Wander00... 'Black Adder RAF WW2'. Stephen Fry as Bomber Harris...
'They sowed the wind.. now they'll reap the whirlwind!'... too grim!
That's what I thought, Stanwell, a helping hand from a convenient Northerly Force 6 to achieve that speed!
Fantome... one can hardly blame Col Griffin for getting so easily hooked (..by a poster) into becoming a pilot. The romance of the aircraft of those days seems to me to out-class anything around today. Though I suppose any sense of romance must have ebbed away pretty quickly when your aircraft turned defective in the air, or you found that you were lost due to the lack of navigational aids.
There's another photo that caught my eye in that brochure:
The caption reads:
'Final instructions being given to Volunteer Reserve pilots before practice flights from Hanworth Aerodrome. The aircraft are Blackburn B2 trainers which have side-by-side seating. Volunteer Reserve pilots receive a fifty hours course of elementary training before flying service types of aircraft. The elementary training is similar to that received by regular pilots of the Royal Air Force.'
Arthur trained at Hanworth too, though at this time he was nearing the end of his advanced training and was shortly to gain his Wings.
Caption:
'Plotting courses for cross-country flights is part of the ground instruction which all Volunteer Reserve pilots receive in addition to their flying training. Instruction in the operation of machine guns and other armaments is also given. All Volunteer Reserve training is received at civil training schools and certain payments are made in return for the men's service.'
I was definitely born into the wrong generation!
