Global Aviation Magazine : 60 Years of the Hercules
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: WOOTTON BASSETT, WILTS
Age: 73
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
GOPHER01
Were you at the Thorney reunion on saturday (10th)?
70 ex Thorney personnel turned up at the sailing club for our 3rd annual reunion and talk dirty about when we were 18 and falling over on the Big E pub crawl, and lots of El Adam, Luqa, Akrotiri night flying dets due to the restrictions at TI.
Mostly Linies and covering around 67-74ish, but also a sprinkling of other ex Thorney Islanders from Bevs, Argosies etc.
We had a very moving ceremony in the adjacent churchyard when a lovely lady laid a wreath in memory of her brother, tragically killed in a Bev accident in Singapore in 1967 aged 25 and buried at Thorney; made everybody think a little.
The (former) Nuffield club is not in great condition, doesnt seem a great deal of interest in the place. best bar on the island and a facility most camps would have dreamed of, but getting rather tatty.
The farms dispersal is long gone and they dont seem to know what to do with the airfield in general.
Restricted night flying, short night shifts; the Thorney Flyer at 10 old pence each way, left the station 10 minutes after closing time 7 days a week. legging off into Sussex to get the extra 1/2 hr boozing, window cleaning, apple picking, sprout picking (all in season) then off onto night shift and into the Coal Exchange (Coal 'Ole) for 9'clock.
Considering the forecast, the weather was great, sunny but breezy but as we all know, it never rains at Thorney.
Us youngsters never realised what a holiday camp the place was, and to get posted out to a place where someone on the tannoy kept saying things about a bloke called Michael Finn came as a bit of a shock.
Were you at the Thorney reunion on saturday (10th)?
70 ex Thorney personnel turned up at the sailing club for our 3rd annual reunion and talk dirty about when we were 18 and falling over on the Big E pub crawl, and lots of El Adam, Luqa, Akrotiri night flying dets due to the restrictions at TI.
Mostly Linies and covering around 67-74ish, but also a sprinkling of other ex Thorney Islanders from Bevs, Argosies etc.
We had a very moving ceremony in the adjacent churchyard when a lovely lady laid a wreath in memory of her brother, tragically killed in a Bev accident in Singapore in 1967 aged 25 and buried at Thorney; made everybody think a little.
The (former) Nuffield club is not in great condition, doesnt seem a great deal of interest in the place. best bar on the island and a facility most camps would have dreamed of, but getting rather tatty.
The farms dispersal is long gone and they dont seem to know what to do with the airfield in general.
Restricted night flying, short night shifts; the Thorney Flyer at 10 old pence each way, left the station 10 minutes after closing time 7 days a week. legging off into Sussex to get the extra 1/2 hr boozing, window cleaning, apple picking, sprout picking (all in season) then off onto night shift and into the Coal Exchange (Coal 'Ole) for 9'clock.
Considering the forecast, the weather was great, sunny but breezy but as we all know, it never rains at Thorney.
Us youngsters never realised what a holiday camp the place was, and to get posted out to a place where someone on the tannoy kept saying things about a bloke called Michael Finn came as a bit of a shock.
With the expert assistance of CoffmanStarter I have ventured into the black art of posting pics. Hopefully this will encourage others to contribute. First the small print. Almost all of the pics will be my own work. However should an intruder appear then I beg forgiveness from the copyright holder. Due to the decay of some of the original slides some pics are better than others. Not all are of the Herc so if the thread drift is too great I may have to decamp. First pic is of a 48 Sqn Herc on the approach to Changi. (sigh)
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Sussex UK
Age: 66
Posts: 6,995
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Well played AA62 ... 
My pleasure to help ...
Update ...
Just PM'd AA62 to help recover the pic ...
My pleasure to help ...
Update ...
Just PM'd AA62 to help recover the pic ...
Last edited by CoffmanStarter; 13th May 2014 at 14:23.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Sussex UK
Age: 66
Posts: 6,995
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
AA62 ...
I've just had a look at your original Image Link above ... it appears to have corrupted somehow.
So I've had a go at repairing it for you
We are all looking forward to seeing more of your pictures
Best ...
Coff.
