First Solo's...when was yours and what in?
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First Solo
17th July 1947 at RAF Chivenor in Tiger Moth RUOD of Oxford UAS.
The winter had been appalling, and I had done no flying between 1 Jan and Summer Camp - not just because of the weather, but because the CO was coaching my college crew and he seemed to value my services more on the river than in the air.
Anyway 8 hours of dual with Fg Off Ricketts, a WW2 veteran fighter pilot, saw me up for solo check with the CFI, Flt Lt Thorne (subsequently my boss on 208) and off I went. We were flying from a patch of grass between the runways. We had no radio and were controlled by Aldis lamp from the runway caravan. I was struggling manfully mit schtick und rudder trying to keep the Tigerschmidt straight on take-off when I was frightened witless by the mighty roar of three Griffons as a Vic of Spits overtook me on the runway close to starboard (Chiv was then the Spit OCU). It took me two goes to recover my composure sufficiently to plant the Tigger reasonably safely on terra firma
A few other blokes soloed that day so in the evening we piled onto motorbikes (the instructors had enough dosh to own some old bangers). Three-up was SOP and they ran on AVGAS left in the hoses when refuelling the Tiggers (petrol rationing was in force). Much scrumpy was consumed in some Exmoor pub and we returned to Chiv in very high spirits at very high speed.
It was a beautiful evening and someone suggested we take a spin in the station yacht - a rather elegant half-decked keelboat of 1930s vintage, about 18ft, kept on a mooring out in the river. We "borrowed" a dinghy, got aboard, succeeded in rigging the boat (gaff-rigged!) and cast off. No wind, no oars, but plenty of tide taking us out to sea! Hilarity dried up as it became plain that, unless someone did something, we were on our way to the Emerald Isle. After a bit of rumaging around we found a kedge and some warp and chucked it over the side. It held! Shortly after that we took the ground, and we even managed to get the "legs" rigged before she settled on her bilge. A few hours later in the cold light of dawn my mates said it really had been a splendid evening but it was time to pack it in, and would I mind the boat while they walked ashore across the sandbanks? A rhetorical question. By the time I got the boat back on her mooring it was a fine summer's morning, and as I grounded the dinghy, who should be waiting to greet me? You guessed right - the stationmaster. Later in his office I did my first serious "Axminster Shuffle"!
Salad days. Chiv was always my favourite station, although I never managed to get posted there. In the early 60s I took Edinburgh UAS there for summer camp. Idyllic.
The winter had been appalling, and I had done no flying between 1 Jan and Summer Camp - not just because of the weather, but because the CO was coaching my college crew and he seemed to value my services more on the river than in the air.
Anyway 8 hours of dual with Fg Off Ricketts, a WW2 veteran fighter pilot, saw me up for solo check with the CFI, Flt Lt Thorne (subsequently my boss on 208) and off I went. We were flying from a patch of grass between the runways. We had no radio and were controlled by Aldis lamp from the runway caravan. I was struggling manfully mit schtick und rudder trying to keep the Tigerschmidt straight on take-off when I was frightened witless by the mighty roar of three Griffons as a Vic of Spits overtook me on the runway close to starboard (Chiv was then the Spit OCU). It took me two goes to recover my composure sufficiently to plant the Tigger reasonably safely on terra firma
A few other blokes soloed that day so in the evening we piled onto motorbikes (the instructors had enough dosh to own some old bangers). Three-up was SOP and they ran on AVGAS left in the hoses when refuelling the Tiggers (petrol rationing was in force). Much scrumpy was consumed in some Exmoor pub and we returned to Chiv in very high spirits at very high speed.
It was a beautiful evening and someone suggested we take a spin in the station yacht - a rather elegant half-decked keelboat of 1930s vintage, about 18ft, kept on a mooring out in the river. We "borrowed" a dinghy, got aboard, succeeded in rigging the boat (gaff-rigged!) and cast off. No wind, no oars, but plenty of tide taking us out to sea! Hilarity dried up as it became plain that, unless someone did something, we were on our way to the Emerald Isle. After a bit of rumaging around we found a kedge and some warp and chucked it over the side. It held! Shortly after that we took the ground, and we even managed to get the "legs" rigged before she settled on her bilge. A few hours later in the cold light of dawn my mates said it really had been a splendid evening but it was time to pack it in, and would I mind the boat while they walked ashore across the sandbanks? A rhetorical question. By the time I got the boat back on her mooring it was a fine summer's morning, and as I grounded the dinghy, who should be waiting to greet me? You guessed right - the stationmaster. Later in his office I did my first serious "Axminster Shuffle"!
