tangmere atc 60's and 70's

[tangmere teen]

hi all, is there anyone who would remember gliding at tangmere in the atc when the co was dennis rogers. took him to the museum there today as it is his 85th birthday. If anyone remembers him would be nice to hear from you

[ExAscoteer]

My late Father was on 623 GS at Tangmere from end Sep 1963 to end Jul 1968.

Looking at Dad's Log Book it seems that Flt Lt Rogers was CFI at end 1965 through to Jan 1968.

They flew together on:

8 Mar 1964 in T21 WB932 Circuits/Mutual, 2 launches, 7 mins

4 Apr 1964 in T21 XN248 Mutual, 1 launch, 5 mins

19 Sep 1964 in MkIII WT900 Air Test after rebuild, 1 launch, 3 mins

27 May 1967 in T21 WB919 Mutual, 2 launches, 10 mins

Unfortunately the only character I remember from that time (I was rather small!) is Bill Verling but I don't know if he is still with us.

Sadly Dad died back in 2005 so I can't ask.

[tangmere teen]

Hi, nice to hear from you. Sorry to hear about your dad. We were all rather small then I was only 5 in 1964 such a long time ago lol. I will check with dad re bill verling and let you know ! What was your dads name will see if dad remmbers him ? Not sure if dad still has his log books they may be in storage somewhere but it's nice that you have your dads. hope to get back to you soon sue

[tangmere teen]

hi ExAscoteer just an update yes bill verling is very much with us and living in rustington sue

[ExAscoteer]

Sue,

Could you authorise your Private Messenger please?

[tangmere teen]

wont let me yet as am only a probationary !! Still trying to negotiate my way round this site at the mo sue

[D120A]

I was at Tangmere in the summer of 1964, with my university air squadron at their summer camp. As a short-sighted RAF Acting Pilot Officer engineering cadet I was not allowed to fly the Chipmunk (my role was to act as 'adjutant', which translated into 'chief procurer of student nurses and teachers for the Squadron parties'...), so I remember going over to the gliding school at the weekend to see if I could get my frustrated feet off the ground.

They (and that must mean the CO) made me most welcome, and my pulling and pushing was rewarded with a number of flights in the Sedbergh WB932. My instructors were Geoff Orwin, Bob Tullett and Mr Conron. (I wonder if one of those was ex-Ascoteer's Dad.)

Many thanks to Flt Lt Rogers for making me so welcome. Not forgotten after 52 years!

[ExAscoteer]

D120A if you PM me your name I'll have a look in my Dad's LogBook.

[tangmere teen]

Hi, D120A nice to hear that you enjoyed your time at tangmere. Will mention the names to dad see who he remembers. His brain is still working quite well but sadly th mobility is not so good sue

[Wander00]

D120A - well there's one of your skills I did not know about! Reminds me of a n exchange visit to the Norwegian Air Force Academy in 1984 with 3 recently graduated students. Four of us Brits, 4 Norwegians go into a bar and about 30 seconds later a very bright an personable former student rushes back to the group "Over here , Boss, I have found 8 student nurses". and a pleasant evening was had by all (Thanks L K)

[tangmere teen]

Hi ExAscoteer, you havent mentioned your dad's name just wondering if dad would remember him he seems to be able to recall others i have heard about on here which is good shows his marbles are still intact !!!! sue

[deltahotel]

ExAscot (and I am also an exAscot) and tangmere teen, greetings. I lived on OMQs at Tangmere 63/64 while my dad did the Russian language course - I was born in 1959, so have limited memories only. I doubt he would have had any involvement in ATC matters, but would have in station soccer. He died 2009, his 85th birthday would be two days' time.

[tangmere teen]

hi deltahotel, same age as me then heading towards the next milestone and my doesn't it flash past these days !! I can remember playing tennis against the blast walls and the odd flight in a glider. Oh and dropping the odd puffball (fungi) on the airfield below. Hope you have fond memories of your dad those are the ones to hold onto sue

[ExAscoteer]

Tangmere Teen PM sent. :)

[dash6]

Hello Teen. Dennis gave me my first gliding lesson in 1967,and sent me solo two weeks later,after 35 launches and 1 hour 36 mins flight time. Must have seemed OK because he allowed me 3 solo launches straight off. To put it in perspective for those not familiar with '60s ATC gliding,this was probably average.Many cadets got solo in fewer flights.
I did become a staff cadet later,managing a bit over 1,000 launches and a bit under 90 hours. Staying up not a speciality!
Afterwards,being rather dozy,and not fancying a proper job,I went into aviation.Just retired after 45 years powered flying and taking up gliding again.
Oh,yes..39 flights total with Dennis,mostly check rides.Hope I did'nt cause you you too much grief! All the best.

