M-62A3: I have a friend who was at 33 Flying Instructor School at Norton in 1944. I have his logbook details: Cornell, Harvard, Oxford, Tiger Moth. I am just waiting to get his approval, after which I can publish them on the thread if they are of interest.

Aircrew Training in Rhodesia
 

l.garey,
Thank you, your offer is much appreciated. I hope it will meet with your friend's approval as the details from his log book would be of great interest to me.

No.33 FIS's diary records that the unit was renamed the Central Flying School, S. Rhodesia in May 1944. This must indicate the significant role the school came to play within the Rhodesian Air Training Group.
M-62A3

Yes, that was just after my friend's departure from Norton. He then went on to instruct on RAAF Liberators.

Laurence

My friend, Tony Tubbenhauer, RAAF, after flying Blenheims with 244 Squadron at Sharjah in 1942 and Baltimores with 203 in North Africa 1942 to 1943, was posted to 33 FIS, Norton, from January to March 1944. He has agreed for me to use data from his logbook, of which I have a copy.
He flew:
Cornells (which kept their Canadian serials) 15073, 15097, 15105, 15114, 15121, 15131, 15133
Oxfords X7317, BM170, BM827, BM785 plus others for which he only wrote the last three and which I have not yet tied to the full serial (maybe someone can identify them) 170, 237, 253, 342, 364, 367, 379, 445, 518, 930, 961
Harvard EX165
Tiger Moth DE553

He went on the instruct on Liberators after the war. He is still living actively in Queensland, age 92 tomorrow. Happy Birthday, Tony!

Laurence

Here are some of Tony's photos at Norton described in my post above.

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps36a8266c.jpg

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps959a59c6.jpg

[URL=http://s215.photobucket.com/user/apollo-fox/media/CORNELLNORTONSRHODESIAsmall_zps179378a8.jpg.html]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps179378a8.jpg

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...psb7d2f05e.jpg

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps56370618.jpg

Aircrew Training in Rhodesia
 

A very Happy Birthday to Tony Tubbenhauer - and grateful thanks from a Pommie.

Thank you to Laurence for posting the serial nos and Tony's magnifcent photographs.

I should be able to post the Oxford serial prefixes later today.

M-62A3

My late brother trained Rhodesia, near Bulawayo in 1941 on Oxfords, then did a refresher Near Elgin in Scotland
Strangely enough his next posting was on single engined aircraft at Cranwell.
He did eventually go back on muti engined aircraft on Wellingtons and Lancasters.
I myself did an Oxford course in 1953 at Dalcross

Probable Oxford serials
 

Laurence,
Here are the likely Oxford Serials. All these are listed as being delivered to Rhodesia.
BG170, HN237, HN342, BG364, HN367, BG445, HN518, LW930 & EB961.

I was unable to find a definite fit for ??253 & ??379 .

Hope this helps, M-62A

I have the log books of Ronald Osborne who learnt to fly and spent the war instructing in SR.

M-62A3: Thanks for the serial tie-ups. I hope you received the copies of Tony's logbook pages showing dates, crew, duties and times that I sent privately.

ericferret: Can you give us some details? Thanks.

Laurence

Aircrew Training in Rhodesia.
 

Eric,
Thank you for replying to this RATG thread. I will be very interest in Ronald Osbourne's logbook. Have sent you a PM.
M-62A3

RATG
 

Hello M6-2A3
You may contact me via e-mail ([email protected]). I trained on Tiger Moth's and Harvards at 4 FTS Heany - not sure I understand your query about "Elementary and Service Schools" in Rhodesia - I was educated in England and only went to Southern Rhodesia as part of my 20-year RAF service. Maybe you can clarify your query on e-mail?? Awaiting your response.

Aircrew Training in Rhodesia
 

babil,
Having now studied a post war log from 4 FTS I now realise the elementary flying (as it was called in WW.2) on Tiger Moths was being carried at the same location as the advanced stages on Harvard. Previously I had assumed that the two stages were undertaken at seperate schools as had normally been the case until 1947.
M-62A3.

4 FTS at RAF Heany had Tiger Moths, upgrading to Chipmunks in about 1951, that shared the airfield with Harvards. They overcame the mix in circuit behaviour by using separate relief landing grounds for basic training.
The Harvards used White's Run, a relief landing ground close the Bulawayo-Gwelo road, about five miles north. It was adjacent to Ntabizindula Mission where we lived for a short time.
When dad's Chevrolet was a bit sick he would go down there and be picked up by the morning weather recce aircraft and taken to work.

Thanks for the memories, old codgers. Keep the anecdotes coming. In later years - as a teenager in about 1961 - I was offered a ride in a Tiger Moth by a fellow passenger on a commercial flight, who said he had one at Cranborne. My parents vetoed the idea as far too dangerous...

My father was trained as a pilot in S Rhodesia in 1943/4, on earning his wings he was retained as a flying instructor but then moved to No. 24 BG&NS at Moffat. I have his logbook, many of his notes and his diary plus his photograph album including some overlap aerial photos of Bulawayo for instance.
I'm particularly interested in the Hurricane that he flew on one occasion, he didn't enter its serial number in his logbook though he did put that he did an oxygen climb to 20000'.
I'm very happy to share any of this with anybody who may wish to see it, and to hear from anybody who may be able to shed a little more light on any of the Hurricanes that were part of the RATG.
Max Williams

Last Tiger Moth course
 

A chum of mine was trained in Rhodesia on the last RAF flying course there to use Tiger Moths for EFT. The course after moved on to the Chipmunk.

111

I was stationed at RAF Thornhill (5 FTS) S. Rhodesia arriving there in August 1951. When I arrived Tiger Moths were used for primary training, but starting in September 1951 Chipmunk T.10s started to replace the Tiger Moths at 5 FTS.

5 FTS was allocated 27 Chipmunk T.10s. Built at Hawarden near Chester, they were crated and shipped out to Durban in South Africa and transferred to rail trucks for the journey to 394 MU at RAF Heany near Bulawayo where they were assembled, flight tested and then flown up to Thornhill.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...TigerMoth2.jpg

5 FTS Tiger Moth - Aug - Sept 1951

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...l-Chipmunk.jpg

5 FTS First Chipmunk T.10 arrives - Sept 1951

The Chipmunk before anti-spin strakes were added.

Some of the RATG Chipmunks were never uncrated, and when sold were literally "zero-time" items...

Rose - not just no spin recovery strakes (fitted around 1958), but sporting the narrow chord rudder too - the broad-chord rudder started appearing in 1953.