XL 112 50 Years
pedroalpha - Amen to that!
Yet another tragic reminder, if one were needed, that Cb and aviation don't mix well. Memory says Capt Balser (sp?) Canadian exchange, plus w/op, w/m and a WRAF. 202 out of Leconfield.
Yet another tragic reminder, if one were needed, that Cb and aviation don't mix well. Memory says Capt Balser (sp?) Canadian exchange, plus w/op, w/m and a WRAF. 202 out of Leconfield.
CJ, the crew (copied from the RAF Commands website):
Capt. John Balser Canadian Armed Forces (Pilot)
Master Navigator Brian Sterling (Winch operator)
F/Sgt Charles Peter Ford (Winchman)
P/O Helen Susan McLaren (Passenger)
Capt. John Balser Canadian Armed Forces (Pilot)
Master Navigator Brian Sterling (Winch operator)
F/Sgt Charles Peter Ford (Winchman)
P/O Helen Susan McLaren (Passenger)
Thank you, Archimedes - I didn't, personally, know any of them, but Capt Balser's name stuck from his, unfortunate, exchange deployment. I was on 1563 Flt in Akrotiri when it happened and, obviously, registered in some shock. I had been on W 10s for over 6 years and, although such losses were not unique, the circumstances were unusual.
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I was a member of B Flight but on leave at the time. I never saw the BOI report but understand the sortie was to include dry winch training. I knew them all very well.
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/65109
diginagain - I had a look at that report and it is a bit 'bare-bones'. From memory - local flying possibly low-level search. Low cloud base and fog/mist. In a valley with options to hover-taxi out or climb above S Alt and RTB on instruments. Climbed and found themselves in a Cb . Unable to control climb and (as we understood it) suffered catastrophic damage at 12000'. The W10 was a lovely machine to fly visually but it had NO natural stability (indeed, just the opposite) and had no stabilising add-ons such as the Wessex SAS. It was operable IMC but I wouldn't suggest it was a 'favoured platform'!
diginagain - I had a look at that report and it is a bit 'bare-bones'. From memory - local flying possibly low-level search. Low cloud base and fog/mist. In a valley with options to hover-taxi out or climb above S Alt and RTB on instruments. Climbed and found themselves in a Cb . Unable to control climb and (as we understood it) suffered catastrophic damage at 12000'. The W10 was a lovely machine to fly visually but it had NO natural stability (indeed, just the opposite) and had no stabilising add-ons such as the Wessex SAS. It was operable IMC but I wouldn't suggest it was a 'favoured platform'!