Coventry Cathedral

[Herod]

I've been watching a programme on the building of Coventry Cathedral, and saw the 72 :ok:Sqn Belvedere lifting the spire. I'd seen it before, but this was more extensive, and in colour. Does anyone know who the crew were?

For anyone with iPlayer, BBC 4, 2100 9th June. Well worth watching the whole thing, but the Beverley sequence kicks in at 59 min.

[Senior Pilot]

https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/483902-coventry-cathedral-belvedere-footage.html


Post No 3 IDs the crew 👍

[Warmtoast]

https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/483902-coventry-cathedral-belvedere-footage.html


Post No 3 IDs the crew 👍
Re Senior Pilots link above:
My contribution with photos is in post #14 in the link.
WT

[ShyTorque]

The pilot was definitely John Dowling. I met him at Shawbury during my time there, 1979 I think. By then he had retired (as a Wing Commander) and I don't recall the purpose of his visit but we got talking and he told me all about putting the spire on.

Edit: Oh yes, as per the previous thread. I'd forgotten I had posted that..

[DaveReidUK]

I've been watching a programme on the building of Coventry Cathedral, and saw the 72 :ok:Sqn Belvedere lifting the spire. I'd seen it before, but this was more extensive, and in colour. Does anyone know who the crew were?

For anyone with iPlayer, BBC 4, 2100 9th June. Well worth watching the whole thing, but the Beverley sequence kicks in at 59 min.

Link here (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000wvm3/coventry-cathedral-building-for-a-new-britain).

Inspiring indeed, though I looked in vain for the Beverley involvement. :O

[Cornish Jack]

DaveReidUK - moi aussi ! - the Bev could accomplish many feats but that would have been beyond us ;)

[ShyTorque]

I always fancied a go in a Beverley. Sadly, before my time.

(Babs was my favourite but I'm sure that Joy would have been very nice, too. :E ).

[treadigraph]

Not that much before your time then :p - and Teddie is still alive! :)

[NRU74]

DaveReidUK - moi aussi ! - the Bev could accomplish many feats but that would have been beyond us ;)
Heading North up the Rhône Valley, if the Mistral was blowing, it often felt as if the aircraft was almost stationary !

[treadigraph]

Wasn't a Beverley overtaken by a French train? And I don't mean a TGV!

[brakedwell]

I will always remember an incident when flying an Argosy from Nairobi to Aden in 1965/66. It had just got dark and we were joining the Ksar circuit. The tower had just warned us about a Belvedere ahead of us when the sky lit up and what looked like falling bits of fire fell towards the ground ahead of us. We landed a few minutes later and then the disaster unfolded - a Belvvedere had crashed south east of the airfield. At the board of inquiry they found a small rotor blade had detached from the starter motor and flown into the avpin tank (dangerous starter motor fuel) causing it to explode and destroy the helicopter with the loss of all on board.