Halton Song Book

[sunday driver]

Any idea how I could get hold of a copy of this (alleged 1930) publication? The family copy disappeared some years ago.

Contents include "A Forced Landing" in which the bruised pilot urges the Fitter (engines) to remove various components from different parts of his anatomy ". . . and assemble the engine again".

A pdf of the book would suffice, or I can scan it and return to sender (on pain of death and all that sort of thing)

Ta
SD

[forget]

THE BOLD AVIATOR LAY DYING

(Second World War version, trad)
Tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Oh, the bold aviator was dying
And as 'neath the wreckage he lay, he lay
To the sobbing mechanics about him
These last parting words he did say

"Take the cylinders out of my kidneys
The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain
From the small of my back get the crankshaft
And assemble the engine again"

Two valve springs you’ll find in my stomach,
Three spark plugs are safe in my lung, my lung,
The prop is in splinters inside me,
To my fingers the joy-stick has clung.

Take the propeller boss out of my liver,
Take the aileron out of my thigh, my thigh,
From the seat of my pants take the piston,
Then see if the old crate will fly.

alternatively:

The young aviator lay dying
And as in the hangar he lay
To the mechanics who 'round him were standing
These last parting words he did say:

"Take the cylinders out of my kidneys,
And the connecting rod out of my brain,
From out of my *rse take the crankshaft,
And assemble the engine again."

[828a]

sunday driver,
I have a copy of the " Airman's Song Book " first published in 1945 and it refers to the " Halton Song Book " as being printed in 1930 by the Halton Debating Society. The " Airmans Song Book " which is compiled by C H Ward Jackson and L. Lucas is the updated version containing 195 squadron songs ( some with written music ) dating from 1914 to 1967. The very first and possibly the oldest song in the book is the one you refer to and this song is shown as having two titles. The first is " The Bold Aviator " and the second is " The Dying Airman " Also there are three versions each of which are different in wording but in reality are all the same. None of them refer to the smart alex second last line written here by the person who calls himself " forget ".
If you would like a copy of these three versions them PM me a Fax number and I' ll send them to you. In the third version there is a reference to " then say I forgot TWICE IOTA was the minimum angle of glide ". Is there any one out there who can tell me what TWICE IOTA means.?
828a.

[norman atkinson]

In an inebriated practice run before my RAF 31 Squadron Reunion, I scribbled the bit from the sound track of Angel's One Five in reply.
I had no idea of the published works for various ditties. Certainly, there is a Car plate in the North East as 1 OTA and its partner 1 JOT. I am still looking for One Tittle. My Chip shop has N1 DED- and I live dangerously.

I would be delighted to pass a copy of the ditties on to go into the Squadron archives.

[virgo]

829a..............try asking some of the clever-clogs who read the Tech Log thread.

[828a]

virgo,
Thanks for the suggestion but those gents who read Tech Log are mostly engineering types and " TWICE IOTA " sounds like pilot talk.
828a.

[virgo]

828A. The term "iota" is the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet to denote "something" in exactly the same way that "rho" (the seventeenth letter) is used in the lift formula :

Lift =Coeff of Lift X 1/2rho X Vsquared X S where "rho" represents density.

Similarly, the angle of glide is sometimes known as "theta" (eighth letter) in the formula

Tan Theta = Height divided by distance

It's more likely that an engineer would know what iota is than a pilot - all the pilot's got to know is that he's got to keep the angle of glide below the stalling angle !

[Fantome]

". . . . .then say I forgot twice iota was the minimum angle of glide."




Iota also means the smallest amount. No mystery here. Not in need of technical analysis. Just trips off the tongue nicely. Bit like the old three fifths of five eighths of F.A.

[virgo]

Fantome..................most sensible suggestion I've seen !

Maybe someone could start a new thread

"Things that sound difficult but are actually very easy "

Your mathmetical description of not-very-much will do for starters !