The Good Old Days...

[petermcleland]

208 Squadron in Kenya...

Some time ago I compiled a little booklet on this subject and I have now finished printing and distributing it to surviving squadron members. I have just made a Powerpoint slide show of the booklet and here are nine of the 150 slides:-

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208a.jpg

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208b.jpg

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208c.jpg

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208d.jpg

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208e.jpg

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208f.jpg

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208g.jpg

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208h.jpg

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208i.jpg

The slideshow is mainly about people and places and many of the pictures have been shown on this site. However, for anyone who is interested, I have uploaded the presentation (100 MBs) and it can be downloaded from here:-

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208_Squadron_in_Kenya.pps

The download will take at least 5 minutes and you must have Microsoft's Powerpoint to view it...A free download of Powerpoint Viewer can be obtained here:-

Download details: PowerPoint Viewer 2007 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=048dc840-14e1-467d-8dca-19d2a8fd7485)

Thanks for looking :)

[Rigga]

Brilliant pics Peter.
I like the offset Arrow-Heads on the Hunters. And I never knew 208 operated Venoms!
I was a 22 year-old J/T when I joined 208 Buccs at Honington in 1980, so I feel I have some (loose) connection.

I'll try and download the .ppt later (800kbps here - it's pitiful to say the least).

Rigga

[neildo]

Excellent slide show, some cracking pics and im sure some amazing memories for yourself! Thanks for sharing :ok:

[BEagle]

Thanks so much for sharing memories of the happier days of 50 years ago when we had a real RAF!

[Grabbers]

As a comparative whippersnapper I do so like the trips down amnesia lane. Nice one. :ok:

[petermcleland]

Thank you for the comments Gents...I'm very pleased that you enjoyed my trip down memory lane :)

[Argonautical]

Peter, can I ask if you took part in the 4 ship Hunter team that displayed over Entebbe for Uganda's independence? Thanks.

[philrigger]

Funny you should post this PMc. I have just been looking again at the following site and you are on there too.

mainframeset (http://www.radfanhunters.co.uk/mainframeset.htm)

It is a great site for Hunter fans.

I was the Admin Clerk on 1417(FR) Flight in 1967 at Khormaksar. I later remustered to Airframes and served for a total of 25 years. I had an interesting tour on 1417 (Workwise that is) and the aircrew were good to work for.

[petermcleland]

Argonautical,

The displays I did in Uganda were in Venom FB4s and they were over Bungoma and Entebbe on 4th and 5th December 1959...I imagine that Uganda's Independence came later than that and I left 208 after the Kuwait affair in August 1961...The 208 Squadron aerobatic team with Hunter FGA9s was by this time led by Sqn.Ldr. Mike Goodfellow and I imagine that he would have flown the Independence display sometime later, after I had gone home to UK tourex. :)

[petermcleland]

Philrigger,

Yes, I contributed many photos to that site...Mostly in "Anecdotes" > "208 Squadron" and in the odd other places there. I was of course long gone from there in 1967. In fact by then I was a First Officer on Vanguards in B.E.A. :)

[Dengue_Dude]

I spent 18 months flying into and out of Entebbe a couple of years ago, with the approach often over Lake Victoria - beautiful part of the world.

I wouldn't have fancied flying a fast jet low level with those Malibu Storks and other assorted ****ehawks about!

Thanks for the sheer nostalgia of looking at those lovely aircraft. These were the days when we had an Air Force, (and an Empire come to that).

[Warmtoast]

Seven years earlier in 1953 Peter was mentioned in Flight Magazine although they managed to miss-spell his name.


Final event of the day was a superlatively contrived exhibition of formation flying by four Venoms of 266 Squadron, flown by S/L. Couthard, F/L. J. R. D. Taylor, F/L. P. Stowell, and P/O. P. R. E. McLennan


Details here:
tiger moth | meteor | 1953 | 0809 | Flight Archive (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200809.html)

[Samuel]

Peter, I've sent you a PM.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e33/Shadblat/208Venom.jpg

This is a 208 Venom at Eastleigh

[fincastle84]

Peter, the photos in your PP are superb. Thanks for taking the trouble to post them.

