Gaining An R.A.F Pilots Brevet In WW II
OLD RED DAMASK
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It has been wonderful to read the stories from Cliff and Regle. Now we have had Danny's great input along with others.
A new chapter begins, agree totally with the addition of the word "after".
Keep it going please from an ex pongo, who very nearly joined the Air force.
A new chapter begins, agree totally with the addition of the word "after".
Keep it going please from an ex pongo, who very nearly joined the Air force.
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What has struck me, all the way through this Thread, has been the quality of writing and accuracy of recollections.
On the rare occasions I have deigned to intervene, I have subsequently regretted not spending more time preparing a suitable draft before posting
Perhaps there will be a trigger moment when TankerTrashNav and I might share our memories of the <shudder> Ground Branches OCTU at RAF Feltwell in 64/65 ... But for now I'm sure we both know our place
On the rare occasions I have deigned to intervene, I have subsequently regretted not spending more time preparing a suitable draft before posting
Perhaps there will be a trigger moment when TankerTrashNav and I might share our memories of the <shudder> Ground Branches OCTU at RAF Feltwell in 64/65 ... But for now I'm sure we both know our place
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Harrym - your description of Sharjah was spot on. It had changed little by the time I arrived there (in a Beverley) nearly 20 years later for a 12 month tour.
When I was describing my return from Tianjin to Shenzhen I mentioned that we night stopped at a company operation at Wenzhou. I had been there about a year before when it was a joint Bristow/COHC operation.
Wenzhou is a oddity in Eastern China. In is effectively cut off topographically from the rest of China. There are various dialects in different parts of China but the majority are understandable except for Wenzhouese which is a total mystery to anybody that does not come from there. The area was heavily influenced by Jesuit missionaries and they have left their mark in the genes of the population. Before I went there I was told that it was famous for the beauty of its women and daily I would see some absolute stunners.
Because of its isolation it missed the rampages of the Cultural Revolution. This was noticeable by the number of active churches; seven spires or towers could be seen from the ATC cupola. Less than a mile from the airport entrance there was a newly completed two storey high church awaiting consecration. The agriculture was different. There was none of the groups of black houses and miles of paddy of the rest of China. The area was split into smallholdings and the family crypt, long disappeared anywhere else, still resided at the corner of a field.
I arrived there just before Christmas 1995. On arrival we found that the outgoing Pilot in Charge who had departed to return to the UK for Xmas had disabled the international dialling facility on the company telephone. This meant that we would be unable to phone home on Christmas Day. (He was ex-Army) However we phoned Shenzhen and we arranged with others to pass the Wenzhou telephone number to our UK relatives.
The operation was at the very beginning of oil exploration off Wenzhou and the rig involved was Chinese owned but run by expats. As with most overseas operations where western food and delicacies were unobtainable there was a standard arrangement with the offshore installations. We kept them supplied with blue movies and they kept us supplied with goodies. The high point of this arrangement was that they called for an admin run Christmas morning and waiting for us was a fully prepared Xmas dinner for everybody on the operation for us to take back.
There was a request for a photographic flight on the 8th January. It was to be flown for Wenzhou TV and was to cover the opening of Wenzhou railway station. I was going to fly it for three reasons.
I. I had flown photographic sorties extensively in Northern Ireland, both optical and IR. I had flown and done the aerial filming for the documentary ’Belize The Forgotten Frontier,’ and had been the airborne camera for the BBC at the Jubilee Air Show, plus others.
II. It seemed like it was going to be a good jolly.
III. I was in charge.
We arranged to meet the camera crew in the morning to go over the afternoon’s recording for the evening news. The director and the operator both had excellent English so it was a case of where and when. There was going to be a cavalcade of all the city bigwigs from the city hall to the railway station. Then with a crescendo of massed bands and probably three tons of fireworks the station would be declared open. They crew not have any long range lens with them so to get decent shots of the procession it would be necessary to be fairly low. This meant that I had to go to ATC.