I've just had a look at your original Image Link above ... it appears to have corrupted somehow.
Originally Posted by AA62
I have ventured into the black art of posting pics. Hopefully this will encourage others to contribute. First the small print. Almost all of the pics will be my own work. However should an intruder appear then I beg forgiveness from the copyright holder. Due to the decay of some of the original slides some pics are better than others. Not all are of the Herc so if the thread drift is too great I may have to decamp. First pic is of a 48 Sqn Herc on the approach to Changi. (sigh)
We are all looking forward to seeing more of your pictures
Best ...
Coff.
AA62
Sorry to disagree, but that's not Changi - Flt Eng' in KD though (naughty boy!). I remember one of our skippers having a big fall-out with a nav' who insisted he would fly in KD - as the nav' was a Flt Sgt the skipper won!
Keep at it AA, meanwhile, I offer a prod in progress, en route to MPA from Ascension, mid 80's (taken from the cupola). As an aside it was actually the Captains birthday, he achieved the refuel in one attempt, and we had a proper party with jelly, cake and all the other party stuff in the following 10 hours to MPA thanks to a very well organised Loady;
Keep putting them up there AA.
Smudge
Keep putting them up there AA.
Smudge
Brian,
you are right it is not Changi, for too many bumps ! One of my problems is that most of the pics were of slides which have not all stood the test of time.
So I had them copied to disc and alas during this process the captions and the order were corrupted. My struggles with the uploading made me careless about the location. I shall try harder in future but one or two will be 'where on earth'.
CoffmanStarter, thanks for your help once again. I may have to consult my 4 year old grandson in future (count to 100 in three languages, capitals of the world etc) He is positive proof that the intelligence gene can skip a generation.
you are right it is not Changi, for too many bumps ! One of my problems is that most of the pics were of slides which have not all stood the test of time.
So I had them copied to disc and alas during this process the captions and the order were corrupted. My struggles with the uploading made me careless about the location. I shall try harder in future but one or two will be 'where on earth'.
CoffmanStarter, thanks for your help once again. I may have to consult my 4 year old grandson in future (count to 100 in three languages, capitals of the world etc) He is positive proof that the intelligence gene can skip a generation.
Hopefully this will appear correctly, after a major computer crash . I do know where this is do you ? Any future pics may appear in a less than chronological order . Nice pic smudge, you must have some more ?
AA62,
Looks like a shot from a VC10 (no prizes there then) and the Herk next to the RAF Albert, looks to have the RAAF camo scheme. Where it could be is another matter, but the RAF Albert looks to be in standard finish for 80/90s. Hope that helps AA.
Meanwhile, mid 90s and the conclusion to a fighter affil session in Norway. This very obliging F16 pilot pulled alongside for a photograph. After the G's he had put us through, I'm surprised I could hold the camera;
Another shot from the same trip. A nice flight up the fjords taking in the sights from the Port Para Door ;
Smudge
Looks like a shot from a VC10 (no prizes there then) and the Herk next to the RAF Albert, looks to have the RAAF camo scheme. Where it could be is another matter, but the RAF Albert looks to be in standard finish for 80/90s. Hope that helps AA.
Meanwhile, mid 90s and the conclusion to a fighter affil session in Norway. This very obliging F16 pilot pulled alongside for a photograph. After the G's he had put us through, I'm surprised I could hold the camera;
Another shot from the same trip. A nice flight up the fjords taking in the sights from the Port Para Door ;
Smudge
Last edited by smujsmith; 16th May 2014 at 21:18.
