A labour of love..
From my logbooks I have compiled a list of aircraft that I have flown.. My
criteria for "flown" is to have made a takeoff and landing physically unaided in the type irrespective of the time spent in the air. This covered the time when a B17 Flying Fortress landed at Marham when I was on Mosquito's. I found that the Pilot was a chap that I had trained with in Georgia USA and he invited me to do the honours from the second pilot's seat when he air tested it after repairs had been made. I remember it vividly, as it still remains in my mind as the heaviest aircraft on the controls that I had ever encountered. I was a passenger on the Constellation that took me out to India when I was going to take up the job of Instructor there . The Second Pilot fell ill after the stop at Cairo and, once again I was allowed to take off and eventually land at Bombay.
As regards the Mark of the aircraft I have generally counted them seperately where there was a marked difference in performance by the change in engines, shapes or size. Thus the DC3,4,6 7C & 10 were completely different aeroplanes whereas the Halifax1 & 2 were not but the 3 was chalk as to cheese with the advent of it's Bristol Hercules 16 engines. The short nosed Blenheim and the long nosed together with the abortion called the Bisley were altogether different but more or less equally bad . Anyway very roughly in chronological order , here goes;
1, Boeing Stearman.My first and most remembered aeroplane . The US training did not allow the luxury of an airspeed indicator or an altimeter until you went on to the next aeroplane so that you could learn to fly "by the seat of your pants". It worked too. What you had never had you did'nt miss. 2,Vultee BT13A, (The Vibrator!) 3,AT6 (Harvard) Quite nasty on landing if you were'nt careful,4,Airspeed Oxford, A good trainer that had to be watched all of the time. 5,Bristol Blenheim Mk1 (Short nosed), 6, Blenheim Mk1V (long nosed), 7, Bristol Bisley (Blenheim with a huge hole in the fuselage where they had removed the turret and left a [_] between the tail and the end of the cockpit fairing). 8,Mosquito Mk1V (unarmed light bomber) One of the finest aeroplanes that I have ever flown. 9,Miles Master, A lovely two seater that was the perfect trainer for Hurricanes and comprehensively used as a Squadron's taxi. It was even pressed into service in the Battle of Britain and acquitted itself well. 10,DH. Tiger Moth, The Station Commander's "Company car ", 11, B17 Flying Fortress.
12,Douglas Boston, First Tricycle u/c but useless operationally. Too slow and the three crew members completely isolated from one another with no chance of escape. 13, Captured Junkers 88 with escort of three Spitfires to avoid any mistakes despite RAF roundels. Very impressive with wonderful visibility and almost Mosquito speed. 14, N.A. Mitchell A bit better than the Boston but completely at the mercy of the German fighters . 15, H.P. Halifaxes 1 & 2, Slow and death traps until rudders were changed to avoid fatal Rudder locking. 16, HP Halifax 3, A completely different aeroplane and the equal of the Lancaster in everything except Bomb load but the survival rate of the Halifax crews as compared to the Lancaster more than compensated . The main spar crossing the interior of the Lancaster made escape from a stricken Lancaster almost impossible.
17, Bristol Beaufighter, I was asked to Air test one that had been repaired by our ground crews when it had landed after being shot up so I read Pilots notes and took it up. I found it a very stable rugged aeroplane but like a shire horse to a thoroughbred Mosquito but I could see why it made a very fine ground attack and night fighter. 18, Avro Anson. The Ju52 of the RAF but at least the one I flew had an electric U/C otherwise it was 120 turns of a handle to lower and raise the gear. 19,Vickers Wellington "Wimpy" after the Popeye strip in the Daily Mirror. Tough fabric and Barnes Wallis Geodetic and a good all round aeroplane in it's day. Was tested for towing Gliders for D.Day but measured more than a foot longer when it landed due to the geodetics. 20, Avro Lancaster. Superb to fly , light as a feather on the controls. I used to "limit fly " them at EFS to show what they could do and I would cut the engines at 8,000 ft. then pull the stick back until it would go no further and the Lanc . would stall, then drop the nose and without dropping a wing would pull up and stall again and I am sure that it would have hit the ground perfectly flat if you had continued. In a 60 degree bank I would do the same thing and the result was just the same. I would cheerfully roll or loop a Lanc if it had been permitted as I am sure that there would not have been any problem if properly executed. Pity about that main spar. It was difficult to climb over in flying gear to get to the cockpit even when stationary on the ground. 21, Bristol Buckmaster. Not a very pleasant aeroplane. Bristol never had a clue when it came to cockpit layouts and most of them were death traps to get in and out of. 22,Supermarine Spitfire 1X, One of the privileges of being a Tutor at the Empire Flying School was the "perks" of flying virtually any aeroplane that you fancied. I had to read the Pilots notes and pass a "cockpit check" before being let loose and then make a circuit and landing before having a real go. I think that it was the realisation of a boyhood dream when I found myself over Chippenham in a Spitfire and just had enough time to beat up the little farm where my wife, two small children and I "lived out" at a little place on the railway line to Calne called "Halt," as the train stopped there if you put your arm up to stop it ! I only logged about half an hour in a "Spit" but I shall never forget it. As they say in the Michelin Guide "Well worth a detour ". I am getting rather tired so will continue this tomorrow if you want me to. I have enjoyed some lovely moments in getting this down and I hope that you all have too. Regle
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Last edited by regle; 10th Jul 2010 at 05:39.