58 Nav Course

[radarnav]

Any members of 58 Course want to gather for a reunion to see how we messed everything up? Mail me on this site and I'll get back to you.

Best -Dev (radarnav)

[L J R]

RNZAF, RAF, USAF, RAAF, RSAF, ......Who's '58 Nav Cse??' :uhoh:

[radarnav]

You're absolutely right LJR - thanks. 58 Nav Course RAF Hullavington and Stradishall.

[Whopity]

Surely if you were on it, you'll know what it means? If you can't remember you'll not have much to contribute!

[Ron Cake]

radarnav

If 58 course was at Hullavington, you were on 2 ANS. This unit was at Hullavington from Jan 62 until Sep 65 when it moved to Gaydon. The unit at Stradishall during this period was 1 ANS. So it looks as if 58 course completed its training on both 1 and 2 ANS. Was that how it was done in those days?

Just curious. (My wife says I should get out more and stop worrying about the trivial details of 1960's aircrew training)

[NutLoose]

Whopity
*
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Europe
Posts: 3,230
Surely if you were on it, you'll know what it means? If you can't remember you'll not have much to contribute!


Don't forget they are Navigators, I am really impressed they appear to know where they actually were... :E

[ICM]

Ron C: That's exactly how it was done and, if you went straight through, it was all done inside 12 months - eg 72 Course, January to December 1965, and one of the last courses at HV before the 2 ANS move to Gaydon.

[L J R]

Thanks RadarNav, 58 NAV CSE RAAF East Sale was in 1980...we might get together some other time.

[Pontius Navigator]

Ron, 2ANS used both Varsity and Valetta and the Pig - the flying class room for night astro using the Mk 9 sextant. That phase lasted 8 months. 1ANS used the Varsity and the Meteor 14. The Varsity when used for astro had a special plate put in place instead of the astrodome and we used the Mk 2 perisextant. Th change over was done in flight!

The meat box phase lasted about 4 weeks and was quite sporty with high level Gee rapid fixing, unpressuried (or maybe 25k) at levels arounf 39k. The meatbox was not cleared for aeros so we never experienced loops and rolls etc (we were told) :}

[airpolice]

Nutloose Wrote:

Don't forget they are Navigators, I am really impressed they appear to know where they actually were...

That's the problem with the 185 pounds of talking ballast. They only ever seem to know where they were.............. when the requirement is for them to know where they are and where they are going!

[sangiovese.]

Ironically, the ad when I clicked at the bottom of this thread said

Sarah is 4 miles away. Confirm or Ignore

Thank god I went single seat!

Have a good reunion! :ok:

[Whopity]

when the requirement is for them to know where they are and where they are going!That is called DR!
it was all done inside 12 months All specially designed so that you did not qualify for a quarter (13 months)
Something that not many people discovered was that, if you were a candidate on the NBS Course (Lindholme) you were entitled to 12 weekend travel claims a year, instead of the normal 4. A hangover from the early days when that was also a 12 month course and students were not entitled to quarters.

[Pontius Navigator]

Whopity, gross deviation but when we left Strad we had a 5 week gap between ANS and BCBS. We all departed on two weeks leave from Strad at the end of which we were transfered from FTC to Bomber Command. We contacted lindhome who simply said come back in time for the course to start. They obviously allowed for the years of QRA ahead of us.

We later learnt that the CI at Strad was apoplectic as he had all sorts of secondary duties he planned to spon both of us with. He even tried to get our annual leave year dates realigned to 'absorb' the extra 3 weeks leave. P-staff at Bomber simply told him to stop being so precious and we heard nothing official at all after that :)

[Herod]

Was Dave Laskey on that course by any chance?

[Ron Cake]

ICM

Thanks for explaining the Nav course split between 1 and 2 ANS.
....two more points:

1. Was the 'coveted N brevet' (remember that ad?) awarded after eight months on 2 ANS or after completing Stradishall?

2. What happened with Cranwell cadets? Was the entire course done at Cranwell or were the cadets bundled off to Stradishall for advanced training with the 'supplementary list' oiks?

[Brian 48nav]

The N flying badge was awarded at the end of the Strad' course,apart from the Cranwell blokes who had received theirs at the end of their 3yr course there - I guess this was because 'drivers airframe' received their wings at the end of the course.

PN
The Meteor phase had certainly gone by the time of 74 course (my best mate was on 74) and on my course,88, we were split between the Varsity and the Dominie.

Funny people single-seat guys - I should know, I sired one!

[ICM]

Ron Cake: I'm not disputing Brian 48's reply - but on 72 Course we had a chap ex-Cranwell join us from the start at Hullavington, and I simply can't recall now what his particular case might have been.

73 Course might have been the last with a Meteor phase - the first all-grey Dominie was already in a hangar at Stradishall as we did our Meteor trips.

[Whopity]

and I simply can't recall now what his particular case might have been.Possibly from the aircrew re-selection system. 104 Course, the first all Dominie course at Strad had 7 Cranwell graduates, all with Brevies. They simply replaced the guys who were chopped or re-coursed at 2 ANS

[radarnav]

Yup

Thats how it was. Basic Nav at 2 ANS Hullavington around 8 months and then to Strad doe 4 or so to complete Advanced. RAFC navs joined us at Strad.

[radarnav]

Sorry - I dont know Dave.