A Weather-Guesser's Memories with the RAF
Camping in Holland
LanglyBastion was at JHQ Rheindahlen about the same time as me (1972 – 1975) I think, and as a weather man may well have been the weather man whose advice I sought when I took the family on our first camping trip into Holland whilst stationed in Germany.
Having bought a family sized tent and erected it in the garden of our Married Quarter to see how it worked etc. we planned to go on our first camping trip into Holland for a long weekend and I sought telephone advice from JHQ’s weather centre as to what the weather would be like for that weekend. Advice (possibly from LB?) was that it would be hot with a possibility of thunder storms later. Nothing daunted we went off to a camping site over the boarder in Holland. Having got there, erected the tent and enjoying the warm and sunny weather we enjoyed our first evening meal we put the kids to bed whilst wife and I had a drink or two and retired only to be woken at about 1 o’clock in the morning by the fiercest and scariest thunder storm I’ve ever been in – it was frightening with lightning flashing and thunder cracking just overhead whilst it absolutely pelted down with rain. Eventually in the small hours of the morning it all abated and we went outside to see what damage if any it had caused – apart from a flooded floor and a some strained guy-ropes we were all OK. Nearly everyone else camping at the site was doing the same and we got chatting to out neighbours who were checking their tents too. With the storm gone the next couple of days were lovely and we enjoyed the site’s facilities and socialised with out newly found friends who’d endured the terrors of the storm.
I don’t remember the name of the camping site, but did take some photos of what it was like and remember it as being very well ordered with plenty of facilities – so happy memories of a memorable week-end – after that we were hooked and caught the camping bug and from then onwards we joined the Rheindahlen Camping and Caravan Club and regularly went camping at the weekends, not only in Holland but in Germany too whilst for the longer holidays we headed south to Italy near Venice – wonderful memories.
A couple of photos recording our fist camping trip in Holland, sadly I cannot recall the name of the place.
LB if you think this is too much to add to your memories let me know and I’ll delete.
WT
LanglyBastion was at JHQ Rheindahlen about the same time as me (1972 – 1975) I think, and as a weather man may well have been the weather man whose advice I sought when I took the family on our first camping trip into Holland whilst stationed in Germany.
Having bought a family sized tent and erected it in the garden of our Married Quarter to see how it worked etc. we planned to go on our first camping trip into Holland for a long weekend and I sought telephone advice from JHQ’s weather centre as to what the weather would be like for that weekend. Advice (possibly from LB?) was that it would be hot with a possibility of thunder storms later. Nothing daunted we went off to a camping site over the boarder in Holland. Having got there, erected the tent and enjoying the warm and sunny weather we enjoyed our first evening meal we put the kids to bed whilst wife and I had a drink or two and retired only to be woken at about 1 o’clock in the morning by the fiercest and scariest thunder storm I’ve ever been in – it was frightening with lightning flashing and thunder cracking just overhead whilst it absolutely pelted down with rain. Eventually in the small hours of the morning it all abated and we went outside to see what damage if any it had caused – apart from a flooded floor and a some strained guy-ropes we were all OK. Nearly everyone else camping at the site was doing the same and we got chatting to out neighbours who were checking their tents too. With the storm gone the next couple of days were lovely and we enjoyed the site’s facilities and socialised with out newly found friends who’d endured the terrors of the storm.
I don’t remember the name of the camping site, but did take some photos of what it was like and remember it as being very well ordered with plenty of facilities – so happy memories of a memorable week-end – after that we were hooked and caught the camping bug and from then onwards we joined the Rheindahlen Camping and Caravan Club and regularly went camping at the weekends, not only in Holland but in Germany too whilst for the longer holidays we headed south to Italy near Venice – wonderful memories.
A couple of photos recording our fist camping trip in Holland, sadly I cannot recall the name of the place.
LB if you think this is too much to add to your memories let me know and I’ll delete.
