Wg Cdr Arthur Gill, OBE, DFC
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Cyclops Brown was another, IMHO. There were some great leaders of men from that generation, with personality and style in addition to skill.
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'In early 1939, after flying the 'Audax' and 'Hart', I converted on to the Fairey 'Battle' - a much larger bomber with a Rolls Royce 1000 hp engine. There was no dual-control version, so for the first time, I had to fly it having read the pilot's notes, and sat in the cockpit with an instructor on the wing, pointing out the numerous switches, knobs and levers. Then, followed by starting the massive engine, I was off into the air; most exhilarating!
It was the first aircraft I had flown that had an enclosed cockpit, with a sliding canopy over my head to keep out the wind and rain. The 'Battle' was also a much faster aircraft.
One morning my instructor, Sergeant Beaumont (later to become a famous test pilot) said: 'I think you can do a cross-country flight today to Perth'. From Hanworth in Middlesex, to Perth in Scotland was 560 miles, further than I had ever flown. Beaumont checked the route I proposed to fly, but didn't check the weather en route.
I took-off and the weather was fine and sunny - until I reached the Midlands, where I flew into torrential rain and low clouds. There was no navigational aids in those days and there was no radio in the cockpit . Visibility was limited and I was anxious about hitting the Pennine hills. I was not very experienced at flying 'blind' on instruments. So I decided to turn right and thus came out of the heavy rain, continuing the flight up the east coast in clear weather. Eventually I reached the the Firth of Forth and saw a large steel railway bridge spanning the river estuary. I thought 'That looks inviting!' and, on the spur of the moment, decided to fly under it. There was plenty of space between the spans as I flew low over the water at 200 mph. I was later to learn, somewhat ruefully, that flying under bridges was forbidden and was a court-martial offence.
I found the airfield at Perth, landed after two hours in the air, and had a cup of tea while the aircraft was being refuelled. Then took-off again to return to Hanworth. It was a lovely day in Scotland and again I forgot about the weather. Sure enough, as I flew south, I again flew into low cloud and heavy rain. If I had been sensible, I would have repeated my earlier remedy and turned left to fly down the east coast. But instead I turned right and found myself flying into even worse conditions. I descended lower and lower, trying to see the ground. Then suddenly a mast flashed past my left wing, then dozens more appeared, rising up into the clouds. How I avoided hitting any of them, I will never know. I later learned that I had flown through Rugby Radio Station, with hundreds of aerial cables strung between the high masts! To have got through, flying so low in bad visibility, was a miracle. I hadn't even known they existed!
My next moment of worry was when the engine suddenly began to run roughly and backfire. My immediate thought was that I had engine-failure. Then it hit me: I hadn't changed tanks. My left wing tanks were dry and I needed to change to those on the right. I quickly changed-over while pumping madly on my throttle. Almost at once, the engine picked-up and continued to run normally. Peering through the mist, I later spotted large white letters: 'Whipsnade Zoo' and set course for home - somewhat chastened after my day's various escapades.'
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NigG.
The experience of all the single seater drivers for the next twenty years (we survived).
.
Not fast enough ! In France in 1940 the Me109s would make mincemeat of them.
Happy days ! Another strategem was to find a railway line, follow it to a station, and make a low pass to read the station name board on a platform. In the war, they took them all away (so as to stop the Luftwaffe from doing the same): this caused much angst among travellers looking for their destinations, as they were now dependent on hearing the station name bawled out by porters, and these were often not very easy to understand in the local patois.
Danny.
... so for the first time, I had to fly it having read the pilot's notes, and sat in the cockpit with an instructor on the wing...
...The 'Battle' was also a much faster aircraft..
Not fast enough ! In France in 1940 the Me109s would make mincemeat of them.
...Peering through the mist, I later spotted large white letters: 'Whipsnade Zoo' and set course for home...
Danny.
Last edited by Danny42C; 25th Jun 2016 at 19:48. Reason: Typo
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NigG,
This Thread has gone quiet. Found this overlooked gem on your #165:
Rings a bell with me. Extract from my #4252 on "Pilot's Brevet":
And
Luxury ! But I had to do all the work myself till late 1945, when I flew the P-47 (the first aircraft I'd met with a powered canopy).