I have fond memories of 'socialising' with 208 in Sharjah in '69-'70. I was on 210 Sqn (Shacks) & 208 used to visit from Bahrain for a month's APC using the range just south of Dubai.

They once drank us out of Double Diamond & we had to send an emergency convoy to Abu Dhabi for fresh supplies. It didn't pull very well after a 6 hour drive through a hot, bumpy desert!:(

[petermcleland]

Seven years earlier in 1953 Peter was mentioned in Flight Magazine although they managed to miss-spell his name.



Details here:
tiger moth | meteor | 1953 | 0809 | Flight Archive (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200809.html)

Heavens!...It's a long time since I saw that article...here is a picture of us doing a Box Landing at the end of that display:-

http://www.petermcleland.com/009_box_landing_rhodesia_1953.jpg

I'm in the box :)

[AED24]

A little before my time, but absolutely fascinating stuff Peter - thanks for posting.

[blaireau]

Yo fincastle,

I was on 208 at that time. We must have shared a few cold ones!

[Samuel]

Err...they look really good..but was there a purpose behind a box landing? I don't recall ever seeing one!

[CirrusF]

Err...they look really good..but was there a purpose behind a box landing? I don't recall ever seeing one!


Very impressive - but wouldn't the aircraft at the back be plum in the downdraft wakes of the preceding aircraft?

[Samuel]

...and whom is watching whom in such a landing?

[petermcleland]

Very impressive - but wouldn't the aircraft at the back be plum in the downdraft wakes of the preceding aircraft?

No, in the box I sat just below the downwash and the jetwash was just above my canopy (if I rode a little high then it rumbled slightly). The purpose of it? Just a display formation landing like any other.

I admit it was rare to see it done and that was because there were additional risks...I have 48 Box Landings in my logbook :)

Here is a picture of us practicing the box landing at Wunstorf before going down to Rhodesia:-

http://www.petermcleland.com/030_bl.jpg

It's from the book "Venom" by David Watkins.

[petermcleland]

...and whom is watching whom in such a landing?

We are all formating on the leader as usual, but I in the box call the "Power Off" to make sure I get it done first. Naturally, I hit the ground first and then the others carry on downwards to touch down around me. I already have my fingers on the brake lever and formation is maintained on the landing rollout with twitches of brake...Just the same as any other formation landing.

[Fareastdriver]

but was there a purpose behind a box landing?

When you have not got enough fuel left for a run in and break. At least that was my one.

[petermcleland]

When you have not got enough fuel left for a run in and break. At least that was my one.

LOL!...I reckon you would probably use more fuel with a formation landing!...No it was just a stunt like any other airshow stunt...It's purpose was just to draw attention to something different and a bit unusual :)

[higthepig]

Excellent stuff, thank you for sharing it. Anyone else have pictures like that they would like to share?

[CharlieJuliet]

Just seen this - many thanks for posting the photos. Brings back memories of school at the Duke of York Nairobi, and watching first the Venoms and then the Hunters of 208 practice for the annual agricultural show. The show ground was near the school and I can still hear the sound of Hunters on the blue note as they flew overhead. Probably sparked my interest and subsequent time in the RAF.

[petermcleland]

Just seen this - many thanks for posting the photos. Brings back memories of school at the Duke of York Nairobi, and watching first the Venoms and then the Hunters of 208 practice for the annual agricultural show. The show ground was near the school and I can still hear the sound of Hunters on the blue note as they flew overhead. Probably sparked my interest and subsequent time in the RAF.

Well you probably saw me roaring about quite a lot then...I did all the solo aerobatics displays as well as number 4 in the formation aerobatic team, from 1959 to 1961...Venom FB4s and Hunter FGA9s.

I think back to that period of nearly three years as the best in my life :)

[Samuel]

So you should...but so did a lot of people at Eastleigh, a Station which seems to attract very little comment on these pages, yet was a very busy airfield at times. Not only were you and your mates carving holes in the sky, but there were visiting Canberras from just about everywhere that had them, plus all sorts of aircraft. We even had the occasional Valiant until one overnighter sank into the tarmac. I can recall ringing the bell at the Officers Mess and asking to speak to the Captain of said Valiant to advise him he might want to move his bird to a concrete pad. I don't think Eastleigh had anything which would tow a Valiant! There was an all-white Canberra which appeared from Aden now and then, piloted by one Jonny Johnson I think.

