Danny and the "Winged Wheel" and a Canberra.
Unless you were living in an OMQ on a Station, there was always a mobility problem - for your wife. Very few plutocrats were able to run two cars, so if you took the family vehicle on duty with you, she was left stuck at home. So one of the first things to be arranged was some very cheap and simple transport for yourself. If (as was the case at Strubby) you only had a five-mile commute, then (given dry weather) the humble pushbike was a possibility - or cadge a lift in someone else's car.
The next stage up was a moped, but before then, in the early fifties, a number of small bicycle auxiliary power units came onto the market. Most of these were to fit in place of the back or front carrier, to drive the wheel through a roller clamped down on the tyre. The popular "Cyclemaster", roller driven on the rear wheel, was one such. The rear tyre had to be pumped up really hard, and the tyre wear was enormous.
On the other hand, the road tax was very small (or nil?), although it had to be registered as a vehicle, insured, and they would run for ever on a gallon of two-stoke mixture. BSA made big motorbikes and entered this market with a much better idea - the "Winged Wheel". As ever, Google has some fine pictures and all the description you need.
BSA sold a complete new outfit (special heavy-duty bike with sprung forks, comfortable saddle and beefed-up brakes, W/Wheel fitted) for £25. But I thought I could do better than that. Before e-Bay ruled the market, we had "Exchange & Mart". There was one on offer (just the Wheel, not the bike, plus tank plus front/rear lights), "mint" for £12/15/-. I bought it. (Google shows a complete nice one for sale now at - wait for it - £1100 !)
Now I wanted a bike to go with it. That cost 15/-, it had seen better days. One look at the wheels - scrap !. A new 26x1½ in wheel+tyre cost me another £1. The frame needed a good sandpapering, derusting and a dollop of some BRG paint I had lying about. With that dry, I assembled the Wheel into it, and sallied forth. It went fine. I reckoned 25 mph max, 15-20 cruise. But the old bike saddle was excruciating at those speeds, I had to replace it with a moped type at another £2-3. The 'bargain' was not as good as it first appeared.
But our transport problem was solved. One breezy morning I was on GCA duty. It was a "bracing" (ie petrifying wind - from Ulan Bator with love behind me); we would be on 09, the truck would be at the NE corner of the field, I could save the last mile off my journey (and avoid the jam at the camp gates) by using a short cut in the back way (gap in hedge). That brought me out quite close to the truck.
On the runway, abeam the GCA, lay a sad sight: a beautiful pale blue Canberra ("Aries" IV or V), with the wheels part down. I joined the small group of onlookers. What had happened ? At first sight it looked clear enough - u/c collapse on landing. But there was only one long thin central scar down the runway from the fuselage, but none from the outer u/c doors where they lay on the tarmac. So either they had collapsed at the moment the aircraft had come to rest, or the pilot had simply landed wheels-up and selected "down" after he stopped - in the vain hope, perhaps, of blaming the Canberra.
The Empire Flying College (curiously, references to it as it was at that time now always use the name "RAF Flying College" - are we ashamed of the Empire ?) was very cagey about this incident. It was jacked-up, put on its wheels and towed away, seemingly undamaged. This was one of the "special" Canberras kept at Manby which had "swept the board" of World Distance and Altitude Records. It seemed that it had come into Strubby for a GCA late the night before, after a very long trial run for, or actual attempt on, another Record. The affair was swept under the carpet.
There were Extenuating Circumstances: The pilot (rumoured to be a VSO) was utterly exhausted at the end of his very long flight. These things happen. Could have been anyone of us, after all. (I cannot find any report on this incident in Google, others may have more luck - or more skill in the search than I - I can't be more precise about the date than to say that '57-'58 should cover it).
We would have had more sympathy for the pilot had he not (as was widely believed) tried to pray in aid an allegation that Talkdown had not given him the mandatory "Check you have three greens for landing" at the three-mile point. Talkdown had been my friend "Vin" Harvey, but I am sure that no Talkdown could possibly have missed this: we must have said it hundreds of times. But the accusation still stuck; henceforth our procedure was changed: as three miles was coming up we would open the squawk-box to Local for a few seconds so that we should have a good witness that the words had been said.
And then there was another incident, a few days later. At the very last moment of the day, they decided to send a Meteor over to Manby for Intermediate Inspection. They grabbed a F/Sgt instructor. The thing had just come in from a sortie and had not been refuelled, but they reckoned there was enough to take it the cock-stride to Manby. He rushed off: of course there
wasn't, one flamed out half way, the other on long finals. He finished up in the undershoot.
They court-martialled him (it must have been after 'Gus' Walker left for 1 Gp., for he'd never have stood for it), and broke him down to Sergeant. Everybody was furious. Comparison of the two cases left a nasty taste in the mouth for a long time.
Some more interesting Truck moves next time.
Goodnight, all.
Danny42C
There's one law for the Rich, and another for the Poor.
Last edited by Danny42C; 29th Aug 2013 at 17:39.
Reason: Error.