Did You Fly The Valiant?
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Valiant Highlights
Extract from memoirs.
I flew on a few of the contractor flights with Vicker's pilots. Their chief test pilot was then Brian Trubshaw and we got to know each other very well. He later went on to be the Chief British Test pilot on Concord.
We test pilots used to attend various meetings at the aircraft contractor's works for discussions on testing progress and to give feedback from the sharp end. It was during a meeting at Vickers, at Weighbridge, one day during the Suez crisis, that the meeting was interrupted by someone entering and speaking in a low voice to the chairman. He went pale and some of us jumped to the conclusion that a Valiant must have been lost in the previous night attacks on Cairo targets.
He recovered his composure and announced to the meeting that he had just received grave news. He said, "Last night Vickers Valiants of RAF Bomber Command dropped bombs on Cairo airport. Two Vickers Viscounts on the ground were destroyed during the attacks."
Brian Trubshaw and I could not refrain from a burst of laughter at the irony of the situation, this causing the chairman to remark that Vickers could hardly accept that there was any humour in the situation.
Extract from memoirs.
I flew on a few of the contractor flights with Vicker's pilots. Their chief test pilot was then Brian Trubshaw and we got to know each other very well. He later went on to be the Chief British Test pilot on Concord.
We test pilots used to attend various meetings at the aircraft contractor's works for discussions on testing progress and to give feedback from the sharp end. It was during a meeting at Vickers, at Weighbridge, one day during the Suez crisis, that the meeting was interrupted by someone entering and speaking in a low voice to the chairman. He went pale and some of us jumped to the conclusion that a Valiant must have been lost in the previous night attacks on Cairo targets.
He recovered his composure and announced to the meeting that he had just received grave news. He said, "Last night Vickers Valiants of RAF Bomber Command dropped bombs on Cairo airport. Two Vickers Viscounts on the ground were destroyed during the attacks."
Brian Trubshaw and I could not refrain from a burst of laughter at the irony of the situation, this causing the chairman to remark that Vickers could hardly accept that there was any humour in the situation.
Navaleye,
Clearly you have never seen a display by the 56 Squadron display guys, I think you'll find it indeed rather aerobatic.
Clearly you have never seen a display by the 56 Squadron display guys, I think you'll find it indeed rather aerobatic.
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I'm reminded by the posts on this thread by Milt, Beags, Henry and others, of how fortunate we are to have so much entertaining talent and experience to draw on.
Keep it up!
I didn't have a lot to do around the Valiant, though I do recall going to the Officers Mess at Eastleigh once to advise the captain of a visiting Valiant that his aircraft was leaving indentations in the tarmac and it might be a good idea to move it as there was nothing to tow it with at Eastleigh!
I was nosy around aircraft you see!
Keep it up!
I didn't have a lot to do around the Valiant, though I do recall going to the Officers Mess at Eastleigh once to advise the captain of a visiting Valiant that his aircraft was leaving indentations in the tarmac and it might be a good idea to move it as there was nothing to tow it with at Eastleigh!
I was nosy around aircraft you see!
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OK Samuel - a bit more then.
More Valiant Adventures from memoirs
February 1957 at Boscombe Down was a busy month with Beverleys and Valiants, autopilot trials for the Beverley and rocket assist take-off trials for the Valiant. On 28 February I took the NBS trials Valiant 373 to Idris in Libya for some bombing trials on the El Adem range. I had with us a big red headed Scottish Flight Sergeant as crew chief. This fellow was known to like a binge now and then. The day before we were to leave Idris, he had a session in the NCO's mess and then decided to go into Tripoli.
Unable to find any suitable transport to Tripoli, which was about 30 miles away he walked into the village at Idris and attempted to take over a truck from one of the locals. This caused so much consternation and yelling that the local constabulary were soon alerted. The crew chief was promptly arrested and thrown into a police cell. Some hours later, after a sleep and now somewhat less inebriated, he realised his predicament and thought it was about time to leave. Feigning illness, he somehow persuaded his jailer to enter his cell, whereupon the hapless fellow found himself rapidly changing places by dint of heavy physical persuasion.
At breakfast the next morning, I learned that our crew chief had the aircraft ready to leave early and could we do that as soon as possible as the local police were demanding, through the base commander, an identification parade of all base personnel. Not wanting to leave my crew chief behind in Libya, I gathered the rest of the flight crew together and we expedited our departure, after getting the nod from the base commander.
The concerned Flight Sergeant had filled our fuel tanks with more fuel than I had planned. On take-off we had an LCN (Load Classification Number) which exceeded the rated strength of the runway at Idris for landings. Soon after take-off, the entrance door seal blew out with a bang. I had a perfectly good excuse for not going back to Idris and instead diverted to the big USAF base at Wheelus Field about 50 miles away.
No one on Wheelus had ever seen a Valiant before, let alone one captained by an Australian. The USAF was able to help with repairs to the door seal, but not before I committed to staying overnight. After a meal in the Officers' Club that evening, we found some one-armed bandits and clubbed together to try our luck. Sqn Ldr Ackerman, the Nav trials officer, was feeding quarters into a machine whilst I had my turn at pulling the handle. A resultant jackpot had piles of money pouring out of the machine on to the floor. This more than covered our personal trip expenses including those for the remainder of an enjoyable evening. Needless to say, the identification parade at Idris had not come up with a culprit so international relations did not suffer unduly.
