Did You Know Sqn Ldr Ian 'Beery' Weir?

[GlosMikeP]

There's a book coming out in the NY - Tartan Air Force - in which Beery gets a couple of mentions. We'd like a photo of him for it from his time on 8 Sqn.

I've ransacked my collection to no avail. So, is there an old 8 Sqn mate who can help? To clarify, Beery was a pilot on 8 Sqn when we flew Shacks.

If anyone can help, please PM me - and by all means, post some amusing anecdotes here too. I've provided a couple for the book from the time he was Crew 5 captain.

Fire away!

[winston's cigar]

In reply to your request, I flew with Ian on Nimrods in the early 80's if we are talking about the same chap. One event that springs to mind happened during a 'stats bash' in the local danger area when instead of releasing a smoking float to simulate an ASR drop we got the full ASR drop which worked I am glad to say as advertised. Unfortunately for Ian this did mean we were met by the Stn Nav and CO for his one sided debrief. Oh and his next posting was as Stn Nav.

Regards WC

[cynicalint]

Wnston's Cigar,
I was on that flight looking out of the port beam window when he dropped it! The disbelief when I called ASR deployed was tangible and it took a few minutes for the giggles to set in on-board and how we would be met back at base! The fishing boat that picked it up demanded quite a large sum for salvage IIRC.

[Yellow Sun]

cynicalint and winston's cigar,

I have the feeling that the "Ian Weir" GlosMikeP is enquiring about is the small pilot of florid complexion not "Ian Weir" the large and jovial Scots navigator.

YS

[PPRuNeUser0139]

cynicalint and winston's cigar,
I have the feeling that the "Ian Weir" GlosMikeP is enquiring about is the small pilot of florid complexion not "Ian Weir" the large and jovial Scots navigator.
YS

YS
Beery was a captain on AEW Shacks. The 'florid' thing is right. He took a Shack to Aviano waay back in the 70s for an airshow and he was asked if he was the leader of the Red Arrows... (His nose glowed for Britain!)

sv

[Pontius Navigator]

Beery's story, and he stuck to it, was that he had been on a LRMP sortie and had gone down to the pool at the Officer's Club at Changi where he dozed off under a parasol.

While he was asleep some wifie came and nicked the parasol and he got horribly burnt.

BTW, Beery was not a drinker, so he said, he was a smoker however. He would disappear up the nose on a check ride, relax in the nose seat and light his pipe.

[GlosMikeP]

cynicalint and winston's cigar,

I have the feeling that the "Ian Weir" GlosMikeP is enquiring about is the small pilot of florid complexion not "Ian Weir" the large and jovial Scots navigator.

YS
Yes that's correct. Known to one and all as Beery. Had pipe glued to his teeth most of the time.

[GlosMikeP]

In reply to your request, I flew with Ian on Nimrods in the early 80's if we are talking about the same chap. One event that springs to mind happened during a 'stats bash' in the local danger area when instead of releasing a smoking float to simulate an ASR drop we got the full ASR drop which worked I am glad to say as advertised. Unfortunately for Ian this did mean we were met by the Stn Nav and CO for his one sided debrief. Oh and his next posting was as Stn Nav.

Regards WC
Thank you WinC but not the same chap I'm afraid.

[GlosMikeP]

Beery's story, and he stuck to it, was that he had been on a LRMP sortie and had gone down to the pool at the Officer's Club at Changi where he dozed off under a parasol.

While he was asleep some wifie came and nicked the parasol and he got horribly burnt.

BTW, Beery was not a drinker, so he said, he was a smoker however. He would disappear up the nose on a check ride, relax in the nose seat and light his pipe.
Ah! The parasol; I always wondered how he got the red nose!

[Shackman]

I'm going through 8 Sqn photo's now, but he was also my 'Tatics' Instructor on MOTU and have somewhere have other photo's of Beery at St Mawgan and Gib - however, that may well be a loft job!

Great man to fly with - I'd like to say taught me all about flying the beast but I probably forgot most of it and had to learn the hard way. I'm also glad to hear he was banished to the nose to smoke his pipe; most of the time he puffed away in the other seat and just filled the cockpit (and most of the rest of the cabin) with the aroma of burnt carpet.