Salad days. Chiv was always my favourite station, although I never managed to get posted there. In the early 60s I took Edinburgh UAS there for summer camp. Idyllic.
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I like your description of the Hunter solo, Beags - was there myself the year before.
For me the two that stand out the most are:
First solo: 2 Aug 67 - Cessna 150A G-ARSB, Cumberland and Westmoreland Flying Club, Carlisle (Flying Scholarship).
First solo Spitfire: 2 Aug 89 - Spitfire Mk XIV G-ALGT, Rolls-Royce Filton, Bristol.
It was a long 22 years to the day between them!
For me the two that stand out the most are:
First solo: 2 Aug 67 - Cessna 150A G-ARSB, Cumberland and Westmoreland Flying Club, Carlisle (Flying Scholarship).
First solo Spitfire: 2 Aug 89 - Spitfire Mk XIV G-ALGT, Rolls-Royce Filton, Bristol.
It was a long 22 years to the day between them!
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Powered flying: Chipmunk, Swinderby 1987, Dennis Winterbottom instructing
JP5, Barkston Heath 1988, Pethers, (PS Thanks, I would not have sent me up that day, I would have chopped me!!) (PPS I won't mention that he couldn't get strapped in on the way back to Cranwell)
Gazelle, Tern Hill 1988, Keith McGuire, (I joined for the wrong runway)
Wessex, Trying to forget that one!!
Puma, Odiham 1989, Billy The Kid. (same deal as above, I would have chopped me)
How I made it through training is amazing, I was spectacularly appalling all the way......
JP5, Barkston Heath 1988, Pethers, (PS Thanks, I would not have sent me up that day, I would have chopped me!!) (PPS I won't mention that he couldn't get strapped in on the way back to Cranwell)
Gazelle, Tern Hill 1988, Keith McGuire, (I joined for the wrong runway)
Wessex, Trying to forget that one!!
Puma, Odiham 1989, Billy The Kid. (same deal as above, I would have chopped me)
How I made it through training is amazing, I was spectacularly appalling all the way......
First solo, Slingsby T31, Swansea Airport, Easter 1972.
I think that some of my most interesting first solos on type have been in single seaters or single pilot aircraft when there was no twin sticker. But more interesting still were ones where:
a. I had absolutely no briefing at all other than "It's over there, have fun". This was a Pathfinder 3-axis microlight in the days before they had to be registered and pilots had to be licensed. Great fun - we flew a pair of them in formation around Honington on a Sunday afternoon chasing rabbits, pulling up over the barbed wire coils and fire extinguishers that had been left on the edge of the pan. All I was told, after asking for a briefing, was that everything happened at 45 mph.
b. An owner asked me if I would ferry his Helio-Courier from Bournemouth to North Weald. I had read a lot about them in CIA ops in SE Asia, but had never seen one. I did not know what the aircraft actually looked like, so I had to ask the owner if he had a picture of it so that I would know which one to fly out! I did confirm that there was a Flight Manual in it to read before starting the engine.
I think that some of my most interesting first solos on type have been in single seaters or single pilot aircraft when there was no twin sticker. But more interesting still were ones where:
a. I had absolutely no briefing at all other than "It's over there, have fun". This was a Pathfinder 3-axis microlight in the days before they had to be registered and pilots had to be licensed. Great fun - we flew a pair of them in formation around Honington on a Sunday afternoon chasing rabbits, pulling up over the barbed wire coils and fire extinguishers that had been left on the edge of the pan. All I was told, after asking for a briefing, was that everything happened at 45 mph.
b. An owner asked me if I would ferry his Helio-Courier from Bournemouth to North Weald. I had read a lot about them in CIA ops in SE Asia, but had never seen one. I did not know what the aircraft actually looked like, so I had to ask the owner if he had a picture of it so that I would know which one to fly out! I did confirm that there was a Flight Manual in it to read before starting the engine.
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First solo
First solo was in Tiger Moth G-AJTW at Rochester Airport 27/Aug/1950First Military solo wasin a Pentice 1 VS 338 AT Cranwell 16/May/1952
Remember them both vividly especially the Tiger!
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Having posted my bit on page 5, I've nonchalantly browsed the subsequent posts with an inward smirk (11 jul 52) until I was somewhat deflated to see Flatus and then Kippah and Henry knock my effort for six!! Of course Flatus must have been no more than ten when he soloed and the other two hardly any older, and who wanted to fly a Tiger anyway(gnashing of teeth!). I know there are plenty of codgers flying around in their 80's, but nostalgia can give you a very "satisfied" feeling.
