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

[John Eacott]

Shoehorned? Well, I did find a deadlift of ToM up the steps was...challenging. The rear hatch is in the on the right of this photo, you can see the one and only kick-in step that the youthful crew would nonchalantly leap into on their way into the machine: we used the step ladder, and still had a 2-3 foot 'next step' into the cabin!



Inside we spent a while getting Dad past the observer's seat, a very basic metal seat on a 360 swivel. But the floor is quite unergonomic for traversing, plus the radios aft of the hatch and odd wiring tended to create an obstacle course. Dad took a breather before making it over the spar to the forward hatch where we stood and surveyed ToM's old workplace:





Dad's resting his hand on the fixed back of the pilot's seat; you can see how agile they were to get into the cockpit!



About now we realised the significance of the date, when talking to some visitors out of the window



Really, really proud to have stood in Dad's old kite with him