* * Pertama * *

[PPRuNeUser0139]

The Cold War may have been in full swing in the seventies but, despite that, 8 Squadron usually managed to find space and make time for the human touch. It had been customary for the squadron to honour and respect the last wishes of deceased squadron members - some of whom requested in their wills that they wished their ashes to be scattered from the Old Grey Lady in the air - usually over The Minches.
We would take a minimum crew for one of these airborne 'funerals' - plus a padre and possibly a Church of Scotland minister.
I well remember one such occasion. On the day in question, we were thundering along at 160 knots at a couple of thousand feet over the Minches, with most of the radios turned down, the pilots having made sure that the route ahead was clear of fishing boats and the odd MacBrayne ferry.
Those taking part in the ceremony gathered down in the beam of the aircraft. This area was probably the noisiest area in the whole aircraft but those taking part all had prayer books and they could lip read reasonably well. There was a little flare chute set into the floor in this area that we normally used to drop small incendiary flares out of when we did Search & Rescue training. However, it had a useful and little-publicised secondary function of being the final exit for any ashes that were to be released.
So - to cut to the chase - the prayers were said and the padre signalled with a nod to the crew member with the urn sat on the floor for him to open the flare chute so he could tip the sad little container of ashes down it and away into oblivion.
I should have mentioned that the captain and 1st pilot of the crew was Beery, an inveterate pipe smoker who would regularly open the sliding side window up front on the flight deck to knock the dottle out of his pipe on the external skin of the aircraft. (We were unpressurised so this was a fairly well-established routine)
Unfortunately for all concerned, he chose just this moment to open his window.. This triggered an aerodynamic coupling between the open front window and the open flare chute with the result that an errant pressure wave rose violently up the flare chute. This action had a severely detrimental effect on the safe passage of the ashes that were, at that very moment, trying to pass down it..
In an instant, the beam area suddenly resembled one of those little globes which, with a shake, invoke a mini-blizzard. There was ashes everywhere... all the participants were covered in what looked like swirling volcanic ash.
As soon as Beery closed his side window up front, normal service was resumed and ashes started settling on any and every available horizontal surface. There was only one thing for it. We borrowed the dust pan and brush from the galley and started sweeping all the detritus up and tipping it into a paper sick bag. While this was going on, the clerical elements were trying to keep straight faces. Finally, after we'd swept and brushed up as much as we could of 'matey', this time he entered the next world bagged up in a sick bag.

sv

[GlosMikeP]

I'm going through 8 Sqn photo's now, but he was also my 'Tatics' Instructor on MOTU and have somewhere have other photo's of Beery at St Mawgan and Gib - however, that may well be a loft job!

Great man to fly with - I'd like to say taught me all about flying the beast but I probably forgot most of it and had to learn the hard way. I'm also glad to hear he was banished to the nose to smoke his pipe; most of the time he puffed away in the other seat and just filled the cockpit (and most of the rest of the cabin) with the aroma of burnt carpet.



* * Pertama * *

Best from 8 if poss but anything better than nothing I guess. I've already searched my loft!

[Wensleydale]

When Beery died (1985?) his ashes were scattered over the Firth from a Shackleton in the manner described by SV although there had been a modification to solve the problem of "Blowback". Beery's ashes were placed in a tube made out of a Low Flying Chart and clingfilm. The idea was that the tube would disintegrate in the airflow once it had been launched from the flareshoot. I remember a series of photographs being taken of the late pilot leader in his tube taken at various point around the aircraft ("Pilot Leader reclining in the Port Beam Seat", Beery in his Captains' Seat etc). A also believe that the Padre was concerned in case there was "the ecclesiastical equivalent of a birdstrike" should the tube be too robust. However I believe that all went well, although the tube had to be made much bigger as Beery left an awful lot of ashes and prototype 1 overflowed during filling. The final quandry for the crew was whether or not to claim in-flight rations for the late pilot leader. In the end, they went ahead although Beery was only worth an extra Dairy Cream Sponge due to the shorter duration of his particular flight. His memorial Service on the Sqn was a good party too if I remember. A fitting end for one of the most genuine persons you are likely to meet.

