Handley Page Hastings
JW411,
I can assure you that the Jack H. to which Dean refers was indeed a Hastings man and afterwards Hercules. I was at Colerne when the Ponza incident happened and the story is true.
I can assure you that the Jack H. to which Dean refers was indeed a Hastings man and afterwards Hercules. I was at Colerne when the Ponza incident happened and the story is true.
Hastings Memories
That picture brings back memories I was on 36 for a couple of years 66-68 before being banished to the wilds of East Anglia and the NBS Bay at Marham
We did several trips around the Carib via Keflavik Gander and Bermuda. one in particular stands out, climbing out from Colerne early one foggy morning the auto pilot went U/S and seeing as one of the senior drivers onboard was on a promise in Nassau and determined to get there the cry went out anybody done any flying, yours truly was then a keen member of the Bannerdown fraternity said gliding any good? get up front and sit in this seat they said and keep your feet of the rudder pedals (that was after I had scattered the copilot and his imprest(?) around the back of the aircraft) so on the long boring bits I "drove" the plane.
It got better, said senior driver really did like the ammenities in Nassau and so somehow the astrodome developed an omminous crack which meant flying a replacement out via BOAC a week later, the trip was then complete with something called
a mag drop as we were about to leave which involved spending much time on the end of the taxyway running engines up and down and annoying all the commercial pilots behind us in their very very shiny fastjets who wanted to be anywhere other than behind a smoking Hastings
We did several trips around the Carib via Keflavik Gander and Bermuda. one in particular stands out, climbing out from Colerne early one foggy morning the auto pilot went U/S and seeing as one of the senior drivers onboard was on a promise in Nassau and determined to get there the cry went out anybody done any flying, yours truly was then a keen member of the Bannerdown fraternity said gliding any good? get up front and sit in this seat they said and keep your feet of the rudder pedals (that was after I had scattered the copilot and his imprest(?) around the back of the aircraft) so on the long boring bits I "drove" the plane.
It got better, said senior driver really did like the ammenities in Nassau and so somehow the astrodome developed an omminous crack which meant flying a replacement out via BOAC a week later, the trip was then complete with something called
a mag drop as we were about to leave which involved spending much time on the end of the taxyway running engines up and down and annoying all the commercial pilots behind us in their very very shiny fastjets who wanted to be anywhere other than behind a smoking Hastings
Last edited by cliver029; 7th Dec 2015 at 20:16. Reason: Spelling Colerne wrong :/
Hastings Nav Desk note the 'Gee' indicator unit.
LH side of desk shows MOJZL which I believe from earlier posts may be the a/c ident.
LH side of desk shows MOJZL which I believe from earlier posts may be the a/c ident.
Last edited by DeanoP; 14th Nov 2020 at 11:52. Reason: Reinserted image + correction from post 251
Southern Rhodesia declares UDI. En route to Tanzania for oil lift
Club Class.
Spare crews down the back. Travel in civilian clothes was the order of the day. I left the aircraft at Khormaksar and so, unfortunately, did not see any of the action around Ndola and Lusaka. As I was so disappointed they detached me to the Military Sponsored Air Service, flying BEA Viscounts up and down the Berlin Corridors!
Routing from El Adem to Khormaksar down the Gulf of Suez as shown on topo.
Possibly approaching reporting point B55A
Following photos en route along the Red Sea
Spare crews down the back. Travel in civilian clothes was the order of the day. I left the aircraft at Khormaksar and so, unfortunately, did not see any of the action around Ndola and Lusaka. As I was so disappointed they detached me to the Military Sponsored Air Service, flying BEA Viscounts up and down the Berlin Corridors!
Routing from El Adem to Khormaksar down the Gulf of Suez as shown on topo.
Possibly approaching reporting point B55A
Following photos en route along the Red Sea
Last edited by DeanoP; 14th Nov 2020 at 14:33. Reason: Reinserted photos deleted by photobucket!
Dean,
thanks for another set of great pics. The one where they are playing cards down the back chimes with my similar pic on the Hercules thread. Nothing changes but the airframe.
thanks for another set of great pics. The one where they are playing cards down the back chimes with my similar pic on the Hercules thread. Nothing changes but the airframe.
DAMHIK!!
Some mag drops could be restored to serviceability by the simple means of a quick ground run by an available throttle bender. If this failed to restore the 'drop' to within limits, then the next step usually involved a plug change.
One dark and foggy night shift on 24 Sqdn at Colerne, our shift had cleaned most of the chinagraph scriptures of unserviceabilities from the state board, leaving just two engine snags outstanding, both mag drops. As the time was past Cinderella's curfew, we decided that a half-set of plugs on each aircraft was the most likely fix, each to be checked on a ground run first thing in the morning.
