Having once had the task of trying to fathom out some of the squadron history of the days 20 years before I joined the squadron, it became clear to me that details of even the most mundane (at the time) activities of the crews of those days would have been of considerable interest to those who followed them in later years.
Which is perhaps why Courtney's journal is such a gem.
jinda', your account (elsewhere) of your Hunter incident in 1965 is a classic description of RAF activity in a theatre which, even now, is largely forgotten.
Remember how 'I learned about flying from that' was one of the more popular sections of 'Air Clues', when the RAF could still afford that excellent publication?
In earlier days, there were many well-written anecdotes about life in the RAF of yore. Sadly, few people seem to bother with such things these days....
Those who would write about their personal lives in the RAF should be encouraged, rather than ridiculed.
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Anyway, back to the topics of OCUs.
After completing a JP refresher following my sojourn at RAF Biggin Hill, I turned up at 230 OCU RAF Scampton with a feeling of uncertainty. Book in to the OM, then the arrival brief with the chaps who I'd met at RAF North Luffenham a week or so earlier....
What a gentlemanly world then followed! Groundschool was reasonably simple, then the simulator phase at RAF Finningley with an aged ex-Lincoln pilot teaching us how to fly the Vulcan. His tales of the late 1940s and early 1950s were a fascinatin insight into a little-known world though.
When we moved to the flying phase, I once remarked "You know, we've met all the 'soft' men, I'm still waiting for the 'hard' man to show his face and tell us we're all useless!". But he never did appear. They were happy for students to live out whilst on the course, so I had an extremely pleasant laid-back summertime in a shared house with 3 other mates in a nearby village. After the OCU, life on the squadron was equally enjoyable and I think I can honestly say that the lifestyle of a 'VFW' (as some termed us) was probaly the best I ever had in the RAF.
Last edited by BEagle; 30th Aug 2012 at 21:56.