The entire airport had had a bit of a get together on New Years Eve so we had chatted to the air traffic staff. What we were doing was totally new for them so we offered to take them with us on an offshore flight so that they understood what was going on. This would make it easier for us if we had what they would consider a strange flight request. They took up this offer and we had flown three of them by this time. On this basis they owed me a favour.
As I have mentioned before AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL IS PARAMOUNT in China. This can be used for your own advantage as there is no such thing as General VFR or minimum heights. You fly where and how high you are told. I explained to them that I was flying an important photographic flight for the local TV Company that was highlighting the advances of Wenzhou city. To present this in the best possible way I would need to fly at low level to achieve the best shots. They asked me how low. Twenty metres? OK.
There was no question of anybody complaining about low flying helicopters in China. In Northern Ireland a favourite joke was that if anyone complained about a low flying helicopter the next morning the SAS would turn up and roll the house looking for a reason why they didn’t want low flying helicopters around. In China at that time it wouldn’t be a joke.
The station was due to be opened at 15.00 hrs. We were going to use B7953, a Chinese registered aircraft as it was a local celebration. To get their best shots the camera crew were going to need the full co-operation of the pilots. This was ensured the Chinese way be taking me and my FO out to lunch; and an excellent lunch it was.
I knew where the road to the station was. The entrance had the usual hoardings with stacks of flags and pictures of cheering people. We took off at 14.30 and ten minutes later we were there. I needed to recce the left hand side of the road as the camera was pointing out of the starboard door. This was to check for TV aerials, power lines etc. The road was new and each side was thick with children and adults all frantically waving to us as we passed them at about one hundred yards and fifty feet. After two kilometres the railway station came into sight, bedecked with flags and banners and as I passed over it something struck me as wrong.
There wasn’t a railway.
Where’s the railway? I asked and the director said that it hadn’t arrived yet. They still had to complete about twenty kilometres of tunnelling through the hills. The station was going to be opened today because that was on the schedule. The railway can wait.
I backtracked on the other side of the road and I noticed that the new road was about a metre higher than the old road. This could seen by everybody standing on the old pavements and looking along the road surface. There was a reason for this. When the old houses were demolished the area they occupied would be one metre below the road. This was ideal for services as they could be laid on level ground. First (ground) floors on modern houses and apartments are one metre above the ground so by digging the site by another metre you had three metres from footings to floor. This would take no time at all and then the pile drivers would move in. The previous inhabitants had a choice between getting a new apartment closer to town or waiting until the apartments in their local area were completed. It meant that buildings could go up at an incredible speed and goes some way to explaining why Chinese cities seem to be redeveloped overnight.
We orbited the entrance to the road and there was no sign of the cavalcade. After twenty minutes I was getting fed up.. There seemed to be nobody in charge at this end so I flew up to the station. By the side of the road there were a couple of police 4X4s next to a dried paddy. I landed on and asked the director to ask the police where everybody was. This he did and came back with the information that the whole show had been delayed an hour. He then suggested that we fly to Wenzhou and get some library pictures. We got airborne and I spoke to air traffic and not wishing to push my luck too far I asked for clearance to operate over Wenzhou at fifty metres and this was granted.
I had only been to Wenzhou city once before and I hadn’t seen much of it. Most of the buildings were fifty to a hundred years old apart from massive swathes were being cut through to them to form the new boulevards that were going to be the new shopping malls. The producer was delighted. He had never thought that he was going to get aerial pictures of the city showing the old and the new.
My FO was keeping his eyes open for any activity on the road out of town and he saw the cavalcade on its way. We caught up with it as they turned into the railway station road and took long shots of the whole procession from 100/20 metres. When they reached the station I turned away and returned to the airfield. There was no point in staying and drowning out the speeches. On return the TV people thanked us for our efforts and that was it. They had bought us lunch, got the cooperation; job done.
We never saw them again.
