In my teen 'aircraft spotting' years we lived in Sandown on the IoW and the runway there was, and still is, 1,000m of undulating grass. Can still remember the Derby Airways Daks bringing tourists in on the weekly service from Derby to Sandown. The Dakota is my all-time favourite aeroplane.
In this particular aeroplane, as with a number of other of these workhorses, they've removed the old Pratt and Whitney radials and substituted turbo-props, which is understandable - but still a horrible travesty
