Gaining An R.A.F Pilots Brevet In WW II
You did a fine thing JW411, it must have given Dave a real boost when he really needed it. I did not know of his illness and I'm glad to know now that his friends rallied round when they were needed. Thank you!
That surely is the point of this thread, is it not? Whether we are serving or have served, we are all part of a family that cares for each other. Our virtual crew room is the symbol of that mutual care and respect that we have for each other. May it never end!
That surely is the point of this thread, is it not? Whether we are serving or have served, we are all part of a family that cares for each other. Our virtual crew room is the symbol of that mutual care and respect that we have for each other. May it never end!
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A Scoundrel escapes a Whipping !
Chugalug (#9960),
My Lord and both Counsel now repair to the (invariably nearby) tavern (our local one is the "Wig and Pen"), for an afternoon of ale and good fellowship as befits brothers-in-Law. My Lord convulses the company with an account of how once, when he was on his majestic way to the York Assizes in the Lord Mayor's Roller, he was tail-gated all the way by a cheeky little villein in what (I am told) is vulgarly known as a Bubble Car.
This scurvy wight, having so interposed himself when the constabulary were more pleasurably engaged in persecuting law-abiding citizens, having had the effrontery to return all the salutes of the police officers of York (intended for their Lordship), did not refrain from waving at the crowd which had assembled in Piccadilly to see their Lordship pass, but encouraged them into lewd catcalls and quite unseemly mirth.
Worst of all, when the entourage arrived at the Courts, by reason of an unpardonable misunderstanding between the escorting Police, this varlet was not apprehended and escaped at high speed in a southerly direction. There is reason to believe that he is a member of the Royal Air Force, which does not surprise me, as they are well known to the Magistrates of this fair City, and have on occasion appeared before me, usually at the suit of some desolate maiden.
Serving wench now sent for another flagon of ale and some pork scratchings.................
Danny.
...I do apologise, My Lord, I expressed myself poorly. I should have said that there appears to be a positive Angle of Incidence between the wings and the fuselage. I thank your Lordship for allowing me to clarify the point I was trying to make. (smiles obsequiously to his Lordship, who returns it with the same uber pince-nez scowl he has just given to Counsel for the Complainant. Things not looking at all good suddenly!...
This scurvy wight, having so interposed himself when the constabulary were more pleasurably engaged in persecuting law-abiding citizens, having had the effrontery to return all the salutes of the police officers of York (intended for their Lordship), did not refrain from waving at the crowd which had assembled in Piccadilly to see their Lordship pass, but encouraged them into lewd catcalls and quite unseemly mirth.
Worst of all, when the entourage arrived at the Courts, by reason of an unpardonable misunderstanding between the escorting Police, this varlet was not apprehended and escaped at high speed in a southerly direction. There is reason to believe that he is a member of the Royal Air Force, which does not surprise me, as they are well known to the Magistrates of this fair City, and have on occasion appeared before me, usually at the suit of some desolate maiden.
Serving wench now sent for another flagon of ale and some pork scratchings.................
Danny.
Last edited by Danny42C; 3rd Jan 2017 at 18:08. Reason: Spell !
Was a wartime case of an Anson chap who lost both (donks) at height over airfield. Had plenty of time on way down to crank-up wheels and then use starter motors to set both props E-W. Dead-sticked on runway, nil damage. Good Show !
Undercarriage jammed in up position. On downwind leg, stop one engine, crank prop to E-W. On final, when sure of making runway, stop other engine, crank prop E-W. Land on protruding wheel halves. Apparently the brakes still worked. Only damage was to the pitot head, which protruded below the nose.
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On Private Flying Forum an Elderly Gent is ploughing a lonely furrow with his tales of flying.
See: An old pilot returns to the fold. A ramble from the past Thread
Have tried (#5) to tempt him here where he belongs, but without success. Anyone else care to try ?
Danny.
See: An old pilot returns to the fold. A ramble from the past Thread
Have tried (#5) to tempt him here where he belongs, but without success. Anyone else care to try ?
Danny.
Danny, I think Elderly Gent probably feels closer to the private scene where he has 'served his time' rather than while serving His/Her Majesty, despite the effects on his bank balance (like my own 
) I was interested in his club's training Auster as I carried out extensive work and C of A overhaul on this machine some 45 years ago. Unfortunately its new owner took about 50 hours to solo the little beast and hit power cables while attempting a field landing, killing his passenger and himself succumbing some time later.