[76fan]

I am interested to see that a couple of you here logged your ATC launches and flight times. My gliding tuition was at Hendon, at weekends probably in 1960, where I seem to remember we had to be careful when landing to avoid the posts stuck in the ground and which marked the intended housing development. I did enough to get solo for my three quick circuits from about 900 ft but I don't remember any personal logging of launches, airframe numbers or flight times. Is that due to my memory loss or was it not done at all the schools?

[dash6]

76. Afaik all flights were logged ,but it was up to the individual to record the info for themselves. I don't think log books were issued for the proficiency course as it would only take up a few lines. There was a section in the "record of service book"to fill in AEF and gliding if you wanted to. (Along with the bit where your parents gave the ATC permission to maim or kill you!). 76 fan? Me too!

[sycamore]

D120A,sadly you lost your `sheepdog` skills when you became a `real` EngO....

[76fan]

dash6. Thanks for your reply. Thinking about it I guess actual flight time didn't amount to very much at all, just as you said. "Take up slack, all out", winched to 900ft (I think that was about the highest I remember in the Cadet which was the only type I got to fly in), a quick crosswind, slightly longer downwind, sharp base, quick finals and out spoilers and hold it off for the landing ... how on earth did the instructors teach all that during such short airborne time? I think I remember seeing a Sedbergh do a 360 turn on the downwind once, I don't think the Cadet had enough height or time for that!

[Felix Verling]

Hi I remember your Dad really well. My Dad was Bill Verling and when your Dad returned to the UK a few years ago they made contact and met up. My Dad died in 20I17 aged 93. I spent almost every weekend at Tangmere up to 1970. I have a lot of Dad's photos from that time and if you contact me I will find a way to letting you have any photos there might be of your Dad

[Felix Verling]

Sad to report that Bill Verling (my Dad) died in 2017. I wish I knew all your real names as I might be able to put names to faces as I spent just about every weekend at Tangmere from 1963 to 1970. I have Dad's photos from 623 and a lot of cine film of those days. If anyone was at his retirement as CO event where he was presented with a beautiful silver tray, my Dad cherished that tray, it had pride of place in his flat and was polished every week. It now has pride of place with me. I have photos from that evening

[longer ron]

I am interested to see that a couple of you here logged your ATC launches and flight times. My gliding tuition was at Hendon, at weekends probably in 1960, where I seem to remember we had to be careful when landing to avoid the posts stuck in the ground and which marked the intended housing development. I did enough to get solo for my three quick circuits from about 900 ft but I don't remember any personal logging of launches, airframe numbers or flight times. Is that due to my memory loss or was it not done at all the schools?

Recorded in 3822 (record of service book) ?
ISTR logging my prof course launches in 3822 but mine went awol many years ago,luckily I had copied the details into my first 'proper' Log Book.

[paulj53]

Hi. I recall Tangmere very well. It was where I had my first gliding experience( in Sedburgh XN148) as a member of the ATC (Horsham Squadron) between 1967 and 1970. What is special is that 50 years ago to the day on Saturday coming I started my gliding course there I also recall well Dennis Rogers and Bill Verling. Especially Mr. Verling as he checked me out for my soloes in a T.31 Cadet.. (in XN250 April 11th 1970)
Slightly earlier recollections of Bill Verling were of his Tiger Moth G-ASXB, kept in the glider hangar and an impromptu display of loops in a Sedburgh one summer evening as we were about finished for that evening. He landed on the taxi way or the grass alongside, between the concrete blast walls and T2 hangar!

[Felix Verling]

That sounds like Dad. He loved gliding and always said how lucky he was to have had the opportunities that he had.

[Felix Verling]

Hi I wondered if your Dad was still around. I have a couple of photos of him from those days, you, or he might be interested

[POBJOY]

When i was based at 615 (just up the road at Kenley) rumour had it that Bill would do inverted circuits in the Swallow !! Wish I had met him.
The Comper Swift G-ABTC had been rebuilt at Tangmere when owned by the Station Commander J A Kent.
Tangmere and Kenley both classic battle of Britain airfields, and both got hammered. Kenley never extended for jet operations whist TG got a much longer runway. When Al Pollock flew his Hunter under tower bridge he had taken off from TG.

[brakedwell]

I nearly came to a sticky end at Tangmere towards the end of an Argosy Captain's Conversion Course at Thorney Island in June 1964. I took off from Thorney to drop a pair of nine thousand pound Boscombe Platforms on runway 25 at Tangmere. The first drop was perfect, but the second platform became a big problem when it stopped on the rear sill and the drogue extraction parachute wrapped itself on the tailplane. The centre of gravity was so far back that the nose pitched up and it needed the strength of both pilots to stop the nose pitching up to vertical. The stick shakers were going and the speed was falling off when the Boscombe Platform fell off the rear sill. and the nose dropped violently. I managed to pull out at around 200 feet, when the stick shaker finally stopped vibrating, and we flew back to Thorney feeling very shocked. The second Boscombe Platform landed in a ploughed field to the west of Tangmere, fortunately without causing any damage.

