Project Propeller

[Aussie Andy]

Hi all,

Anyone else going to take the RAF veterans to Kemble tomorrow (ref. http://www.projectpropeller.co.uk/) may be interested in forecast - Flyer website says:

Outlook for Saturday: Bright spells developing after a misty start. Scattered showers developing.

So, should be flyable & hopefully this means the day will go well!

See you there - (you know who you are!)

[Keef]

So who went? G-UTSY went with another group member flying and some fascinating chaps aboard. I've not heard much about how it went, though.

[FNG]

It was an excellent day. The weather was better than expected, although I had to dodge a bank of low cloud near the White horse on the way back to Waltham. I flew in and back with a Typhoon DFC who had flown 123 Ops, including the Amiens prison raid and several ops in the Falaise Pocket, and then did short aerobatic trips with a Hurricane guy, a Lancaster Navigator, and a Spitfire pilot, as well as two Air Cadets.

The Red Arrows flew past on their way to Colerne, and a Spitfire made one low pass (the veterans wished he'd done some more). John Farley gave a well received talk on the Harrier.

Kemble is a very good airfield: similar to North Weald in some respects, and with any luck should be licensed by August.

It is a great privilege to meet and fly with these men. Everyone should do it.

PS: nice to say hello to Skua, if only briefly: were you in the Pitts? Also saw Aussie Andy who had brought a couple of veterans in from Booker.

[Aussie Andy]

Yes, an excellent day! I am really looking fwd to next year. Well done to the organisers!

Arrival was good fun - I understand 125 a/c turned up: they all seemed to be on the d/wind leg at the same time as me :eek:

I think one of the highlights of the day was the 1940's style swing band from Bristol, with singers and dancers, which although made up of half adults and half young teens, was absolutely excellent!

It was great to see the veterans - those to whom we owe so much - enjoying themselves, meeting old friends and acquaintances, and regaling us all with amazing stories.

I also enjoyed the Hunter hangar, about half a dozen of these fast jets based there. Might be fun to try one out one day..!

I had a bit of trouble with the wx on the way back - I was on the north side of the vale of the white horse and had to fly very low to stay out of cloud there. By the time I got to Abingdon, tracking to Westcott, I couldn't see ahead through showers/mist so thought about landing at Abingdon Mil (Brize didn't seem to mind) but field was busy - with drag racing!?! So crawled around the Oxford ring road to Kidlington and waited for worst of it to pass. Eventually dropped the chaps back at Cranfield before returning to base @ Booker.

Well done FNG - how many chaps did you take out on aero sorties? Seemed you were up & down like a yo-yo - you must have been tired last night!?

P.S. Hi Skua - good to meet you too! Lost track of you after a while, but hope we can meet again.

Also hello Greg - can't believe you didn't know about PPRUNE - hope you've found it now!?

Keef: saw G-UTSY there - great callsign!

[skua]

FNG
not in a Pitts sadly, but my Robin.
I had - a QFI who taught in Canada all the war,
- a pilot of Blenhiems and Baltimores ("went like a rocket") who spent all the war in Africa and the Middle East
- a guy who was chopped as pilot in training in Rhodesia, then remustered as a tailgunner, initially in Whitleys (10 hour sub - chasing missions from St Eval), then Halifaxes (did the Peenemunde raid)

Their stories were fantastic. We encountered seriously crap weather both there and back (from Manston), yet they thought it was all great fun. A brilliant day out

You did sterling work !

Andy,

the guy is - David Ashbrook
[email protected]
(612-42-942893)

what was the name & author of that book we were discussing?

Thanks

Skua

[FNG]

I was pretty knackered when I got home, having logged 3 hours 25 minutes in seven sorties, five of which included aeros. The Typhoon chap enjoyed low level weather-ducking on the way back (the cloud can't have been much more than 500 feet above the hills ahead of us: we scarpered). Like Andy, I groped up past Didcot and Abingdon (also thought of ducking in there, or Kidlington) and then followed the M40 to Stokenchurch, by which point it was clearing nicely. Turned into a beautiful evening at Waltham, where we were entertained over beers by one of the Lotto Airships doing runway beat ups (yes, in an Airship) and steep climbs and descents.

I've signed up for next year's event already.

[Aussie Andy]

skua: I think Greg from RAF Wyton (sp?) said it was called Whiteout? Can't remember author's name... Just looked quickly on Amazon.co.uk but couldn't spot something which seemed liek what he was taling about. I gave Greg my email address, so when he gets in touch I will ask....

[BEagle]

Please remember that since the once-proud RAF aerodrome at Abingdon was handed over to the dung-eaters, it is NOT an active aerodorme and to arrive their uninvited would be both considered a 'forced landing' and highly hazardous! You might be unlucky enough to meet some khaki truck driver coming the other way - or any number of other unexpected and unpleasant surprises! Much safer to land at Brize or Benson in an emergency such as getting caught out by poor weather.

[IanSeager]

This year was my third PP, and as usual it was a great event. My two passengers both live fairly close to a military airfield that, as far as I'm know isn't used much by fixed wing types but has the occasional C130.

The first time I picked my passengers up I asked permission to use the airfield as it would be very easy for them to get to. The answer was NO. Fair enough I suppose, but I would have thought that they could manage a couple of civvie movements without too much hassle, after all it was for a very good cause IMO.

Ian
Oh, OK - the establishment concerned is Chivenor

[Aussie Andy]

Thanks BEagle - shouldn't Abingdon be marked as disused then? Also, when I told Brize I was thinking of diverting there, they seemed neutral about it... perhaps they should have said "no way"? But thanks for the info..!

[BEagle]

It's only 'disused' if use of the site is uncontrolled and it's just lying festering away. Otherwise it's an inactive government aerodrome - i.e. it could be used, for example on military exercises or by ATC motorgliders.

Chivenor is listed as 'Strictly PPR (24 hours). Civilian aircraft not accepted'. What a shame - that's what you get when we hand decent aerodormes over to the grunts. Why the hell couldn't they have had Valley or Kinloss?

Brize should certainly have warned you about Abingdon. I will have speaks when I get back off leave.......

[Aussie Andy]

BEagle to be fair to the guy, he was pretty busy at the time! There were about 125 a/c streaming out of Kemble - probably most of them through the AIAA and asking for a service. Around the same time I was having my little issues, I heard him call G-XXXX to say "we have been tracking your return and believe it was YOU that just came straight through our zone without permission" which G-XXXX denied, but point is he was pretty busy and harrassed at the time - so maybe couldn't easily take in my problems as well as everything else going on!

[Aussie Andy]

Skua - heard back from Greg, book details are:

Title: "Smoke Screen"
Author: Robert SABBAG
ISBN: 1 84195 232 X

[skua]

AA

Many thanks

Skua