WT
Last edited by Warmtoast; 28th Apr 2024 at 15:06.
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Part of life's rich tapestry!
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Barometers and other mysteries.
For the first half of my career we used the beautiful and dangerous mercury barometers to measure atmospheric pressure. This coincided with a period of increasing use of radar altimeters by the military............ but I don't want to converge on airmanship so will let that rest.
Essentially, mercury was used because it is liquid and dense: much simpler and less prone to error than a column of water about 30 feet high. Thus the elegant [and poisonous] standard column of mercury which balanced atmospheric pressure and was attached to the Met. office wall near the observer. In old money [my currency] only about 30 inches of mercury are needed in the standard bore, and the calibration was in millibars [themselves now defunct], whereby the international standard for sea level was 1013.25 mb. So far, so good, but mercury expands with rising temperature and Met. offices are not often exactly at sea level. Corrections were needed.
Picture now the U Boat commander at the periscope ...... up periscope, push cap peak to rear, and crouch. Thus also the rookie observer at his new office, about to read the attached thermometer [see above] and then carefully read the height of mercury, allowing, as taught, for the meniscus. At which stage he is in the ideal posture to be goosed, and usually was. At Gutersloh, such was the hazard, that the standard tactic was to read with back to wall, and upside down.
Joking apart, pressure reading was emphasised as a very serious business: from a very early stage in training all observers were brainwashed to understand that one millibar error in reading or transmitting was about 26 feet of error on an altimeter AND COULD CAUSE A CRASH.
As a result of some serious errors [a little before my time] the Office instituted a very sensible running check board ........... before any mucking about with QFE QFF or QNH the observer was required to log his temperature-corrected hourly pressure reading in a time sequence on the observation desk. Errors of one mb or ten mb were commonest, and they stuck out like the scrotum on a Boxer dog. One mb in an hour was indeed possible, but only in rapidly changing weather, of which the observer was well aware ............ observations are not conducted in an information vacuum. So important was the matter regarded that the duty forecaster was required to check the check if flying was in progress.
Next: aneroid barometers and the barograph.
For the first half of my career we used the beautiful and dangerous mercury barometers to measure atmospheric pressure. This coincided with a period of increasing use of radar altimeters by the military............ but I don't want to converge on airmanship so will let that rest.
Essentially, mercury was used because it is liquid and dense: much simpler and less prone to error than a column of water about 30 feet high. Thus the elegant [and poisonous] standard column of mercury which balanced atmospheric pressure and was attached to the Met. office wall near the observer. In old money [my currency] only about 30 inches of mercury are needed in the standard bore, and the calibration was in millibars [themselves now defunct], whereby the international standard for sea level was 1013.25 mb. So far, so good, but mercury expands with rising temperature and Met. offices are not often exactly at sea level. Corrections were needed.
Picture now the U Boat commander at the periscope ...... up periscope, push cap peak to rear, and crouch. Thus also the rookie observer at his new office, about to read the attached thermometer [see above] and then carefully read the height of mercury, allowing, as taught, for the meniscus. At which stage he is in the ideal posture to be goosed, and usually was. At Gutersloh, such was the hazard, that the standard tactic was to read with back to wall, and upside down.
Joking apart, pressure reading was emphasised as a very serious business: from a very early stage in training all observers were brainwashed to understand that one millibar error in reading or transmitting was about 26 feet of error on an altimeter AND COULD CAUSE A CRASH.
As a result of some serious errors [a little before my time] the Office instituted a very sensible running check board ........... before any mucking about with QFE QFF or QNH the observer was required to log his temperature-corrected hourly pressure reading in a time sequence on the observation desk. Errors of one mb or ten mb were commonest, and they stuck out like the scrotum on a Boxer dog. One mb in an hour was indeed possible, but only in rapidly changing weather, of which the observer was well aware ............ observations are not conducted in an information vacuum. So important was the matter regarded that the duty forecaster was required to check the check if flying was in progress.
