62 Years ago today ...
Dare you to walk into the Guard's Depot at Pirbright and say that.
I see Brian Trubshawe of Concorde fame flew the Valiant on the revue flypast.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Recognise a few names at the bottom of that list, Le Bas, Trubshaw, Duke, Lithgow, Falk; why don't we know pilot's names like that any more?
Hannah, Green, Mason (fading), Ward may be modern exceptions, oh, and the Major (but does every little boy know of him?) and Caroline Grace.
Hannah, Green, Mason (fading), Ward may be modern exceptions, oh, and the Major (but does every little boy know of him?) and Caroline Grace.
Wander00
I don't know how many admirals were mounted, but 1SL (Sir Rhoderic Mcgrigor) certainly was. I was a visitor to his flat, above Admiralty Arch, at the time. He was no horseman; at breakfast he confessed he was terrified he would fall off the beast at some stage.
Thanks, Schiller
Interested to see Paddy Barthropp on the list. He was a frequent visitor to the Yacht Club of which I was secretary, and often visited a mate (RN) from Stalag Luft III days. When the Lt Cdr (the former Sailing Master to HM the Queen incidentally) died, we held a wake and ashes scattering at the Club. With the deceased and 3 attendees who had all been in Stalag Luft II it was a bit of an "occasion". ( I also had a Trustee's wife who was the widow of one of the 50 escapees who were murdered.)
Interested to see Paddy Barthropp on the list. He was a frequent visitor to the Yacht Club of which I was secretary, and often visited a mate (RN) from Stalag Luft III days. When the Lt Cdr (the former Sailing Master to HM the Queen incidentally) died, we held a wake and ashes scattering at the Club. With the deceased and 3 attendees who had all been in Stalag Luft II it was a bit of an "occasion". ( I also had a Trustee's wife who was the widow of one of the 50 escapees who were murdered.)
I dont think little boys ever really knew pilots' names to the extent you imagine, P-N. When our primary class teacher asked us to name our heroes (c1957), just about everybody picked a footballer. When I named Peter Twiss nobody, including the teacher, had heard of him, in spite of his holding the world speed record at the time.
Struggling with one or two of the names on your list, except Hannah of course, and Ward, but the latter for all the wrong reasons!
Struggling with one or two of the names on your list, except Hannah of course, and Ward, but the latter for all the wrong reasons!
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
TTN, age, which one's?
Mason as in Pabelo
Green as in Thrust
Grace as in Spitfire
The Major ditto
I forgot Twiss. Footballer wise yes, and cricket possibly more so, but also motor bikes and of course motor racing "and the BRM has blown up again, Fangio takes the lead"
Mason as in Pabelo
Green as in Thrust
Grace as in Spitfire
The Major ditto
I forgot Twiss. Footballer wise yes, and cricket possibly more so, but also motor bikes and of course motor racing "and the BRM has blown up again, Fangio takes the lead"
Re my post #24 above about the Odiham Coronation Review flypast.
I've been told separately that there were three prominent Battle of Britain pilots leading the Meteor formations i.e. Dennis Cowley-Milling, Bobby Oxspring and Paddy Barthropp.
Passed on FWIW.
I've been told separately that there were three prominent Battle of Britain pilots leading the Meteor formations i.e. Dennis Cowley-Milling, Bobby Oxspring and Paddy Barthropp.
Passed on FWIW.
P -N - Mason came to me after a bit of head scratching (if you'd said Pablo it would have been easier), but Green, Grace and the Major escaped me until prompted.
The speed record that Twiss held (in the Fairey Delta 2) was 1132 mph, one of those figures which refuses to leave my brain to make room for more useful bits of information, like my mobile telephone number!
(btw - How long since a policeman stopped a motorist for speeding and asked him "What's your name sir, Fangio"?
The speed record that Twiss held (in the Fairey Delta 2) was 1132 mph, one of those figures which refuses to leave my brain to make room for more useful bits of information, like my mobile telephone number!
(btw - How long since a policeman stopped a motorist for speeding and asked him "What's your name sir, Fangio"?
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Heroes
The voiceover in the introduction to the film 'The Right Stuff' ends with the line: "They were called test pilots - and nobody knew their names".
Well, I did. at 12 years old! I knew most of the well know British and American test pilots and which aircraft they flew because I studied aviation books from the local library and copies of RAF Flying Review when I should have been doing homework. This was not unknown in the mid 1950s.
Ah yes, Peter Twiss, Fairey Delta 2, 1,132 mph, 10th March 1956, and I didn't just consult anything.
Polecat
The voiceover in the introduction to the film 'The Right Stuff' ends with the line: "They were called test pilots - and nobody knew their names".
Well, I did. at 12 years old! I knew most of the well know British and American test pilots and which aircraft they flew because I studied aviation books from the local library and copies of RAF Flying Review when I should have been doing homework. This was not unknown in the mid 1950s.
Ah yes, Peter Twiss, Fairey Delta 2, 1,132 mph, 10th March 1956, and I didn't just consult anything.
Polecat
TTN - funny, that figure has always remained with me too. A few years back I attended the funeral of Neville Duke, whom I had met a few times as a member of a certain yacht club. Had I still been a small boy, I could have collected some significant autographs from the days of which we speak.