Wenzhou is a oddity in Eastern China. In is effectively cut off topographically from the rest of China. There are various dialects in different parts of China but the majority are understandable except for Wenzhouese which is a total mystery to anybody that does not come from there. The area was heavily influenced by Jesuit missionaries and they have left their mark in the genes of the population. Before I went there I was told that it was famous for the beauty of its women and daily I would see some absolute stunners.
Because of its isolation it missed the rampages of the Cultural Revolution. This was noticeable by the number of active churches; seven spires or towers could be seen from the ATC cupola. Less than a mile from the airport entrance there was a newly completed two storey high church awaiting consecration. The agriculture was different. There was none of the groups of black houses and miles of paddy of the rest of China. The area was split into smallholdings and the family crypt, long disappeared anywhere else, still resided at the corner of a field.
I arrived there just before Christmas 1995. On arrival we found that the outgoing Pilot in Charge who had departed to return to the UK for Xmas had disabled the international dialling facility on the company telephone. This meant that we would be unable to phone home on Christmas Day. (He was ex-Army) However we phoned Shenzhen and we arranged with others to pass the Wenzhou telephone number to our UK relatives.
The operation was at the very beginning of oil exploration off Wenzhou and the rig involved was Chinese owned but run by expats. As with most overseas operations where western food and delicacies were unobtainable there was a standard arrangement with the offshore installations. We kept them supplied with blue movies and they kept us supplied with goodies. The high point of this arrangement was that they called for an admin run Christmas morning and waiting for us was a fully prepared Xmas dinner for everybody on the operation for us to take back.
There was a request for a photographic flight on the 8th January. It was to be flown for Wenzhou TV and was to cover the opening of Wenzhou railway station. I was going to fly it for three reasons.
I. I had flown photographic sorties extensively in Northern Ireland, both optical and IR. I had flown and done the aerial filming for the documentary ’Belize The Forgotten Frontier,’ and had been the airborne camera for the BBC at the Jubilee Air Show, plus others.
II. It seemed like it was going to be a good jolly.
III. I was in charge.
We arranged to meet the camera crew in the morning to go over the afternoon’s recording for the evening news. The director and the operator both had excellent English so it was a case of where and when. There was going to be a cavalcade of all the city bigwigs from the city hall to the railway station. Then with a crescendo of massed bands and probably three tons of fireworks the station would be declared open. They crew not have any long range lens with them so to get decent shots of the procession it would be necessary to be fairly low. This meant that I had to go to ATC.
The entire airport had had a bit of a get together on New Years Eve so we had chatted to the air traffic staff. What we were doing was totally new for them so we offered to take them with us on an offshore flight so that they understood what was going on. This would make it easier for us if we had what they would consider a strange flight request. They took up this offer and we had flown three of them by this time. On this basis they owed me a favour.
As I have mentioned before AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL IS PARAMOUNT in China. This can be used for your own advantage as there is no such thing as General VFR or minimum heights. You fly where and how high you are told. I explained to them that I was flying an important photographic flight for the local TV Company that was highlighting the advances of Wenzhou city. To present this in the best possible way I would need to fly at low level to achieve the best shots. They asked me how low. Twenty metres? OK.
There was no question of anybody complaining about low flying helicopters in China. In Northern Ireland a favourite joke was that if anyone complained about a low flying helicopter the next morning the SAS would turn up and roll the house looking for a reason why they didn’t want low flying helicopters around. In China at that time it wouldn’t be a joke.
The station was due to be opened at 15.00 hrs. We were going to use B7953, a Chinese registered aircraft as it was a local celebration. To get their best shots the camera crew were going to need the full co-operation of the pilots. This was ensured the Chinese way be taking me and my FO out to lunch; and an excellent lunch it was.
I knew where the road to the station was. The entrance had the usual hoardings with stacks of flags and pictures of cheering people. We took off at 14.30 and ten minutes later we were there. I needed to recce the left hand side of the road as the camera was pointing out of the starboard door. This was to check for TV aerials, power lines etc. The road was new and each side was thick with children and adults all frantically waving to us as we passed them at about one hundred yards and fifty feet. After two kilometres the railway station came into sight, bedecked with flags and banners and as I passed over it something struck me as wrong.