) I was interested in his club's training Auster as I carried out extensive work and C of A overhaul on this machine some 45 years ago. Unfortunately its new owner took about 50 hours to solo the little beast and hit power cables while attempting a field landing, killing his passenger and himself succumbing some time later.
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Post 10,000 !
In the turmoil of the past few days, and what with a Bad Eye Day (thankfully they're firing on all two cylinders again, and cleaning my specs has helped), I appear to have overlooked Post #9950 (Geriaviator) and Post #9951 (Brian 48nav) and now wish to make amends.
Thank you, Gentlemen, for reserving to me the honour of breasting the 10,000th Post tape on this magnificent Thread. For a long time, it was (barring Capcom and "Stickies", which are special cases), the leading Thread on this Forum in Number of Posts and (more importantly, Number of "hits" - a surer indicator of its enduring popularity).
It would be ungenerous in the extreme not to acknowledge the part played by our Moderators in this success. They have shown us unbelievable latitude as we wander off Thread in countless directions and then wander back after many twists and turns. On our part, we have, almost without exception, responded by behaving in this our cyber-crewroom as ladies and gentlemen should, without a harsh or wounding word ever being spoken. Long may it remain so. As I have earlier said, Clifford Leach RIP (Cliffnemo), its Onlie Begetter, "Builded better than he knew" all those years ago.
It was with some dismay that I noted we had been overhauled (in number of Posts only) by that latecomer "F-35 Cancelled, then what ?" (the simple answer to that being: "Up the creek without a paddle, that's what !" But that Thread should surely be renamed: "What's Gone Wrong with the F-35 NOW" (President Trump being its latest threat). We shall see.
As for me, I am humbled by the honour done to me. As my generation just happened to be on deck when Hitler and Mussolini came along, and simply got on with the job which had to be done, so I put my head above the parapet five years ago, realised I was "standing on the shoulders of Giants", and added my two cent's worth.
It has been my absorbing hobby in these my declining years, and if I have roused some interest and amusement in my hearers, then that is a bonus. If it had not been me, it would have been someone else to tell one man's story of those exciting years now passing from living memory. Thank you all.
Danny.
Thank you, Gentlemen, for reserving to me the honour of breasting the 10,000th Post tape on this magnificent Thread. For a long time, it was (barring Capcom and "Stickies", which are special cases), the leading Thread on this Forum in Number of Posts and (more importantly, Number of "hits" - a surer indicator of its enduring popularity).
It would be ungenerous in the extreme not to acknowledge the part played by our Moderators in this success. They have shown us unbelievable latitude as we wander off Thread in countless directions and then wander back after many twists and turns. On our part, we have, almost without exception, responded by behaving in this our cyber-crewroom as ladies and gentlemen should, without a harsh or wounding word ever being spoken. Long may it remain so. As I have earlier said, Clifford Leach RIP (Cliffnemo), its Onlie Begetter, "Builded better than he knew" all those years ago.
It was with some dismay that I noted we had been overhauled (in number of Posts only) by that latecomer "F-35 Cancelled, then what ?" (the simple answer to that being: "Up the creek without a paddle, that's what !" But that Thread should surely be renamed: "What's Gone Wrong with the F-35 NOW" (President Trump being its latest threat). We shall see.
As for me, I am humbled by the honour done to me. As my generation just happened to be on deck when Hitler and Mussolini came along, and simply got on with the job which had to be done, so I put my head above the parapet five years ago, realised I was "standing on the shoulders of Giants", and added my two cent's worth.
It has been my absorbing hobby in these my declining years, and if I have roused some interest and amusement in my hearers, then that is a bonus. If it had not been me, it would have been someone else to tell one man's story of those exciting years now passing from living memory. Thank you all.
Danny.
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This very junior member of pprune is tempted to try to recall wartime memories in the hope of prompting replies that clarify what he saw but did not understand. My cabinet-maker father was an aircraft rigger in WWI and some time in 1941 came to be employed by Handley Page at their London Colney (Park St) factory/aerodrome), just south of St Albans, where he was chargehand of a team that fitted Halifax rear wheels.
