Fg Off Russell F. Graham, 226 OCU, killed in Jaguar crash in Northumberland, 1977.
Morning Stuart, on a rainy day in Lincolnshire I will see if I can help.
Russ would have joined straight from school or civvy street and done his Officer Training at RAF Henlow. Graduate entrants were trained at Sleaford Tech (RAF College Cranwell). Basic Flying Training at RAF Linton on Ouse then there was a delay of some months before the course at RAF Valley. We started Spring 1976 and Russ did AFT on the Folland Gnat then a short familiarisation on the Hawker Hunter. Then 4/5 months off and a quick refresher on the Hunter and off to Tactical Weapons Unit (TWU) at RAF Brawdy. We knew how to fly an aircraft but now had to use it as a weapons platform. Air to air gunnery, air to ground gunnery, bombing and firing rockets were some of the disciplines and flying battle formation became normality.(Your most vulnerable direction was directly behind you so if you flew 2 aircraft, line abreast, about a mile apart you could protect each other’s 6 o’ clock). The final few sorties were as part of a 4-ship attacking 2 simulated targets in Wales with another Hunter acting as a hostile fighter. You had to get to the target and have cine film of the attack to ensure success, maintain formation and counter all attacks from the ‘bounce’ aircraft. You started looking for the enemy fighter as you taxied out to the runway as formations had been bounced as they were getting airborne. So think ‘Topgun’ without Tom Cruise. TWU completed approx June 77. I had been ill so was behind the rest of the course and Russ went on the course ahead of me RAF Lossiemouth.
I was awarded my wings in October 75 and think Russ would have been a similar time.
If there was a delay between courses we were encouraged to find a useful alternative so RAF Shawbury might have been a secondment for Russ.
The summer of 76 is the stuff of legends and the weather was so good we did lots of flying in a short time.
Sending some photos of the literature that probably attracted Russ to join.
Russ would have joined straight from school or civvy street and done his Officer Training at RAF Henlow. Graduate entrants were trained at Sleaford Tech (RAF College Cranwell). Basic Flying Training at RAF Linton on Ouse then there was a delay of some months before the course at RAF Valley. We started Spring 1976 and Russ did AFT on the Folland Gnat then a short familiarisation on the Hawker Hunter. Then 4/5 months off and a quick refresher on the Hunter and off to Tactical Weapons Unit (TWU) at RAF Brawdy. We knew how to fly an aircraft but now had to use it as a weapons platform. Air to air gunnery, air to ground gunnery, bombing and firing rockets were some of the disciplines and flying battle formation became normality.(Your most vulnerable direction was directly behind you so if you flew 2 aircraft, line abreast, about a mile apart you could protect each other’s 6 o’ clock). The final few sorties were as part of a 4-ship attacking 2 simulated targets in Wales with another Hunter acting as a hostile fighter. You had to get to the target and have cine film of the attack to ensure success, maintain formation and counter all attacks from the ‘bounce’ aircraft. You started looking for the enemy fighter as you taxied out to the runway as formations had been bounced as they were getting airborne. So think ‘Topgun’ without Tom Cruise. TWU completed approx June 77. I had been ill so was behind the rest of the course and Russ went on the course ahead of me RAF Lossiemouth.
I was awarded my wings in October 75 and think Russ would have been a similar time.
If there was a delay between courses we were encouraged to find a useful alternative so RAF Shawbury might have been a secondment for Russ.
The summer of 76 is the stuff of legends and the weather was so good we did lots of flying in a short time.
Sending some photos of the literature that probably attracted Russ to join.
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Hi Stuart,
Russ and I were on the same course at Linton and we had some great times together. I remember squeezing into his MG Midget( neither of us were small) for excursions around the local hosteleries. One particular memory which sticks in my mind was when we were refresher flying at RAF Leeming. Having retired to bed,after the bar shut, I was awoken by a rustling noise from my window. When I turned the bedside light on I was presented with a view of a bare arse and legs protruding from the bottom of the curtains! After issuing an appropriate expletive a stark naked Russ emerged into plain sight and demanded to know what I was doing in his room! At which point he disappeared out of the door which I hastily locked behind him. Needless to say at breakfast the next morning Russ had no recollection of his naked sleepwalking antics. Moral of the story, always lock your bedroom door . 🤣We were both on 279 Officer Training Course at RAF Henlow and 37 Course at RAF Linton on Ouse which graduated in March 75, this was followed by about 12 months of ‘holding’ before RAF Valley, hence the need for refresher flying. We both then went to RAF Valley in 76 albeit on different courses.
