RAF Sharjah
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RAF Sharjah
An ex REME Aircraft Technician posted this question about RAF Sharjah on our REME Web Site recently and I wondered if anyone can help,
Regards,
Bob
In January 1963 I was part of a crew that flew up to Sharjah from Aden to change the engine of a DH Beaver. In front of the RAF transit hut at Sharjah there was the usual manicured sand and the required white painted rocks, but I believe they had an extra feature, bulbs planted in the sand. They were of course light bulbs but I thought it was a nice touch. If anybody travelled to Sharjah around that time, do they remember seeing these bulbs or is it a figment of an old mans imagination.
Bob....Can I take you up on your offer to contact the PPRuNE sight, the hut was not a guard room just a meeting place when you got on or off a plane that is when I arrived. The person who was running the operation did not know what to do with us but we got lucky as the SWO man just wandered in he said we should be billeted in the RAF transit hut as we would be out on the strip every day. It took the engine a couple of weeks to come up from Aden. I am sure that if we were under the control of the Army they would have found lots for us to do, as it was we drank lots of Vimto and enjoyed our mini holiday.
Regards,
Bob
In January 1963 I was part of a crew that flew up to Sharjah from Aden to change the engine of a DH Beaver. In front of the RAF transit hut at Sharjah there was the usual manicured sand and the required white painted rocks, but I believe they had an extra feature, bulbs planted in the sand. They were of course light bulbs but I thought it was a nice touch. If anybody travelled to Sharjah around that time, do they remember seeing these bulbs or is it a figment of an old mans imagination.
Bob....Can I take you up on your offer to contact the PPRuNE sight, the hut was not a guard room just a meeting place when you got on or off a plane that is when I arrived. The person who was running the operation did not know what to do with us but we got lucky as the SWO man just wandered in he said we should be billeted in the RAF transit hut as we would be out on the strip every day. It took the engine a couple of weeks to come up from Aden. I am sure that if we were under the control of the Army they would have found lots for us to do, as it was we drank lots of Vimto and enjoyed our mini holiday.
Last edited by bob shayler; 3rd Feb 2013 at 07:02.
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That sounds bloody dangerous
Yes, I suspect that we had a bad batch of cartridges at one stage. It was possible to go through the five remaining cartridges, reload, and use all of the next six and still not get going.
Was that the same cartridge starter used on the Chipmunk or a bigger version?
Was that the same cartridge starter used on the Chipmunk or a bigger version?
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I remember the relative reliability of the the Chipmunk Coffman starter. But if the first cartridge failed to start the engine you had to wait a certain time before firing the next. There were six.
There is a thread which deals with this in detail.
Chipmunk starter question - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums
There are some photographs in post 13.
Laurence
There is a thread which deals with this in detail.
Chipmunk starter question - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums
There are some photographs in post 13.
Laurence
Last edited by l.garey; 4th Feb 2013 at 06:43.
Was that to open the starter access cover? I always carried a stubby screw driver in my flying suit leg pocket.
Last edited by brakedwell; 4th Feb 2013 at 09:07.
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Starter
Could be. After 47 years I can no longer remember! My experience with the starter was that it worked fairly well. I agree with you we would NEVER have hand started by swinging the prop that could have turned into a very bad day!
Sarter
My memory isn't what it used to be too! I agree the Heath Robinson starters were relatively reliable and any starting problems were normally the result of over or under priming warm/hot engines. A broken cable only happened to me once in two years, but I can think of at least three occasions when I was unable to replace six expended cartridges due to the revolving mechanism jamming in it's mounting. On the other hand the Pembrokes, with their electric starters, never gave any trouble. IMHO the decision to fit Cartridge Starters in RAF Twin Pins was wrong as the civil Twin Pins based in Umm Said and Kuwait never had any problems with their electric starters.
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Sorry guys to interupt your great recollections of starting TwinPins(or not as the case may be!)Here I am again with two more photo's.
The first one was taken on 'base leg' from XM959 on 11.3.66 returning from the Al Khatt veg' run. What was the runway heading please?