Next: aneroid barometers and the barograph.
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The professional disagreements between US and UK forecasters, the slip from 5th to 6th June, Stagg's moral strength- and even the little old lady in Ireland.
Its author is David Haig, better known as an actor, and is well worth looking out for if it's ever revived (or filmed).
I've come back to edit this post since I see the play is on in St Albans (Abbey Theatre) from 7-15 June.
Thanks, LB, for an excellent thread.
*Sorry.
Last edited by hoodie; 29th Apr 2024 at 08:23. Reason: Link to playbill
LB, our instrument shop was using a Hg barometer for calibrating our other instruments right up to my retirement about 20 years ago. All other Hg instruments were gone.
One that we had used was a USGS servo-manometer, in which one arm of a manometer was connected to the back pressure of a gas bubbled to an outlet in the river, while the other arm held a Hg reservoir with a float switch. a change in water level resulted in a rise or fall in the Hg in the other arm. The float switch would activate a servo motor to raise or lower the reservoir to the null position, and also drive a pen across a chart recorder. The constant flow, constant pressure gas regulators had to be adjusted in a particular sequence, and inevitably, there were times when they weren't, resulting in an expensive and dangerous mercury spill.
One that we had used was a USGS servo-manometer, in which one arm of a manometer was connected to the back pressure of a gas bubbled to an outlet in the river, while the other arm held a Hg reservoir with a float switch. a change in water level resulted in a rise or fall in the Hg in the other arm. The float switch would activate a servo motor to raise or lower the reservoir to the null position, and also drive a pen across a chart recorder. The constant flow, constant pressure gas regulators had to be adjusted in a particular sequence, and inevitably, there were times when they weren't, resulting in an expensive and dangerous mercury spill.
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Your saying about Barometers has dredged up some long forgotten memories. I was posted to 390 Maintenance Unit at RAF Seletar in 1969. The beauty of working at the MU was that I saw all the different types of jobs done at all the bases on the Island. As a singly LAC I think I was the original ‘Spare’ that could be sent off at a moments notice to temporarily fill manning shortages.
One time I was detached across to Tengah and worked in the Instrument Bay on Pitot-Static Instruments. The facility allowed deep stripping and calibration of the Instruments. I still remember using a Cassella Barometer and having to correct for London Laboratory conditions - If it’s hot (above London Lab), drop it (subtract the correction)! 74 Squadron Lightnings doing vertical climbs nearby were a bit of a distraction though. Happy days.
One time I was detached across to Tengah and worked in the Instrument Bay on Pitot-Static Instruments. The facility allowed deep stripping and calibration of the Instruments. I still remember using a Cassella Barometer and having to correct for London Laboratory conditions - If it’s hot (above London Lab), drop it (subtract the correction)! 74 Squadron Lightnings doing vertical climbs nearby were a bit of a distraction though. Happy days.
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There's an excellent play from a few years ago, appropriately titled "Pressure", that deals with many of the elements* mentioned in this thread:
The professional disagreements between US and UK forecasters, the slip from 5th to 6th June, Stagg's moral strength- and even the little old lady in Ireland.
Its author is David Haig, better known as an actor, and is well worth looking out for if it's ever revived (or filmed).
I've come back to edit this post since I see the play is on in St Albans (Abbey Theatre) from 7-15 June.
Thanks, LB, for an excellent thread.
*Sorry.
The professional disagreements between US and UK forecasters, the slip from 5th to 6th June, Stagg's moral strength- and even the little old lady in Ireland.
Its author is David Haig, better known as an actor, and is well worth looking out for if it's ever revived (or filmed).
I've come back to edit this post since I see the play is on in St Albans (Abbey Theatre) from 7-15 June.
Thanks, LB, for an excellent thread.
*Sorry.
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LB Excellent thread. Thanks for all your knowledge and memories. I've praised the MMU;s elsewhere for their service to the early Airbridge crews in the S Atlantic.