Russ and I were on the same course at Linton and we had some great times together. I remember squeezing into his MG Midget( neither of us were small) for excursions around the local hosteleries. One particular memory which sticks in my mind was when we were refresher flying at RAF Leeming. Having retired to bed,after the bar shut, I was awoken by a rustling noise from my window. When I turned the bedside light on I was presented with a view of a bare arse and legs protruding from the bottom of the curtains! After issuing an appropriate expletive a stark naked Russ emerged into plain sight and demanded to know what I was doing in his room! At which point he disappeared out of the door which I hastily locked behind him. Needless to say at breakfast the next morning Russ had no recollection of his naked sleepwalking antics. Moral of the story, always lock your bedroom door . 🤣We were both on 279 Officer Training Course at RAF Henlow and 37 Course at RAF Linton on Ouse which graduated in March 75, this was followed by about 12 months of ‘holding’ before RAF Valley, hence the need for refresher flying. We both then went to RAF Valley in 76 albeit on different courses.
Last edited by Specaircrew; 18th Feb 2024 at 15:57.
Nutloose, none of those. A pilot’s watch never had a stop watch facility. It was issued when you joined and replaced if damaged or inaccurate. I had 6/7 in my career and the best and most accurate was the one I handed back on retirement. Surely they give you some sort of timepiece when you retire not take it off you.🤪 Hamilton is a name I remember and one of my watches had a new face stuck on it to hide the date aperture. This cost more as a date function wasn’t in the specification so had to be modified— if you looked carefully by the number 3 you could see the indentation of the hole.
Stop watches were fitted to the aircraft not the pilot.
Stop watches were fitted to the aircraft not the pilot.
Spoiler
I think the watch was issued to him at Wittering in 1972. He did a summer camp there flying Chipmunks and came back with a lot of goodies from their stores, including a shiny new white flying helmet, Mk 3A I think, some cold weather flying kit and a pair of new flying boots and of course the Omega
He also got a low level trip around the UK in a 45 Squadron Hunter T7. An old friend was the squadron CO
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My Dad had to hand back his Omega in 1981 when he was grounded for medical reasons after 40 years of flying in the RAF. Broke his heart........
The flying helmet in 1972 was a Mk 2A. I kept the shell of my Mk 2A through various upgrades and modifications until I dropped it in the mid to late 80s. By then it was a Mk 3C and was replaced by a Mk 4. 🤪
I thought it was a Mk 2A, but checking my memory from nearly 50 years ago 
with pictures on the internet, I concluded that it was not a 2A as the visor was wrong.
Flightgear On-Line, the website for the collector of military flightgear
And looks more like a Mk 3 (probably a 3B) which has the central visor rail like the Mk1A .
Best picture I have of it taken in 1975. It went back with the watch and all the cold weather flying kit. However when the white one was issued they let him keep his Mk1A, which I still have along with his WW2 leather helmet and Mk8 goggles.
with pictures on the internet, I concluded that it was not a 2A as the visor was wrong.Flightgear On-Line, the website for the collector of military flightgear
And looks more like a Mk 3 (probably a 3B) which has the central visor rail like the Mk1A .
Best picture I have of it taken in 1975. It went back with the watch and all the cold weather flying kit. However when the white one was issued they let him keep his Mk1A, which I still have along with his WW2 leather helmet and Mk8 goggles.
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Shame you couldn't have misplaced the watch.
Was involved in compiling this list for the Jaguar end of service commerative brochure in 2007. Your uncle is recorded in a publication in name. I do have a electronic copy of this if you are interested. PM me if you are.
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The RAF posters and literature are a great find too. I wouldn't have considered looking into that, but it adds another aspect to everything. They sure knew how to make inspriational advertising back in the day, hey! How do you think the modern ones hold up in comparison?
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Ha, amazing story! Happens to the best of us XD. Thanks for sharing that. Did a nickname arise from that event? Seems like prime material for one!
One of my favourite photos of Russ is him standing next to his MG with the Forth Rail Bridge in the backgroud. You could tell how proud of it he was! A very distinct car that I'd love to take for a drive. It must have been a blast during those days.
Hi Stuart, have you enough information. I have written extensively about my time in the RAF which include officer training, pilot training and related stuff. I can put some more info on here but if you wish, you could email me directly. I can send my email address as a PM I believe.
