Want a good laugh ?

[CoffmanStarter]

I came across this on YouTube this rainy afternoon ... the story line/plot is complete cr@p ... but the 50's colour aerial footage of some great RAF aeroplanes more than makes up for it :ok:

I gave up counting the continuity errors :8

The majority of the Hunter sequences appear to be courtesy of 43 Squadron ... Courtney and few others will be pleased :ok:

An absolute hoot and well worth a view ... there are quite a few familiar actors in the cast ... along with a good number of Cranwell cadets of the time I guess.

High Flight (1957)

High Flight - 1957 RAF - YouTube

Best ...

Coff.

[ExRAFRadar]

Sad as it sounds that is my Saturday afternoon sorted next week.

Well found. :D

[strake]

Thought I'd just take a quick look.

On pause now while I rustle up a Cognac and coffee.

Excellent find CS! Thank you.

[Wander00]

I had forgotten Anthony Newley's flying saucer in the Lodge - brilliant!

[CoffmanStarter]

The Taylorcraft Auster G-AOCP was a Cranwell Flying Club aircraft ...

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af162/CoffmanStarter/image_zps0690326e.jpg

G-AOCP (http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=19381)

Looks like the airframe might still exist :eek:

Glad the film has made a few people smile :ok:

Best regards ...

Coff.

[Wander00]

But in the "arrival" sequence looked like he was flying with a wheel not a stick, or did my eyes deceive me. If so, wonder what they did film that bit in

[AARON O'DICKYDIDO]

In the 39th minute the crowd that chases the flying saucer was largely made up of people recruited from married quarters. My two elder sisters were there.

Aaron.

[clicker]

Continuity errors, yep quite a few.

Loved the way aircraft got repainted several times while in flight.

I presume the crew of instructor and pupil on take off becoming just the pupil doing aeros can only mean the instructor had just had enough and used his bang seat.

That said some lovely flying shots from an age long gone now. (Can we have them back please?)

[TEEEJ]

Thanks, CS.:ok:

I see that the uploader also has Conflict of Wings (1954) on his channel. Footage of Vampires, Meteors and Swifts. The Swift footage is from 0:24:26.

US74bAu4wTM&feature=related

Filmed at RAF Leconfield according to the following.

A couple of aviation film questions...... (http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?40807-A-couple-of-aviation-film-questions&p=626401#post626401)

[barnstormer1968]

Just finished watching it.
Pure aircraft porn from start to finish :)

[CoffmanStarter]

Thanks TEEEJ ... More classic footage ... :ok:

[Aubrey.]

Brilliant, thanks for posting, loved every minute!

[langleybaston]

all our yesterdays!

I could smell the smells as well!

[smujsmith]

Coff young sir,

Splendid film, never did Cranwell as a cadet but as ground crew. The Orange, the hangars all poignant memories. Were the piston trainers Balliols ? Never met that beast, and never realised Cranwell flew Vampires as trainers, but these had the "ring of confidence" so must have been from the college. Great link, thanks for sharing it, even Mrs Smudge enjoyed it.

Smudge :ok:

[RedhillPhil]

Those Hunter sounds - took me right back to when I was a sprog in Leuchars circa 1957 -59. I was in heaven - and almost in tears.:ok:

[500N]

Not ex RAF BUT I did enjoy those two videos.

Thanks for posting.

[sandozer]

Goes without saying those 43 Squadron chappies were very fine flyers. Mighty low over Glenfarg towards the end of the movie. Top post, thank you :ok:

[polecat2]

Coff. many thanks for sharing that find with us. This film brings back many memories. I remember seeing it as a youngster; I believe I went to see it three times during the week it was on at the local Regal, and along with The Dambusters and Reach for the Sky it helped set me up for a career in the RAF.

After passing out of Halton in 1964 my first posting was to Cranwell and I met several guys who were there during the Piston Provost/Vampire days and remembered the filming. Unfortunately their tales have become lost in the mists of time.:(

Happy days.

Polecat

[26er]

The idea of "steering" an aircraft by formating close by was cribbed from a story about a F84 in Korea supposedly brought home by this means.

[CoffmanStarter]

I'm very pleased that so many members are enjoying this little find :ok:

As we are approaching the Festive Season, where it's always good to start suggesting "strategic" presenting options early, the film is available on DVD.

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af162/CoffmanStarter/high-flight-1957-ray-milland-anthony-newley-dvd-644-p_zps3a0cba42.jpg

High Flight 1957 DVD (http://www.raremovies-uk.co.uk/high-flight-1957-ray-milland-anthony-newley-dvd-644-p.asp)

Other titles of potential interest too ;)

Best ...