If its not too much of a thread drift I'd love to hear your thoughts on when our TV forecasts started referring to the jet stream as the reason for our weather patterns in the UK.
At Oakington in 1968 us multi engine types who were going to fly all over the world were taught that, in the Northern Hemisphere the jet stream was located as a consequence of the surface fronts.
Up the back of the cold front, over the top of the depression and down in front of the warm front. By the 1990s, by now with BA, I was night stopping on US east coast 4 or 5 times a month and the TV forecasts there were always talking about the jet stream indicating that the jet drove the position of the surface fronts. Much the same as TV forecasts do here now. A case of chicken and egg?
Love to hear your thoughts on this.
1066
If its not too much of a thread drift I'd love to hear your thoughts on when our TV forecasts started referring to the jet stream as the reason for our weather patterns in the UK.
At Oakington in 1968 us multi engine types who were going to fly all over the world were taught that, in the Northern Hemisphere the jet stream was located as a consequence of the surface fronts.
Up the back of the cold front, over the top of the depression and down in front of the warm front. By the 1990s, by now with BA, I was night stopping on US east coast 4 or 5 times a month and the TV forecasts there were always talking about the jet stream indicating that the jet drove the position of the surface fronts. Much the same as TV forecasts do here now. A case of chicken and egg?
Love to hear your thoughts on this.
1066
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Balloons were either red, blue or white according to a judgement on cloud amount, cirrus especially. Flights at night tracked a suspended candle lantern under the hydrogen balloon. Elfansafety had not been invented ............. singed eyebrows and moustatches did occur.
The second photo illustrates a high skill, much valued. The observer has a special slide rule dangling on string round his neck and he computes wind speed and direction in real time as he tracks the balloon. Thus the complete message is ready for oven as soon as the balloon is lost or bursts.
Like most of my generation I prided myself to be able to do every job of all the grades below, but not what that lad is doing. Top Marks.
The second photo illustrates a high skill, much valued. The observer has a special slide rule dangling on string round his neck and he computes wind speed and direction in real time as he tracks the balloon. Thus the complete message is ready for oven as soon as the balloon is lost or bursts.
Like most of my generation I prided myself to be able to do every job of all the grades below, but not what that lad is doing. Top Marks.
All went well until one day we realised what the Met was telling us was wildly different to what we were seeing. Enquiring where he got his figures from he said it depended where they had launched a balloon and the figures he gave us were from Manchester!
..
Last edited by NutLoose; 30th Apr 2024 at 10:28.
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When we got the first Chinooks, on engine airtests we required accurate readings for the OAT, this was done initially with a thermometer tied to a long pole, but there were concerns that one, it was mercury and that does not mix with aircraft structures ( we already had one breakage and an aircraft down for a significant time while it was rectified. ) and two, with the down draught it wouldn't be accurate, so we phone ODI met office for the temps at various heights..
All went well until one day we realised what the Met was telling us was wildly different to what we were seeing. Enquiring where he got his figures from he said it depended where they had launched a baloon and the figures he gave us were from Manchester!
All went well until one day we realised what the Met was telling us was wildly different to what we were seeing. Enquiring where he got his figures from he said it depended where they had launched a baloon and the figures he gave us were from Manchester!
The detailed upper air temperature and wind measurements were highly specialised launches from a network of about ten UK stations, and tracked to great heights with accuracy. A trained operator would spot anomalies without any problems.
I think your request should have been properly tasked officially because interpretation of the patterns was a highly-skilled job. Time of day needed for the forecast mattered a great deal for the levels at which rotary fly, and the interpolation between these "radio-sonde flights" depended also on winds and changing situations: a midnight launch from 100 miles away totally useless for 1100 flying.