Danny.
This Thread has gone quiet. Found this overlooked gem on your #165:
...in an Airspeed 'Oxford', in order to collect a sofa that had been re-upholstered. [Not sure how easy it is to do that in the modern RAF!]...
...Danny Exposes Himself to Ridicule.
My second gaffe some time later was really not my fault, but it was to go down in Manby legend. There was nothing on the board (ATC Nirvana !). R/T monitor pipes up: "M-ABCD on 117.9 for you, sir". What followed I will never forget.
Verbatim: "M-CD, Manby Approach, pass your message"...."Manby, CD approaching from the North at 2,000 ft, range 20 miles, request landing instructions"...."CD, 11 left, (QFE), circuit clear, call joining"....
(Manby is Prior Permission Only, we have had no advice of this visitor, but that is not my business: I cannot turn him away - but he must answer for it when he gets down)...."CD, what is the purpose of your visit ?" .... "To drop off a horse" .... "Say again" ...."Horse"...."Spell it !"...."H-O-R-S E" ....."What is your aircraft type ?"...."Anson".
My brain reeled. Reason tottered on her throne. You clutch desperately at straws. "Perhaps it's a very small horse", I consoled myself, "might a Shetland pony go in all right ?" (In my defence, I must add that only a mere dozen years before I'd seen Dak-loads of mules go off, and wished the pilots the best of British).
Now the final bitter twist in the story: Manby had an Equitation Club. My equally stupefied Assistant grabbed the Station phone book: "It's S/Ldr (X) i/c, sir"...."Ring him, tell him he's got a horse coming in in about ten minutes". S/Ldr (X) gets dragged out of Important Conference, not well pleased, organises groom and whistles up horsebox to the Tower. Anson comes in, parks, groom advances with horse-tackle at the ready. Crew see horsebox arrive alongside Tower.
Out of Anson comes a wooden hobby-horse. It appears that this was an adjunct to one of the silly games that are played at Dining-in nights. Station (X) had borrowed it from Manby for some occasion, and were now returning it. Pilots roll about Anson in mirth when they realise that they've not only fooled the Controller, but the College as well. (This will keep them in free beer for yonks). Even with door closed, Anson rocks on its oleos for some time before crew sufficiently composed to ask for taxy clearance.
Danny is Buffoon du jour. Joke is all round Manby within the hour, round Strubby by nightfall and all round Lincolnshire by weekend. Back at Strubby my Bendix crew shakes heads sorrowfully. First the HT door, then the stuck Matador, now this. Always said the poor chap must have been out in the tropic sun far too long.
Next time two more disasters, but neither of my doing...
My second gaffe some time later was really not my fault, but it was to go down in Manby legend. There was nothing on the board (ATC Nirvana !). R/T monitor pipes up: "M-ABCD on 117.9 for you, sir". What followed I will never forget.
Verbatim: "M-CD, Manby Approach, pass your message"...."Manby, CD approaching from the North at 2,000 ft, range 20 miles, request landing instructions"...."CD, 11 left, (QFE), circuit clear, call joining"....
(Manby is Prior Permission Only, we have had no advice of this visitor, but that is not my business: I cannot turn him away - but he must answer for it when he gets down)...."CD, what is the purpose of your visit ?" .... "To drop off a horse" .... "Say again" ...."Horse"...."Spell it !"...."H-O-R-S E" ....."What is your aircraft type ?"...."Anson".
My brain reeled. Reason tottered on her throne. You clutch desperately at straws. "Perhaps it's a very small horse", I consoled myself, "might a Shetland pony go in all right ?" (In my defence, I must add that only a mere dozen years before I'd seen Dak-loads of mules go off, and wished the pilots the best of British).
Now the final bitter twist in the story: Manby had an Equitation Club. My equally stupefied Assistant grabbed the Station phone book: "It's S/Ldr (X) i/c, sir"...."Ring him, tell him he's got a horse coming in in about ten minutes". S/Ldr (X) gets dragged out of Important Conference, not well pleased, organises groom and whistles up horsebox to the Tower. Anson comes in, parks, groom advances with horse-tackle at the ready. Crew see horsebox arrive alongside Tower.
