhead between Sheffield and Manchester, an area famous for odd goings on.  Many have reported a large a/c like a WWII bomber (possibly a Wellington) flying alarmingly low, but not making a sound, and expecting to hear air crash as soon as it disappears over the hill, but nothing is ever found, although of course there were many crashes in that area during the war .... 

 

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As kids, we used to hear a ghost bus at night.  It came up the hill, turned right, then went silent shortly afterwards!

I'm not sure whether it was a freak of geography, or an actual full bodywork apparition.

Edited by acute
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2 hours ago, seanjo said:

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight has a Dakota C47 in D-day colours, RAF Coningsby is only 60 miles from the Peaks.

I thought the same thing.  Their Dakota has been grounded "for sometime", according to their Facebook page, but the woman and son witness had their sighting "a few years ago" so I am guessing you called this one correctly.  The also have a Liberator and several fighters

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1 hour ago, Merc14 said:

I thought the same thing.  Their Dakota has been grounded "for sometime", according to their Facebook page, but the woman and son witness had their sighting "a few years ago" so I am guessing you called this one correctly.  The also have a Liberator and several fighters

If that's the case, shouldn't they report their flight plans if used?

It shouldn't be too difficult to check if in those days one of the planes was indeed flying. 

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I'm pretty sure the BBMF would n't behave in this fashion Suddenly in front of us was an aircraft flying very low towards us. So low we thought it would crash into us but then it banked sideways and disappeared. We could not identify the aircraft other than it was old because it happened so quickly and left us quite shocked. ,  bearing in mind their responsibility to not take any kind of undue risks.

 

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15 minutes ago, Parsec said:

If that's the case, shouldn't they report their flight plans if used?

It shouldn't be too difficult to check if in those days one of the planes was indeed flying. 

I'm sure the squadron has flight records for whatever day someone saw a "ghost plane"  but it looks like all sightings were in the "years ago" category, in other words vaguely remembered rather than something specific like around noon on October ##, 20##, in this general area.  

 

6 minutes ago, Manfred von Dreidecker said:

I'm pretty sure the BBMF would n't behave in this fashion Suddenly in front of us was an aircraft flying very low towards us. So low we thought it would crash into us but then it banked sideways and disappeared. We could not identify the aircraft other than it was old because it happened so quickly and left us quite shocked. ,  bearing in mind their responsibility to not take any kind of undue risks.

 

I reread the story and the one witness said they were aware of the Dakota and Lancaster flying around the area and up the valley and knew the sound of the engines so maybe this is not as good an explanation as we thought.

Edit:  We have a very large vintage Military Aviation Museum in our area and so get to see all kinds of WWI and WWII aircraft flying around and the engine noise on all these aircraft is very distinctive, very loud and hard to miss.  http://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org/

Edited by Merc14
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5 hours ago, acute said:

Is there really someone called P.orridge?

Yeah, after she married. Her former surname was Otato.

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4 minutes ago, Merc14 said:

I'm sure the squadron has flight records for whatever day someone saw a "ghost plane"  but it looks like all sightings were in the "years ago" category, in other words vaguely remembered rather than something specific like around noon on October ##, 20##, in this general area.  

 

I reread the story and the one witness said they were aware of the Dakota and Lancaster flying around the area and up the valley and knew the sound of the engines so maybe this is not as good an explanation as we thought.

Edit:  We have a very large vintage Military Aviation Museum in our area and so get to see all kinds of WWI and WWII aircraft flying around and the engine noise on all these aircraft is very distinctive, very loud and hard to miss.  http://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org/

Yeah, pretty unfortunate, isn't it? 

Still, if the witnesses remember so many details, maybe they could remember the day as well. 

Further, if there have been so many reports (to the authorities?) as stated in the article, it's probable the sightings happened during the same day or within a reasonable amount of time. Usually the more time it pass, the less a person is inclined to call and report. 

So again, for the authorities (if interested, of course) it shouldn't be too difficult to at least double check some of the sightings, if not all. 

This could rule out the obvious, or give a quick answer to a "mystery". 

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10 minutes ago, toast said:

:yes:

 

Actually it could very well be that in the area lives an rc owner that also happens to be a North by Northwest enthusiast! 