PS. Sorry if this post appears twice - first time I got a "Server Busy", so went again to make sure.

[GlosMikeP]

When Beery died (1985?) his ashes were scattered over the Firth from a Shackleton in the manner described by SV although there had been a modification to solve the problem of "Blowback". Beery's ashes were placed in a tube made out of a Low Flying Chart and clingfilm. The idea was that the tube would disintegrate in the airflow once it had been launched from the flareshoot. I remember a series of photographs being taken of the late pilot leader in his tube taken at various point around the aircraft ("Pilot Leader reclining in the Port Beam Seat", Beery in his Captains' Seat etc). A also believe that the Padre was concerned in case there was "the ecclesiastical equivalent of a birdstrike" should the tube be too robust. However I believe that all went well, although the tube had to be made much bigger as Beery left an awful lot of ashes and prototype 1 overflowed during filling. The final quandry for the crew was whether or not to claim in-flight rations for the late pilot leader. In the end, they went ahead although Beery was only worth an extra Dairy Cream Sponge due to the shorter duration of his particular flight. His memorial Service on the Sqn was a good party too if I remember. A fitting end for one of the most genuine persons you are likely to meet.

PS. Sorry if this post appears twice - first time I got a "Server Busy", so went again to make sure.
Mind if I send this to the author of the book to go with his photo, if we ever find one? What an end for such a great guy!

Anyone on 8 got time to look through the scrapbook and see if there's any photos of Beery from the period 78-84?

[Twotimer]

Wensleydale's post stirred a few memories. From my book: 30 Sep 83; WL 790; Wg Cdr D G------y; Local Area - S/L Weir's ashes committed to sea; 0:30. IIRC, there wasn't a specific plan, it was just turning dark and DG decided to parallel the shore and put in two flame floats a few seconds apart about a quarter of a mile N of the Skerries. Then, as the Padre intoned the words, we turned the long way round to head towards shore and put Beery between the floats. I'm pretty sure there was a small family and friends gathering watching. We then gently circled the flames for the 3 mins or so until they went out. (Not sure if we disturbed anyone's 23 approach plans but nobody complained.) Obviously it was never quiet in a Shack but I only remember one other time when there seemed such an intense stillness on the intercom. Frankly, it was very moving.... the Nav clearly felt so too as he almost 'choked' over the Field Approach Checks.

RIP Beery; a character and a Gentleman.

TT

[PPRuNeUser0139]

TT
Check your PMs
sv

[Wensleydale]

I have a few Beery pictures if I can find out how to get them into this thread - those of us who are old enough to have flown shacks can't handle this new fangled technology such as calculators, digital watches and the wheel (we knew about fire though but that's another story).

GMP - pse check yr PMs. If you send me yr e-mail address I'll pop the pictures up to you on powerpoint (or word if you'd rather).

Now, where did I park my horse and cart...:rolleyes:

[RiffRaff]

That was when Beery taught you to fly the Shack and John Elias taught you the rest - I learnt about flying from that. Beery was reputed to be the longest-serving Flying Officer in the RAF, until the 'B' exam was abolished and he was instantly promoted to Flight Lieutenant. It was a much-deserved eventual promotion to Squadron Leader - Beery was a real gentleman and always good company both on the flight deck and when away. He had an endless store of anecdotes from the Shackleton and maritime worlds and was much missed when he died.
In answer to your question, GMP, have you tried 8 Squadron? I believe the scrapbooks are still held in the archive and there must be a few photos of Beery there.