We lived in the gatehouse of a slightly grand house, Harperbury, Harper Lane, whose rather unfriendly occupants had to put up with us evacuees, whose home in London had been damaged, and we stayed there from about January 1942 until April 1944, when I was 11 years old. Naturally I became very interested in aviation, my weekly obsession being to find a newsagent with a remaining 6d. copy of "The Aeroplane Spotter". Among things spotted I recall the nightly roar of bombers assembling on the way to Germany and, in daylight (probably approaching D-Day), flocks of B26 Narauders and B25 Mitchells, perhaps on similar duties.
Various rare types were based at the HP works at different times, but the only one I clearly recall was a "flying wing" which memory says was an Armstrong Whitworth product. It flew many circuits, with our cottage being somewhere in the middle of its path. And there was also one that became my favourite subject for sketching, the handsome Westland Whirlwind, which I believe proved good only at making safe wheels-up landings.
I remember being surprised that Gerry never attacked the HP factory or aerodrome, at least during the years we lived thereabouts, but now that the history of the blitzkrieg is better understood that failure is not so surprising.
Happy days!
BernieC
We lived in the gatehouse of a slightly grand house, Harperbury, Harper Lane, whose rather unfriendly occupants had to put up with us evacuees, whose home in London had been damaged, and we stayed there from about January 1942 until April 1944, when I was 11 years old. Naturally I became very interested in aviation, my weekly obsession being to find a newsagent with a remaining 6d. copy of "The Aeroplane Spotter". Among things spotted I recall the nightly roar of bombers assembling on the way to Germany and, in daylight (probably approaching D-Day), flocks of B26 Narauders and B25 Mitchells, perhaps on similar duties.
Various rare types were based at the HP works at different times, but the only one I clearly recall was a "flying wing" which memory says was an Armstrong Whitworth product. It flew many circuits, with our cottage being somewhere in the middle of its path. And there was also one that became my favourite subject for sketching, the handsome Westland Whirlwind, which I believe proved good only at making safe wheels-up landings.
I remember being surprised that Gerry never attacked the HP factory or aerodrome, at least during the years we lived thereabouts, but now that the history of the blitzkrieg is better understood that failure is not so surprising.
Happy days!
BernieC
Danny, your #9963, classic! You owe me a new keyboard too (I'll settle for one of those trendy wrap-around ones, very stylish!). You reminded me of a Mark Williams piece to camera in his recounting of the unfortunate explosion of the unattended "Puffing Devil" of Richard Trevithick which had been abandoned under a shelter while
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaA15hBV8Go
Mark Williams shares our love of whimsy, I think you'll agree. I'm glad the peepers are back on line. As to the relative positioning of this thread with others, never mind the width feel the quality! No other has given such pleasure to its adherents as this one in my view.
The parties adjourned to the hotel and comforted their hearts with a roast goose and proper drinks! Forgetful of the engine, its water boiled away. The iron of the boiler became hot, and nothing combustible remained of either the engine or the house!
Mark Williams shares our love of whimsy, I think you'll agree. I'm glad the peepers are back on line. As to the relative positioning of this thread with others, never mind the width feel the quality! No other has given such pleasure to its adherents as this one in my view.
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Greetings, BernieC ... tea or coffee, Sir? 
Your 'Armstrong Whitworth' flying wing would have to be the A.W.52G in it's half-scale glider existence.
Your 'Armstrong Whitworth' flying wing would have to be the A.W.52G in it's half-scale glider existence.
Construction of the AW.52G began in March 1943, with the glider making its maiden flight, towed by an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber, on 2 March 1945.
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Chugalug (#9971),
Thank you for the graceful remarks about my elephantine humour ! Fresh out of keyboards of any size or shape in village, I'm afraid !
Curiously, the Danny family went to Malta a few years back. Incuded in luggage was a small aluminium teapot and a miniature travel "immersion heater", to ensure a proper cup of good Yorkshire tea was available on tap at any hour of day or night.
Of course it happened (rift in domestic lute), immersion heater self-destructs, kettle very hot but only slightly deformed, no fire, but no tea TFN.
Of course it was All Daddy's Fault that Daddy had Forgotten To Put The Water In - but then isn't it always ?
Danny.
