RAF Gaydon Victor fox hunt incident

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What is the story behind the amusing Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Christmas card "Gaydon Incident 1963" by Patricia Forrest GAvA? Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises (http://www.airtattoo.com/shop/browse/Christmas%20Cards/)
(The fox darts in front of a Victor powering up, the jet exhaust and flying ice diverting hounds and hunters). I had the impression security aound V-bombers were quite tight?
Seasons Greetings.

[ZH875]

I had the impression security aound V-bombers were quite tight?.

That may have been true, but one was not allowed to interupt the landed gentry :mad: from pursuing their interest of ripping foxes to pieces for the sheer pleasure of it.

[Zoom]

...the landed gentry...

Would have been OK in this part of the Midlands, though, as it was seldom the 'gentry' doing the hunting. It has always been assumed by those too class-conscious to think about it that fox-hunters are wealthy toffs with too much time on their hands, whereas most of the huntsmen in farming areas are working farmers who see foxes as vermin that harm their livestock rather than as cute, cuddly pets.

Merry Christmas to all, foxes included.

[High_lander]

Its not just the 'Landed Gentry' who hunt.

I would have loved to see a V-bomber spooling up in the snow- but I wasn't even a twinkle in my mother's eye and a twitch in my father's trousers when they were around.

[soddim]

One should not forget that the V-bombers did a better job than new labour in preserving our way of life!

Fox hunting is just one example.

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Thanks - a bit of a hornets nest - so to speak. What I was hinting at: There must have been an incident like this, and the painter were told the details. (Yes, i could ask her! Too easy.;))

"Station Commanders" around the world had/have their interpretations of what constitutes a "runway incursion" (in modern "yuck-speak"). Could "he" be one of the hunters? (Yes, I know this was probably not near the runways.)

Glad that 12 Sqn, RAF, is still active. "Leads the field". (From the Fairey Fox bomber, that outran the contemporary fighters, I guess?) A bit like the Swedish Lansen target tugs' motto "Semper Primus" = "Always first"?
Best Regards
P.S. Still using the cards, and got some questions back about the motive.

[Fareastdriver]

1Hr 20 mins after the thread was started.
That may have been true, but one was not allowed to interupt the landed gentry from pursuing their interest of ripping foxes to pieces for the sheer pleasure of it.
It doesn't take long for the jealous whingers to jump in.
Never hunted a fox, not interested, but having seen what they can do, no sympathy.

[18greens]

So the fox may have been clever in distracting the hunters with the jet exhaust but surely his plan would have been foiled when he was sucked into the intakes and delivered in finely sliced pieces to the waiting hunters.

[BEagle]

Reminds me of an incident a few years ago at the Covert Oxonian Aerodrome....

Before they built the lay by at the RW08 threhsold, we'd have to queue for ages to cross the runway, sitting impatiently at the lights next to bay 7 (or 48 or whatever it's now called under Catarrah). One fine day, with lots of people queuing waiting for the lights, along came the local hunt in full chase pursuing 'Charley' outside the fence.

Who, being cunning, knew of a few fox-sized holes in said fence. He squeezed through, then stopped in the middle of the taxiway. He turned to look at the furious hunt, then turned to look at the queue of cars....before squatting and crapping in the middle of the taxiway as if to say "And that to you buggers" before trotting off to wherever he was going.

Brilliant - it was like something out of 'The Ballad of the Belstone Fox'!

[ZH875]

It doesn't take long for the jealous whingers to jump in.


Objection:


I am not jealous, I too have never hunted a fox, and I have no desire to witness an animal being ripped to shreds for fun.

Why not just shoot the fox with a poisoned dart, quicker, but less 'fun'.

[BEagle]

Death from a poisoned dart would be problematic, slow and painful.

A hound kills a fox instantly with its first bite. Really, yes it does. The pack then rip the carcase to bits, which is distressing to onlookers.

I have never hunted, but lived in the country and was exposed to such things when I was young. We considered it normal country pest control.

But those who breed foxes so that they can later kill them deserve nothing but contempt.

The pro-hunting lobby don't really put up very convincing arguments, though and are their own worst enemy. Also, it is the 'ritual' aspect of it all which probably enrages the 'antis' more than anything; 'blooding' youngsters at their first kill is hardly a 21st century contribution to rural pest control, for example.