Out of Anson comes a wooden hobby-horse. It appears that this was an adjunct to one of the silly games that are played at Dining-in nights. Station (X) had borrowed it from Manby for some occasion, and were now returning it. Pilots roll about Anson in mirth when they realise that they've not only fooled the Controller, but the College as well. (This will keep them in free beer for yonks). Even with door closed, Anson rocks on its oleos for some time before crew sufficiently composed to ask for taxy clearance.
Danny is Buffoon du jour. Joke is all round Manby within the hour, round Strubby by nightfall and all round Lincolnshire by weekend. Back at Strubby my Bendix crew shakes heads sorrowfully. First the HT door, then the stuck Matador, now this. Always said the poor chap must have been out in the tropic sun far too long.
Next time two more disasters, but neither of my doing...
...It was the first aircraft I had flown that had an enclosed cockpit, with a sliding canopy over my head to keep out the wind and rain...
Danny.
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Excellent, Danny! Have to say, your story elicited good whinny from me. Talking of Silly games, I recall, on one occasion in the 70s, we invited several RAF 'Puma' aircrew to join us for our Dinner Night, after we, a TA battalion, had been training with them. We were thoroughly impressed by their repertoire of Games... more extensive and more amusing than ours, though ours were pretty good. But a hobby-horse? Mind boggles... sounds wild! 
Changing the subject, I recently came upon a certain 'Count Manfred Beckett Czernin' in Wikipedia. I read his name in one of Arthur's little asides, albeit with Arthur mis-spelling his name and with inaccurate background information. At the time Arthur was still at Hanworth, where he had learned to fly, and had, a few months earlier, gained his Wings. The war had just started... the 'Phoney War'... and Arthur, now mobilised, was waiting for his turn to be posted out. This is what he wrote:
[One of the people I encountered at this time] was Count Czerin [sic] - a Polish pilot who had escaped to England to join the RAF. I was asked to check him out, after he reported to the flying school. We took off in a dual-controlled 'Hart' trainer and climbed south to 3000 feet. I then asked him to do a loop for me. Naturally I expected him to open the throttle fully, put the nose down to increase speed, before starting the aerobatic. Instead, he just pulled the 'stick' (control column) hard back into his stomach. The aircraft then stalled, and was just about to go into a spin towards the ground, before I quickly regained control. Surprisingly to me, Czerin later became one of the top-scoring fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain. I always though that ex-flying instructors would never make good fighter pilots because they flew too precisely. By contrast, Czerin's flying was probably so unpredictable that he totally out-foxed the opposition. He nearly put me in an early grave. The Luftwaffe couldn't have stood a chance!
I note from the Wiki article that Czernin was, at that time, an ex-RAF Short Service pilot. Evidently he was a tad 'rusty', judging by Arthur's small 'moment of entertainment'.
Changing the subject, I recently came upon a certain 'Count Manfred Beckett Czernin' in Wikipedia. I read his name in one of Arthur's little asides, albeit with Arthur mis-spelling his name and with inaccurate background information. At the time Arthur was still at Hanworth, where he had learned to fly, and had, a few months earlier, gained his Wings. The war had just started... the 'Phoney War'... and Arthur, now mobilised, was waiting for his turn to be posted out. This is what he wrote:
[One of the people I encountered at this time] was Count Czerin [sic] - a Polish pilot who had escaped to England to join the RAF. I was asked to check him out, after he reported to the flying school. We took off in a dual-controlled 'Hart' trainer and climbed south to 3000 feet. I then asked him to do a loop for me. Naturally I expected him to open the throttle fully, put the nose down to increase speed, before starting the aerobatic. Instead, he just pulled the 'stick' (control column) hard back into his stomach. The aircraft then stalled, and was just about to go into a spin towards the ground, before I quickly regained control. Surprisingly to me, Czerin later became one of the top-scoring fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain. I always though that ex-flying instructors would never make good fighter pilots because they flew too precisely. By contrast, Czerin's flying was probably so unpredictable that he totally out-foxed the opposition. He nearly put me in an early grave. The Luftwaffe couldn't have stood a chance!