Thank you for the graceful remarks about my elephantine humour ! Fresh out of keyboards of any size or shape in village, I'm afraid !
Curiously, the Danny family went to Malta a few years back. Incuded in luggage was a small aluminium teapot and a miniature travel "immersion heater", to ensure a proper cup of good Yorkshire tea was available on tap at any hour of day or night.
Of course it happened (rift in domestic lute), immersion heater self-destructs, kettle very hot but only slightly deformed, no fire, but no tea TFN.
Of course it was All Daddy's Fault that Daddy had Forgotten To Put The Water In - but then isn't it always ?
Danny.
Danny, you didn't miss much, the water is desalinated and makes the tea taste ghastly ... after 2+ years it tastes a little better but the tea back in the UK takes a bit of getting used to on RTB!!
THE PARKHOUSE MEMOIRS Part 22
The memoirs of Sqn Ldr Rupert Parkhouse, recorded in 1995 Part 22. First post in this series is #9775 on page 489 of this thread.
NEXT POST: At the Air Ministry, a very pleasant South African called Fats Lowe told me that I was quite useless and that I would have to be re-trained.
ONE OF the unfortunate things was that we used to fly on Monday but then the aircraft would go u/s and we would not fly again until Friday, a gap of four days, and one of the things about flying training is that you must constantly reinforce your knowledge and your skill.
I soldiered on for 20 hours' dual on the Mosquito, the amazing thing being that I did five takeoffs in succession without any swing developing and my instructor said 'I think you've really got it now, Rupe, we'll have you solo next week'.
But the next time we flew I was all over the place, we developed a swing and we left the runway and hurtled towards the hedge. I remember him screaming at me 'Don't clamp on those brakes, don't clamp on those brakes'. Unfortunately his wife was about 500 yards away walking their child in a pram along the edge of the airfield, I don't know what she thought of the performance.
Anyway, I was sent on leave for a week and on my return the CFI told me he didn't think I was going to make it and he would have to see what could be done with me. Well, the Air Ministry very sensibly sent me up to the School of GR at Leuchars as a staff pilot on Avro Ansons, with which I had no trouble at all.
I flew exercises with the navigation students until the following June when my CO, Jimmy Stack, who had been my under-officer at Cranwell and who was an old flying-boat man, wangled me a posting to 201 flying-boat Sqn and I went down to Calshot as a sort of third pilot at the end of June 1947. I had always wanted to fly boats, I thought it would be a nice comfortable life and I could work my way up to captain in about three years.
We were on a long night sortie over the North Sea with four pilots on board, as was the custom, and we were having a fry-up snack in the wardroom when W/Cdr Mondo Crosby, who was captain of the aircraft, announced to the gathering that he had some news for us, Flt Lt Parkhouse has been promoted to squadron leader. I was absolutely amazed. This was part of the sortout in 1947 when all the seniorities were adjusted.
I soldiered on for 20 hours' dual on the Mosquito, the amazing thing being that I did five takeoffs in succession without any swing developing and my instructor said 'I think you've really got it now, Rupe, we'll have you solo next week'.
But the next time we flew I was all over the place, we developed a swing and we left the runway and hurtled towards the hedge. I remember him screaming at me 'Don't clamp on those brakes, don't clamp on those brakes'. Unfortunately his wife was about 500 yards away walking their child in a pram along the edge of the airfield, I don't know what she thought of the performance.
Anyway, I was sent on leave for a week and on my return the CFI told me he didn't think I was going to make it and he would have to see what could be done with me. Well, the Air Ministry very sensibly sent me up to the School of GR at Leuchars as a staff pilot on Avro Ansons, with which I had no trouble at all.
I flew exercises with the navigation students until the following June when my CO, Jimmy Stack, who had been my under-officer at Cranwell and who was an old flying-boat man, wangled me a posting to 201 flying-boat Sqn and I went down to Calshot as a sort of third pilot at the end of June 1947. I had always wanted to fly boats, I thought it would be a nice comfortable life and I could work my way up to captain in about three years.
We were on a long night sortie over the North Sea with four pilots on board, as was the custom, and we were having a fry-up snack in the wardroom when W/Cdr Mondo Crosby, who was captain of the aircraft, announced to the gathering that he had some news for us, Flt Lt Parkhouse has been promoted to squadron leader. I was absolutely amazed. This was part of the sortout in 1947 when all the seniorities were adjusted.