[soddim]

This is not the thread to re-examine the pros and cons of fox hunting. Suffice it to say that this stalinesk government has ineffectively banned it in the same unenforcable way that they have passed many new laws. The only effective thing they have achieved is to wreck a healthy economy.

PS Ta for the winter fuel allowance that I didn't need - why not find a way to help those who need it.

[sisemen]

Note: the horses and hunters are the other side of the fence.

In those days a simple wooden fence was sufficient to keep out spies, saboteurs and other riff-raff - particularly when an airframe was on a remote pan for an engine run. The fox, as can be seen, has nicked through the fence leaving the hunt to look on in exasperation as it makes its getaway.

Chain link fences and barbed wire only started to appear in the early 70s when Paddy started taking pot shots.

Now what could be simpler?

Nothing to see here, move along please.

[XV277]

Reminds me a bit of the incident with the spotters and the B1 at Fairford a few years back.....

[Blacksheep]

working farmers...i.e. landed gentry... :rolleyes:

Like the working farmer and his NFU mates who started waffling on about 'acreage' (and our lack of it) when we claimed for damage caused by his cattle.

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In those days a simple wooden fence was sufficient to keep out spies, saboteurs and other riff-raff :ok:

..before squatting and crapping ..
Not christmas card material ;) - but a good story for the coming parties!

[pontifex]

I was a very young co-pilot on Valiants at Wittering in the late 50s. I understood that, just before I arrived, the Burleigh hunt had held up operations when it crossed the airfield in full cry. Apparently, when the land was compulsorily purchased from the Lord of the manor during the war, the scribes failed to include his ancient hunting rights in the paperwork, so the hunt was within its legal rights. I make no claim as to the truth of this story but it was quite current at the time. That may be the source of the painting in question.

[airborne_artist]

Worth recalling that the only other hunting ban in Europe was imposed by Hitler :ok:

Article (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1407954/Thanks-to-Hitler-hunting-with-hounds-is-still-verboten.html) confirming this in the Telegraph.

[JanotLapin]

Much discussion recently about this painting.This is what happened.
I was in the crewroom of "A" squadron , 230 O.C.U.at R.A.F.Gaydon.There was no flying due to the bad weather.A blizzard was blowing outside.A sergeant stuck his head round the door and said there was an instrument problem on XA 941 and to get down there and fix it.I put on my anorak and went outside.I arrived at the aircraft and saw the Warwickshire Hunt milling about in the jet exhaust of the Victor.Large sheets of ice were being picked up and sent spinning towards the riders , horses and hounds.The horses were panicking and there seemed to be much confusion , with the result that the hunt was circulating in the worst part of the ice storm.Chiefy Swinburne , the crewchief , had not seen the riders as he was looking down [due to the weather] and they were hidden by the flying ice.I signalled that he should cut the engines and he then saw the hunt and did so.The rest of the groundcrew had got into the cockpit , pulled up the ladder and shut the door.Only the crewchief [obviously made of sterner stuff] remained outside the aircraft.
I commissioned the painting , and 17 prints of it have so far been sold , and numerous Christmas cards.I was contacted by the ex Station Commander , Group Captain Everitt , who told me of an earlier intrusion by the hunt.Print No.17 was bought by Tom Swinburne [ex Chiefy] and I am told by John Bishop , Master of Hounds and in charge of events at the Heritage Museum at Gaydon , that there is at least one hunter still living that was there.To conclude , the fence was as it is in the painting.

[StressFree]

ZH875
You sound like a real leftie city dweller, you could write all you know about the countryside on the back of a first class stamp.
Animal rights also on your mind? Anti fur trade and anti vivisection as well?

:E

[Brewster Buffalo]

Worth recalling that the only other hunting ban in Europe was imposed by Hitler

Good to see that Godwins law still applies in 2009... :ok:

Godwin's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_Law)

[parabellum]

It is a sad fact of life that as the fox gets older it doesn't go off to some happy little leafy glade in the forest that is a hospice for the elderly where it is cared for by unselfish and dedicated members of the pack.

The truth is a little more stark. As a fox deteriorates, due to age or health, it ceases to be able to hunt for itself and eventually becomes weak and vulnerable, prey to predators in the form of younger and healthier animals to the point that, if it can hide, it will starve to death but if unable to hide it will be attacked, chased and eventually ripped to death by these predators, the natural balance of nature.

