Manx Airlines 'Skyhopper' Saab 340 G-HOPP seen on finals for runway 27L at London Heathrow

A rare bird 😎 One of only two Saab 340s operated by Manx Airlines, and the other one I believe was a Saab demonstrator (SE-ISP. This aircraft only flew with Manx between 1986 and 1988 so a good one to catch on film. Manx operated a number of different aircraft types into Heathrow, including ex-BMA Viscounts as well as Shorts SD-360s (one of which I also have on film - somewhere ;)

Memories of a mis-spent youth 😎
By 1986, when I took this shot, I had been making regular forays to my home airport of London Heathrow for ten years... and in that time, my photography had developed from using a primitive Kodak Instamatic (1976-77), through a short period with a borrowed secondhand 35mm (1978-79) to, firstly a secondhand Zenith E + 300mm telephoto lens (1979-80), via a temporary replacement Zenith EM (1980), to my first brand-new camera - a shiny black-bodied "Moscow Olympics" special Zenith TTL, with which I took this photo :)

The summer of '86 - aged 24, and with a new job working in urban ecology, I had less spare time to visit my old haunt of Heathrow airport. However, after getting my old negatives scanned, it appears that I did make a few forays with my Zenith TTL and 300mm telephoto lens. By this time, I had abandoned Kodachrome 64 as a tad too expensive, and was using Kodacolor VR100 or 200 print film.

So over a relatively short period, one August evening in 1986, I shot 20 frames and managed to capture this huge variety of aircraft and airlines:
3x Tu-154s Aeroflot (2 frames), Malev & Balkan
3x B707s TAP cargo, NAC cargo, TMA cargo (2 frames)
2x B727s Pan Am & VIP
2x Airbus Egyptair A300, Swissair A310
1x B737 Aer Lingus
1x B747 JAL (2 frames)
1x TriStar BA
1x BAC1-11 Dan Air
1x F-27 Luxair
1x Saab 340 Manx
1x G2 VIP
Gives you an idea of what Heathrow was like back in the good old 1980s 😎

G-HOPP c/n 340A-008 new to Birmingham European Airways as G-BSFI in Dec 1984. To Swear as SE-ISC in Feb 1986 - leased to Manx Airlines as G-HOPP 1986-1988 - then to Netherlines - later KLM CityHopper as PH-KJK. Then, in 1991, converted to a freighter and off to Australia as VH-KDB with various airlines. Final identity ZK-CIW and still flying in 2023!

Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL camera and 300mm lens, using Kodacolor VR200 print film. Scanned from the original negative without restoration.

You can see a random selection of my aviation memories here: www.flickriver.com/photos/heathrowjunkie/random/

Taken in: UK / England / Hounslow / New Bedfont (show map)

Taken on: August 1, 1986

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Camera: NORITSU KOKI EZ Controller (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	NORITSU KOKI EZ Controller
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 24.1 (Windows)
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