They also used to land Comets at Eastleigh, until someone one day heard the mud hitting the flaps [Eastleigh was unsealed] and decided Embakasi was the better strip for such aircraft. The runway was in constant state of repair by Works and Bricks, with scrapers and rollers out there all the time in the dry season. Those vehicles were cleared fom the runway by the very high-tech method of a controller leaning out of the tower window telling "Bang the gong" at an ancient African gentleman who sat in a shed holding a lump of metal with which he hit a suspended CO2 cylinder. He must have had the worst case of tinitus known to man.

Eastleigh was very laid back as I recall, the CO being a South African Gp Capt, in 1958 at least, later replaced by an Air Commodore whom I appeared in front of on my one and only ever charge as an airman. He dimissed me, and bollocked the Cpl who had charged me for wasting his time. What an air force it was.:ok:

[phil9560]

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at those pictures.I wasn't born for another ten years so I can't say they brought back memories but they gave me a nostalgiac glow nevertheless.I often think one lifetime isn't really enough.

[Samuel]

That Standard "Flying 9",[ a misnomer if ever there was one, the 9 referring somewhat wishfully to the number of horses under the bonnet] brings back a few memories because I was one of as group of four or five airmen who owned an identical car, same colour! I don't recall who we sold it to, though 25 quid sounds like a bargain.

We went through a number of cars, because collective ownership was cheap but they were all past their best: there was a Humber Super Snipe, a MK 7 Jaguar, and Austin A40 Sports, and a Citroen Big Six. Driving on corrugated Kenya roads in that Standard was interesting to say the least!

[petermcleland]

That Standard "Flying 9",[ a misnomer if ever there was one, the 9 referring somewhat wishfully to the number of horses under the bonnet] brings back a few memories because I was one of as group of four or five airmen who owned an identical car, same colour! I don't recall who we sold it to, though 25 quid sounds like a bargain.

We went through a number of cars, because collective ownership was cheap but they were all past their best: there was a Humber Super Snipe, a MK 7 Jaguar, and Austin A40 Sports, and a Citroen Big Six. Driving on corrugated Kenya roads in that Standard was interesting to say the least!

I managed to "Fly" that Standard one night, driving back to Eastleigh from some nightclub somewhere (where we enjoyed the singing of an Seychelloise lady!) We were fully loaded with squadron chaps and I failed to notice the road swung left a bit before joining the main road back to camp...I went straight on at high speed and the car jumped/flew over a storm drain along the edge of the main road. The landing on the other side was somewhat firm and all the wheels buckled slightly. However, we made it back to base in a curious wobbly sort of way!

[Al R]

I enjoyed reading and looking at that Peter, thanks. :ok:

[ian16th]

Peter Mc

Many thanks for the wonderful pics, brought back many memories of good looking a/c.

I was at Istres and Orange, in 57 and 58, 'saw through' many Hunters and Venoms.

A lot of the Hunters were for the Indian Air Force.

[petermcleland]

Peter Mc

Many thanks for the wonderful pics, brought back many memories of good looking a/c.

I was at Istres and Orange, in 57 and 58, 'saw through' many Hunters and Venoms.

A lot of the Hunters were for the Indian Air Force.

Thanks for the comment Ian...I passed through Istres in 1953 with 12 Venom FB1s on Operation Longtrek. Our leader was Colin Coulthard.
I remember being turfed out of a hangar there for "spying" on a secret Leduc 010!

[ian16th]

Peter Mc

The French were still playing around with a Leduc when I got to Istres in 57.

They used to inject smoke into the ramjet and it litrerally blew smoke rings :ok:

Happy Daze

[petermcleland]

Peter Mc

The French were still playing around with a Leduc when I got to Istres in 57.

They used to inject smoke into the ramjet and it litrerally blew smoke rings :ok:

The one I looked at was pretty terrifying...The pilot lay prone in a nose "Bullet" sticking out of the middle of the air intake. He had windows each side of his head but no window forward...This was a Glider for its landing as the Ramjet failed below a certain very high airspeed. When you looked into the air intake past the nose bullet, you could see straight through and out of the jetpipe at the rear!!