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MPN11
Thanks for the AW 52G info. I hope you are right, but young as I was then, I am sure that I would have recognized if was being towed and also would have "spotted" a Whitley, a type that never did come within my eyeball distance. There must have been a self-propelled flying wing, but I have never found any trace of it in the very small researches made.
Thanks for the AW 52G info. I hope you are right, but young as I was then, I am sure that I would have recognized if was being towed and also would have "spotted" a Whitley, a type that never did come within my eyeball distance. There must have been a self-propelled flying wing, but I have never found any trace of it in the very small researches made.
We were self-catering so the equipment wasn't a problem but, IIRC, we bought bottled water for making tea.
Fortunately the Hopleaf Bitter was perfectly acceptable.
BernieC:
You may have noticed that I have recently been talking about 53 Squadron Hector/Blenheim pilots? Well, as something of a coincidence, one of my good friends from that era was a chap called John Wray (Gp Capt JB Wray CBE DFC) who is sadly no longer with us.
When he left 53 Squadron he was posted as the commanding officer of 137 Squadron equipped with Westland Whirlwinds. He absolutely loved the aircraft. He admitted that it was not a great fighter but it was an excellent ground attack machine. They used to take off from Manston, cross the Channel at low level and cause a lot of mayhem in northern France.
The aircraft would take a lot of punishment and would get you home easily on one engine. The big problem was that the government of the day had ordered Rolls-Royce to concentrate on the Merlin and to stop making the Peregrine which powered the Whirlwind. Consequently, there was only ever one other Whirlwind squadron (263 Sqn).
I have always found it interesting in my flying career that most of rumour, legend and general bad-mouthing about certain aircraft comes from those who have never set foot or worked on the aircraft concerned.
Of course, I do not include you in that category; you are merely passing on the existing myth. It is so much more interesting to talk to people who were actually there operating and risking their lives in the machine.
You may have noticed that I have recently been talking about 53 Squadron Hector/Blenheim pilots? Well, as something of a coincidence, one of my good friends from that era was a chap called John Wray (Gp Capt JB Wray CBE DFC) who is sadly no longer with us.
When he left 53 Squadron he was posted as the commanding officer of 137 Squadron equipped with Westland Whirlwinds. He absolutely loved the aircraft. He admitted that it was not a great fighter but it was an excellent ground attack machine. They used to take off from Manston, cross the Channel at low level and cause a lot of mayhem in northern France.
The aircraft would take a lot of punishment and would get you home easily on one engine. The big problem was that the government of the day had ordered Rolls-Royce to concentrate on the Merlin and to stop making the Peregrine which powered the Whirlwind. Consequently, there was only ever one other Whirlwind squadron (263 Sqn).
I have always found it interesting in my flying career that most of rumour, legend and general bad-mouthing about certain aircraft comes from those who have never set foot or worked on the aircraft concerned.
Of course, I do not include you in that category; you are merely passing on the existing myth. It is so much more interesting to talk to people who were actually there operating and risking their lives in the machine.
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Ah, the Whirlwind [the original one]. I don't suppose we'll find another Danny who flew those on Ops now. From Wiki ...
I always thought it was waaaay ahead of its time in many respects. However, the exigencies of wartime production were, I guess, it's death knell.
The basic feature of the Whirlwind was its concentration of firepower: its four closely-grouped heavy cannon in the nose had a rate of fire of 600 lb./minute – which, until the introduction of the Beaufighter, placed it ahead of any fighter in the world. Hand in hand with this dense firepower went a first-rate speed and climb performance, excellent manoeuvrability, and a fighting view hitherto unsurpassed. The Whirlwind was, in its day, faster than the Spitfire down low and, with lighter lateral control, was considered to be one of the nicest "twins" ever built… From the flying viewpoint, the Whirlwind was considered magnificent.
— P. J. R. Moyes[28]
— P. J. R. Moyes[28]
I once read or heard somewhere that the problem with the quadruple cannon installation in the nose of the Whirlwind was feeding the ammunition to them, and that in order to come up with a solution a food processing engineer was engaged. He used his knowledge of supplying a continuous stream of tin cans to be filled with baked beans, etc, to the feeding of shells to the cannons, presumably successfully.