The foxes that the hounds find are usually in the not so fit category and hounds are well aware of the damage a cornered prey can cause, they will not mess with it but leap in for a very quick kill, usually by throwing the animal into the air and breaking it's neck, only after it is dead will they rip it to pieces.

Countrywide we would all be a lot better off if the know-it-all townies would leave the countryside to look after itself.

[MadsDad]

I don't have any particular objection against hunting but I do loathe and detest the arrogant assh*les who engage in the sport. They appear to assume that they own the place and they have the absolute right to do whatever they want, irrespective of any inconvenience caused to anyone else about their legal business.

This stems from many incidents from the occasion a lot of years ago when I was forced into a ditch while riding my bike on the (public) highway by a hunt coming the other way and taking up the whole road to a local main route being blocked by badly parked horseboxes and trailers a couple of weeks ago (the fact that local flooding meant this was the only viable route through that part of Dorset did not help).

[sisemen]

JanotLapin - I suspect 232 OCU. 230 OCU was a Vulcan unit - always. Top link gives 230 OCU history and the bottom link contains a potted history of all the OCUs (including 232)

RAF-lincolnshire.info :: 230 OCU (http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/230ocu/230ocu.htm)

OCU 226-235.htm (http://www.rafweb.org/OCUs1.htm)

I do loathe and detest the arrogant assh*les who engage in the sport. They appear to assume that they own the place and they have the absolute right to do whatever they want, irrespective of any inconvenience caused to anyone else about their legal business.


And I guess that sums up what all the angst and breast beating is about - it's all about "toffs" vs "chavs". Long may the class war reign - and bugger logic and common sense.

[ZH875]

Anti fur trade?

:E


Depends what and where the 'Fur' is!:eek:

[StressFree]

ZH875,
Ha ha ha :O
Good answer :D - most amusing !!!!!!!!!!!

[Pontius Navigator]

I had the impression security aound V-bombers were quite tight?
Seasons Greetings.

Actually security was a bit like the quantity of ammunition we had. It was mostly smoke and mirrors. I guess we had the minimm to appear to be a viable deterrent. We certainly didn't have a robust deterrent.

Until I think the mid-70s each nuclear armed V-bomber was guarded by one RAF policeman. Only when someone got to think closely about the 2-man principle was the number of RAF Police doubled up. It hurt until more were recruited.

Unarmed V-bombers were not guarded. As Gaydon was a training base security, or rather the security resources, would have been very scarce.

At Cottesmore one day a civilian heading for the A1 took the wrong road. Instead of turning right for Greetham he drove down the camp road, through the main gate, passed Ops and the Messes, passed Quarters and hung a left at the lazy runway and a right on the taxyway. Only when he reached the QRA aircraft did the penny drop.

[Lancelot37]

Until I think the mid-70s each nuclear armed V-bomber was guarded by one RAF policeman.
=================================

I remember at R.A.F Cottesmore 1959 - 1961 a Victor being guarded by an RAF policeman and dog. The policeman fell asleep in his little hut and left the dog to run free. It attacked Wingco Johnnie Johnson as he approached. No injuries to the C.O but I don't think that the Snowdrop got off as easily.

[Pontius Navigator]

Until I think the mid-70s each nuclear armed V-bomber was guarded by one RAF policeman.
=================================

I remember at R.A.F Cottesmore 1959 - 1961 a Victor being guarded by an RAF policeman and dog. The policeman fell asleep in his little hut and left the dog to run free. It attacked Wingco Johnnie Johnson as he approached. No injuries to the C.O but I don't think that the Snowdrop got off as easily.

A dog with discrimination.

[Oldlae]

I was there then, never heard a word about it, surprising really.

[JanotLapin]

Yes I made a mistake about the O.C.U. , it was 232 . The unofficial motto was "It,s all been Changed".
As the first snow was falling we pushed all the ground equipment , giraffes and so on , onto the squadron carpark . They were subsequently covered in snow which became almost solid with time , and as they,d been very neatly placed in true RAF manner , and interlocking , we were unable to dig them out . One doghandler burrowed into the mound and made himself an igloo . Another had a real swine of an alsation , about 3/4 normal size but far more vicious than usual . I was on nights one night and the squadron was nearly deserted , it being about 2.30 am. I was working on an oxygen regulator in the bomb aimer,s prone position in the nose . I had a very powerful Aldis lamp.The dog handler , seeing beams of light emanating from the bomb aimers window came over to investigate . I pressed the Aldis lamp against the glass and waited til he peered in , then switched it on . I heard a strangled cry but no more . Having repaired the leaky regulator , I started to climb down the ladder , I heard a deep growl . Doghandler had tied his 3/4 size psychodog to the ladder . I spent a long time in that very cold cockpit , which was no more than I deserved.
Some weeks later the dog went mad , putting the handler in hospital , but not before he shot it with his .38 pistol . I talked to him about it later and he was surprisingly sorry about the incident . He actually liked the dog.
Incidentally , I was known as "Shingles" at Gaydon ,[long story] I wonder if anyone else who was there reads this site?

