Dropping ashes
If he was a Spitfire pilot then who use a heli? Surely something old, fixed wing and relevant ( did he learn on Tigers for example?) is the machine to use?
I had a letter published in Pilot about my ashes dropping exploits in the Miles Magister.
The plan was a good one but I hadnt reckoned on the amount of water a carrier bag full of ashes scudding around in the boot of an old car for 3 months could hold. I found out later it was like wet plaster.
We used a carboard map tube gaffer taped to the bag. Guess what? The tube unwound in the rear cockpit during the drop. Most of the ash ended up either in my plane or in Acebell Aviations vacuum cleaner.
Like wet plaster? We had to chip it off the tailplane. Nice neat pile on top of the radio ( alongside the rear seat) too. As for the old boys mate who dropped them - his face, helmet, goggles - all grey as if he had been comprehensively spray painted in primer. He looked like one of those living statues you see around Covent Garden......
When it came to the Annual you wouldn't believe how much the engineers found in the fuselage. It had got everywhere.
The best laid plans.......
Hairyplane