Coff.

[XV490]

I've been after seeing that again for nigh on 50 years - having first watched it on an a B&W telly c.1967. I enjoyed seeing some of the cars almost as much as the aircraft - thanks a million for the link.

[CoffmanStarter]

For those interested in some more historic Swift footage ... unfortunately the full 1952 film entitled "The Sound Barrier" isn't readily available on the Web but there are a few clips. Apparently there are still a few DVD's available :ok:

The fictitious Prometheus jet aircraft that appears in the film was one of the prototypes of the Supermarine Swift VV119.

I remember first seeing the film as a young lad ... surprisingly the Call Sign "Glass Jar One Zero" has stuck in my memory all this time :uhoh:

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af162/CoffmanStarter/Soundbarrier_zpsb1e56edf.jpg

Clip 1 - Asian Sub-Titles :suspect:

The Sound Barrier?'1952 ????????????? - YouTube

Clip 2 - Film Extract

Supermarine Swift - YouTube

Best ...

Coff.

[chiglet]

Sound Barrier is on a double DVD With Hobson's Choice. Part of the David Lean collection

[Tonka777]

There are certain 'large amount of fast moving water' like files that can be downloaded from a particular 'bay of pirates', or similar websites, that might enable the viewing of the entire Breaking the Sound Barrier film, after a short waiting period.

:ok:

[Peter Tame]

That's memories for me. I was in that film while a Flight Cadet at Cranwell (75 entry). All a bit of a laugh now, but tough going at the time!

[Tankertrashnav]

I enjoyed seeing some of the cars almost as much as the aircraft - thanks a million for the link.


Me too. In the opening sequence Anthony Newley arrives in a pre-war Singer sports (I think) then we see a lovely Austin A99 Atlantic and a nice Mk VII Jag, with Richard Wattis playing the chauffeur. Later the guys get picked up by a woman driving a Sunbeam Talbot 90 convertible like a maniac!

The film itself is total tosh, of course, but I'm with everyone else in that the flying sequences make it a must to see :ok:

[rmac]

I see that the music selection for the 1957 graduation at Cranditz was pretty much the same as it was in 1985.

Oddly enough, the parade was filmed in front of the new college, which is where we passed out too, as old was being re-furbished at the time ;)

[J.A.F.O.]

What absolute nonsense - I loved it. Thanks coff.

[XV490]

....and a Ford 100E Popular, like my old man's (a bit downmarket from Beags' dad's Ford). As for the music, I think I saw a credit for Eric Coates of Dambusters theme fame.

[Wander00]

100E -my first car! Dad had a Consul, then a Ford Classic - like a stretched Anglia.

[Danny42C]

Tankertrashnav, (your #26)

Fairly certain you're right. It was a Singer 9 "Le Mans" - the "poor man's MG "T" type" - (it was £20-30 cheaper, pre-war, and so no match for the MG as a bird-puller).

Cowering away in the far corner is what looks suspiciously one like my old '31 Standard "Big Nine", a wreck which cost me £160 in 1946, which is pretty well what it cost new fifteen years before.

Happy days !

D.

[Wander00]

Just think what the 1960s contents of the hangar that was the cadets' garage would be worth in the historic car trade now. The Mercedes Cabrio (Istr B H's car) would be worth a shed load of money just as a film prop

[CoffmanStarter]

Likewise all that wonderful aviation hardware chaps :ok:

[BEagle]

...and a Ford 100E Popular, like my old man's (a bit downmarket from Beags' dad's Ford).

As the film was released in 1957, I think you'll find that it was a 100E Anglia as the revised Anglia wasn't released until 1960, at which time the 100E became the Popular - identifiable by three individual round lens tail lights. Back in 1957, the Popular was still the ancient E93A 'perpendicular Popular'.

In 1959, we had a family holiday in Brittany (and yes, the sun always shone in those days). We drove there in our 100E Anglia and had a nice time, except that some of the other families were a bit snooty. One night my father told one of them that he was fed up with the ferry people overcharging (they based their fees on car length), so he'd decided to leave the Zephyr in the garage and take the Anglia instead. That changed everything - as a 'two car family', suddenly we were royalty to the materialistic small minds of those who'd been so unpleasant.... But the little Anglebox did OK; 10 years later I had it at Cranwell when I was a Flt Cdt, but it was getting very tired - and eventually went for the princely sum of £15 in 1972.