There wasn’t a railway.
Where’s the railway? I asked and the director said that it hadn’t arrived yet. They still had to complete about twenty kilometres of tunnelling through the hills. The station was going to be opened today because that was on the schedule. The railway can wait.
I backtracked on the other side of the road and I noticed that the new road was about a metre higher than the old road. This could seen by everybody standing on the old pavements and looking along the road surface. There was a reason for this. When the old houses were demolished the area they occupied would be one metre below the road. This was ideal for services as they could be laid on level ground. First (ground) floors on modern houses and apartments are one metre above the ground so by digging the site by another metre you had three metres from footings to floor. This would take no time at all and then the pile drivers would move in. The previous inhabitants had a choice between getting a new apartment closer to town or waiting until the apartments in their local area were completed. It meant that buildings could go up at an incredible speed and goes some way to explaining why Chinese cities seem to be redeveloped overnight.
We orbited the entrance to the road and there was no sign of the cavalcade. After twenty minutes I was getting fed up.. There seemed to be nobody in charge at this end so I flew up to the station. By the side of the road there were a couple of police 4X4s next to a dried paddy. I landed on and asked the director to ask the police where everybody was. This he did and came back with the information that the whole show had been delayed an hour. He then suggested that we fly to Wenzhou and get some library pictures. We got airborne and I spoke to air traffic and not wishing to push my luck too far I asked for clearance to operate over Wenzhou at fifty metres and this was granted.
I had only been to Wenzhou city once before and I hadn’t seen much of it. Most of the buildings were fifty to a hundred years old apart from massive swathes were being cut through to them to form the new boulevards that were going to be the new shopping malls. The producer was delighted. He had never thought that he was going to get aerial pictures of the city showing the old and the new.
My FO was keeping his eyes open for any activity on the road out of town and he saw the cavalcade on its way. We caught up with it as they turned into the railway station road and took long shots of the whole procession from 100/20 metres. When they reached the station I turned away and returned to the airfield. There was no point in staying and drowning out the speeches. On return the TV people thanked us for our efforts and that was it. They had bought us lunch, got the cooperation; job done.
We never saw them again.
Last edited by Fareastdriver; 21st Oct 2014 at 20:50.
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Fareastdriver, (Your #6354)
Wonderful Story. They gave you a bed ? You had jam on it, mate ! - I got a straw palliasse on bare floorboards ! (and think yourself lucky, lad - don'tcher know there's a War on ?)
Your: "...and a large proportion of pilots were trained in Rhodesia and Canada to relieve the overcrowding in the UK...." The real problem was what it was overcrowded with - things with swastikas on them, Hurricanes and Spitfires chasing 'em, AA gunners loosing off at all and sundry that came within range, Barrage Balloon cables all over the place etc. Painting out all the Railway Station names and the Blackout at night didn't help any. Your poor old Tiger Moth trying to do C&Bs didn't stand an earthly !
But they were good days.......
Danny.
Wonderful Story. They gave you a bed ? You had jam on it, mate ! - I got a straw palliasse on bare floorboards ! (and think yourself lucky, lad - don'tcher know there's a War on ?)
Your: "...and a large proportion of pilots were trained in Rhodesia and Canada to relieve the overcrowding in the UK...." The real problem was what it was overcrowded with - things with swastikas on them, Hurricanes and Spitfires chasing 'em, AA gunners loosing off at all and sundry that came within range, Barrage Balloon cables all over the place etc. Painting out all the Railway Station names and the Blackout at night didn't help any. Your poor old Tiger Moth trying to do C&Bs didn't stand an earthly !
But they were good days.......
Danny.
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Danny puts in an Addendum (Part II).