(Duplicate photo of Dubai A/P now deleted, please see my next post for the SHJ photo'!)
This one of Dubai A/P was taken from XM289 on 31.3.66 whilst on the Jebel Raudha recce for the C.O. Tom Sheppard(one of your trips, I believe 'navstar')
The first one was taken on 'base leg' from XM959 on 11.3.66 returning from the Al Khatt veg' run. What was the runway heading please?
(Duplicate photo of Dubai A/P now deleted, please see my next post for the SHJ photo'!)
This one of Dubai A/P was taken from XM289 on 31.3.66 whilst on the Jebel Raudha recce for the C.O. Tom Sheppard(one of your trips, I believe 'navstar')
Last edited by SAROSKEETERMAN; 4th Feb 2013 at 18:20.
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Apologies for slight thread drift but my logbook tells me that on March 27th 1975 the Fleet Capt of the Gulfair VC10 fleet was one of the folk on the end of the rope as we cranked #1 into life on Beech Queenair G-AVDS after the port starter motor packed up. They had just climbed off a GF VC10 that had operated BAH-CAI-DXB and I was sent down to fly them back to BAH.
The funny thing was he was a bit of a wheel in BOAC/BA and as he was huffing and puffing, with others, a BA VC10 crew walked by with their eyes out on organ stops observing old Harry sweating in the morning heat!
I thereafter had a cabin full of snoring crew on the way back that were pitch perfect with the Lycomings!
Happy Daze
FW
PS Love this thread
The funny thing was he was a bit of a wheel in BOAC/BA and as he was huffing and puffing, with others, a BA VC10 crew walked by with their eyes out on organ stops observing old Harry sweating in the morning heat!
I thereafter had a cabin full of snoring crew on the way back that were pitch perfect with the Lycomings!
Happy Daze
FW
PS Love this thread
Last edited by Fokkerwokker; 4th Feb 2013 at 16:50.
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WRONG PHOTO!!
Oooops, sorry, not sure what happened there. Dare I try and find the right photo?
Is it possible to delete once they're on?(Thanks LG for the tutorial - see post 385 above)
Hopefully this will be the one of Sharjah.
Is it possible to delete once they're on?(Thanks LG for the tutorial - see post 385 above)
Hopefully this will be the one of Sharjah.
Last edited by SAROSKEETERMAN; 4th Feb 2013 at 19:05.
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Saro,
Re your first pic....12/30 I should think, remarkably like Dubai, and, Shirley, a little high for a base leg, even in a Twin Pin?
Re your first pic....12/30 I should think, remarkably like Dubai, and, Shirley, a little high for a base leg, even in a Twin Pin?
Last edited by Capot; 4th Feb 2013 at 17:16.
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It's interesting that the area around the old Dubai airport has been completely subsumed in new development and, if you didn't know the old airport, wouldn't know that it was the same place.
While in Abu Dhabi the features are still recognisable. The road layout is basically the same and the mosque and fort underneath the left roundabout are still there as is the semi-circular promenade on the coastline.
Fascinating pictures. More please! And maps!
While in Abu Dhabi the features are still recognisable. The road layout is basically the same and the mosque and fort underneath the left roundabout are still there as is the semi-circular promenade on the coastline.
Fascinating pictures. More please! And maps!
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John Davis' Photos
Laurence, I promised some of John Davis' photos. Here they are. The one with the fort behind it is dated 22-4-65; offloading 2nd para at Seiq is dated 23-4-65; the approach and landing is labelled Tayibah, but it looks awfully like the background to your shot of Masafi. I haven't logged any trips to Masafi in the 14 months I was there, so I suspect we used to call it Tayibah. Its all so long ago, that I can't be certain.
Sharjah 22-4-65
Seiq 23-4-65
Tayibah Approach 1965
Tayibah Landing 1965
Sharjah 22-4-65
Seiq 23-4-65
Tayibah Approach 1965
Tayibah Landing 1965
Last edited by leesaranda; 6th Feb 2013 at 05:15.