My colleague and I, both Sgts, duly set out towards our respective aircraft in the pea-soup. Having completed my task, I set off to see if my oppo needed a hand on his aircraft which was parked two places along the line from mine. On giving him a shout, his reply came through the murk from much further along the line of parked aircraft than I had expected - he had changed a half-set on the wrong (completely serviceable) aircraft!
Red faced in the flight office, he then had to 'fake' a mag drop in the F700 of the previously serviceable aircraft, before the trip to the squadron stores to collect a fresh half-set for the still-unserviceable, original aircraft.
Naturally, he finished his shift much later I did, after completing engine runs on his two aircraft to my one
.
One dark and foggy night shift on 24 Sqdn at Colerne, our shift had cleaned most of the chinagraph scriptures of unserviceabilities from the state board, leaving just two engine snags outstanding, both mag drops. As the time was past Cinderella's curfew, we decided that a half-set of plugs on each aircraft was the most likely fix, each to be checked on a ground run first thing in the morning.
My colleague and I, both Sgts, duly set out towards our respective aircraft in the pea-soup. Having completed my task, I set off to see if my oppo needed a hand on his aircraft which was parked two places along the line from mine. On giving him a shout, his reply came through the murk from much further along the line of parked aircraft than I had expected - he had changed a half-set on the wrong (completely serviceable) aircraft!
Red faced in the flight office, he then had to 'fake' a mag drop in the F700 of the previously serviceable aircraft, before the trip to the squadron stores to collect a fresh half-set for the still-unserviceable, original aircraft.
Naturally, he finished his shift much later I did, after completing engine runs on his two aircraft to my one
.
At RAF Colerne looking across 24 Sqn pan towards 36 Sqn aircraft pan. Lovely CuNimbs in the back ground. I can't believe we used to fly through those without the benefit of CCWR! Wondered why it used to get a bit bumpy.
A nice painting picked up somewhere. A bit heroic, 'it was a bit difficult but I did it and I'm ready for a plug change'. Hope they get the right aircraft Null Orifice!!!
A nice painting picked up somewhere. A bit heroic, 'it was a bit difficult but I did it and I'm ready for a plug change'. Hope they get the right aircraft Null Orifice!!!
Last edited by DeanoP; 14th Nov 2020 at 14:45. Reason: Reinsertion of photos
Nice painting DeanO!
The No3 has a 120 rpm mag drop - No Fault Found on a ground run
Evocative pic of the 24 Sqdn dispersal; been there, but didn't get the T-shirt - just a pair of oily overalls and a greasy parka (sartorial elegance personified).
The No3 has a 120 rpm mag drop - No Fault Found on a ground run
Evocative pic of the 24 Sqdn dispersal; been there, but didn't get the T-shirt - just a pair of oily overalls and a greasy parka (sartorial elegance personified).
Dean,
if I recall correctly the only way we knew we were near thunderstorms at night was the St Elmo's Fire and the ADF wandering off to find it. Apart that is from the turbulence and the flashes of lightning. Oh and the Siggie complaining of the static. Who needed CCWR ? Well the Hercules did !
if I recall correctly the only way we knew we were near thunderstorms at night was the St Elmo's Fire and the ADF wandering off to find it. Apart that is from the turbulence and the flashes of lightning. Oh and the Siggie complaining of the static. Who needed CCWR ? Well the Hercules did !
if I recall correctly the only way we knew we were near thunderstorms at night was the St Elmo's Fire and the ADF wandering off to find it.
Talking of 'static' in another sense, I remember flying from Lajes to Gander in cloud with the static vents iced up thus affecting the altimeter and IAS readings. The pilots didn't blink an eye and coped with the problem very well.
The engines were also backfiring like mad as the air intakes became iced up, the a/c yawing from side to side as power was lost and regained on each engine. I think the backfire blew the ice away because the engines always picked up again.
The engines, in my day, were extremely reliable with only one engine failure in 1100 houurs of Hastings flying. I believe they had terrible teething problems at the beginning causing a lot of crashes
The engines were also backfiring like mad as the air intakes became iced up, the a/c yawing from side to side as power was lost and regained on each engine. I think the backfire blew the ice away because the engines always picked up again.
The engines, in my day, were extremely reliable with only one engine failure in 1100 houurs of Hastings flying. I believe they had terrible teething problems at the beginning causing a lot of crashes
Last edited by DeanoP; 11th Dec 2015 at 18:10.
I believe they had terrible teething problems at the beginning causing a lot of crashes