The airfield at Idris had an avenue of large Eucalyptus trees which had produced a lot of gum tips. I had picked a large bunch which I had secured in the weapons bay. They were a bit droopy by the time we landed at Boscombe and were promptly seized upon by the Customs officer whose job it was to clear us back into England. Imagine trying to explain that the bunch of leaves were not some exotic new drug and were just a bit of nostalgia for an Australian family. He insisted on taking a sample with him and an intention to call someone in Australia House in London. I heard no more of the matter.
More Valiant Adventures from memoirs
February 1957 at Boscombe Down was a busy month with Beverleys and Valiants, autopilot trials for the Beverley and rocket assist take-off trials for the Valiant. On 28 February I took the NBS trials Valiant 373 to Idris in Libya for some bombing trials on the El Adem range. I had with us a big red headed Scottish Flight Sergeant as crew chief. This fellow was known to like a binge now and then. The day before we were to leave Idris, he had a session in the NCO's mess and then decided to go into Tripoli.
Unable to find any suitable transport to Tripoli, which was about 30 miles away he walked into the village at Idris and attempted to take over a truck from one of the locals. This caused so much consternation and yelling that the local constabulary were soon alerted. The crew chief was promptly arrested and thrown into a police cell. Some hours later, after a sleep and now somewhat less inebriated, he realised his predicament and thought it was about time to leave. Feigning illness, he somehow persuaded his jailer to enter his cell, whereupon the hapless fellow found himself rapidly changing places by dint of heavy physical persuasion.
At breakfast the next morning, I learned that our crew chief had the aircraft ready to leave early and could we do that as soon as possible as the local police were demanding, through the base commander, an identification parade of all base personnel. Not wanting to leave my crew chief behind in Libya, I gathered the rest of the flight crew together and we expedited our departure, after getting the nod from the base commander.
The concerned Flight Sergeant had filled our fuel tanks with more fuel than I had planned. On take-off we had an LCN (Load Classification Number) which exceeded the rated strength of the runway at Idris for landings. Soon after take-off, the entrance door seal blew out with a bang. I had a perfectly good excuse for not going back to Idris and instead diverted to the big USAF base at Wheelus Field about 50 miles away.
No one on Wheelus had ever seen a Valiant before, let alone one captained by an Australian. The USAF was able to help with repairs to the door seal, but not before I committed to staying overnight. After a meal in the Officers' Club that evening, we found some one-armed bandits and clubbed together to try our luck. Sqn Ldr Ackerman, the Nav trials officer, was feeding quarters into a machine whilst I had my turn at pulling the handle. A resultant jackpot had piles of money pouring out of the machine on to the floor. This more than covered our personal trip expenses including those for the remainder of an enjoyable evening. Needless to say, the identification parade at Idris had not come up with a culprit so international relations did not suffer unduly.
The airfield at Idris had an avenue of large Eucalyptus trees which had produced a lot of gum tips. I had picked a large bunch which I had secured in the weapons bay. They were a bit droopy by the time we landed at Boscombe and were promptly seized upon by the Customs officer whose job it was to clear us back into England. Imagine trying to explain that the bunch of leaves were not some exotic new drug and were just a bit of nostalgia for an Australian family. He insisted on taking a sample with him and an intention to call someone in Australia House in London. I heard no more of the matter.
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As I mentioned, I didn't have a lot to do with the Valiant, but I was a bit surprised they landed at Eastleigh at which only the touchdown on 09 was concrete, the rest of the runway being hard-packed 'murrum' earth, not dissimilar to some roads in Australia, so you would have been at home there.
When the runway was dry, a Beverley on reverse thrust could disappear in a red cloud of its own making, and when wet that dust became a thin veneer of mud. I once watched a Beverly doing a gentle four-wheel drift!
They used to land Comets also and you could see and hear mud hitting the flaps on landing. Remember, that until the new airport at Embakasi was opened, Eastleigh was Nairobi Airport, and all sorts of long range civil air traffic such as the mighty Constellation landed on what was essentially a dirt strip.
There was little in the way of hardstanding for anything of the weight of a "V", and after the Valiant, all Victors and Vulcans, and eventually 208 Sqn Hunters, went to the new airport. We kept all the visiting Canberras on lone rangers however! Mud and dust didn't seem to worry them too much.
When the runway was dry, a Beverley on reverse thrust could disappear in a red cloud of its own making, and when wet that dust became a thin veneer of mud. I once watched a Beverly doing a gentle four-wheel drift!
They used to land Comets also and you could see and hear mud hitting the flaps on landing. Remember, that until the new airport at Embakasi was opened, Eastleigh was Nairobi Airport, and all sorts of long range civil air traffic such as the mighty Constellation landed on what was essentially a dirt strip.
There was little in the way of hardstanding for anything of the weight of a "V", and after the Valiant, all Victors and Vulcans, and eventually 208 Sqn Hunters, went to the new airport. We kept all the visiting Canberras on lone rangers however! Mud and dust didn't seem to worry them too much.
