Want a good laugh ?
So roll on "No Sleep Till Dawn", "The Man in the Sky", "Reach for the Sky", "Wings of Eagles", "One Man Mutiny", "The Spirit of St Louis"," Conflict of Wings", "Blitz on Britain", " Sink the Bismark", " The One That Got Away", "The Dam Busters" etc. as markers of those simple days of yore.
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All good stuff, but I particularly liked the Coltishall story. Absolute classic. Scene in the bar near the end (Ken Goodwin looked old then 1949!) was so unbelievably gauche. The comment "so all the fun's gone from flying now" sounds familiar.
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Many thanks Coff for a good laugh but also for me a shedload of nostalga.
I was posted to Cranwell in 1959 as an AC2
Flying Clothihg Worker.
First task helping to set up the seating on the Orange for a graduation parade.
Worked at Barkston Heath so I was very familier with Valetta/Varsity and Piston Provosts. Always plenty of staff and cadet students to fit up with masks, bonedome protective helmets and D Mk1 parchute harnesses ("Yes Sir it does have to be that tight")
In the film the U/T aircrew sitting at their nav stations are all wearing 'C' type leather flying helmets by 1959 these had all been replaced by the 'G' type blue fabric helmet and Mk1 bonedomes.
I had not been long at Barkston when I was given the job of converting these self same 'C' type helmets from long wander leads with large jack plugs to short 'pigtail' leads.
So Coff 54 years later I never imagined that I would ever set sight on those same helmets again.
I was posted to Cranwell in 1959 as an AC2
Flying Clothihg Worker.First task helping to set up the seating on the Orange for a graduation parade.
Worked at Barkston Heath so I was very familier with Valetta/Varsity and Piston Provosts. Always plenty of staff and cadet students to fit up with masks, bonedome protective helmets and D Mk1 parchute harnesses ("Yes Sir it does have to be that tight")
In the film the U/T aircrew sitting at their nav stations are all wearing 'C' type leather flying helmets by 1959 these had all been replaced by the 'G' type blue fabric helmet and Mk1 bonedomes.
I had not been long at Barkston when I was given the job of converting these self same 'C' type helmets from long wander leads with large jack plugs to short 'pigtail' leads.
So Coff 54 years later I never imagined that I would ever set sight on those same helmets again.
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Ancient Squipper ...
You may have a few years on me ... but I still remember the pre-NATO Headset/Helmet plug and socket arrangement ... in fact I still recall the old style short pigtail sockets that were still fitted in vhf equipped Chipmunks until the mid 70's when they were removed ... about the same time as the Front Seat Mute Switch was added under MOD
I still remember my Mk1a Bonedome fitting (by a Cpl Steel I think) ... a quick eyeball ... "you look like a size 3 Broad" ... perfect fit first time !
I also remember the yellow (grubby) Lifejackets too
Best regards ...
Coff.
You may have a few years on me ... but I still remember the pre-NATO Headset/Helmet plug and socket arrangement ... in fact I still recall the old style short pigtail sockets that were still fitted in vhf equipped Chipmunks until the mid 70's when they were removed ... about the same time as the Front Seat Mute Switch was added under MOD
I still remember my Mk1a Bonedome fitting (by a Cpl Steel I think) ... a quick eyeball ... "you look like a size 3 Broad" ... perfect fit first time !
I also remember the yellow (grubby) Lifejackets too
Best regards ...
Coff.
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The crash sequence Hunter was, I believe, the one blown up by EOKA on the pan at Nicosia. The "invasion stripes" were hurriedly applied magnolia emulsion there being a shortage of the correct stuff, the result being that when we flew through rain it washed off. Fortunately it didn't rain until the fiasco was over.
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Hi again Coff
Yep thats the one .I think that most aircrew were issued a long lead to be able to connect between the standard Nato jack plug and older aircraft types.
Always needed one to be able to connect headsets to the venerable Test-set Type 376 that was fitted to the Godfrey Test Cabinet to carry out Mic/Tel checks.
Despite MK1A Bonedomes not having an adjustable harness and having about 14 different sizes I liked to think that I was pretty good at eyeball fitting . The only real way of checking for a good fit was to get the aircrew guy to wear it for an hour or so to see if he got a headache or not!
The" grubby Lifejackets" got even grubbier a couple of years later when a modification came out to stick leather patches on the corners of the Location Beacon pockets using copious amounts of Evostick!!.
Don't recall knowing the Cpl Steel that you mentioned.
Best Wishes
Ancient Squipper
Yep thats the one .I think that most aircrew were issued a long lead to be able to connect between the standard Nato jack plug and older aircraft types.
