Ormeside.
Your: "I know that it is drifting from the war so should I go on? " Most certainly you should !
Your experiences closely mirror mine. I, too, joined the RAFVR in'48 at Fazackerley, but they'd only just got started and there was no training programme of any kind up to the time I applied to rejoin the RAF in the autumn of that year (but the fact that I was in it as a F/O may have helped my application, as demonstrating keenness).
Why would they send you all the way to Wolverhampton to fly, when the flying (if civil) could have been done at Speke (or if military) at Woodvale, which only had an Auxiliary squadron of Spitfires on it ? It is grand to hear that "Manny" Shinwell got straight on the job and found you your TMs (we could do with some Ministers like that today !).
And there again, why Hooton Park (which would involve our going over the river and down through the Wirral, when there was Woodvale half an hour away on the Southport line from Exchange Station (trains about every 20 mins), and most of our people would be from Liverpool ? Doesn't make sense. (Sorry about you wild Welsh, but we had to think of the greatest good of the greatest number).
Now as regards 20 Sqdn. at Valley, I was there from 21.3.50. to 19.9.51. (Sqdn. disbandment). I reckon you would have got to Valley about April'51, so we were there together for that summer. Station Commander was W/Cdr J.E.T. Haile; 20 Sqdn. C.O. was S/Ldr A.R. Hindley, AFC; I was in "A" Flt (F/Lt W. Hewlett). The only Pole I remember on the Sqdn. was M/P "Joe" Halkiew, and we had a Czech M/P ("Zed-Zed" Zmitrowitz). They target-tugged with our (one and only) Beau. But apparently the AFS had moved in about that time, so they might have had some Polish QFIs, but I don't remember any.
Perhaps I should explain that we had little contact with the AFS people. They had their Flight Offices and Tech site on the SW side of the runway, we were on the NE. They must have had their Messes and accommodation apart from ours, for I don't remember them in ours (which in any case would have been far too small for both). Anyway, my weary tale of Valley is on p.168 et seq. of this Thread....D.
harrym,
Your: "judicious use of the rudder alone without bothering with 'aileron'". True, but however "judicious" your use might be, it bore no relation to the change of heading which resulted ! As I've noted before, with the Link it was a case of "Shake the bottle - None'll come and then the lot'll !" Roll on your Next Instalment....D.
Cheers to you both. Danny.
Last edited by Danny42C; 21st Jun 2014 at 21:28.
Reason: Corrections,