[Blacksheep]

Unarmed V-bombers were not guarded.You've obviously never encountered a proud Crew Chief. :}

Not guarded? There were usually one dog and his man to a pair of dispersals. The dog handlers provided us with much amusement during idle moments waiting in the crew hut for an inbound; when he's at Delta 13, make a call to Delta 14 and watch him walk to the phone, then hang up and call Delta 15 ad infinitum. It often took three circuits of the dispersal before they gave up. On another occasion, the dog attacked the handler on Bravo. With the dog mauling his leg, the Plod managed to unpack his bullets from the green, greased paper packets, load them into his magazine, cock his pistol and shoot it, much to the merriment of one Starter Crew on Charlie dispersal.

So, yes, there were guards around the aircraft and yes, they were armed and dangerous - but not necessarily to intruders. :uhoh:

[JanotLapin]

Thank you for reminding me of the telephone scam , I did it many times but had completely forgotten .If you watched the dog handler shoot his dog , you must have been at Gaydon? Or did that sort of thing happen more than once? Another scam I invented was to ask the squadron storeman for the "Artificial Horizon Leveling Set".I forgot all about it , but he didn,t. After several weeks of searching he finally confessed to me that he,d lost it.It was the modern equivalent of the "left handed foot spanner , long weight , or Hymol-Wright Jack for sidecars.

[goudie]

"Artificial Horizon Leveling Set".


Reminds me of the time in ASF stores asking the temporary storeman (an ancient Sgt engine fitter) for a 'wee megger', ''don't f*ck me about, he said, ''small medium or large''?

[bazzacat]

I can see some people on here ,were it the 1800s, defending slavery on the basis of "tradition".....

[sisemen]

Buzz off sonny. This thread is about Victors at Gaydon and is not, despite a couple of attempts to way lay it, about the ethics of fox hunting.

Mind you, you probably know all about the V Force, having been given a plastic kit of one on your 7th birthday.

[bazzacat]

As it happens, my father was groundcrew on Valiants at Gaydon, late 50s

Just a comment that some people present an unsympathic face to the public who peruse such sites.

End of.

[goudie]

bazzacat, we don't cater for the public, 'who may happen to peruse these threads. If you don't like what you read, move on!

[Samuel]

When I was at Cottesmore, 1960-62, Johnny Johnson was a Gp Capt and CO!

He had a habit of arriving at Crash Gate one via a side road, then calling up for the crash crew to come and open it for him, the reason being, as he explained to this lowly SAC one-day, "I can be in my office before anyone knows I'm there". I had numerous chats with him and of course knowing who he was meant I was in absolute awe of the man. It was only later in life that I came to realise not everyone saw him in that light!Many years later he was a guest at the Wanaka Air Show in New Zealand and I reminded him of his crash gate episodes, and he was gracious enough to say he remembered me, something I doubt very much.

He had, however, something to do with the Cottemore Hunt, and I had heard that he sought out some airman volunteers once to go to Melton Mowbray for some reason, and they had been royally fed and watered. I waited in vain for my invite!

Just as an aside, Cottesmore on a bright sunny winter's day covered in snow with 10 and 15 parked up for the day was a magical scene in my book.

[Oldlae]

Samuel,
Do you not mean 10 and 15 parked up. A senior moment no doubt.

