USAF Ambulance a/c ops into Northolt 1960s.
 

I wonder if anyone can shed any light on this for me, please?

In the late 1960's I frequently observed a medium sized twin piston engined aircraft apparently heading for the Northolt NW corridor.
Memories are somewhat vague at this distance, but the general consensus of opinion amongst my ATC Cadet chums was that it was a USAF ambulance aircraft.
I think that it might have been a Convair of some description. As mentioned, it would appear to have been heading for Northolt, but curiosity has got the better of me after all these years and I just wondered where it came from and where it went after Northolt.

I know that the details are few but I had forgotten all about it until this afternoon. I'll save someone else from making the observation that I have too much time on my hands for 'tis true!

Any info from wild speculation to hard facts, gratefully received!

Thanks, Gents!

N o t a

US military, both Air Force and Navy, had very large fleets of Convair twins, they were the largest purchaser of them, known under various incarnations of T-29 and C-131 (R4Y to the Navy). They were deployed all around the world from the 1950s until withdrawn in the 1970s-80s. They outlasted the piston-powered Convairs in mainstream airline service by quite some time.

Backing up WHBM's comments.. I logged many T-29s and C-131s inbound to Northolt in the 60s. They also used a good few Daks.

The USAF Convair C-131D that in 1960 clipped a church spire in Munich and then crashed onto a crowded tram in a busy street had just left Munich heading for Northolt. It was operating in passenger configuration with a student group, rather than an ambulance aircraft. One account says it had been actually based at Northolt for some years.

It's long been common for transport-type military aircraft to be designated as ambulance/medevac types (which they are potentially capable of being converted to, of course), it being a lot easier to get the budget for the latter rather than the former.

Memories of C-131s with red crosses on the fin, prompted a quick google;

This pioc is on the Minnesota ANG's website:

http://www.mnangmuseum.org/assets/im...toration01.jpg

Thanks one and all, I'm very grateful to you.

Having had the memory nudged in the right direction, I recall the red cross on the tail viewed through my dad's recently acquired, and somewhat basic, binoculars.

I've found a picture of a Convair C-131A Samaritan at Northolt in 1971. I'm not going to post it here as it is copyrighted but here's the link:

Air Britain.

Thanks, chaps:ok:

You have to remember that there were a number of Convairs based at RAF Northolt when the USAF had sites at Ruislip and Eastcote, so I would imagine that there were 'several' flights each and every day to (and from) all points of the compass.

Take a look at http://www.northolt.biz/ and follow the link to 'Photo galleries & Articles', and then 'Convair Feature'.

Thanks Geezers, there's some interesting info there.

All the best,

N o t a

PS Like the user name:)

I'm pretty sure they used to frequent Bovingdon too up to about '62/'63 when the USAF unit there moved to Mildenhall. The Bovingdon Corridor must have been pretty much coincident with the Northolt Corridor, as I remember Bovingdon departures always seemed to fly over my (then) home in Chesham heading northwest towards Risborough (especially that noisy Fouga Magister of the French Air Attache').

Northolt Convairs
 

Most likely USAF/USN but Luftwaffe and Italian AF also used them

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z.../samaritan.jpg

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...29Bexpress.jpg

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...ffeConvair.jpg

C131D 55-291 that I took at Northolt July 1959 with Nord 1101 No 74.
Note the 2-star general insignia behind the cockpit.
This is the one that crashed at Munich 17/12/1960 (see post 4 above). It was indeed based at Northolt from 1955 until it crashed.


Laurence

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...psa7353cbd.jpg

The photos show these Convairs had weather radar. We had two Convair 440 Metropolitans based at Canberra, Australia circa 1958 (?) to 1966-7.

One had radar the other didn't. It was groans all around from the crew when you were scheduled to fly the non-radar Convair A96-313. We had some truly frightening thunderstorm penetrations in 313 as we were flying blind. One isolated thunderstorm was bad enough but depending on the orientation it often happened that you would bash through a long line of them with no idea if you were hitting the line at 90 degrees or going along and bouncing through each one.

living in Chalfont St. Giles also under the Northolt corridor as a kid in i am guessing late 70' (possibly late as 81/82 as I moved after that) the USN Convair would still occasionally be coming in...obviously it had a very distinctive noise compared to the Andovers, Doves and 125's...I do recall me investigations at the time indicated it was attached to USN Sigonella Sicily but no doubt this was a base unit which may have covered a number of detachments

PS. I knew it was Navy as it was parked some weekends as we drove past on the A40 heading for grandparents in west london

Ah, I remember those, Boss Raptor, used to occasionally see them flogging down towards Worthing when I was at school, along with French AF Noratlases. The C-131s were replaced by C-12s in the early 1980s I think, not the same at all.

There were also a couple of USN C-118s based up at Keflavik (?) which were regulars in UK skies up to 1980 or so.

Chevvron....

Yes, I remember that one as well. Always on a Friday evening, if memory serves.
I assumed that it was heading for the Beacon Hill fan marker (now Henton NDB) to proceed via airways to somewhere conveniently located in the France FIR.