We now had February in hand until taking up my appointment with HMC&E in Manchester on the 3rd March. With my pre-war experience in the old Ministry of Labour in mind, I hied me smartly round to the local Employment Exchange and "signed-on". There was absolutely no possibility of their finding me anything to do in the short time available, but I collected Ł20 per week to add to my pension !
Then I found a very useful piece of information. It seemed that the Ministry had thought of a Very Good Idea to get people out of areas where there was little chance of employment. If you were drawing Unemployment Benefit, but had found yourself a job in another part of the country, they would pay Ł1,000 (Ł11,700 today) "Disturbance Allowance" to help you with the move. "That's for me !", I thought, and promptly applied.
But I was turned down because I had organised my own job before signing on ! So the regulations said. (If I'd been offered the appointment a week after , I would have been "in" - even though I 'd been negotiating about it for months before). I regarded this as grossly unfair, but even a letter to the then Chancellor (Anthony Barber, as I recall) had no effect. Rules are Rules !
That was not the only disappointment. Of course, the Renault 16 did not turn up before Christmas (as had been promised). Nor in January. Nor in February. There was the usual string of weak excuses. Our poor old Peugeot had to soldier on.
We put our Thirsk house on the market, left it for the Estate Agent to sell, rented a furnished semi in Sale, packed up and hit the road. Our "Pug" managed (with some difficulty) to get to Manchester. I started at Portcullis House, Old Trafford on 3rd March.
The Renault arrived early April - at Leeming Bar, of course ! (only in the nick of time; a week before I'd lost reverse gear; the other residents were treated to the spectacle of Mr D. being pushed back out of the drive into Oxford Road every morning by his loving family). The old car got across the Pennines one last time. "Stappers" (ex-Corporal Stapley, RAF M.T. Fitter), who did roaring trade on the RAF Caravan site in an old Nissen hut, and who knew the car all too well), gave me Ł50 for it - and unloaded it onto some Malaysian students on the AFS for twice that.
I picked up the Renault and went back to Sale. And this is Positively My Last Regular Appearance.
Goodbye, chaps. Danny42C.
That's it for now !
Then I found a very useful piece of information. It seemed that the Ministry had thought of a Very Good Idea to get people out of areas where there was little chance of employment. If you were drawing Unemployment Benefit, but had found yourself a job in another part of the country, they would pay Ł1,000 (Ł11,700 today) "Disturbance Allowance" to help you with the move. "That's for me !", I thought, and promptly applied.
But I was turned down because I had organised my own job before signing on ! So the regulations said. (If I'd been offered the appointment a week after , I would have been "in" - even though I 'd been negotiating about it for months before). I regarded this as grossly unfair, but even a letter to the then Chancellor (Anthony Barber, as I recall) had no effect. Rules are Rules !
That was not the only disappointment. Of course, the Renault 16 did not turn up before Christmas (as had been promised). Nor in January. Nor in February. There was the usual string of weak excuses. Our poor old Peugeot had to soldier on.
We put our Thirsk house on the market, left it for the Estate Agent to sell, rented a furnished semi in Sale, packed up and hit the road. Our "Pug" managed (with some difficulty) to get to Manchester. I started at Portcullis House, Old Trafford on 3rd March.
The Renault arrived early April - at Leeming Bar, of course ! (only in the nick of time; a week before I'd lost reverse gear; the other residents were treated to the spectacle of Mr D. being pushed back out of the drive into Oxford Road every morning by his loving family). The old car got across the Pennines one last time. "Stappers" (ex-Corporal Stapley, RAF M.T. Fitter), who did roaring trade on the RAF Caravan site in an old Nissen hut, and who knew the car all too well), gave me Ł50 for it - and unloaded it onto some Malaysian students on the AFS for twice that.
I picked up the Renault and went back to Sale. And this is Positively My Last Regular Appearance.
Goodbye, chaps. Danny42C.
That's it for now !
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If this really "IT", what on earth are you going to do/post at 0100 from now on? 