[Samuel]

Thank you! Yes a senior moment, I did mean 10 and 15, and also forgot to mention, [in 1962] the trials unit of four Victor B2s. "C" Squadron as I recall

[JanotLapin]

I never encountered Johnny Johnson on "V" Bombers , but he was A.O.C. of M.E.A.F.while I was in Aden.When he took over the job everyone was trying to get a look at him , to see if he was wearing "Bondoo Boots". The regulation RAF shoe was uncomfortable in that heat , and there was a rumour that the new boss would change the footwear rule by example . Anyway , he was seen wearing bondoo boots and everyone else started wearing them too .He obtained a couple of early Canberras which he had sprayed white , with "V" bomber anti flash paint .It was said to cost £500 a tin in 1960 money . I suppose they were his personal sports cars. Anyway they kept going U/S and it was decided that ASF jets and ASF pistons would do a major on one each . I worked in ASF jets so got to work on our one for about 3 months . The riggers changed the canopy but it would not fit , despite hours of filing . Eventually they found they had a Belfast hood but it was a Wharton Canberra , or the other way round . Anyway they got the right hood and fitted it . After a couple of test flights , both Canberras were scrapped . The [brand new ] engines were removed , placed outside the hangar , and later smashed up by an old corporal who,s job was to cut up old aircraft .[As were both hoods from our one .]
Various rumours circulated about Johnny Johnson , none of which may be true . One was that he sent a Beverley down to Kenya to fetch some top soil for his garden . Another that he ordered another AOCs inspection of a base in Kenya , because he found a cigarette end in a hangar.The AOCs inspection was said to cost £6000000 , but I can,t imagine what that was for? The Canberras were replaced by an Avro 748 and I saw Johnny Johnson run it into the soft gypsum next to the runway .
My own gripe with him was this . I had a jazz band in Aden . " The Original Treadmill Snycopators" . ASF Jets gave me a day off after each gig that we played , as I was contributing to the morale of the chaps . [making it worse , probably] Unfortunately , this meant that the work I should have done was done by my corporal , Bob [Jock] Robertson from Inverkeithing . So I just used to go in late . I was staggering in one morning , still reeling from the many pints of Tiger beer that the W.V.S. had paid the band in [[in lui of cash] I had to walk past a Twin Pioneer .I passed under the wing and very close to the prop when Johnny Johnson fired the starter cartridge , just about level with my ear . No doubt his idea of a joke . To conclude , Aden was said to cost £2000000 a week to run [in 1960 money , you know , groats ] What a waste.

[foldingwings]

Not as bad as the day when the 12 Sqn (Vulcans) mascot, a fox, escaped from the Oi/c and was flattened by a 12 Sqn Vulcan on its T/O run as the fox crossed the runway on its escape route back to the wild:uhoh:!

Foldy

[taxydual]

Similar at Topcliffe in the early 80's. The Bedale Hunt invaded the airfield. Bulldogs buzzing about, Hounds huzzing about, Charlie Fox f****** about, Horses horsing about (?)....whatever.

I was despatched in the ATC Landrover to get them off the airfield. Coo, what fun. 40 odd hounds, 1 Master, 2 Whippers-in and muggins trying our best, when over the STORNO radio came the ATCO i/c (he was never a SATCO), "I WANT THEIR NAMES, I WANT THEIR NAMES".

My response that there were "Spot, Rex, Bingo, Prince, Bonzo, Laddy etc" did not go down well.

The chap had no sense of humour. Although the Matelot's thought it was a lark.

Ah well, I really enjoyed being Orderly Dog for two weekends in a row.

Happy days.

[ozleckie]

Shingles

If you are interested in obtaining the Email address for Sam Weller contact me via my Email

Vic W

[forget]

the 12 Sqn (Vulcans) mascot, a fox,

Whatever happened to the five feet high plaster fox that stood outside of 12 Sqdn at Cottesmore. It was sat on its hind legs holding a shield with a Squadron crest. Look behind the shield and the fox was what Heraldic experts would call Rampant -- in the extreme. :eek:

[JanotLapin]

Wasn,t there a tortoise mascot in Germany who was promoted and given a flight in a Hunter to celebrate?

[BEagle]

Flt Lt 'Deux Crosses' of 20 Sqn Hunter days, if I recall correctly from the 20 Sqn scrapbook back when I held at Wildenrath for a few weeks in 1975? Of course they had Harriers by then.

The tortoise had a couple of white crosses painted on its shell.

[Pontius Navigator]

Whatever happened to the five feet high plaster fox that stood outside of 12 Sqdn at Cottesmore. It was sat on its hind legs holding a shield with a Squadron crest. Look behind the shield and the fox was what Heraldic experts would call Rampant -- in the extreme. :eek:

Don't know the answer to that but I do have a 'decent' photo in my log book. The coffee bar had originally been moved from Binbrook to Coningsby and eventually sold to IX.