I too, was really taken back by Beags evocative Hunter 6 solo tale. I had forgotten about the lack of sidetone bit. 1967 with my Meteor heydays long behind me and now a confirmed truckie. I was doing a spell on Handling Sqn at Boscombe and the boss (Peter Hicks) decided that all the fixed wing guys should fly all four of the unit's fixed wing a/c. Well the Canberra was always u/s, the Anson was mastered in an afternoon and for recreation I used to tool around mostly in the Meteor 7. You must fly the Hunter he said. In the end I ran out of excuses and one of the FJ pilots was detailed to get me airborne in the beast. A quick evening with the PNs and a quiz from the FJ guy and I was elbowed into the F6 in a manner very reminicent of Beagles trip. In fact from there on it was all like Beagle's trip but no two-seater first! I had been told to expect to wobble after T/O - I didn't, my wrist was frozen to the stick!! I was also told to pull those two top left toggle switches down when I got to FL200. I did and did a few turns in manual remarking afterwards that it felt a bit like a Hastings! All good things came to an end and I landed XG164 never to fly a Hunter again. Off back to the truckie world. My .55 mins solo on 21 Jun 67 looks very lonely in the log book but at least it was 5 mins longer than Beagles! I still miss not flying it more.
I too, was really taken back by Beags evocative Hunter 6 solo tale. I had forgotten about the lack of sidetone bit. 1967 with my Meteor heydays long behind me and now a confirmed truckie. I was doing a spell on Handling Sqn at Boscombe and the boss (Peter Hicks) decided that all the fixed wing guys should fly all four of the unit's fixed wing a/c. Well the Canberra was always u/s, the Anson was mastered in an afternoon and for recreation I used to tool around mostly in the Meteor 7. You must fly the Hunter he said. In the end I ran out of excuses and one of the FJ pilots was detailed to get me airborne in the beast. A quick evening with the PNs and a quiz from the FJ guy and I was elbowed into the F6 in a manner very reminicent of Beagles trip. In fact from there on it was all like Beagle's trip but no two-seater first! I had been told to expect to wobble after T/O - I didn't, my wrist was frozen to the stick!! I was also told to pull those two top left toggle switches down when I got to FL200. I did and did a few turns in manual remarking afterwards that it felt a bit like a Hastings! All good things came to an end and I landed XG164 never to fly a Hunter again. Off back to the truckie world. My .55 mins solo on 21 Jun 67 looks very lonely in the log book but at least it was 5 mins longer than Beagles! I still miss not flying it more.
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Dan Winterland,
Sorry for the late reply - only just picked up on this thread. Thought you might be interested to know that I owned a share in WK633 'till about three years ago! Had 5 great years flying her, though in the end a broken crankcase precipitated her sale. I don't think she's flying at the moment
WP.
Sorry for the late reply - only just picked up on this thread. Thought you might be interested to know that I owned a share in WK633 'till about three years ago! Had 5 great years flying her, though in the end a broken crankcase precipitated her sale. I don't think she's flying at the moment
WP.
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G-bbef
July 1990
Flying scholarship
Blackpool airport
G-BBEF piper cherokee.
Having done a few circuits, taxying back to apron. instructor Chris pipes up "just pull over here a second" a/c stops in front of the tower, instructor jumps out, as he gets out (props still runnin') shouts back "off you go, once round the block" then ran off to the tower. Early dusk, blue sky, just remember it being very quiet for 10 minutes !
Flying scholarship
Blackpool airport
G-BBEF piper cherokee.
Having done a few circuits, taxying back to apron. instructor Chris pipes up "just pull over here a second" a/c stops in front of the tower, instructor jumps out, as he gets out (props still runnin') shouts back "off you go, once round the block" then ran off to the tower. Early dusk, blue sky, just remember it being very quiet for 10 minutes !
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Slingsby T21 (Barge) 1968 Laarbruch
Chipmunk 1973 Wallop
Bell 47 1973 Wallop
Scout 1974 Wallop
Lynx 1979 Wallop
Gazelle 1981 Shawbury
Puma 1988 Odiham
Unfortunately log books not readily at hand for exact dates but all very much remembered
Chipmunk 1973 Wallop
Bell 47 1973 Wallop
Scout 1974 Wallop
Lynx 1979 Wallop
Gazelle 1981 Shawbury
Puma 1988 Odiham
Unfortunately log books not readily at hand for exact dates but all very much remembered