PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - It's May 1941, it's night, you have to land, but how?
Old 13th Jan 2012, 20:11
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cliffnemo
 
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XMAS TREES

Hi Henry Crun,
Thanks for the 'reference' I needed cheering up after a bad prognosis.

I think I have read this thread thoroughly, and cannot find a reference to a Christmas Tree. This was a box having yellow screen (top) green screen
(middle) , red screen (bottom), and was quite bright. The object was to keep in the green to clear all obstructions. When nearer to the goose necks their apparent distance apart indicated height. I would suggest that goose necks gave more light than a hurricane lamp, as they flickered with a longer bright light. Also dark WAS dark during the war , as we had total blackout, and no 'light pollution' I carried out many night landings when wasting time at pre-afu on Tiger Moths and stationed at Kingstown Airfield , Carlisle. We had a satellite field, and it was,just a grass field. about ten miles North. of Carlisle No one seemed to have any trouble locating it and landing using Christmas Tree and goose necks . Yes they were only Tiger Moths but the principle is the same. By the way, the Christmas tree was adjusted to give a glide path clear of obstructions
I still have the landing drill notes for a Lancaster if you are interested, but that was late 1944
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