[Pontius Navigator]

Various rumours circulated about Johnny Johnson , none of which may be true . One was that he sent a Beverley down to Kenya to fetch some top soil for his garden.

I heard he also used to 'reward' the Canberra crews as well, provided they brought back soil.

He bought an Armstrong Siddley as his duty-free car. Kept it in the garage most of the time and had it flown home with just 1600 miles on the clock. Customs were not in awe of the famous ace and charged him full duty as he had not used the car in the previous 12 months.

JEJ wasn't the only one though. The Flag Officer needed a new residence. To save money it was decided to use the concrete gun platform from WW2. A round house was duly built and so was special curved furniture to fit.

[JanotLapin]

This thread is getting further away from Gaydon and I,d like to bring it back if I may? Firstly I,d like to thank PPRuNe for enabling me to have a conversation with a good friend who I havn,t seen for 45 years . I don,t know much from computers and my son logged me on to PPRuNe and chose my age as 32 , and the daft name of "Janot Lapin" . I was told in Brittany that this was Bugs Bunny,s name in France? Janot is pronounced Janno , and NOT Janet! And I am actually 65.
I am also grateful to the chap at Karup who started the thread. As John Moore [Patricia Forrest,s husband] said , "There is no such thing as bad publicity. And many more Christmas cards will have been sold , and the charity benefitted due to this thread .
Sam Weller has told me that he saw the fox hunting incident . The pans were in a four leafed clover layout and he was looking at the hunt from the same angle as me , but further away . He said he,d assumed somebody took a photograph of it . Not so .
I decided to commission the painting after attempts to contact old comrades had drawn a blank . I joined "Friends Reunited" , but the only person listed there , somebody I,d worked with every day for two years , didn,t remember me . The idea of the painting , and the Christmas cards , was that people would like them , buy them , send them to old mates and finally I would get in touch with somebody who actually remembered me! And so it has turned out.
Chiefy Swinburne ordered one of the prints , Group Captain Everitt [ex Station Commander] phoned me up one day to chew the fat . I complained that as I was not allowed to have a camera on the squadron , I had no photos of my time at Gaydon . Group Captain Everitt posted me his personal photo albums and I had some of the photos copied , which are now framed and hung on the wall .
I have been asked by e mail which Victor it was . On this my memory disagrees with Chiefy Swinburne , I say XA 926 , but he says it was his aeroplane , XA 941 . I,ve had another e mail saying that there should have been a ground generator parked next to the Victor . True there was , but I couldnt find a photo of one to send to the artist . I contacted I.W.M. Duxford to ask if they had a photo , or a generator in the collection [it was a massive piece of kit with a Rolls Royce engine] Anyway , I got no answer from Duxford so decided that as it was a narrative painting , and done from a memory 45 years old , it didn,t matter that much .


I have been asked how the scene was conveyed to the artist . She asked me to sketch what I wanted . To say I have no artistic talent is putting it mildly , I just couldn,t do it .
So , getting a large piece of white card [snow] I bent up the back edge and one side edge . Then drew trees on the left and a fence on the back . A "Corgi" Victor B2 would have to do for the aircraft [which was actually a B1] and Chiefy Swinburne and I were little china figures , cheap Spanish souvenirs , belonging to my wife . The hunt were portrayed by donkeys , also ex Spain . I photographed the scene and posted it to Pat Forrest . When she had stopped laughing she started work on the painting , and all things considered I think she did a good job .
To conclude , I have had several e mails concerning incidents involving Artie Shaw , security at the base , and one about "Bluey" , the drinking buddy of the "Artificial Horizon leveling set" diminutive Scots storeman .
The people concerned do not want these stories to appear on PPRuNe and I can only comply with their wishes .
That,s about it from me , and a Happy New Year to all PPRuNers , all who contacted the thread , and anyone who bought cards and prints .
Ex S.A.C. John [Shingles] McVey.

[Rafman925]

:) Hi, and Sorry, unless my miserable memory has failed me it was 232OCU RAF Gaydon. Whilst I was there 1958-9 we had A & B flight. A of Victors and B of Valiants. Guess nobody could work out that V was for them all. In 1963 I'd returned from Akrotiri, 32 Sqdn to RAF Cottesmore with 10 and 15 Sqdns Mk1 Victors and later to become Mk 2 Vulcans but after that I'd gone off to a vacation in Aden!!

