Octane (#11701),

We didn't operate in the Monsoon (couldn't - you need 10,000 ft of clear air below you to dive-bomb accurately with a VV - the dog must see the rabbit). We pulled out from our dirt strips as soon as the rains were imminent, back to paved airfields further West, and sat it out except for admin and training flights. There were only a few PSP strips, I used them once or twice and was horrified at the row made when we rolled over the stuff.

Danny.

The speaker is ex-RAF

Bunny Gunson was at Brum when I did my Aerodrome training in '74. A fellow ATCO told me that he had been crewed-up with him in Coastal Command - IIRC, Shackletons but it may have been Nimrods. They were both Signallers, again IIRC.

ricardian (#11703),

Priceless ! You must all (particularly MPN11) listen to this ! (Best to have the subtitles on otherwise you'll miss a lot).

Danny (10 years on and off flying, 17 years ATC).

[QUOTE=roving;10003927]Behind the Telegraph paywall is the Obituary of Group Captain John Watson ("Johnnie") Foster DFC, AFC, who died Monday October 30th 2017 at the age of 95.

Thank you for this, Roving. I've corresponded with Johnnie Foster who coincidentally lived close to my mother's family in Wales. My mother's boyfriend, Jimmy Muir, flew with him in 65 Squadron.

Henry James Muir - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada

https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/2...tang-FZ125.htm

Sara

ricardian & Danny ... yes a very good after dinner speaker.

savimosh01 I was delighted to learn that my post was of personal interest to you.

FED, a graph of the moments I forgot to include.

I am well familiar with that fabulous presentation! Indeed, it should be part of any ATC Training course ;)

Happy New Year, btw ... all the best to you all for 2018.

Just a liitle yarn that I heard from the man who instigated it's telling in the first place. He was formerly a flying instructor in the RAAF. He 's passed on now, but on the map, his name is on a little mountain near a place called Lake Pedder, in the Apple Isle. (once Van Dieman's Land)

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, into the met office at Cambridge Airport, (the one at Hobart , Tasmania) , there stomped the CFI of the newly formed Aero Club of Southern Tasmania, Lloyd Jones, till not long before , an instructor at No9 EFTS Western Junction, in the State's north.

Lloyd and the met man , Sam, disliked each other's GUTZ , to put it mildly. Lloyd, with pipe clenched between his teeth, stood by Sam's desk, feeling in his pocket for his matches. He lit his briar, then casually tossed the match into the nearby metal waste paper basket, igniting the scrunched up paper therein. A furious Sam leapt up from his chair, went to stamp the fire out, but his shoe jammed in the now blazing basket, and was about to set his strides on fire. Swearing loudly, Sam danced around the room trying desperately to shake the basket free.

What did the very cool Lloyd do? He lent over Sam's consol and pressed the big red knob, setting off loud sirens and alerting the airport fire crew. A fire extinguisher was mounted on the wall of the met office, so Lloyd took hold of it and used it for its designed purpose.

Needless to say, from that day on, any duff weather forecast by Sam, Lloyd ignored. And went flying anyway.

Calstrom Field
 

Greetings Danny, Happy 2018!

Does this picture ring any bells? (guessing you may have already seen it?)

http://members.tripod.com/airfields_...m_FL_41Jun.jpg


And this one a few months before your time, June 1941 (42A?)..

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._1941_TR79.jpg

The caption on these two is is 42B August 1941..
"The presentation of diplomas by Mr Paul Riddle to Royal Air Force cadets of the first course, Class 42-B, at Embry-Riddle Company. The cadets wear the white flash identifying air crew in their caps. Shirts and trousers are USAAC issue."

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._1941_TR83.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._1941_TR80.jpg

This one's caption simply said Calstrom 1942. You in there Danny?!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CpxF0emVYAAUw3b.jpg:small



Maybe pre war? (no Station ID on the hanger roof, then again, maybe post Pearl Harbour to confuse the Japs?!)

https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-...bandoned-4.jpg]

Perhaps you knew of this man? Can't imagine they let you loose with a Major (George Ola) ?!

http://members.tripod.com/airfields_...1_Stearman.jpg

Lastly....

http://members.tripod.com/airfields_..._41MaySect.jpg
Map from May 1941

(The captions disappeared upon posting..)

Apologies if these have been posted previously..

