I happened to see 'Mosquito Squadron' over the weekend. I'd never watched the whole film before for various reasons (eg it was rubbish) however on this occasion, I noticed that when they were practicing the 'Highball' drops at Bovingdon (no practice drops took place at Minley Manor) the run in track to the 'tunnel' was parallel to a slightly 'bent' taxiway to its left.
That taxiway has some signficance to me because that was the 'runway' I used for the first ever glider circuit at Bovingdon.
The late Fg Off Paul Duncombe flew the glider (Mk3 WT871) in from Halton on 21 Jun 1965 and as I had been head of the ground party to recieve him, I was given the privilege of flying the first ever complete circuit just over 2 years after I had been at Bovingdon watching the filming of '633 Squadron'. Paul flew in the back seat as check pilot but didn't touch the controls or even give me any instructions so I was in sole control.
It was 3 months before my 17th birthday so I couldn't drive a car on the public road but I could fly an RAF owned aircraft on an operational RAF station.
Last edited by chevvron; 1st May 2024 at 11:08.