[Rafman925]

Having only just caught up with this Forum. I was at Cottesmore 1962 - 1966 with Johnny Johnson as CO.
I was an armourer and could be seen many a day on the top of any of 10 or 15 Sqdns Victors arming them for QRA.
What particularly grabbed my chain from you forum chat was, and maybe I've got this wronge, Snow locked Cottesmore I can recall, especially in 1962 after the snows!! But it sounded as if you might have a picture of it, or was that in your minds eye?:rolleyes:

[Exnomad]

Of track slightly, as a student nav at Bishop's Court in 1952, one of the staff pilots ran a beagle pack, and students were detailed off as followers. To the unitiated beagles are followed on foot.

[taxydual]

But on this forum, BEagles are followed avidly.




Sorry, couldn't resist.

[JanotLapin]

Something that has bothered me for 46 years. Maybe somebody will know the answer.
At Gaydon there was a series of tests done as follows. A Victor MK 1 would go to the end of the runway and prepare to take off. A Bristol Sycamore helicopter would hover, at about 50 feet, about two thirds of the way down the runway. The Victor would accelerate up to flying speed, when the previously drooping wings would "stand to attention" ready for takeoff. Shortly after this the Victor would pass directly under the Sycamore. The Victor would land and it would all start again. Unusually, I never heard any rumours or explanation about this. I watched many such tests, while doing pre-flights on "A" Squadron Victors. Sitting in the cockpit I had a grandstand seat. I was always impressed by the courage of the two crews. It could so easily have ended in tragedy.
Come on PPRuNers, What was it for?

[kwachon]

Could not resist this one....

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg8/kwachon/dogs.jpg

Cheers

KW:ok:

[JanotLapin]

Is anyone interested in an R.A.F. Gaydon reunion? It will be 50 years next year since I went there,and the Heritage Museum there sometimes hosts reunions.The chap to contact there is John Bishop if interested.John Shingles McVey

[john patching]

Having received a Christmas card with the Gaydon Incident on it, I decided to go on line and found all the comments which brought back many memories of my service at Gaydon 1959/1961. During that time I was and RAF Police dog handler and spent many hours walking around the Victors overnight, but can't say I recall any fox hunts. However, it was not unusual to have independant securty check visits attempting to get undetected entry at all time of the night on the airfield and on the adjacent high security Bomb Storage - fortuntately I always managed to catch them - with the help of my dog called Air Dog Major of course. Would be nice to hear from others at that time.

[Nick Odell]

I was at Gaydon 1961-62, 232 OCU Victors, as an NBS Cpl. Tech. The Squaddie was named Hall, always known, of course, as Henry because of the band leader of that name.

Memorable moments:

The whole station was abuzz in '61 at the news that NATO C. in C. General Nordstadt was paying us a visit. Everything that wasn't moving was painted, and we ground staff were issued white overalls. We were all keen to see what would be the latest USAF jet he arrived in, and were surprised when he arrived in Lockheed Super Constellation of the "suck, squeeze, bang, blow" propeller-driven kind. They took the overalls away after he left, of course.

The same year we were urged on by the squaddie and wingco. to try to get our Victors at the top of the quarterly flying hours "football table." Several hints of goodies, like extra leave and even flights in the Victors for a few erks and junior NCOs. So there was a spirit of competition and - God help us - quite a few of us volunteered for extra duty, or worked on for a couple of hours after our shifts. After we did in fact top the table, squaddie Henry Hall and the wingco came to congratulate us, and very soon after that Hall made wingco and left the station. Goodies? Don't make me laugh. "You shouldn't have joined if you can't take a joke." Very funny if you hadn't "joined," but were called up.

I paid a nostalgic visit to the station some years ago when on a Christmas trip to see our remaining family in England. I admired the vintage and veteran car collection, then sat in the tiny movie theater and watched a scratchy 8mm film of Victors taking off, some of which I had worked on, like XA934 and 936. It was eerie to think that where I was sitting would have been bang in the middle of the runway. Even more eerie was to realise, as I walked out of the gate, that it was 50 years less two days since I had walked out the same gate after being demobbed.

[Tinribs]

I can't see how this thread has been running so long without someone mentioning the Victor running out of fuel supplies while holding overhead after an engine failure. Halving the fuel available etc

Since you haven't introduced it I must

[Fifth_Columnist]

Janot Lapin - are there full size prints of the painting for sale? If so, how much and from where? Thanks! Fifth