The first time I saw 'High Flight' was during my flying scholarship at Cranfield in 1968. Four of us were accommodated at a B&B in De Parys Avenue, Bedford; the food was terrible and the landlady was so mean that the little B&W TV had a coin-in-the-slot gizmo attached, so that we had to keep feeding it with sixpences in order to see the whole film!

[John Blakeley]

For anyone who does not know about the East Anglian Film Archive have a look at this link - one of several films about Coltishall on the site. They don’t make films like this any more!

East Anglian Film Archive: Battle Formation: The Story of the Royal Air Force Coltishall, 1959 (http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/209623)

JB

[CoffmanStarter]

Many thanks JB ... excellent footage :ok:

[aw ditor]

ISTR the singleton Vampire flying sequences in High Flight were flown by one Flt Lt Nigel P***e. He was the unit display pilot and used to turn downwind at the end of a display, roll inverted and put the undercariage down' or up' whichever way you looked at it. Completed another half roll as he turned finals'. The Vampire FB6/9 had a propensity to flick' so he was either very brave or very skilled. Some of the sequences were done at the RLG at Fulbeck.

[Wander00]

Aah, Fulbeck, scene of my "first solo" in a JP. Metters RIP - you were a bl@@dy good instructor, and a "creamie" too.

[Haraka]

I saw "High Flight" with Haraka snr. as a kid when it came out. If you think that was awful - try sitting through "Tiger in the Sky", which came out around the same time.
As a child for me there were two types of film; those involving aeroplanes and those I wasn't allowed to see.
So roll on "No Sleep Till Dawn", "The Man in the Sky", "Reach for the Sky", "Wings of Eagles", "One Man Mutiny", "The Spirit of St Louis"," Conflict of Wings", "Blitz on Britain", " Sink the Bismark", " The One That Got Away", "The Dam Busters" etc. as markers of those simple days of yore.

[CoffmanStarter]

Haraka ... You've surely got to include "first of the Few" in that list :ok:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Spitfire2xs.jpg

aka "Spitfire" in the US ...

[BEagle]

So roll on "No Sleep Till Dawn", "The Man in the Sky", "Reach for the Sky", "Wings of Eagles", "One Man Mutiny", "The Spirit of St Louis"," Conflict of Wings", "Blitz on Britain", " Sink the Bismark", " The One That Got Away", "The Dam Busters" etc. as markers of those simple days of yore.

I've managed to acquire most of those on DVD or recorded onto DVD-R over the years - as well as 'First of the Few', 'Sound Barrier', 'Out of the Clouds', 'One Minute to Zero', 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri', 'Strategic Air Command' etc. Plus 'The Wooden Horse', 'Colditz Story', 'Ice Cold in Alex', 'The Cockleshell Heroes', 'The Cruel Sea' as well as the more obvious films from the 1960s - including that one we saw in Nottingham on 15 Sep 1969, Haraka! Which featured rather a pretty Section Officer....:E

[Romeo Oscar Golf]

All good stuff, but I particularly liked the Coltishall story. Absolute classic. Scene in the bar near the end (Ken Goodwin looked old then 1949!) was so unbelievably gauche. The comment "so all the fun's gone from flying now" sounds familiar.

[chanter]

The tallest man in the bar.......... The one and only Hugh Stark.

Great to see my old boss in his youth

[Ancient Squipper]

Many thanks Coff for a good laugh but also for me a shedload of nostalga.

I was posted to Cranwell in 1959 as an AC2:ok: Flying Clothihg Worker.
First task helping to set up the seating on the Orange for a graduation parade.

Worked at Barkston Heath so I was very familier with Valetta/Varsity and Piston Provosts. Always plenty of staff and cadet students to fit up with masks, bonedome protective helmets and D Mk1 parchute harnesses ("Yes Sir it does have to be that tight")

In the film the U/T aircrew sitting at their nav stations are all wearing 'C' type leather flying helmets by 1959 these had all been replaced by the 'G' type blue fabric helmet and Mk1 bonedomes.
I had not been long at Barkston when I was given the job of converting these self same 'C' type helmets from long wander leads with large jack plugs to short 'pigtail' leads.
So Coff 54 years later I never imagined that I would ever set sight on those same helmets again.:ok:

[radar101]

Note the sudden change of location during the last crash sequence from N Germany to Nicosia airfield for the crash!

[polecat2]

And was that burning Hunter in the final crash scene wearing the remnants of Suez stripes?

[CoffmanStarter]

Ancient Squipper ...