Sorry AA,
Missed your post there. I will bite at Easter Island ? Seems we have this thread all to ourselves. Meanwhile, another Albert on another Airfield, no quiz this, its Ciampino circa 1990;
A bit of a story, we were heading home from places East (from memory a trip to Madagascar) and our last nightstop was Rome. We get to the aircraft the next morning, and duly B/F it. The "front end" were taking their time arriving and we watched as the Thai B747 loaded, taxied, aborted and returned to the pan. Once the pax were offloaded, blimey don't they carry a lot
my fellow AGE and myself sauntered over to see what their problem was. The Flight Engineer was very chatty and explained that they had a hydraulic leak on one of the engines, and would have to wait for engineering support from base. All those passengers in hotels, crikey did they have a problem. Would he mind if we open the cowling ? A quick look showed that the hydraulic pump coupling had vibrated loose, allowing it to leak. Spanners, a clean up and then get the captain back for a quick engine start to prove the fix, were we happy AGE's, you bet. When we got back to Albert, our drivers had arrived, we shared all our illicit spoils with the crew, Thai Airways Card packs, and other marketing paraphernalia. The B747 got away, less than an hour after its abort, the company saved a lot on hotel bills, and I still have my pack of cards. I often wondered if I could have been useful to a civvy airline.
Smudge
Missed your post there. I will bite at Easter Island ? Seems we have this thread all to ourselves. Meanwhile, another Albert on another Airfield, no quiz this, its Ciampino circa 1990;
A bit of a story, we were heading home from places East (from memory a trip to Madagascar) and our last nightstop was Rome. We get to the aircraft the next morning, and duly B/F it. The "front end" were taking their time arriving and we watched as the Thai B747 loaded, taxied, aborted and returned to the pan. Once the pax were offloaded, blimey don't they carry a lot
my fellow AGE and myself sauntered over to see what their problem was. The Flight Engineer was very chatty and explained that they had a hydraulic leak on one of the engines, and would have to wait for engineering support from base. All those passengers in hotels, crikey did they have a problem. Would he mind if we open the cowling ? A quick look showed that the hydraulic pump coupling had vibrated loose, allowing it to leak. Spanners, a clean up and then get the captain back for a quick engine start to prove the fix, were we happy AGE's, you bet. When we got back to Albert, our drivers had arrived, we shared all our illicit spoils with the crew, Thai Airways Card packs, and other marketing paraphernalia. The B747 got away, less than an hour after its abort, the company saved a lot on hotel bills, and I still have my pack of cards. I often wondered if I could have been useful to a civvy airline.Smudge
Last edited by smujsmith; 17th May 2014 at 20:52.
OK Coff,
Not strictly one of mine, but surely, for those of us old enough to remember, the iconic paint job;
I had a Morris Oxford in exactly the same colours in the early 70s.
Smudge
Not strictly one of mine, but surely, for those of us old enough to remember, the iconic paint job;
I had a Morris Oxford in exactly the same colours in the early 70s.
Smudge
The end of the K's;
Stacked and awaiting sale at St Athan. What a journey these aircraft went through. I bet there are some great stories out there of operating this aircraft in the RAF. I've been lucky to have followed Albert from 1971 to 1997 as a mere techie. Come on gentlemen, I have only one question of the "drivers", didn't you find the rudder a bit on the heavy side ?
A final pic just for Ex Ascoteer, 292 in all its glory, Prestwick 1992;
Smudge
Stacked and awaiting sale at St Athan. What a journey these aircraft went through. I bet there are some great stories out there of operating this aircraft in the RAF. I've been lucky to have followed Albert from 1971 to 1997 as a mere techie. Come on gentlemen, I have only one question of the "drivers", didn't you find the rudder a bit on the heavy side ?
A final pic just for Ex Ascoteer, 292 in all its glory, Prestwick 1992;
Smudge
Last edited by smujsmith; 17th May 2014 at 22:06.
smudge,
great tale and super pics. This pic is from the very early days of the 'K' as those in at the start may recognise. Unusable autopilot no anti skid etc and the G/E for the Herc had yet to be invented.
As you say we seem to have this thread to ourselves but I do not think Coffman Starter who set it going would mind,
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Australia - South of where I'd like to be !
Age: 59
Posts: 4,261
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You might have then thread to yourself with posts but I am thoroughly enjoying the photos and stories you post.
Keep up the great job.
Keep up the great job.
The Decca Moving Map system did not last long as I recall. Lane jumping, restricted coverage etc. We once did a blind drop trial through cloud, not a success. The paras landed well away from the DZ. Thankfully without injury.
Smudge forgot to mention that you are correct in respect of the pic. T'is Easter Island !
Smudge forgot to mention that you are correct in respect of the pic. T'is Easter Island !
