Aaaahh memories!
I flew at 621(hence my PPrune moniker
) at Weston Super Mud, although I soloed at CGS @ Syerston in '81 in the barge as I was too tall for the Mk3.
I ended up as a staff cadet and Civilian Instructor at 621, and flew for many years there. Best time of my life
I'll post some classic pics when I return home, but you'll have to wait 'til december
The stories could fill the forum- a certain staff cadet rolling a lightweight Landy, and ending up in a court of enquiry..and getting paid for it!!(he got travelling expenses, meal allowances etc etc, and actually made money on the deal)
Reverse tug'o'war with 2 lightweights, driving down to the winch and getting 2 wheels off going round the corner at the end of the runway, towing cables out at 50mph on summer courses, and then the nights out...
We even acquired a roadsign that was positioned 3 miles from the village of 'Mark'(work it out
), just down the road from WSM, the cadet with the spanners got shot at by a local with his air rifle as he was unscrewing it
, but it looked good in the crew room in our gas-lit Nissen hut(we were the last gas powered school..). The same cheeky chappy, also stole the Staishs' pennant from the flagpole after breakfast one morning- that caused some trouble I can tell you...
Then there were 'Hangar races' over the top of the (rotting) Bessoneau
,
Riding Ben Hur style on the Mk3 trailer, with a rope around the steering wheel of the landy, to 'influence' the direction(you couldn't call it steering!)-this one had a hand throttle, due to it having been a hearse in a previous life(chrome bumpers etc!!). You basically set the throttle, then climbed out over the back, leaving a bemused passenger sitting there
We did some flying too, but due to WSMs position on the coast, thermals were few and far between, unless the wind was easterly. Brilliant soaring for an hour or so as the sea breeze front came in, but then bugger all for the rest of the day(much like gliding here in Cyprus
). I've lost count the number of times I got grounded for staying up too long...
Other highs and lows- loops in the barge, beat ups, trying to fly the barge from the left hand seat on 3-monthly checks
, formation flying and launching- 2 winches, a barge and a mk3 to get some air to air shots, and the all time classic- taking the seatback out of a mk3 and flying facing backwards, legs down the fuselage(you'll have to wait for the pics of that!)...
In answer to someones comments about goggles, we were issued with mk8 glass goggles at some point(the old dakkka dakkka dakka, hun in the sun types) but they were supersceded by the Uvex versions. Rumour has it, they were introduced after someone blamed their abortion of a landing on having been blinded by a cloud of insects on approach..hmm.
Oh, and I haven't mentioned Halesland! The rugged outcrop on the top of the mendips, now used by Mendip GC.
This site was used for advanced training- a couple of barges, a Prefect or 2, and a swallow were usually based there. We always got the sh1tty slots at the beginning and end of the year, to open and shut down the site during the summer. Some good soaring, but also some bluddy awful flights too.
The social life was good though- the Strawberry special down in Draycott, and the other one that I can't remember the name of. A memorable fancy dress night sticks in my mind...
Oh, and finally for now, the sledge! This was at Halesland, an old escort Mk2 bonnet with a winch cable bridle attached to the front. You hung on for grim death whilst being towed through the sheep sh1t and mud in full flying gear...we had a similar version at WSM, but made from a Morris commercial cars' bonnet, lifted from Westlands airfield dump.
Someone mentioned barging in Cyprus- well we still do it! I resoloed a barge last month after a 23 year lay off. Still a real gentlemans conveyance when the thermals are gently popping, but a real handful when the wind gets up...
Anyway, enough for now...