Gaining An R.A.F Pilots Brevet In WW II

[Danny42C]

It's dark in here, Mum.

MPN11,

This is exactly the sort of stuff I need ! I read it with great interest, but I've so much to write about the "Bendix", that I'll stay with that for a while (and there are some good stories to come). So let me climb into my MPN-1 and tell the tale in the same way. Up the little wooden steps, into the door at the end of truck. Don't remember any curtain, but not quite full dark inside, think there was some subdued lighting. The door was mostly left ajar (except when the air-con was on, obviously). Why would that be ? Think, obliging mech comes out of rest caravan with tray of tea, mounts wet wooden steps, is faced with closed door, all inside too busy to answer knock, tries to open with good hand...?

First on the left was a menacing access panel: "Danger - High Voltage - To be kept Closed at all times when Equipment Operating" (or words to that effect), probably with a skull and crossbones to lend emphasis. This warning was reinforced by a Safety poster stuck on the opposite panel to your right. This showed a coffin with the cheery caption:

"You'll end up in a Wooden Box
If you Jam the Interlocks"

Carefully skirting this, you came (on the left) to the two Director's PPI tubes, then the Tracker's display with his little wheel, and right at the end my place of business, Talkdown with Errormeter and his display. Now I have to think hard. On the right of my display I had a spring-loaded switch to the Squawk Box in Local. On the desk at the bottom was my three-way Transmit key: off-sprung on-locked on. Radio selectors somewhere. Fast Scan switch near Transmit key. And that's about it. Of course I'd have a direct-line phone to Approach, Director would have a monitor on Approach Channel. Behind me, the other side of the truck was packed with electronics which were no business of ours.

Confession is good for the Soul. I try to keep my Posts absolutely factual, but there's always a temptation to spice-up some irrelevant item. Before the Sherlock Holmeses among you get on to it, therefore:

The Man said he got in the back of the truck and sat on the left, didn't he ? We've all seen pictures of the outside of the truck, haven't we ? Left is the "hot" side, which looks at the aircraft. So the truck must lean that way. So he must lean that way too, so must his desk. Certainly his mug will dance about, but not off the desk, but towards the display (no, never heard of one tipping over yet).

I remember well the details given in the previous Post about CPN-4 - the two upper and lower screens in a set - the UV lights (I remember at Thorney, how our shirt-cuffs shone after laundry in something "Whiter than White") - Dosimeter badges ? Wot's them ? (we were expendable in '58-'59 , I have to suppose). More on them when I come to Thorney later.

Somewhere on Google/Wiki I've seen a shot looking into a MPN-1 through the back door, but can't recall where, and in any case it was very poor, couldn't see a thing.

Much to mull over here - thanks MPN11.

EDIT I:
26er

The West Raynham story was burned into the soul of every Air Trafficker of the day, for as it was told to me, it was the ATC cock-up of all time: a copybook example of How Not to Manage a Diversion. Seems the whole lot were thrown at Marham without warning or attempting to arrange an orderly flow, with the inevitable result.

As for the Two Controllers at Once: assuming Raynham had an MPN-1 (and I don't think any CPN-4s had come in then), two whole Precision approaches couldn't have gone on at once - apart from anything else you have only one Errormeter and no way can poor Tracker switch between two blips so quickly, even if two Talkdowns (who would need to be on discrete frequencies) could huddle together close enough to read the same cursor. So that's your Glidepath gone for a start.

What might have been possible was to use the two PPI (Director's) tubes to do simultaneous PPI talkdowns (step-down or continuous descent), but it would have been very inaccurate, and carry an enormous risk of misidentification.

Another fanciful possibility was for one Talkdown to do "short" (two-mile ?) runs, with Director (who would really have to be 'on the ball', as would Tracker) feeding them on at three mile intervals at (say) 500 ft.

I really have no idea, but I don't buy the "super Controller" bit. Perhaps Raynham had two MPN-1s ? (Doubt it).

EDIT II,

MPN11,

Can't keep up ! Yes, that's the CPN-4 in all its glory. And the MPN-1 had us seated t'other way. No difference.

CPN-4 was touted as air-transportable. What did we have in '58 which could lift that ?

Danny.