I only inspected ODI a couple of times; S Met O was very worried about my possible reaction to his "improvements" to the Met. instrument enclosure. He had imported garden gnome figures, one of which was fishing in the rain gauge, and others doing sundry little jobs. Highly irregular, reprehensible, showing a lack of seriousness and bloody hilarious.
No worries O.B., but if the Director General visits, please get Snow White to take her lads away for the day.
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LB Excellent thread. Thanks for all your knowledge and memories. I've praised the MMU;s elsewhere for their service to the early Airbridge crews in the S Atlantic.
If its not too much of a thread drift I'd love to hear your thoughts on when our TV forecasts started referring to the jet stream as the reason for our weather patterns in the UK.
At Oakington in 1968 us multi engine types who were going to fly all over the world were taught that, in the Northern Hemisphere the jet stream was located as a consequence of the surface fronts.
Up the back of the cold front, over the top of the depression and down in front of the warm front. By the 1990s, by now with BA, I was night stopping on US east coast 4 or 5 times a month and the TV forecasts there were always talking about the jet stream indicating that the jet drove the position of the surface fronts. Much the same as TV forecasts do here now. A case of chicken and egg?
Love to hear your thoughts on this.
1066
If its not too much of a thread drift I'd love to hear your thoughts on when our TV forecasts started referring to the jet stream as the reason for our weather patterns in the UK.
At Oakington in 1968 us multi engine types who were going to fly all over the world were taught that, in the Northern Hemisphere the jet stream was located as a consequence of the surface fronts.
Up the back of the cold front, over the top of the depression and down in front of the warm front. By the 1990s, by now with BA, I was night stopping on US east coast 4 or 5 times a month and the TV forecasts there were always talking about the jet stream indicating that the jet drove the position of the surface fronts. Much the same as TV forecasts do here now. A case of chicken and egg?
Love to hear your thoughts on this.
1066
I don't think that answers the point but the weather we experience is a consequence of dynamic interactions of heating/ cooling from below, friction, turbulence, sea temperature discontinuities ........... I could go on. And then the fiendish consequences of H2O existing in three phases with heat exchanges as it changes state.
I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure.
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Barographs
The barograph sat [sits?] in its handsome glass case, with the pressure vessel gently expanding and contracting, and the drum with chart gently turning. Driven by clockwork, and the ink on the pen a little fiddly to maintain, it is a good indicator of the ups and downs of pressure, and a poor measure of absolute values. One of my pleasant occasional extamural tasks was to visit long-serving amateur observers, ships' captains etc, to present them with such a gift from the Office.
When our operation in BFG was winding down, several VSOs who had shown no interest whatsoever in Met. began to place markers for the barograph that sat on my shelf. No way. I was granted authority to shred the shreddables, bin the binnables, and write off as 'unserviceable, worn out, beyond reasonable repair' any instruments remaining. It was that or it went down with the Atlantic Conveyor.
Last man standing Met 1 left Germany with my blessing and with the barograph. To this day his widow maintains it continuously.
The barograph sat [sits?] in its handsome glass case, with the pressure vessel gently expanding and contracting, and the drum with chart gently turning. Driven by clockwork, and the ink on the pen a little fiddly to maintain, it is a good indicator of the ups and downs of pressure, and a poor measure of absolute values. One of my pleasant occasional extamural tasks was to visit long-serving amateur observers, ships' captains etc, to present them with such a gift from the Office.
When our operation in BFG was winding down, several VSOs who had shown no interest whatsoever in Met. began to place markers for the barograph that sat on my shelf. No way. I was granted authority to shred the shreddables, bin the binnables, and write off as 'unserviceable, worn out, beyond reasonable repair' any instruments remaining. It was that or it went down with the Atlantic Conveyor.
Last man standing Met 1 left Germany with my blessing and with the barograph. To this day his widow maintains it continuously.
Last edited by langleybaston; 29th Apr 2024 at 20:48. Reason: for sh1t read shot
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Precision aneroid barometer.
These were a joy to behold .......... simple read out, instant result, no interpolation or corrections, portable. The official issue was two.
