At the very end of the film as Quint and Beth walk off into the distance - on the far right of screen the camera manages to catch what looks like a twin-boomer taking off. If you keep watching, the undercart leg retracts.

Cessna 337 Super Skymaster??


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https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d0f8cf301d.jpg

Caught a few bits of this film - too many glaring errors to sit through it all. Flying gear that had never seen a "working day"' in its life - uniforms similarly, and all those times I had (apparently unnecessarily) switched my oxy mask mic on and off to communicate ! ! :ugh: At least the engine noises were some compensation !

Noyade, it looks like a C-119 to me?

Yup, C-119 or possibly a Noratlas I'd have thought.

I have to laiugh when they leave their oxy masks dangling whilst still talking on radio or intercom trouble is my late wife got annoyed when I kept pointing this out.

Film was shot in 1968 so it could have been either; there were definitely Noratlas flying but not too sure about Boxcars and it would have been rare for a C336/7 to visit Bovingdon.

The C119 was certainly flying in 1968, I paxed from Valkenburg to Rhein-Main in a Belgian Air Force one. Made “Upper Class Rear” in the Beverly seem quite special.

YS

OUAQUKGFOPS. Just been reading the Mosquito thread re 633 Squadron, and noticed you worked at Weatherheads book shop in Aylesbury. I owned the Vale School of Motoring just across the road in Buckingham street and taught Nick Weatherhead's wife Mary to drive. I was also at Aylesbury Grammar School with her as well. I believe that they moved to the Shetland Isles eventually. Regards, John.

My past is catching up with me !

I saw 633 Sqn in 1963, aged 9, and the theme music was the first ever 7" single that I bought.

At the time, I was living at Minley Manor, which is where the POWs were kept in Mosquito Squadron.

I lived in Chesham in 1968 not far from Bovingdon and saw the Mosquitos and their Shackleton 'chase plane' almost every day.

IIRC Farnborough s Shackleton Mk3 flown by Tom Shepherd ?

Always remember that b&w photo taken from the rear of the Shack looking down on one of the B.35 Mosquito's being flown by Dizzy Addicott, with Dizzy seemingly flying under the tail of the Shack by only a few feet....!!

On the subject of pilots who flew during the filming of Mosquito Squadron, I've always wonder who the 4th pilot was of the Mosquitos...?

I know 3 of the pilots were TP's, but have never found out who the 4th was?

Pat Fillingham exclusively flew T.3 RR299 (G-ASKH) during the filming.
Neil Williams exclusively flew B.35 TA634 (G-AWJV) during the filming.
Dizzy Addicott flew one of the other B.35's during the filming, but I don't know if it was B.35 RS709 (G-ASKA) then owned by Peter Thomas of Skyframe, or whether it was B.35 RS712 (G-ASKB) then owned by Grp Capt Hamish Mahaddie, and who therefore flew the other B.35 during filming.?
I suspect Dizzy may have flown RS709 during the filming as he had flown B.35 TA719 (G-ASKC) back to Skyframe after the filming of 633 Squadron, when it hadn't been returned and Peter Thomas demanded it back. If so, its the identity of who flew Mahaddie's RS712 during the filming?

Might have been Taffy Rich?

I think you might be right Treaders - I've just checked Neil Williams' Book 'Airborne' and there is a chapter devoted to a familiarisation check given to Neil Williams at Bovingdon by quote, 'Taffy'. This was prior to Williams collecting a Mosquito at Liverpool for delivery to Bovingdon for use in Mosquito Squadron.

Thanks! I've got two copies of Airborne and I seem to have temporarily mislaid both - or can't spot them amidst the many other volumes on my haphazard shelves. Was going to check what he said therein...

The other Taff he flew with was Taff Taylor but I think that was purely to do with aerobatics... I'm sure Taffy Rich was involved with Mosquitos.

On completion of 633 Sqdn, one of the Mosquitos remained at Bovingdon in No 1 Hangar and when in 1965, 613 Gliding School from RAF Halton started operating occasional detachments, our gliders were housed in No 1 Hangar alongside the Mosquito and some of the Ansons which were about to be retired to make way for Bassets.
In 1967, 613 were told that all 4 hangars were to be re-clad* and after that, 617 Gliding School would be moving in from Hendon thus the detachments from 613 would cease. In Jun or Jul my ATC Warrant Officer (at 2204 [Chesham] Sqdn ATC), who worked for Shorts, told us that this last Mosquito was to be flown out. In preparation for this, some small holes were drilled in the elevators and water was drained out (how it got in I don't know because the Mossie had been hangared all that time) and it duly departed to return the following year for the filming of 'Mosquito Squadron'.
* Yes really. They re-clad all 4 of the T2 hangars in '67 and closed the airfield a couple of years later!

That doesn't fit any of the histories of any of the four airworthy Mosquitos used in filming of Mosquito Squadron. Closest would be RS712, which after the completion of filming of 633 Squadron, was bought by Grp Capt Hamish Mahaddie, and it remained at Bovingdon for a while before Mahaddie flew it to RAF Henlow, where he flew it from for a while, before he then moved it to RAF West Malling until the airfield was placed onto a care and maintenance schedule in 1967. Mahaddie was using it to fly around during this time on his search for aircraft for use in the film Battle of Britain in late 67 and into 68, at which time he lent it for filming for Mosquito Squadron.
Given Mahaddie's connection to 633 Squadron, and Taff Rich's role in that film, its quite likely that it was Taff Rich that flew RS712 to Bovvy for Mosquito Squadron and flew it during filming.

West Malling was still an RAF airfield until about 1975. Every month or so from my arrival at Farnborough in 1974 until it closed, a Varsity using callsign 'Bluebell 1' would call us out of West Malling on some sort of air test; I assume there was a maintenance organisation there until one day the pilot announced 'this is our last ever run'.
618 Gliding school operated at Malling until the airfield closed then after moving around a lot, finally found a home at Odiham.