Danny, I think that the unease about the Smith & Wesson merely reflected the prevalent feeling that loaded personal weapons and aircrew then were a dangerous combination for themselves and others around them. When supply dropping we were issued with loaded Stirling sub machine guns. They were promptly stowed in the forward (crew) loo which was then locked. We preferred to run the gamut of the open (for supply dropping) fuselage doors to get to the rear (pax) loos rather than tempt providence. If carrying personal weapons had been a more familiar experience then no doubt we might have felt more confident. As it was I'm not sure if we had have been faced with the distinctly unpalatable prospect of a jungle forced landing then the first action would have been to jettison the Stirlings beforehand!
Re the Co's, the "course" consisted of a 5 min chat with the Accountant Officer, which basically meant that you and he together had counted it all out and would count it all back on return. Any discrepancy was of course your problem, not his.
Yes the fully loaded money belt could add to one's girth, but then it was sylph like in those days so the extra inches under the Bush Jacket were not so noticeable. Extra Pay for running the Imprest? You're joking of course. It was the Senior NCO's on the crew that saw it as an additional source of income, "footwear allowances, "laundering the aircraft" (for the VIP Mk4 Hastings) and no end of other supposedly legit expenses were always being suggested. The solution for the Co was of course to get a signature for each and every transaction, and not to fall for the blarney of his elders and betters.
The one thing worse though for returning with too little money was to return with too much. A colleague's aircraft had to be defuelled as it had been inadvertently overfuelled. The bowser man refused to take it back so it was drained off into oil drums and sold locally. The mistake he made was to declare the proceeds on his Imprest instead of keeping the crew in the manner befitting them for the rest of the route. In the end the accountant officer had to do some creative accounting to obscure this illicit trading. It seems that Public Funds can be lost and written off, what must never happen is to add to them!
Re the MkIV, you are as ever the boss. I wish it were that easy though. Questions re aerial arrays still remain unanswered. Known unknowns as Mr Rumsfeld would say....
Oh, a PS. Would the "two balls" US instrument arrays be because their Directional Gyro/Indicators included it to ensure that there was no slip being induced when the instrument was uncaged onto the Compass Heading? I can think of no other reason why a Directional Gyro should be so equipped but if there are other ideas then let's hear them and finally answer Danny's question.
Last edited by Chugalug2; 5th Jul 2012 at 11:59.