What has struck me, all the way through this Thread, has been the quality of writing and accuracy of recollections.
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Danny
"And this is Positively My Last Regular Appearance.
Goodbye, chaps. Danny42C."
Au contraire Danny. I think those of us who've thoroughly enjoyed your posts would be happy to see a small note regularly...just to know you're
Goodbye, chaps. Danny42C."
Au contraire Danny. I think those of us who've thoroughly enjoyed your posts would be happy to see a small note regularly...just to know you're
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harrym, (Your #6359)
Just a few odd words of comment:
"Habbaniya, a long-established RAF base in the Iraqi desert": my friend Niel Ker, after completing his stint in Paris on the Russian Language Course, found himself doing a tour there, mostly monitoring Russian football results on the radio (or so he said).
"dreaded paratroop “buckets”: the trick was to get aboard first and kip down on the pile of mailbags at the back of the cabin.
"Now I have always had great respect for the “Sally Ann": So had my Dad in WW1, as they were always the first to get a good canteen going where it was most needed behind the Lines in France.
"too many...smells": We always said that the only thing mysterious about the East was where all the smell was coming from ! (You got used to it after a year or so).
Danny,
Just a few odd words of comment:
"Habbaniya, a long-established RAF base in the Iraqi desert": my friend Niel Ker, after completing his stint in Paris on the Russian Language Course, found himself doing a tour there, mostly monitoring Russian football results on the radio (or so he said).
"dreaded paratroop “buckets”: the trick was to get aboard first and kip down on the pile of mailbags at the back of the cabin.
"Now I have always had great respect for the “Sally Ann": So had my Dad in WW1, as they were always the first to get a good canteen going where it was most needed behind the Lines in France.
"too many...smells": We always said that the only thing mysterious about the East was where all the smell was coming from ! (You got used to it after a year or so).
Danny,
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MPN11,
Might go to bed and go to sleep !....D.
Geriaviator,
That aside, I think we've all told our stories in our own ways and to the best of our memories. Mistakes are bound to creep in, but they're all honest ones... D.
Jobza Guddon,
I'll look in from time to time !......D.
Typhoon93,
Thanks. (And on this one, too !)......D.
Might go to bed and go to sleep !....D.
Geriaviator,
That aside, I think we've all told our stories in our own ways and to the best of our memories. Mistakes are bound to creep in, but they're all honest ones... D.
Jobza Guddon,
I'll look in from time to time !......D.
Typhoon93,
Thanks. (And on this one, too !)......D.
Last edited by Danny42C; 22nd Oct 2014 at 22:51. Reason: Add Text.
Thay's all folks
Danny, Sir, That may be it for now but we hope it isn't it for too long. You have so much more to give. If this thread (and we hope it is) is expanded to cover "and after" we would be enthralled to hear your views on our attempts to follow you in your chosen profession. We hope you'll chortle at my success in landing a JP wheels up on my second solo. And my true story of me, as a young SAC radar mechanic, standing in the astrodome of a Avro Lincoln flying at very low level across RAF Lindholme practising for the Battle of Britain display when the pilot said "feather one, feather four, feather two". Wouldn't be permitted in these days of 'Elf and Safety.
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Fareastdriver, (Your #6360)
A few words of comment on your absorbing story:
"...not need blancoing.." : There may yet be some who have not heard of the lone Guardsman picked up in the Libyan Desert in the North African campaign.. "Wa-er, wa-er", he croaked. They gave him some, and he set about blancoing his belt with it !
"Lashings of bacon, eggs and chips": Baked Beans were a more usual "filler" in my time, but that made you anti-social at 30,000 ft in an (unpressurised) Meteor 7.
"South Cerney": Otherwise Known as "Hell-on-the-Hill"
by generations of aspiring QFIs.
"...Gieves, Moss Bros. and R. E. City were the three firms. Hawkes was an Army and Navy specialist...": I think Gieves had the Navy pretty well sewn-up. R.E. City were latecomers to the Feast, but their stuff was good (they made my Mess kit) and originally cheaper than the the top names (but what happened to their prices when they joined the charmed circle ?). Austin Reed were in it too, and others I can't remember now.
