Control Tower / Airfield - Where is it?

canberra wrote:

I thought Luton as Court Line had an Argosy, maybe an ex military one that hasnt been repainted.

As fo not looking English, well it looks English to me!

The size and shape of the VCR on top would be very unusual in the UK.

canberra wrote:

I thought Luton as Court Line had an Argosy, maybe an ex military one that hasnt been repainted.

Not sure about an Argosy but they certainly purchased a Beverley; it was ex RAE Farnborough.

British Independent Airlines since 1946 doesn't have an Argosy listed in the Court Line fleet. It gives the Beverley as G-AOAI delivered 3.73, never entered service.

mothminor wrote:

British Independent Airlines since 1946 doesn't have an Argosy listed in the Court Line fleet. It gives the Beverley as G-AOAI delivered 3.73, never entered service.

It must have been issued with a civil reg before entering military service.
It was moved from Farnborough to Luton with the intention of it being used to transport RB211s in support of the newly acquired Tristars.
When the company went bust, it was agreed the Hull Aero Club at Paull (now itself disused - see Yorkshire airfields) could have it and the week I started work at Farnborough ATC in March 1974, I heard it was being flown from Luton to Paull by a Farnborough crew. It now resides at Fort Paull, about 2 miles west of the old airfield having been dismantled and moved by road twice.

I got my Beverley and Argosy confused, but ABC operated the Argosy AKA whistling tit!

As for tower designs, there are quite a few odd one in the UK.

Ive had a quick look on the control towers website and the Luton tower from the fifties does look very similar.

It must have been issued with a civil reg before entering military service.
It was moved from Farnborough to Luton with the intention of it being used to transport RB211s in support of the newly acquired Tristars.
When the company went bust, it was agreed the Hull Aero Club at Paull (now itself disused - see Yorkshire airfields) could have it and the week I started work at Farnborough ATC in March 1974, I heard it was being flown from Luton to Paull by a Farnborough crew. It now resides at Fort Paull, about 2 miles west of the old airfield having been dismantled and moved by road twice.

Yes, Terry - it was originally registered as a Blackburn Universal Freighter on 15.3.55. A mere 15 days later it was transferred to military use. We saw it at Fort Paull last year - an amazing survivor!
There's a great video on Youtube showing the massive operation of dismantling her -

LUTON TOWER 1988

Yes that's the 'old'Luton tower. The newer one is closer to the movement area and was built on a 'fixed price' contract; as you climb the stairs there are one or two places where bare wires with tape on them protrude from the walls because the money ran out before they installed the lights! It took over from the old tower in about 1994.
They also had a 'state of the art' device for determining if, during strong winds, the tower was tilted too much; it consisted of a half full milk bottle resting on the edge of the window; the idea was that if the building tilted too much in the wind, the contents of the bottle would be spilt!