Surprisingly, I don't think anyone got killed flying that infernal machine :rolleyes:

[ian16th]

The one I saw took off from a trolley that ran on rails, alongside the regular runway and landed on skids.

This site has a write up on the Leduc program and some of the photo's are at Istres : Leduc, the test flights (http://aerostories.free.fr/constructeurs/leduc/page8.html)

There was also one of the Languedoc 'launch' a/c parked at Istres all of my stay, I never saw it used.

As you say, it was a terrifying m/c. As for security, in my time we never got anywhere close to it and the RAF Liaison Party was moved to Orange in May 58. There was some talk about the move being a 'security' thing.

At Orange the French had one squadron of Mystre IVb's. 2/5 escadron de chasse.

As a matter of interest, I still have my Laissez-Passer for Orange! But I think I look a little different to the 52 year old photo, so they probably wouldn't let me in today :)

[petermcleland]

The one I saw took off from a trolley that ran on rails, alongside the regular runway and landed on skids.

This site has a write up on the Leduc program and some of the photo's are at Istres : Leduc, the test flights (http://aerostories.free.fr/constructeurs/leduc/page8.html)

Ian,

Thanks for that pointer to the test flights...Yes, it was this one that I saw there:-

http://aerostories.free.fr/constructeurs/leduc/leduc010_05.JPG

The prone pilot's head was between those two horizontal windows in the nose...How would you like to position and land a glider with only those views available. Brave chaps!!

[petermcleland]

Here is the text of an email that I just sent to my surviving squadron buddies and I thought I would post it here as it contains the URLs of all six HD videos (two of which have been updated) and a set of instructions on how to watch them if your bandwidth is not really up to it:-

http://www.petermcleland.com/echo/ferry04.jpg
The 208 Squadron Hunters on the restored concrete strip at Embakasi Airport, Nairobi, in Flight Simulator.

Well I managed to persuade my 12 Hunters to fly from Stradishall to Nairobi with the same legs that they used 50 years ago in 1960...I also managed to do it on the same days...1st, 2nd and 3rd June. I know that we had our fours flying separately but it would have been a bit boring in fours so I sent them as a 12 ship battle formation of three fours. I've been unable to establish exactly who flew in which four but here is how they are split in my simulation:-

Red section...Boss Ramirez, Tim Cohu, Pete Biddiscombe and Dicky Brown.
Blue section...Mac McLeland, Alastair Macnab, Pete Tate and Stu Grieve.
Green section...Des Melaniphy, Flick Hennessey, Dinga Bell and Huck Sawyer.

I put together some video clips taken on each leg and published a YouTube Video for each leg...so six videos.

The only pilots flying in this are AI (Artificial Intelligence) Pilots in the Traffic versions of the Hunters...I went along in REAL time by "Attaching" myself to one or other of the twelve and viewing (and videoing) from that position or from the ground for the take-offs and landings. The initial take-off from Stradishall is a rather unrealistic "Squadron scramble" but all the other take-offs are realistic stream take-offs in fours. The breaks for landing are from Battle Formation Fours except the final one at Nairobi where they get to use Echelon Fours for the break. Landings are all stream landings in fours but the spacing is a bit closer than real and even becomes close formation for the odd pair or three!

The videos are all YouTube HD and will only stream properly if you have enough bandwidth on your Broadband...If they won't run for you and keep stopping then see my note at the bottom about a good method to watch without interuptions. Each video runs for about 8 or 9 minutes.

These HD YouTube videos are best viewed with the resolution clicked up to 1080p and the Picture Size icon clicked to the larger size...You can even click on the Full Screen icon but on my very large monitor it looks sharper with the previously described setting.

Here are the six videos:-

Stradishall to Luqa:-

YouTube - 208toMalta1080.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqcxUEK9f2I)

Luqa to Nicosia:-

YouTube - 208toCyprus1080new.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYOp_rEDZdk)

Nicosia to Tehran:-

YouTube - 208toTehran1080new.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IY8iE1njNg)

Tehran to Sharjah:-

YouTube - 208toSharjah1080.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4UNhPoxJak)

Sharjah to Khormaksar:-

YouTube - 208toKhormaksar1080.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_EVHZbM630)

Khormaksar to Nairobi:-

YouTube - 208toNairobi1080.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U10TTMZwn4)


NOTE ON HOW TO WATCH WITHOUT INTERUPTIONS.