The snag? Rather like owning two watches ...... if they agree, fine, if not, what to do? Thus a wise S Met O contrived to have three under his roof; if two agreed to 0.1 mb, go for it, and send the third one to the Instruments calibrators at Bracknell, pretending it was the second of two, and thus urgent.
They also obviated the lurking danger of mercury. What follows is hearsay and has lost nothing in the telling, but in essence is true. Our College at Shinfield in the lovely old RAF wartime building also taught technicians, without whom we would have become useless.
On one infamous occasion, very early in the course, and very early in the day after a heavy evening, a trainee must have missed the warning about mercury and its hazards and properties. Nevertheless our hero roused himself to catch up and began the stripping of his allocated barometer.
"All the little ball-bearings have dropped out on the floor!"
These were a joy to behold .......... simple read out, instant result, no interpolation or corrections, portable. The official issue was two.
The snag? Rather like owning two watches ...... if they agree, fine, if not, what to do? Thus a wise S Met O contrived to have three under his roof; if two agreed to 0.1 mb, go for it, and send the third one to the Instruments calibrators at Bracknell, pretending it was the second of two, and thus urgent.
They also obviated the lurking danger of mercury. What follows is hearsay and has lost nothing in the telling, but in essence is true. Our College at Shinfield in the lovely old RAF wartime building also taught technicians, without whom we would have become useless.
On one infamous occasion, very early in the course, and very early in the day after a heavy evening, a trainee must have missed the warning about mercury and its hazards and properties. Nevertheless our hero roused himself to catch up and began the stripping of his allocated barometer.
"All the little ball-bearings have dropped out on the floor!"
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All good things come to an end.
Retirement date with full pension would be 8th May 1997. In 1994 we were still enjoying the perks of service life in BFG but it seemed wise to jump before I was pushed. I organised an inspection tour for our Director-General with full participation of the AOC and staff which was well received. As a bonus, the official big black car was driven by an armed army corporal [not sure why army, but that is what it was] and sat beside him with the gaffer in the back. The driver was trained in defensive driving and whenever the head man was absent I learned a great deal. My pitch to the boss was that I could look after Germany and a swathe of southern England from the UK, saving an expensive post and demonstrating our willingness to run down in formation with the customers. There were no possible staffing economies at the airfields until they closed, staffing was already very lean. My deputy was now treble-hatted: Deputy, Wg Cdr MMU Germany, and S Met O ARRC, doing several detachments.
Joyce was not enamoured with an early exit but when we did a recce for house buying in Lincolnshire we fell on our feet and bought a dream home in a village with two pubs [the second pub was an insurance in case one burned down, and sure enough it did.
Brize next.
Retirement date with full pension would be 8th May 1997. In 1994 we were still enjoying the perks of service life in BFG but it seemed wise to jump before I was pushed. I organised an inspection tour for our Director-General with full participation of the AOC and staff which was well received. As a bonus, the official big black car was driven by an armed army corporal [not sure why army, but that is what it was] and sat beside him with the gaffer in the back. The driver was trained in defensive driving and whenever the head man was absent I learned a great deal. My pitch to the boss was that I could look after Germany and a swathe of southern England from the UK, saving an expensive post and demonstrating our willingness to run down in formation with the customers. There were no possible staffing economies at the airfields until they closed, staffing was already very lean. My deputy was now treble-hatted: Deputy, Wg Cdr MMU Germany, and S Met O ARRC, doing several detachments.
Joyce was not enamoured with an early exit but when we did a recce for house buying in Lincolnshire we fell on our feet and bought a dream home in a village with two pubs [the second pub was an insurance in case one burned down, and sure enough it did.
Brize next.