I note from the Wiki article that Czernin was, at that time, an ex-RAF Short Service pilot. Evidently he was a tad 'rusty', judging by Arthur's small 'moment of entertainment'.
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NigG,
Never having been a QFI myself, but have always thought that being in the back seat of (say) a Harvard on grass in the blackout (with a few paraffin "goosenecks") and a Prune in front doing his first dual circuits and landings, must have been about the most terrifying ordeal known to man.
No wonder most of them begged to get on (or get back on) the comparative safety of 'ops' ASAP !
Danny.
...He nearly put me in an early grave...
No wonder most of them begged to get on (or get back on) the comparative safety of 'ops' ASAP !
Danny.
Last edited by Danny42C; 27th Jun 2016 at 12:47. Reason: Typo !
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NigG,
Around 1937, rich cousin Tony had one of these (terribly expensive) flying models - and a Hornby LMS ""Royal Scot" 00 set - on both of which I gazed in hopeless envy! (Flew well, too - the Hart, I mean).
Danny.
PS: if you go onto "Internet Explorer", it's there en claire
...We took off in a dual-controlled 'Hart' trainer...
Danny.
PS: if you go onto "Internet Explorer", it's there en claire
Last edited by Danny42C; 27th Jun 2016 at 14:06. Reason: Addn
Join Date: Mar 2010
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I wonder what the "triple insertor rod" does? Or is that a case of 'too much information'?
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I wondered about that too - but was too polite to ask.
Similarly, "motors"??
I guess it's just an earlier example of that advertising maxim ... "If you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em".
.
Similarly, "motors"??
I guess it's just an earlier example of that advertising maxim ... "If you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em".
.
Last edited by Stanwell; 27th Jun 2016 at 16:28. Reason: oops
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"Motors" = Extra strength rubber bands, I suspect!
With a special lubricant. And a triple insertor rod. OMG, those pre-War perverts
With a special lubricant. And a triple insertor rod. OMG, those pre-War perverts
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Stanwell et al,
At a guess (ought to be able to remember !) "motor" meant "laggy band".
Another guess: when band busts, you would need to hook one end of new laggy band onto a hook down inside the end of (monocoque) end. "Insertion Tool" might do this job (?)
IIRC, band never bust as we never wound it up fully in case it flew out of garden and could (theoretically) reach East Coast main line just behind St. Peter's Hill in Huntingdon. (Boy's paradise, as "Mallard" used to come belting through at full bore - and the house shook !)
Both biplanes were detachable from centre section for packing (and flew off in a crash !). After a few of these, did not fly it any more as it was such a fine static model to risk being destroyed in this way, it just "flew" around by hand with accompanying "Broom, broom" ad lib.
Will put in a few words on the Great Thread as suggested.
Danny.
PS: KY jelly should be a good rubber lubricant, too.
At a guess (ought to be able to remember !) "motor" meant "laggy band".
Another guess: when band busts, you would need to hook one end of new laggy band onto a hook down inside the end of (monocoque) end. "Insertion Tool" might do this job (?)
IIRC, band never bust as we never wound it up fully in case it flew out of garden and could (theoretically) reach East Coast main line just behind St. Peter's Hill in Huntingdon. (Boy's paradise, as "Mallard" used to come belting through at full bore - and the house shook !)
Both biplanes were detachable from centre section for packing (and flew off in a crash !). After a few of these, did not fly it any more as it was such a fine static model to risk being destroyed in this way, it just "flew" around by hand with accompanying "Broom, broom" ad lib.
Will put in a few words on the Great Thread as suggested.
Danny.
PS: KY jelly should be a good rubber lubricant, too.
Last edited by Danny42C; 27th Jun 2016 at 16:42. Reason: Addn.
In the 1940s I was lucky enough to be given a tea chest (remember them?) full of second hands toys by a neighbour who went off to Uni. There was a monoplane like a Hurricane, all silver with the same box rewind 'system' It may have been made by Frog? The wings were made of something flexible that (for awhile) absorbed impacts. Danny is quite correct regarding the 'Insertion tool' use. I had forgotten that until now.
mmitch.
mmitch.