 

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2 hours ago, Merc14 said:

The also have a Liberator

Really? My old man was a flight engineer on one of those. He'd have loved to have seen that. 

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13 hours ago, oldrover said:

Really? My old man was a flight engineer on one of those. He'd have loved to have seen that. 

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

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If one believes in a ghost person, then why not a ghost conveyance for that person, like a ghost plane or ghost ship, of which there are many reports. Or, are they all just flights (no pun intended) of fancy?

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On 15/02/2017 at 2:44 PM, herbygant said:

If one believes in a ghost person, then why not a ghost conveyance for that person, like a ghost plane or ghost ship, of which there are many reports. Or, are they all just flights (no pun intended) of fancy?

There used to be a ghostly double decker bus in London.

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2 hours ago, Black Monk said:

There used to be a ghostly double decker bus in London.

Yes there were tales about that, I haven't heard any reference to it for years though. Always one of my favourites that one. 

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It's probably the ghost of one of Mayor Ken's Bendybuses out to get its revenge on Boris for sweeping them aside and spending millions of public money on a completely new and wondrous form of superbus which Mayor Sadiq is now also anxious to oust,  in fact he seems quite keen to abolish buses altogether and force everyone to cycle (but no longer on Boris Bikes, of course, now they're Sadiq Cycles.)

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On 2/15/2017 at 2:32 AM, Merc14 said:

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

Lancaster, not Liberator. I think the only airworthy one of those is in the States .

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4 hours ago, Manfred von Dreidecker said:

Lancaster, not Liberator. I think the only airworthy one of those is in the States .

Ah I see, was that picture not a liberator then? They look the same to me I'm afraid. 

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No, the picture's a Dakota. Or DC-3 or C-47, depending on whether it was originally built for civil use or ordered by the RAF or USAAF.

Edited by Manfred von Dreidecker
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12 minutes ago, Manfred von Dreidecker said:

No, the picture's a Dakota. Or DC-3 or C-47, depending on whether it was originally built for civil use or ordered by the RAF or USAAF.

Sorry, not that picture, the one Merc put up but now seems to have gone. It was of a four engine bomber. The Dakota is one of the few airplanes I do recognise though. I think they're very elegant. 

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I think it is more the case that perhaps aircraft disappearing into thin air is most likely indistinguishable cloud edges in the traditional leaden grey British sky, and the actual aircraft itself, to those not up to date with classic aviation in this country, and old antiquated aircraft such as the Dakota / C-47 would seem a ghostly reminder of the past if you were not aware of the airworthy examples that remain.

The Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight operates one, which has spent some time grounded on and off, but this is usually to carry out the work necessary to keep it safe and airworthy and isn't unusual as their whole fleet undergoes this process.

Air Atlantique (Now Classic Air Force ) originally operated 10 of these types and now still operates two, G-AMPY and G-ANAF as airworthy from their location at Coventry Airport, these are however pending sale but these can still be flown and no doubt will be.

So a little lack of current classic aviation knowledge and some romanticism regarding the era of the aircraft is responsible here...

And yes the BBMF do not operate a Liberator, they Operate one of only two remaining airworthy Avro Lancaster aircraft left in the world, the other being in Canada.

 

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6 hours ago, Silent Trinity said:

I think it is more the case that perhaps aircraft disappearing into thin air is most likely indistinguishable cloud edges in the traditional leaden grey British sky, and the actual aircraft itself, to those not up to date with classic aviation in this country, and old antiquated aircraft such as the Dakota / C-47 would seem a ghostly reminder of the past if you were not aware of the airworthy examples that remain.

The Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight operates one, which has spent some time grounded on and off, but this is usually to carry out the work necessary to keep it safe and airworthy and isn't unusual as their whole fleet undergoes this process.

Air Atlantique (Now Classic Air Force ) originally operated 10 of these types and now still operates two, G-AMPY and G-ANAF as airworthy from their location at Coventry Airport, these are however pending sale but these can still be flown and no doubt will be.

So a little lack of current classic aviation knowledge and some romanticism regarding the era of the aircraft is responsible here...

And yes the BBMF do not operate a Liberator, they Operate one of only two remaining airworthy Avro Lancaster aircraft left in the world, the other being in Canada.

 

My bad, thanks for the correction.   :tu: 

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