1. Click on the URL to get your chosen video.
2. The moment the YouTube viewing screen showsclick the icon at the bottom left of the screen to STOP.
3. Go to the icon on the right for resolution and click it up to 1080p.
4. Click the two arrowed icon to the right of the resolution icon to select the largest of the two screen sizes.
5. Note that the video is STOPPED at the moment but it is still downloading as indicated by the PINK band moving slowly to the right, down on the left bottom edge.
6. Wait to allow this PINK band to move a couple of inches to the right (let it move to the bottom left corner of the image and then about the same distance again).
7. Click the icon at the bottom left of the screen to PLAY...It should now play from start to finish without interuption.

[Shack37]

I have fond memories of 'socialising' with 208 in Sharjah in '69-'70. I was on 210 Sqn (Shacks) & 208 used to visit from Bahrain for a month's APC using the range just south of Dubai.


Was that the BK trip over Xmas & New Year when the ground crew won the Billet Bar competition having been open 24/7 for about a week and had a full honours funeral for Coastal Command on it's demise in Nov. 69?

[petermcleland]

Here is a 208 Squadron photograph that I have not published before:-

http://www.petermcleland.com/slides/208SquadronAtSalisbury.jpg
Taken at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) in 1959...

The pilots on the front row from left to right:-

Alastair Macnab, Terry Hill, Dinga Bell, Tim Cohu, Roy Morris, Dicky Brown, George Ord, Boss Ramirez, Sam Key, Mac McLeland, Pete Biddiscombe, Des Melaniphy, Mike Telford, Stu Grieve and the last is our Engineer Officer, Paddy Thompson.

[BEagle]

Great picture from the days when we still had an RAF of worthwhile size....

[petermcleland]

Great picture from the days when we still had an RAF of worthwhile size....

Well Beagle when that picture was taken the RAF was still trying to get over the draconian cuts imposed by the infamous White Paper by Duncan Sandys in 1957. The Boss, Sqn.Ldr Ramirez had been asked to form a Venom squadron and the Air Ministry were unable to supply him with any Venom experienced pilots as it had lost track of them...Most of them no longer had flying jobs and were "down a hole" working in Radar. He searched around himself from West Raynham, where he was getting a bit of Venom familiarisation, but was unable to find any. I got to hear of his search (I was flying an Anson and a Meteor T7 at the time, on 275 Helicopter S&R squadron and I had four years Venom experience). I was delivering bits to Horsham St. Faith at the time I heard, so I made a telephone call to West Raynham and spoke to my old Boss, Wg.Cdr. Coulthard to ask him to have a word on my behalf. That was on a Thursday...On the following Tuesday I was posted to start the very best of my "Good Old Days" :)

[Fareastdriver]

Not so very long after that Venom detachment a flight of French Air Force Vautours visited New Sarum. They were there when I was doing my Air Force interviews.

[sharpend]

What nostalgia! I remember the Akrotiri Strike Wing well, 5 Canberra Sqns, 1 Hastings Sqn, 1 Javelin Sqn, a Lightning Det & a Whirlwind Flt. The world was out oyster. Those were indeed the days.

Interestingly, I'm now off to have a beer with an ex 20 Sqn Hunter mate.

[sharpend]

Actually, Mike Telford was my QFI at Leeming in 1965! Told tales of crashing his aeroplane in Oman!

[petermcleland]

Actually, Mike Telford was my QFI at Leeming in 1965! Told tales of crashing his aeroplane in Oman!

Thanks Sharpend...I like news of where old friends went :)

BTW...Your friend from 20 Squadron might well know Roy Morris who flew Hunters with them.

[Gerontocrat]

If you would like George Ord's contact details, send me a PM. Having 'crossed' his path when he was Staish at GUT, I was was somewhat surprised (so was he, I think!) to find him and his wife living in the same village as my wife's parents, not far from Wittering - oh, 25 years ago - but he is still there and we are still in touch.

[petermcleland]

If you would like George Ord's contact details, send me a PM.

