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Old 30th May 2012, 11:00
  #36 (permalink)  
teeteringhead

Gentleman Aviator
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Teetering Towers - somewhere in the Shires
Age: 74
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The significance was that on a Friday evening return to Tern Hill from Valley, one George K decided to make it a 'sporting arrival' - low, fast (for a WW!) run-in downwind, pull up for a torque turn and gently down to finish off the week.
Not George K but Don H (later - incredibly - CAS RNZAF!) unless it happened twice! (and IIRC it was an into-wind quickstop)

I was a passenger down the back with the girly dentist and we'd just flown low level all the way back from Valley .....

.... as we slithered to a halt, ATC (in "sharp as a beachball" mode) asked what had happened. Don H replied "the bldy donk's crook" or similar, and the poor girls in the tower didn't know what he meant!

Must have been late '69, early '70 .... I might work it out from logbook; as pax I wouldn't have logged the return, but I probably flew the TH-VY leg. Course mate in RHS for the VY-TH retired as a 4-star ........

And of course the engineers tried to blame the aircrew - who should have noticed the lack of locking wire/split pin/castellated nut/all of the above on the walkround!!

Edited to add: looks like 5th Feb 1970 in XP 341. That was a Thursday too so maybe it did happen twice And the next day was solo EOLs in XP 355 .....

Last edited by teeteringhead; 30th May 2012 at 13:11.
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