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Local aviators are walking on air after a 1950s Jersey Airlines plane was flown back to the island following more than a decade of being grounded – making it the only airworthy plane of its kind in the world.
Former airline pilot Lee McConnell flew the 1956 Heron Duchess BH 114, which used to operate services across Europe from the Channel Islands, returning it to its rightful home in Jersey.
Describing the opportunity as a "real privilege", Mr McConnell told Express he first got involved with the campaign to bring the Heron home when he met former Captain Peter “Willy” Weber at the Aero Club.
Mr Weber used to fly Heron planes similar to the Duchess back in the early 60s, but by the time he started to work for Jersey Airlines in 1963, the Duchess had been sold to the UK Ministry of Defence.
After a stint as an Admiral’s barge, when the Duchess worked routes between Gibraltar and Malta, Mr Weber and his fellow aviation enthusiasts bought the plane back when it came up for auction in 1989.
Pictured: The 1956 Heron Duchess BH 114 safely landed back in Jersey after 11 years spent grounded in a hanger in the UK. (Lee McConnell)
Reflecting on the Duchess' former travels, he told Express: “Over the years in our ownership, the Duchess has visited dozens of places all over Europe, flying the Jersey flag. The furthest to the north was Londonderry; to the east, Hamburg and to the south, Montpelier.”
Mr McConnell said that after being used for sightseeing tours and trips to France in the 90s and 00s, the Duchess started suffering technical difficulties. Becoming harder to maintain from Jersey, the aircraft was sent to a hangar in Coventry belonging to another local aviator.
More than a decade grounded in the hangar then followed - until a group of ambitious former pilots and aviation enthusiasts started their campaign to get her back in the skies.
“The restoration of this piece of Channel Islands’ heritage has taken 11 years and cost a proverbial arm and a leg," Mr Weber said.
Pictured: The plane, whose first owner was Jersey Airlines, was bought up by the UK Ministry of Defence before eventually finding its way back to the island after a bit of turbulence. (Peter Weber)
Despite the struggle, Mr Weber’s efforts finally paid off last week.
Mr McConnell who used to work for airlines such as Flybe, AirUK and EasyJet, explained that although he was honoured to fly the plane home, the equipment on board was very different to what he was used to.
“The equipment onboard is very old fashioned so you have to do the old-school navigational way of maps and charts. Our radio equipment was quite basic as well which caused us some issues on the way down because we couldn’t communicate with some of the Air Traffic Centres! It’s quite a low-altitude plane because it’s not pressurised so you’re sort of in between a lot of the light aircrafts as well… so we had to keep our wits about us and keep good look-out for other aeroplanes at low level."
Pictured: Jersey Airlines de Havilland Heron features in this archive image recovered from a skip in Hatfield. (Jeremy Mortimore)
Mr McConnell added that Mr Weber had taught him some tricks of the trade, having flown Herons throughout his career. “Willy was telling me all of the quirks of the aeroplane and all the interesting elements about it so it was quite an enlightening journey for both of us," he said.
Mr McConnell told Express that he feels very proud to have been a part of bringing the Duchess home, but commended the Heron Group for their dedication to the plane.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the group because they’ve never given up on the aircraft. It must have been easy to do that but they just never let go, so all credit to the Heron Group for keeping that Jersey aviation heritage alive really.”
Both men hope that having the Duchess back on-island will cause enthusiasm for Jersey’s aviation heritage to lift-off. Mr McConnell said: "Now it’s back home, we’re just hoping to do some more publicity on it and that people will see it flying around the skies and get some emotions stirring about how wonderful it is."
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