Where Are They Now?Please feel free to post contact information here if you are looking for long lost friends or trying to find out what has happened to colleagues. Obituaries and condolences can be posted here too.
I remember QFIs Cosimini (who sent me solo) and Tribe (Rosie?)(was she the one who took a cushion on to the aircraft) and the CFI, Davico who pushed me into a Civil Aviation career by asking me, after my final check out ride, what I was going to do when I left school. When I replied "Be a lawyer" he said "No don't do that be a pilot". Hamble and 34 years in BOAC/BA followed. Sincere thanks Mr Davico.
beer drinker- Cosimini (the "Flying Milkman") sent me solo in Aug`67 although most of my flying was with Capt. Tod who had a massive scar on his cheek.
During my time there Cosimini did a successful forced landing onto the field.
I was there also in '67 - 20th Aug to 16th Sept. The guy who sent me solo was 'Captain Rawlinson'. I remember little Rosie, and Davico. Cosimini, I thought, was a bit abrupt and impatient.
I, too, got the bug then, and ended up in BEA via Hamble.
Guys I remember were Pete Moores, who left British Airways to go to Cathay. He and I flew in loose formation on our PPL cross-country, down the coast to Blackpool via Barrow, where the 'air traffic controller' was the Barrow fire-chief who had to row out to the island specially. The proof that you'd made Blackpool was to go back to Carlisle and present your instructor with a stick of rock!
There was a slim, blonde, quiet bloke who used to loop the 150 over the sea, and ended up in the RAF. My particular friend there was Ian Hosking, who wanted to be a copper. I've tried to track him down over the years, but without success.
Aileron Drag: Checking my old logbooks shows that we overlapped. I was there 6th - 31st August 1967 Two of the guys on my course, Bob Evens and Robin Morgan went on to Hamble (with many delays) and BEA. I did university and joined BEA off one of the BG courses after the UAS. Thus becoming a direct contemporary of the other two due to their Hamble delays. Peter Moores I knew from CX much later. Small world.......
Not sure about this but I think Cosimini had stopped flying by about 1972 and ran the two fixed intrument trainers, I was doing an IR at the time, don't you just love the Twin Commanche!?
Carlisle 1968.. RNFS Rawlinson .. yes remember very well him stepping out after 4 hours and sending me off round the circuit . It had been a real adventure as I had never been in an aeroplane before arriving at Carlisle , I can still recall looking back as we got airborne, through the rear window of the C150 at the runway below and thinking that this was OK. The first 29 hrs went well and to round it off before the GFT , Rawlinson showed me his "special" short field landing , bring the aircraft back to stalling speed at 300ft , keep the stall warning bleeping with a bit of power, thump it down hard brakes and stop in no distance at all....so come the GFT, a reasonably good attempt was ended abruptly by the examiner as I demonstrated the short field landing ! (With the words "are you trying to kill us both!") Work , University, Hamble followed , still at easyjet ..just.
Zorin - they must have trusted you on your first solo more than they trusted me! You had a rear window to look out of. Must have been one of the new Gucci 150s with electric flaps! Man, what technology!
They gave me a knackered old mark-one 150 called 'Foxtrot November'. Big old flap lever between the seats, and no rear window.
Like you, however, I climbed away thinking, 'Yeah - this is the Dog's Bo****ks!'
I was at Carlisle from 21/3/65 to 19/4/65. Most of my training was with Capt White although the names Whitfield, Hudspith and Davico are also in my logbook. Most of my flying was in Piper PA-22 Tripacer G-ARAX although the spinning was done in Auster Aiglet G-AMTE. The PPL cross-country was Carlisle-Blackpool-Newcastle-Carlisle. I recently found G-ARAX in a rather sad state at Derby.
I also got the aviation bug and Carlisle was followed by Hamble, BOAC, BA and GSS.
I was there for most of June '66. Bill More was the 'flying milkman''. Tony Cossimini was my main instructor. After one particularly challenging hour of circuits with him, he muttered about me not being 'safe to push a perambulator',.... lit his pipe, climbed out, and sent me off on my first solo.
One of the guys sharing bunkhouse was a Navy cadet called Andrew Gordon-Lennox. (his father was the Sergent of Arms in the Commons). Got some gongs in the Falklands campaign I heard.
After going down the 'self improvement' route, I found myself back at Carlisle, to do my I.R. Tony was at that time running the Frasca sim. He sadly died a couple of years later.
In 2002 I was visiting the parachute club at Headcorn when I was delighted to see, still being used, the same C150 that soloed in, and still in it's original colour scheme.
Yes I well remember the summer of '67 at Carlisle and the cross country with Aileron Drag to Blackpool. I'm down route now without my logbooks so cannot help with the names.
Just about to wind up at CX this year after 10 years BA and 32 CX so it's been a blast. It was an amazing opportunity at the age of 17 to be given the chance to start flying like that- it was only when I started instructing ab-initio that I realized how little we knew back then. Our instructors were hardy souls...
I hear there is still a flying school at Carlisle, might be interesting to complete the circle and go for a pole there when I retire...
Hi moosp, I'm currently instructing PT out of Carlisle, have coincidentally done a couple of SEP(L) renewals for Cathay pilots this year, getting it in before EASA Part-FCL is upon us. If you do decide to visit, be very happy to arrange a flight for you.
May I fly up when you are there to have look around and try to see what I can remember. I have my own TwinCom nowadays in retirement. Possibly week of Tue 18/ Wed 19/Thu 20 Sep
I suspect it will probably seem quite familiar, some new hangars, but still one of the two wartime originals left. Also, the fire station was replaced in the early eighties I think, other than that, pretty much as you left it. There's still 2 or 3 people around from that era, it was CSE then was it?
Thanks for the invite mrmum. I'm a bit late to renew my UK licence now, believe it has to be done by August and my UK ATPL is out of date too. It would still be good to look around, I'll see if I can work it out.
OK guys (no chapesses in those days, I regret) How about the year after, 1968. Any fellow studes out there?
Self on RN flying scholarship just as the last-but-one Ark Royal's imminent demise was announced - and long before the SeaJet was thought of: "well done twinboom, would you like to come and fly helichopters with us", "No thanks, I'm off to a UAS but thank you for asking........." I remember Cosimini and Davico and C150 "Silent Sierra" - rear windows!?!? blooody LUXURY.
Currently down-route so no access to log-book but I can verify the story of the Blackpool stick of Rock.
Anyone else there on the evening that the future founder of CabAir beat up the the field and we thought he was in trouble and broke into the tower to try and turn on the runway lights ............ Happy Days.
Years later I visited in my F1 racer G-BOMB and my erstwhile Cessna 337, G-AXFG which subsequently (long story) became the Cumbrian Police Aircraft, based there for a number of years. Nowadays I fly over the CO NDB en-route EDI,GLA etc and say to my co-pilots - that's a great place, I started off in this game there - 44 years ago.....tempus fugit.