You may have a few years on me ... but I still remember the pre-NATO Headset/Helmet plug and socket arrangement ... in fact I still recall the old style short pigtail sockets that were still fitted in vhf equipped Chipmunks until the mid 70's when they were removed ... about the same time as the Front Seat Mute Switch was added under MOD :ok:

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af162/CoffmanStarter/ScreenShot2013-10-23at095759_zps905543cc.png

I still remember my Mk1a Bonedome fitting (by a Cpl Steel I think) ... a quick eyeball ... "you look like a size 3 Broad" ... perfect fit first time !

I also remember the yellow (grubby) Lifejackets too :ok:

Best regards ...

Coff.

[26er]

The crash sequence Hunter was, I believe, the one blown up by EOKA on the pan at Nicosia. The "invasion stripes" were hurriedly applied magnolia emulsion there being a shortage of the correct stuff, the result being that when we flew through rain it washed off. Fortunately it didn't rain until the fiasco was over.

[Ancient Squipper]

Hi again Coff

Yep thats the one .I think that most aircrew were issued a long lead to be able to connect between the standard Nato jack plug and older aircraft types.
Always needed one to be able to connect headsets to the venerable Test-set Type 376 that was fitted to the Godfrey Test Cabinet to carry out Mic/Tel checks.

Despite MK1A Bonedomes not having an adjustable harness and having about 14 different sizes I liked to think that I was pretty good at eyeball fitting . The only real way of checking for a good fit was to get the aircrew guy to wear it for an hour or so to see if he got a headache or not!

The" grubby Lifejackets" got even grubbier a couple of years later when a modification came out to stick leather patches on the corners of the Location Beacon pockets using copious amounts of Evostick!!.

Don't recall knowing the Cpl Steel that you mentioned.

Best Wishes

Ancient Squipper

[dragartist]

AS, I bet you can still do whipping like that on Coffs jack and some O2 mask hoses I have seen. Nowadays its all Raychem heat shrink.
kind regards Drag

[Ancient Squipper]

Oh yes done a lot of whipping in my time and taught a lot of Survival Equipment Trainees to whip but only on oxy mask hoses I hasten to add.

All Ty-raps now.

Hows your whipping Dragartist??

[FrustratedFormerFlie]

Watchd this classic last night and couldnt help but wonder whether the writers of Top Gun hadnt done likewise before penning their magnus opus.

Rebellious student
V Sen member of instructional staff served with father and was present when he died on ops
Much barnstorming (of anglers rather than ATC)
Incapacitated pilot escorted down the approach (I was waiting to hear him say 'Easy, Cougar, its just a walk in the park, buddy')

Anybody else notice some similarities?

But the Hunter's still nicer than the F-14:ok:

[ian16th]

Coff,

If my two remaining grey cells are synchronised, the old large plug was a Type 359.

But then again, not being the Pope, I'm fallible :bored:

[CoffmanStarter]

Hi Ian ...

You may be right ... a quick Google and I found this although it refers to a "socket" Stores Ref 10H/2206 so I'd assume if the plug was a Type 359 then it would have had a different Stores Ref ?

RAF Type 359 Aircraft Pilot Helmet Socket ... for the use of (http://www.aerovintagespares.com/avspares/10H_2206_-_Type_359_Radio_lead_socket_from_pilot_s_helmet_jack_plug.ht ml)

Also see here under the 10H Section ... :8

RAF Stores Ref No's (http://aircraft-cockpits.com/ww2rafrefno.htm)


Best ...

Coff.

PS. A fine example of the Squippers "whipping" craft :ok:

[Danny42C]

Treats in store ! Thanks, everybody ! :ok:

D.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

I have a 1944 mosquito pilot's helmet, via my father and grandfather (the latter helped build Mossies in the War).
Come BFTS, and during the interminable Groundschool, I learned to fly the Tiger on Cranwell's North Airfield.
Tiger intercom (no radio!) had been converted to new pigtail socket, leather helmet had old large plug.
Solved by Cranwell squippers, who discovered an old socket in the JP simulator, and whipped up a conversion lead.

It worked!

[Wander00]

Films - add "Malta Story" to the list. one of my favourites

[Basil]

OP, The majority of the Hunter sequences appear to be courtesy of 43 Squadron ...
Funny old thing, I noticed 43 having a shindig on Saturday.
Last noticed a large tray of shot glasses appearing before our evenings imbibement took my sensors down :)

[polecat2]

'Appointment in London' and 'Angels One-Five' are worth adding to your list and may be around as DVDs.


'No Sleep Till Dawn' is sometimes broadcast on the satellite channels retitled as 'Bombers B-52', also 'One Man Mutiny' as 'The Court Martial Of Billy Mitchell'.


Polecat