Thank you...PM sent :)

[blaireau]

Hi Gerontocrat,

Can you pass me George Ord's contact too? He was CO of 208 when I was there in the Hunter days.

[Gerontocrat]

Blaireau
Please check PMs.

[sharpend]

Me poor old memory is failing !! That chap (Sleeves) flew Javelins at Tengah and Hunters in Bahrain! Silly me

[petermcleland]

I finally got this to work how it was supposed to:-

http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpoint/208_Squadron_in_Kenya.zip

Unzip the downloaded file to anywhere and it will create a folder called 208_Squadron_in_Kenya...Open the folder and doubleclick the file "208_Squadron_in_Kenya.pps".

The PowerPoint presentation should now play with music.

If you just let it run then it will go for about half an hour.

If you do not have Microsoft's PowerPoint then you can download a free PowerPoint Viewer here:-

Download details: PowerPoint Viewer 2007 (http://tinyurl.com/3ywowm)

[rdpmelaniphy]

Hello,

My name is Richard Melaniphy and I am the son of Des Melaniphy who is in the photo you have posted. I'm trying to get together some pictures of my father (RIP 1998) during his raf years. He flew Meteor's, Hunters, and Harriers and was also the commanding officer of RAF west Rayhnam. If you have any pictures or even stories about my father I would really appreciate it if you could post some more or email me some please. I'm trying to put together a collection / scrap book to show my son (Des's Grandson) who sadly never met his grandfather.

Your help would be much appreciated.

Regards

Richard Melaniphy

[Rossian]

...check yr PMs

The Ancient Mariner

[petermcleland]

Richard,

I have PMd a reply :)

[sharpend]

Apart from aeroplanes, cars and women, we pilots also love nostalgia.

Peter, I have just had a really good look at your powerpoint presentation. Exellent! Though I was not there (I only joined in 1964), I had an equally splendid time in Cyprus towards the end of the sixties. Halcyon days, the like of which we will never see again.

Your presentation has inspired me to do my own; something for our great grandchildren to enjoy.

[uffington sb]

Thanks Peter.

I think I've got dust in my eyes!!

[Samuel]

Thank you Peter. A wonderful nostalgic trip!

I had two and a half years at Eastlegh, from 1958-60 which of course include the transition of 208 from the Venom to the Hunter. I recall the Venom in the Mossie ditch very well; there being no permanent lighting on this airfield. Night flying was a messy job, involving dozens of ‘goose-neck’ flares the length of the runway and at the touchdown point for an aircraft landing. The taxi-ways were marked with battery-powered ‘glim’ lamps, in red blue and amber to mark off various turning areas. Taxying can't have been easy.

The flares were essentially a container for the fuel, kerosene, with a long neck which held the cotton wick. The problem was you could put them in place on the runway, but not light them until you knew how far away the aircraft was from landing, as the flares had a life dependent on the amount of fuel. You also couldn’t leave them unlit for too long, as the local Africans weren’t above sneaking onto the airfield to steal the kerosene! Once you had all the facts in place, the flares could be lit, as quickly as possible so that they burned more or less at the same rate. We achieved this by removing the door from a Landrover, and driving down the line of flares with the passenger hanging precariously out of the door with a lit flare in one hand, the other hanging on for dear life. Needs must!

I also recall your Standard Nine, because we had an identical one in collective ownership which we did indeed sell on! There can't have been two at Eastleigh surely? Twenty five quid seems about right!

A fascinating postscript to this story might be to relate where all your friends ended up fifty years on!

[Samuel]

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e33/Shadblat/DSCF1471.jpg

This is a model of "J" Juliet in both 208 and 8 Sqn markings when at Aden. The name on the aircraft is Flt Lt F H Davies.

[blaireau]

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at your presentation. Great days. Many of the faces are known to me from my service time which also included 208 Hunters.

Sadly, most of my photos went into Squadron diaries, so I don't have this sort of record. Those I do have can be seen on Face "book" though.

Edited because I used the Face word!!

[Dengue_Dude]

Sorry but I need to revisit the purpose of a boxed landing.