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Much enjoying your tales, LB. We were definitely spoiled in the Military, with our ability to easily talk to "our" local met men. I left the AAC back in 1997 and got a job flying for the Merseyside Police. Not long after I started, I turned up for the night shift with the weather absolutely nothing like the forecast. OK. I'll phone the duty forecaster at the airport. That turned out to be Manchester, and my request to speak to the forecaster was met with a puzzled "you want to do what?"
I can't remember the exact conversation(it was 25 years ago), but he wasn't particularly helpful and I got the impression that my call wasn't particularly welcome.
I can't remember the exact conversation(it was 25 years ago), but he wasn't particularly helpful and I got the impression that my call wasn't particularly welcome.
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Much enjoying your tales, LB. We were definitely spoiled in the Military, with our ability to easily talk to "our" local met men. I left the AAC back in 1997 and got a job flying for the Merseyside Police. Not long after I started, I turned up for the night shift with the weather absolutely nothing like the forecast. OK. I'll phone the duty forecaster at the airport. That turned out to be Manchester, and my request to speak to the forecaster was met with a puzzled "you want to do what?"
I can't remember the exact conversation(it was 25 years ago), but he wasn't particularly helpful and I got the impression that my call wasn't particularly welcome.
I can't remember the exact conversation(it was 25 years ago), but he wasn't particularly helpful and I got the impression that my call wasn't particularly welcome.
The commercialisation drive of the 1980s withdrew all Met Office folk from airports, leaving Obs to ATC staff and forecasts to central provision, for a fee if bespoke. Next the weather centres closed. My stints were Leeds and Cardiff, with a big part of the job inspecting Met. provision at airports. There was huge resentment and opposition wherever I went. Swansea nearly came to blows, as did Humberside. SATCOs did not want the responsibility and resented being told to adhere to the rules. I always took a gopher, the best and fiercist was an ex-RN Petty Officer, a brilliant driver owning a vintage MG.
How glad I was when the boss rang me at Cardiff and offered BFG: "have passport will travel!"
Last edited by langleybaston; 29th Apr 2024 at 21:11.
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Barographs
The barograph sat [sits?] in its handsome glass case, with the pressure vessel gently expanding and contracting, and the drum with chart gently turning. Driven by clockwork, and the ink on the pen a little fiddly to maintain, it is a good indicator of the ups and downs of pressure, and a poor measure of absolute values. One of my pleasant occasional extamural tasks was to visit long-serving amateur observers, ships' captains etc, to present them with such a gift from the Office.
When our operation in BFG was winding down, several VSOs who had shown no interest whatsoever in Met. began to place markers for the barograph that sat on my shelf. No way. I was granted authority to shred the shreddables, bin the binnables, and write off as 'unserviceable, worn out, beyond reasonable repair' any instruments remaining. It was that or it went down with the Atlantic Conveyor.
Last man standing Met 1 left Germany with my blessing and with the barograph. To this day his widow maintains it continuously.
The barograph sat [sits?] in its handsome glass case, with the pressure vessel gently expanding and contracting, and the drum with chart gently turning. Driven by clockwork, and the ink on the pen a little fiddly to maintain, it is a good indicator of the ups and downs of pressure, and a poor measure of absolute values. One of my pleasant occasional extamural tasks was to visit long-serving amateur observers, ships' captains etc, to present them with such a gift from the Office.
When our operation in BFG was winding down, several VSOs who had shown no interest whatsoever in Met. began to place markers for the barograph that sat on my shelf. No way. I was granted authority to shred the shreddables, bin the binnables, and write off as 'unserviceable, worn out, beyond reasonable repair' any instruments remaining. It was that or it went down with the Atlantic Conveyor.
Last man standing Met 1 left Germany with my blessing and with the barograph. To this day his widow maintains it continuously.
All you have to do is smoke the foil with whatever source of acrid black smoke you can find, choking optional, and the pointy bit will then scratch out a nice graph for you. If it's really interesting, remove trace and spray with hair lacquer, choking again optional
Seen more than one disappointed face when proudly making a claim after landing only to be advised, usually with an unsympathetic "smile", alas, it wasn't switched on.
