Originally Posted by
Squipdit Fashions
Interestingly, given that our subject went on to have a successful career in civil aviation; the area of river in the original thread photo is almost exactly where Sully Sullenberger ditched A320 N106US / US Airways Flight 1549 in what became known as 'The Miracle on the Hudson'....
See what you mean,
Squipdit F. (Unlike me, Tony didn't fly the A320. More of a long-haul man.)
You seem to have nailed it ! I infer that the camera was facing north-west, so the skyscrapers of Manhattan would have been in the opposite direction. A quick look at Street View doesn't reveal high-rise buildings in that direction today.
So, we can build up a bit more chronology. The German-built, French-operated, 50,000-ton
SS Liberté departed Southampton
4/6/57. She was no slouch as a trans-Atlantic liner: a lot faster than today's cruise ships and in her pre-accident youth (as
Europa) a Blue Riband contender that had done a roughly equivalent westbound crossing in less than five days.
So, assuming she didn't then call at her base of Le Havre, the
SS Liberté might have arrived New York six days later, on
10/6/57. At that time, as a university graduate, Tony's rank was Acting Pilot Officer, barely six weeks after being categorised as a Cadet Pilot on National Service. That's when the photo was taken, so I think the discussion on his sleeve braiding is probably over?
I've now seen images of the first two pages of the RCAF logbook he was using in Canada. Curiously, it omits a FROM/TO column and the exercises are number-coded. But an accompanying certificate confirms his primary flying training was conducted at RCAF Centralia (near Exeter, Ontario), as
Squipdit F suggested. His first recorded sortie, in a Chipmunk, was on
2/7/57.
I don't have a decode to establish the exercises flown but, after a week and 6 hours' dual in Chipmunks, he recorded "FIRST SOLO". That's pretty quick, unless he had previous experience with, for example, a UAS at his university in England. But no earlier logbook has been found. The certificate recording completion of Primary Flight Training is dated 2/8/57.
Haven't seen any more pages yet, but am told that they include the Harvard and the CT-133 Silver Star, just as
Squipdit F suggested.
Once again, thank you all but, in particular, Squipdit Fashions, Double Hush and Professor Plum.
