Originally Posted by
Arthur Bellcrank
Yes I remember Tony Downie at Blackpool and met him again at Exeter.
I flew in YF about a week before it was withdrawn from service, it was one of the ex Malaysian 400 series that was brought back by BAF in the late seventies, very heavy aircraft, we carried out a weight reduction programme at JEA when it was converted to a freighter, we found a 2 inch loom running along the leading edge, couldn't work out what it was, it transpired that it ran to loudspeakers that were once fitted on the wingtips. The RMAF used to fly over the forests broadcasting propaganda.
Useless information snippet for today.
Tony used to give us a hand on pretty much all the Herald checks as he knew the NDT side of the aircraft like the back of his hand.
I've no idea if he's still with us, the last time I saw him was about 18 years ago.
Nice story about YF, don't mention it to Boris & Co. it might give them ideas
Was the Herald flown at a reduced altitude / pressure differential later in life ? I seem to remember reading something about it.