[GlosMikeP]

That was when Beery taught you to fly the Shack and John Elias taught you the rest - I learnt about flying from that. Beery was reputed to be the longest-serving Flying Officer in the RAF, until the 'B' exam was abolished and he was instantly promoted to Flight Lieutenant. It was a much-deserved eventual promotion to Squadron Leader - Beery was a real gentleman and always good company both on the flight deck and when away. He had an endless store of anecdotes from the Shackleton and maritime worlds and was much missed when he died.
In answer to your question, GMP, have you tried 8 Squadron? I believe the scrapbooks are still held in the archive and there must be a few photos of Beery there.
RifRaff
Thanks, 8 direct (sounds like a wine seller!) was my next move, but fortunately Wensleydale has come up trumps with, it seems, a complete set of Powerpoint slides of when Beery got a certificate for his 10,000hrs, and more.

With luck we're home and dry.

Mike

[Ally1968]

Hi

I'm writing to all of you out there who have posted things about my Dad - Ian William Weir!

Great to see some stories about him- especially as I lost him when i was only 15.

If any of you have any pictures, stories or information about him / his parents etc I'd like to hear from you

Thanks

Alistair Weir

[fincastle84]

Beery was the MAI on my MOTU in 69-70. I learned a lot from him, mostly in Aunty Pearls on a no fly day! (I was a Nav!)

I remember well recovering to St Mawgan when the cloud base was so low that he took the left hand seat. OC Ops met the aircraft, prepared to bollock the student crew for exceeding minimums. When he realised that Ian had flown the approach, he offered congratulations all round.!

Beery formulated my love of & belief in Maritime aviation; a true gemtleman.

[GlosMikeP]

Alistair

Check your PMs.

GMP

[spurnhd]

I hope my memory hasn't failed me, but I'm sure that Beery Weir was responsible for getting his Shackleton Mk 3 Ph 3 back onto the airfield at RAF Kinloss following an translation unit failure. A translation unit failure caused a runaway prop and lots and lots of that nasty drag stuff. I think he turned back and just scraped over the fence to plonk the aircraft down on the grass. We were all amazed to see the aircraft in the middle of the airfield the next morning. If I'm wrong, I'm sure somebody will correct me!

[Neptunus Rex]

spurnhd

Mostly correct, except that the Shack was not in the middle of the airfield, it was well over on the north side, near 120. The next morning I was driving past it with our Staish, the inimitable Charlie Fountain. With a wry grin, he said:
"Neppy, remind me to bollock young Weir for not parking into wind!"

The incident took place at night, during monthly "Manders." (Mandatory continuation training for pilots, as there was no sim.) Beery turned from the downwind leg, and put it down on the grass. Because of the colossal drag, he left the undercarriage until the last moment, getting 'three greens' just before touchdown. In those days the GCA controller was in a caravan on the airfield. Beery gave the controller and his assistant the fright of their lives as the roaring Shack passed rather close by on the roll-out.

There was one minor injury. One of the Siggies on board had been on Pop Gladstone's Shack that had a similar problem several years before. However, on Pop's aircraft, as well as the uncontrollable overspeed, the engine caught fire and they crash-landed on Culloden Moor at night. (They all escaped safely, and the locals told Pop he was the first Englishman to 'fall' on Culloden Moor since 1746.)

Now, our brave Siggy had been through all this before, so, as soon as the aircraft stopped, he had the door open and jumped out. What he forgot was that Pop had landed with the wheels up, but Beery had got them down. One broken ankle.

Although I never had the privilege of flying with Beery, I have enjoyed many a pleasant ale with him at St Mawgan, Kinloss, Changi and Gib. Beery was undoubtedly one of the true gentlemen of our old Kipper Fleet.

[telsurrey]

Hi

I'm writing to all of you out there who have posted things about my Dad - Ian William Weir!

Great to see some stories about him- especially as I lost him when i was only 15.

If any of you have any pictures, stories or information about him / his parents etc I'd like to hear from you

Thanks

Alistair Weir

Hi Alistair!

i was at school with your dad. I have info from those days plus photos. More later.
I am on this site to find details of your dad’s death. Anyone got details? Much obliged if you have.

[NutLoose]

I have sent him a private message as he might not see this thread it being so old, hopefully his email may pick up he has a message as you cannot send PM's yet.

[telsurrey]

I have sent him a private message as he might not see this thread it being so old, hopefully his email may pick up he has a message as you cannot send PM's yet.

Thanks NL Much obliged