Gaining An R.A.F. Pilots Brevet in WW11
Danny now up to page 193 of your fascinating story. Will post before I forget.
The posting from Valley was to 1 F.T.S at Oakington, near Cambridge.
Oakington was a permanent camp with comfortable accommodation. The school was training Acting Pilot Officers and us. They did the full course. We did the requisite ground school and reduced flying hours.
From 1st July to 27th September I flew 36 hours dual, 35 hours solo day and 9 hours, half and half, night. My instructor had flown P.R.U. Spitfires during the war and ensured that I carried out several back seat landings so that, if I was on a station with Spitfires, I would be O.K. I never did.
We did a lot of instrument flying. Do you remember the dreaded "Pattern B"?. cross countries, authorised low flying ranging over the lovely East Anglian countryside. In all a very pleasant time. Leisure in Cambridge, motor cycling around the Broads and an end of course party with our instructors.
We wondered what would happen to us as nobody seemed to have a clue.
Well, it was to 201 A.F.S at Swinderby, but what were we going to fly?
I set off north on my motor bike. It got dark as I reached Newark and on to the Lincoln road to Swinderby. As I turned off the main road towards the camp there were traffic lights on red and I saw an aircraft approaching. It landed in the field before the road, bounced over the road and arrived at the runway. What a welcome! It was a Wellington.
There were two types at Swinderby, the Wellington T10 and the Mosquito. We were destined for the Wellington.
Next day we met our crew, one navigator. On a cross country, if there was an instructor in the aircraft, then there was a staff wireless operator, if no instructor, then no wireless operator. There had been crashes and the authorities were being careful.
We had two weeks of ground school, aircraft systems, cockpit drills,
safety drills, dinghy drills and so on.
Our Wellingtons were very well used and quite a handful after the Harvard. The turrets had been taken out and we were the last trainee pilots to fly them.
After solo and usual local flying a lot of emphasis was on instrument flying, flying on one engine, and cross countries. These were at 15,000 feet. The auto pilots mainly did not work, and we pilots couldnt leave our seats. The navigator had to operate the fuel cross feeds near his position, and we had to carry a torch in our flying suit as sometime the lights would fail. My last trip was a night cross country on the 31st December 1951, to Oban, Inverness and back to base and that was the last trip by a pupil pilot on the Wellington. Next day the Varsities arrived and I expect the Wimpies were scrapped.
From 12th November to 31st December I flew 30 hours dual day and 10 hours solo day and 8 hours dual night and 11 hours solo night.
I did enjoy flying a famous aeroplane and it was a nice one to handle.
They did start out with Bristol Perseus engines, but later given Bristol Hercules which were much more powerful.
Good night!