CFS Little Rissington in the 1960's

[mikemmb]

I am trying to scratch my head and write a short (family only!) history and would appreciate some help with my time as ground crew at CFS Little Rissington.

Basically I arrived from Boy Entrant training (50th entry) at St Athan as a wet behind the ears "fairy" in the spring of 1965.
Straight onto the JP line ...but was that 1HP or 2HP, both ring a bell? And which hanger did they operate from, I seem to recall it being in the middle of a row of 4 or 5?
Then had a spell on the Varsity line, but what was that team known as, the hanger if I remember correctly was at the far left of the row when facing the runway?
This was followed by a years fitters course say all of 1966, followed on my return by a spell in the Instrument Section (vividly remember walking around in a white coat with "IN SECT" stencilled on the back, which for a late teen was not cool).
Then a short spell in the Scheduled Servicing hanger, mainly on the Varsity, which I seem to remember being on the far right .
In the autumn of 67 joined the Red Arrows for winter servicing and the 68 season, which I remember most of.
Then in early 69 left for 3 years in paradise Akrotiri.

....strange how some things are clear but others frustratingly hazy, so would really appreciate a steer to fill the gaps on what the various sections were called.

[chevvron]

Rissy was my first summer camp in 1962 as a 13 year old ATC cadet.
I remember the JPs and shiny new Gnats and there were also a few Piston Provosts and one or two Vampires, but I don't recall any Varsities; had there been any I'm sure they would have been used for cadet AEF so instead we flew in the 'usual' Chippes, however for some reason I was allocated a Piston Provost flight before I had ever flown a Chippie which rather spoilt me when I did fly in a Chippie.
There were 4 'standard' C Type hangars north side plus a smaller version in the middle of the 4, set back from the others; there were also numerous 'L' type storage hangars south side which we never visited however driving past them in a coach on the outside road towards Windrush we could see one or two Meteors parked. The Provosts (piston and jet) operated from the apron to the right (west) of the control tower and the Gnats operated from the left (east) apron.
Course that doesn't mean they couldn't have allocated some Varsities between then and '65 when you arrived but as far as I recall, the far left hangar contained JPs and Vampires in '62 .
We did fly in Varsities at later camps; Oakington in '64, Lindholme in '65 and Stradishall in '67.

[papajuliet]

Have you read the book " RAF Little Rissington The Central Flying School Years 1946-1976" ? It's very detailed with many photos. I heartily recommend it.
It's available on Amazon.

[DaveReidUK]

Rissy was my first summer camp in 1962 as a 13 year old ATC cadet.
I remember the JPs and shiny new Gnats and there were also a few Piston Provosts and one or two Vampires, but I don't recall any Varsities; had there been any I'm sure they would have been used for cadet AEF so instead we flew in the 'usual' Chippes, however for some reason I was allocated a Piston Provost flight before I had ever flown a Chippie which rather spoilt me when I did fly in a Chippie.
There were 4 'standard' C Type hangars north side plus a smaller version in the middle of the 4, set back from the others; there were also numerous 'L' type storage hangars south side which we never visited however driving past them in a coach on the outside road towards Windrush we could see one or two Meteors parked. The Provosts (piston and jet) operated from the apron to the right (west) of the control tower and the Gnats operated from the left (east) apron.
Course that doesn't mean they couldn't have allocated some Varsities between then and '65 when you arrived but as far as I recall, the far left hangar contained JPs and Vampires in '62 .
We did fly in Varsities at later camps; Oakington in '64, Lindholme in '65 and Stradishall in '67.

Some years later - July 1970 - I managed to secure an unofficial hangar tour of Little Rissington. As a spotty youth, the prospect of sitting in a JP cockpit was infinitely more appealing than a look around a Varsity, but I recall that 5 or 6 of the latter were to be seen, looking as if they were still in use with CFS.

[mikemmb]

Thanks guys, the brain cells have stirred a little more!

Dave & Chevvron, definitely had Varsity’s, wonderful to watch them spluttering into life on a cold winter morning! But my big memory of them is getting the end of my nose sliced off by a prop in 1965 (it was stitched back on, so didn’t effect my good looks too much). The other big twin we had in 1965 was a Mosquito for the CO to play with .....but don’t mention the glue degradation!

PJ, Yes the CFS book looks amazing, thanks.

[tramontana]

When I visited LR all the flying had stopped and the RAF had moved out to be replaced by a sealed up American fully equipped Hospital in case of a War in Europe along with some of the Hangers full of grain. Apparently the Americans would check the Hospital at various times and seal it up against contamination.
We could have done with it now.

[chevvron]

I returned to Rissy in '91 to be admin officer for a gliding course run by 637 VGS; I was a Flt Lt RAFVR(T) by then.
The 4 'C' type hangars were still packed with 'hospital' equipment as was the barrack block where I stayed in '62 plus the airmen's mess and NAAFI. The married quarters were occupied by USAF families from Heyford.
The main runway had been re-surfaced by USAF to be used by F111s from Heyford in case they had a problem after departure and there was an H24 USAF fire crew. The VGS Vigilant gliders were kept in one of the 'L' type hangars on the south side and their previous steeds, the Ventures, were still there, pushed into a dark corner gathering dust.
As for Varsities, the thing I remember at Oakington was their first 'start' of the day when huge gouts of flame would erupt from the exhausts.

[DaveReidUK]

As for Varsities, the thing I remember at Oakington was their first 'start' of the day when huge gouts of flame would erupt from the exhausts.

Ah, the joys of sleeve-valved engines ...

If anything, the Centaurus on the Ambassador was even worse.