I think there are possibly two. Having been qualified on the Main Runway De-Icer, where we used those kind of engines to blow snow and ice away, it could be:

No.4 sucks up all the FOD generated by the preceding aircraft, thus keeping the runway clean. If FOD is too big, said No. 4 can bang out without being run over.

Or:

No 4 is the aircraft shortest of fuel and his preceding mates are breaking wind for him, now usually achieved particularly well if everyone had a Balti and a few beers the night before.

Which of these fits as far as you're concerned?

Thanks again for the great pics. My dad was SWO at RAF Tengah in the 60s when we had 20 Sqn out there flying their Hunters - lovely looking aircraft.

Then we had 60/64 Sqns with their Javelins . . . 'nuff said.

[sled dog]

DD, steady on, you might upset us ex 60 / 64 blokes.......:p

[Dengue_Dude]

DD, steady on, you might upset us ex 60 / 64 blokes.......

Ooops, didn't realise there were any left. Respect, flying those aircraft with cracked main spars (if I remember correctly). Sadly we lost a few from Tengah in the time I lived there.

We lost several Canberras 45Sqn? 14Sqn NZAF? (memory is addled). A few Hunters stoofed as well. It was a difficult time.

We came home from school and were filling sandbags at one point to make shelters in the monsoon drains in Quarters. Anyone else out there during confrontation.

Ah, on second thoughts, no wish to hijack the thread. Sorry Peter, runaway nostalgia.

[Samuel]

We lost several Canberras 45Sqn? 14Sqn NZAF? (memory is addled). A few Hunters stoofed as well. It was a difficult time.


14 Sqn RNZAF lost a Canberra B12 off China Rock, and 45 one at Labuan as I recall. There were at least three Javelins from 60/64.

[petermcleland]

All my squadron photos were 35mm Transparencies...That is what we used in those days as colour negatives and prints were pretty new then and the quality was not as good. Of course, I had to convert those transparencies to digital files for my presentation but I am very pleased with the results.

Thank you all for your comments on this thread, I have really enjoyed reading and replying to them.

[dagama]

Peter, thank you very much for taking me to my memories of my birthplace and where I underwent the tests and interviews to join the RAF in 1964!

That reference to the night club would the Sombrero as I believe it was the only one.

The East African Standard (the local rag) printed a magnificent photo of a Masai warrior, complete with full headgear, sitting in the cockpit of a Hunter. Needless to say, the canopy was not closed. The other photo I remember was of a Vulcan, taken by another, giving the impression that it was flying IN the crater of Kilimanjaro. Brilliant.

I did the tests and medical at Eastleigh and was interviewed by AOC East Africa Command at Air house behind the Mayfair Hotel on Slaters Road, Parklands.

I still have the droning of the Beverley engines runs (at 6 am each weekday) ringing in my ears.

Was flown in an Argosy of 105 Sqn to Khormakser on 4 Jan 64 and onto Gatwick by British Eagle trooper to sign on the dotted line to begin a 40 year career.

[petermcleland]

The East African Standard (the local rag) printed a magnificent photo of a Masai warrior, complete with full headgear, sitting in the cockpit of a Hunter. Needless to say, the canopy was not closed.

Dagama,

That was Pete Biddiscombe's Hunter and here is the photograph you mentioned:-

http://www.petermcleland.com/misc/Masai02.jpg

[dagama]

Thanks very much for the photo of the Masai in the Hunter. You guys coming to Eastleigh/Embaksi and the resident Beverley Sqn doing famine and flood relief work inspired me to knock on the gates of RAF Eastleigh and ask to join the RAF, which I did!

Anyone got a photo of the white Vulcan 'flying' in the crater of Kili?

[patrickfirth]

Hi All,

My name is Patrick Firth. I am the grandson of John Firth, Who is pictured in the large group photo earlier in the thread captioned - Taken at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) in 1959.. (Hopefully I have attached a picture highlighting him). I realise it is a bit of a long shot but I was just wondering if anyone had any crew pictures or if anyone knew of him?

I have some slides from that era as well but they are mainly family pictures that wouldn't be of any interest to the group. Sadly he has passed away but it would be great hear from anyone that knew him. He went on to Zambia, Cyprus, and finally worked on Vulcans, after the RAF he went to Saudi with BA.

Many Thanks

Patrick