[ancientaviator62]

Brakedwell,
very scary. I am surprised the AQM was not injured or even fell out during the climb. We has a similar incident when I was on JATE. A platform malfunctioned and hit the back of the a/c on exit. A little further forward and I would not be writing this !

[brakedwell]

ancientaviator62, I seem to remember the AQM stayed forward when dropping Boscombe Platforms, but they were the last ones I dropped as we only used One Ton Containers in the Radfan a few months later.

[JW411]

Which reminds me of a (fortunately) funny story. The first time I got involved with dropping a double MSP (Medium Stressed Platform) I was a young co-pilot flying with my learned ancient captain who went by the name of Dad Owen. Each platform had a Land Rover and trailer sat on top. Our Loadmaster was a famous MALM who was very definitely Scottish. He was briefed to give us a commentary as the drop progressed. The navigator pulled the handle up front at the dropping position and set things in motion.

"The furst load is moving"
"The furst load is passing me"
"The furst load is gone"

And the same again with the second.

The daft bu**er was standing by the para door at the back of the aircraft as they shot past him at the speed of light just inches from his nose instead of staying safely up front.

He never did it again..​​​​​​​

[JW411]

Which reminds me of a (fortunately) funny story. The first time I got involved with dropping a double MSP (Medium Stressed Platform) I was a young co-pilot flying with my learned ancient captain who went by the name of Dad Owen. Each platform had a Land Rover and trailer sat on top. Our Loadmaster was a famous MALM who was very definitely Scottish. He was briefed to give us a commentary as the drop progressed. The navigator pulled the handle up front at the dropping position and set things in motion.

"The furst load is moving"
"The furst load is passing me"
"The furst load is gone"

And the same again with the second.

The daft bu**er was standing by the para door at the back of the aircraft as they shot past him at the speed of light just inches from his nose instead of staying safely up front.

He never did it again..

[ancientaviator62]

When the Herc OCU was at Tangmere we used it as a DZ as well. Even after the OCU moved up to Lyneham we used Tangmere for troop uplifts. On Hercules all heavy drops the loadmaster stayed forward of the load (s) to manually release the extractor parachute in case of finger trouble or electrical failure.

[brakedwell]

On the Argosy the Navigator went downstairs and laid in the nose, using thle switches and no doubt looking out of the nose window. The loadmaster, I seem to remember, stayed at the front for heavy drops, but was down the rear when dropping parachutists.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1024x642/argosy_masirah_96c55daf200995fc53c4906664c893f8ece53243.jpeg

[treadigraph]

Great thread!

[ancientaviator62]

Apologies for the thread drift but the loadmaster on the Herc was forward of the load for all extracted sorties and aft for para drops and manually ejected loads.

[ICM]

No 21 Argosy Course, airdrop phase in summer 1966. A trainee Nav, the late and very tall Andy McHugh, was on a 1-Ton drop at Tangmere. He called 'Green On' when required, the load moved and extracted ..... but the main chutes malfunctioned and did not open, causing the pallet full of ammo boxes filled with gravel to make a neatly shaped hole on the runway.

[JW411]

And if I remember right, the aiming point at Tangmere was the letter "S" in a circle on runway 25 just before the intersection. (Today's piece of useless information).

[brakedwell]

Never mind Jock, we both like being useless now!

[D120A]

Just a little attempt to close the thread drift! In June and July 1964 RAF Tangmere hosted the University of London Air Squadron's summer camp. As a non-flying groundpounder member of the Squadron I saw many drops on the airfield, and was aware of Tangmere's ATC being extremely diligent in keeping such operations separate from those of keen undergraduates in Chipmunks. Halnaker windmill was, as I recall, the 'hold' and got quite busy at times.

[chevvron]

Visited Tangmere just once; mid '60s I scrounged a flight from Bovingdon in an Anson to deliver someone there.
As we passed over Bognor, I was amazed to see the pier was derelict having been destroyed by fire shortly beforehand; I well remembered it from visits to Butlins in 1960, '61 and '62.

[D120A]

brichar5, please clear your stored messages in order to receive new ones!

[zepdes]

hi ExAscoteer just an update yes bill verling is very much with us and living in rustington sue
Hi Sue,
I read the ATC official history of Gliding Schools a while back. It didn't focus on individual pilots, however Bill was an exception. The phrase used was ' and now we come to the pilot, Bill Verling' .Bill sent me solo in 1967 at Tangmere, and I'm still flying gliders now. However he was the best pilot I've ever flown with, to this day. Des