But if you lowered your sights a bit, and were a stock size, Monty Burton was not at all bad (but hardly a good Career move !) and then there was always Bedford's of Newark. In the circumstances you were in, though, the vultures had gathered and had you at their mercy !
"...was the Bates rep. These were the hats that everybody wanted": My last one is somewhere on top of the wardrobe; I think it cost me two guineas in about '67. We had a discussion on this Thread about the Bates Cap some time ago, when I had recalled having some difficulty at Thorney Island with a runaway BSA Winged Wheel, and my cap fell off at about 20 knots in my struggles to get the beast back under control.
"...about what keeps an aeroplane in the air...": Enter Signor Bernoulli, who makes it all clear (as mud !).
"and officers uniforms are no use then": Unworn, you would get a good price for them from Bedfords of Newark. (No connection other than being a satisfied customer !)
"as he ran his fingers along clean pelmets": Our US "Officers of the Day" went one better, they wore white gloves to check for dust on the light bulbs
in our rooms !
Danny.
A few words of comment on your absorbing story:
"...not need blancoing.." : There may yet be some who have not heard of the lone Guardsman picked up in the Libyan Desert in the North African campaign.. "Wa-er, wa-er", he croaked. They gave him some, and he set about blancoing his belt with it !
"Lashings of bacon, eggs and chips": Baked Beans were a more usual "filler" in my time, but that made you anti-social
at 30,000 ft in an (unpressurised) Meteor 7. "South Cerney": Otherwise Known as "Hell-on-the-Hill"
by generations of aspiring QFIs."...Gieves, Moss Bros. and R. E. City were the three firms. Hawkes was an Army and Navy specialist...": I think Gieves had the Navy pretty well sewn-up. R.E. City were latecomers to the Feast, but their stuff was good (they made my Mess kit) and originally cheaper than the the top names (but what happened to their prices when they joined the charmed circle ?). Austin Reed were in it too, and others I can't remember now.
But if you lowered your sights a bit, and were a stock size, Monty Burton was not at all bad (but hardly a good Career move !) and then there was always Bedford's of Newark. In the circumstances you were in, though, the vultures had gathered and had you at their mercy !
"...was the Bates rep. These were the hats that everybody wanted": My last one is somewhere on top of the wardrobe; I think it cost me two guineas in about '67. We had a discussion on this Thread about the Bates Cap some time ago, when I had recalled having some difficulty at Thorney Island with a runaway BSA Winged Wheel, and my cap fell off at about 20 knots in my struggles to get the beast back under control.
"...about what keeps an aeroplane in the air...": Enter Signor Bernoulli, who makes it all clear (as mud !).
"and officers uniforms are no use then": Unworn, you would get a good price for them from Bedfords of Newark. (No connection other than being a satisfied customer !)
"as he ran his fingers along clean pelmets": Our US "Officers of the Day" went one better, they wore white gloves to check for dust on the light bulbs
in our rooms !Danny.
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Very tentatively suggesting a book - diaries of actress/writer who entertained troops/air force in out of the way, small places in N Africa, Middle East and India in 1944/5. Many of the places in this thread are mentioned or described. It's The Time of my Life by Joyce Grenfell. It might be of interest, but perhaps a bit too feminine?
Though I've nothing to do with the air force or commercial flying, this thread has been absolutely fascinating. Your courage, determination and nerve, gentlemen, is an example to us all. (It takes all my courage to fly a little Piper to the next airfield on a nice day!!)
Though I've nothing to do with the air force or commercial flying, this thread has been absolutely fascinating. Your courage, determination and nerve, gentlemen, is an example to us all. (It takes all my courage to fly a little Piper to the next airfield on a nice day!!)
Last edited by Viola; 23rd Oct 2014 at 10:41. Reason: mentioning places