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Those were the days! I remember driving into Bicester town centre having been told by Andy Gough the legendary CFI to buy a can of the stickiest hairspray I could find. These days downloading your flight from your LX or whatever and then comparing it on the internet with what others did is a different world.
There are things in aviation that barely change over decades and things like remote towers or the demise of face to face briefings from Met etc. that are unrecognizable.
There are things in aviation that barely change over decades and things like remote towers or the demise of face to face briefings from Met etc. that are unrecognizable.
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In the 70s the daily telegraph sponsored uk gliding..there was a character who was a member of airways gliding club, an organisation which was under the umbrella of the two corporations, who achieved a world record for gain of height. The telegraph carried the article which included his description of the flight and so called facial burns from the oxygen mask. He told the story of climbing in a thunderstorm then soaring in wave several thousand feet above its top in wave. I had flown up to Glasgow and back in a Trident that day and whilst there were thunderstorms they were nowhere as tall as he described.
Turned out it was a “tall” story as the barograph trace was examined by forensics and discovered he had used a divider to scratch the sooted aluminium graph. IIRC that sounded the death knolls for the sponsorship.
Turned out it was a “tall” story as the barograph trace was examined by forensics and discovered he had used a divider to scratch the sooted aluminium graph. IIRC that sounded the death knolls for the sponsorship.
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My mother said "cheats never prosper!". Some do, some don't.
One loser was an observer at Idris or El Adem or another along the N African coast. He decided the weather was set fair so headed for the fleshpots leaving 24 hours' worth of hourly obs in the hands of his mate the telegraphist. It was a nice logical sequence of all the variables ...... a day in the life of.
His mate sent the lot all together and himself headed to the fleshpots.
The above story was fresh at RAF Nicosia in 1961.
Then there was the forecaster who sh@t on the rest of us at Nicosia. RAF transport flights to Aden and the Gulf were allowed to take and return a forecaster as a Fam flight: familiarisation of a route for which we provided Met. The idea was to buy watches, cameras and the like, with little or no Cypriot Customs interest. On one such return flight the captain was tipped off that Customs would be heavy handed. The pax were thus advised to declare everything, knowing that the import duties were not harsh anyway. My dear colleague Mr G reckoned the whole thing was a bluff. Declared nothing. He had a Bolex cine camera, a genuine Rolex, a camera, perfume, the lot. All confiscated. Customs then applied maximum duties on all the crew goodies.
Group Captain Mickey Martin went apesh1t and forbade Fam. flights thereafter. LB was next in line for the trip. The subsequent horizontal career trajectory of Mr G confirmed that he was an idiot.
One loser was an observer at Idris or El Adem or another along the N African coast. He decided the weather was set fair so headed for the fleshpots leaving 24 hours' worth of hourly obs in the hands of his mate the telegraphist. It was a nice logical sequence of all the variables ...... a day in the life of.
His mate sent the lot all together and himself headed to the fleshpots.
The above story was fresh at RAF Nicosia in 1961.
Then there was the forecaster who sh@t on the rest of us at Nicosia. RAF transport flights to Aden and the Gulf were allowed to take and return a forecaster as a Fam flight: familiarisation of a route for which we provided Met. The idea was to buy watches, cameras and the like, with little or no Cypriot Customs interest. On one such return flight the captain was tipped off that Customs would be heavy handed. The pax were thus advised to declare everything, knowing that the import duties were not harsh anyway. My dear colleague Mr G reckoned the whole thing was a bluff. Declared nothing. He had a Bolex cine camera, a genuine Rolex, a camera, perfume, the lot. All confiscated. Customs then applied maximum duties on all the crew goodies.
Group Captain Mickey Martin went apesh1t and forbade Fam. flights thereafter. LB was next in line for the trip. The subsequent horizontal career trajectory of Mr G confirmed that he was an idiot.