As a civilian, joining the RAF as a pilot meant a completely new wardrobe. Obviously there were the uniforms and on top of that you needed flying equipment. In Jan/Feb 1973 I was issued with all I needed to ‘slip the surly bonds of earth’. So flying suits, socks, boots, long johns, vests, polo neck tops, leather flying gloves, flying scarf( not like in the comedy sketches in white silk and starched within an inch of it’s life but a scrawny green thing) and a bone dome. The flying helmet (bone dome) was a fibre glass shell with a leather inner suspended in a cradle type arrangement. My flying helmet when issued was a 2A and it stayed with me until 1989 some 18 months before I left the RAF when I dropped it and cracked the outer shell. It went from a 2A to a 2B, then a 3A,3B and a 3C before it was damaged. Perhaps it was a little bit like Trigger’s broom but the shell was the same one throughout although the inner leather was changed many times. Leather and sweat aren’t a great combination. Because I am tall I couldn’t fit into a Chipmunk aircraft wearing a bone dome so I wore a cotton inner from a Mk 1 flying helmet which was less bulky. Attached to the helmet was the oxygen mask which fitted below your eyes, over your nose and onto your chin. We wore a mask even when it wasn’t needed for oxygen as the microphone was fitted at the same level as your mouth. Many people suffered from rashes around the mouth caused by rubber particles embedded in the pores of the skin
Then there was the haircut. Imagine a Cavalier soldier of the 17th century and I had hair just below my shoulders which formed naturally into long ringlets and sat on my shoulders. I suffered abuse from many women who would complain about how much they had to spend at the hairdressers to achieve a style that, for me, was natural. So it was quite a shock to have a military style haircut when I joined the RAF.
As you progressed through training there were additions to this basic flying kit and by the time I was flying the Jaguar I weighed, with full kit, 3 stone(20 kgs) more than my actual weight. Like all things you became accustomed to it.
There was also Aviation Medical training at RAF North Luffenham in Rutland and combat survival courses to attend at RAF Mount Batten in Plymouth, Devon. The drive from Mount Batten to Lossiemouth was 667 miles and was typical of the attitude at the time. That course has always been held at Mount Batten and we’re not going to change now. It wasn’t just a long way from Lossiemouth it was a long way from everywhere.
As a civilian, joining the RAF as a pilot meant a completely new wardrobe. Obviously there were the uniforms and on top of that you needed flying equipment. In Jan/Feb 1973 I was issued with all I needed to ‘slip the surly bonds of earth’. So flying suits, socks, boots, long johns, vests, polo neck tops, leather flying gloves, flying scarf( not like in the comedy sketches in white silk and starched within an inch of it’s life but a scrawny green thing) and a bone dome. The flying helmet (bone dome) was a fibre glass shell with a leather inner suspended in a cradle type arrangement. My flying helmet when issued was a 2A and it stayed with me until 1989 some 18 months before I left the RAF when I dropped it and cracked the outer shell. It went from a 2A to a 2B, then a 3A,3B and a 3C before it was damaged. Perhaps it was a little bit like Trigger’s broom but the shell was the same one throughout although the inner leather was changed many times. Leather and sweat aren’t a great combination. Because I am tall I couldn’t fit into a Chipmunk aircraft wearing a bone dome so I wore a cotton inner from a Mk 1 flying helmet which was less bulky. Attached to the helmet was the oxygen mask which fitted below your eyes, over your nose and onto your chin. We wore a mask even when it wasn’t needed for oxygen as the microphone was fitted at the same level as your mouth. Many people suffered from rashes around the mouth caused by rubber particles embedded in the pores of the skin
Then there was the haircut. Imagine a Cavalier soldier of the 17th century and I had hair just below my shoulders which formed naturally into long ringlets and sat on my shoulders. I suffered abuse from many women who would complain about how much they had to spend at the hairdressers to achieve a style that, for me, was natural. So it was quite a shock to have a military style haircut when I joined the RAF.
As you progressed through training there were additions to this basic flying kit and by the time I was flying the Jaguar I weighed, with full kit, 3 stone(20 kgs) more than my actual weight. Like all things you became accustomed to it.
There was also Aviation Medical training at RAF North Luffenham in Rutland and combat survival courses to attend at RAF Mount Batten in Plymouth, Devon. The drive from Mount Batten to Lossiemouth was 667 miles and was typical of the attitude at the time. That course has always been held at Mount Batten and we’re not going to change now. It wasn’t just a long way from Lossiemouth it was a long way from everywhere.
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Stuart,
I did not know Russell in RAF context, but was at school with him and we were friends & have school photo. I remember the crash and being shocked by the news. I have been involved in aircraft avionic design all my professional life.
Let me know if I can help your research. I don’t know if the moderator allows direct email, but please contact.
Interested to read other comments.
Bob Sinclair
I did not know Russell in RAF context, but was at school with him and we were friends & have school photo. I remember the crash and being shocked by the news. I have been involved in aircraft avionic design all my professional life.
Let me know if I can help your research. I don’t know if the moderator allows direct email, but please contact.
Interested to read other comments.
Bob Sinclair
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Bob, You need about eight or ten posts before you can message him, I have checked and he also has email enabled, so when you have reached ten posts you can also email him through the site.
Start posting
I have sent him an email through the site to let him know to check back here, Hope that helps.
Start posting
I have sent him an email through the site to let him know to check back here, Hope that helps.