Always needed one to be able to connect headsets to the venerable Test-set Type 376 that was fitted to the Godfrey Test Cabinet to carry out Mic/Tel checks.
Despite MK1A Bonedomes not having an adjustable harness and having about 14 different sizes I liked to think that I was pretty good at eyeball fitting . The only real way of checking for a good fit was to get the aircrew guy to wear it for an hour or so to see if he got a headache or not!
The" grubby Lifejackets" got even grubbier a couple of years later when a modification came out to stick leather patches on the corners of the Location Beacon pockets using copious amounts of Evostick!!.
Don't recall knowing the Cpl Steel that you mentioned.
Best Wishes
Ancient Squipper
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Whipping
AS, I bet you can still do whipping like that on Coffs jack and some O2 mask hoses I have seen. Nowadays its all Raychem heat shrink.
kind regards Drag
kind regards Drag
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Oh yes done a lot of whipping in my time and taught a lot of Survival Equipment Trainees to whip but only on oxy mask hoses I hasten to add.
All Ty-raps now.
Hows your whipping Dragartist??
All Ty-raps now.
Hows your whipping Dragartist??
Last edited by Ancient Squipper; 24th Oct 2013 at 20:41.
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Re 'High Flight'
Watchd this classic last night and couldnt help but wonder whether the writers of Top Gun hadnt done likewise before penning their magnus opus.
Rebellious student
V Sen member of instructional staff served with father and was present when he died on ops
Much barnstorming (of anglers rather than ATC)
Incapacitated pilot escorted down the approach (I was waiting to hear him say 'Easy, Cougar, its just a walk in the park, buddy')
Anybody else notice some similarities?
But the Hunter's still nicer than the F-14
Rebellious student
V Sen member of instructional staff served with father and was present when he died on ops
Much barnstorming (of anglers rather than ATC)
Incapacitated pilot escorted down the approach (I was waiting to hear him say 'Easy, Cougar, its just a walk in the park, buddy')
Anybody else notice some similarities?
But the Hunter's still nicer than the F-14
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Hi Ian ...
You may be right ... a quick Google and I found this although it refers to a "socket" Stores Ref 10H/2206 so I'd assume if the plug was a Type 359 then it would have had a different Stores Ref ?
RAF Type 359 Aircraft Pilot Helmet Socket ... for the use of
Also see here under the 10H Section ...
RAF Stores Ref No's
Best ...
Coff.
PS. A fine example of the Squippers "whipping" craft
You may be right ... a quick Google and I found this although it refers to a "socket" Stores Ref 10H/2206 so I'd assume if the plug was a Type 359 then it would have had a different Stores Ref ?
RAF Type 359 Aircraft Pilot Helmet Socket ... for the use of
Also see here under the 10H Section ...
RAF Stores Ref No's
Best ...
Coff.
PS. A fine example of the Squippers "whipping" craft
Last edited by CoffmanStarter; 25th Oct 2013 at 15:22.
I have a 1944 mosquito pilot's helmet, via my father and grandfather (the latter helped build Mossies in the War).
Come BFTS, and during the interminable Groundschool, I learned to fly the Tiger on Cranwell's North Airfield.
Tiger intercom (no radio!) had been converted to new pigtail socket, leather helmet had old large plug.
Solved by Cranwell squippers, who discovered an old socket in the JP simulator, and whipped up a conversion lead.
It worked!
Come BFTS, and during the interminable Groundschool, I learned to fly the Tiger on Cranwell's North Airfield.
Tiger intercom (no radio!) had been converted to new pigtail socket, leather helmet had old large plug.
Solved by Cranwell squippers, who discovered an old socket in the JP simulator, and whipped up a conversion lead.
It worked!
OP,
Funny old thing, I noticed 43 having a shindig on Saturday.
Last noticed a large tray of shot glasses appearing before our evenings imbibement took my sensors down
The majority of the Hunter sequences appear to be courtesy of 43 Squadron ...
Last noticed a large tray of shot glasses appearing before our evenings imbibement took my sensors down
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Films
'Appointment in London' and 'Angels One-Five' are worth adding to your list and may be around as DVDs.
'No Sleep Till Dawn' is sometimes broadcast on the satellite channels retitled as 'Bombers B-52', also 'One Man Mutiny' as 'The Court Martial Of Billy Mitchell'.
Polecat
'No Sleep Till Dawn' is sometimes broadcast on the satellite channels retitled as 'Bombers B-52', also 'One Man Mutiny' as 'The Court Martial Of Billy Mitchell'.
Polecat