Best wishes

Michael

Memory Lane.
 

ctane (#11711),

..."Apologies if these have been posted previously"... Chugalug put up the circular picture of Carlstrom a long time ago: I had to say that, if I had known nothing of the photograph, it would mean nothing to me now - although I'd flown over the place a hundred times ! We named this strange amnesia: "The Carlstrom Syndrome". Does it afflict anyone else ?

Wild guess: the "abandoned airfield" was our RLG, where I first soloed.

News to me, the first British Course was 42B ? ... So the last Americans would be 42A ? ... Nay lad, not so. There have been our people on here who were 42A. I was 42C, arrived 2nd September '41. If they gave 42B all this kit, then they took it all back again when the photo shoot was over; all we got were flying overalls, they pinned my (US, silver) wings on my scruffy ones at Graduation 6th March '42. These are 42A.

As to the camp, the swimming pool was in the exact centre of the circle: the accommodation blocks (luxurious) flanking it on both sides. Mess Hall at 6 o'clock.

Good old Stearman ! They had an excellent idea, the ASIs in our (rear) cockpits were all removed, we flew our first 60 hours "by the seat of our pants" :ok:. As none of us had ever flown before, we accepted this as normal: what you've never had, you never miss. We thought all aircraft were flown like that (well, the Wright brothers made out all right without one). The proximate cause of the AF447 disaster was the chap flying it being in thrall to a (duff) ASI.

Don't know any of the handsome young men (did we really look as good as that ?) No wonder the Southern Belles were drawn to the BFTS cadets (who did their whole six months in one place, and that at a (getatable) town airport. We "Arnold Schemers" only did two months in any one place, and were always "out in the sticks" at some Godforsaken Army base, with nowhere to go and no transport to get us there. :{

Assuming this smart parade at Carlstrom to be 42A, then this would be July '41; the US was still "neutral". But Hitler had his own troubles in Russia at the time: what could he do about it anyway - complain to the League of Nations ? It would not be till December, when Japan set the ball rolling at Pearl Harbor, that Hitler declared war on the US, as he was obliged to do as a member of the Axis Powers; Roosevelt was at war whether he liked it or not.

We "lived in interesting times" !

Danny.

PS: (Pace Mr Moderator) - any news on the 'Bird in a [Stearman] Biplane' on "Private Flying" Forum ? (things have gone awfully quiet).

Hitler didn't have to declare war on the USA. He was just too overconfident.

From Wiki

[QUOTE][/Japanese declaration of war on the United States propelled, although it did not require, a similar declaration of war from all the other signatories of the Tripartite Pact.QUOTE]

The mistake the Japanese made was to attack the United States. They should have punched north from Manchuria, cut the Soviet Union in half enabling Germany to mop up the western side with the Russian Far East Army stuck in the east.

Then they would have got their oil supplies.

Octane's post inspired me to consult Google satellite view, at
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@27.12.../data=!3m1!1e3 The circular outline is unmistakable although the area has been developed, its buildings including the Juvenile Justice Department.

If one Googles Carlstrom Field by name, a marker appears about 5km west of the circular estate, obviously off course. Go another 500m (end of Thompson's Lane) and there is a grass runway, to one side the unmistakeable outline of a DC3.

The text notes that 23 British trainees rest forever in the Arcadia cemetery.

Start the New Year with a little humour which I am sure will amuse Danny.

After the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September, the British began playing catch-up so far as the re-occupation of its former colonies were concerned.

On that day it was agreed between the Japanese local commander and the British that the formal surrender of the Island of Penang would be signed that day on the HMS Nelson.

The senior Japanese Naval Commander, Rear Admiral Jisaku Uzumi, duly arrived to sign the document of surrender proudly displaying his Distinguished Service Cross awarded to him by the British in WWI.

Geriaviator yr. post 11714

"The text notes that 23 British trainees rest forever in the Arcadia cemetery."

As do the remains of John Paul Riddle who operated Carlstrom Field and constructed No. 5 B.F.T.S (my father's Alma Mater) at Clewiston Florida. It was his wish to be laid to rest with his fallen British trainees. His legacy is the Embry-Riddle University who are still a major U.S. flight training organisation

Ian BB

Dorr Field
 

Perhaps this shows the air field you went solo Danny?


http://www.airfields-freeman.com/FL/..._FL_43sect.jpg


http://www.airfields-freeman.com/FL/...tm_b4fe2b3.jpg

"Dorr Field was reactivated on 10/4/41 as one of at least 5 satellite airfields used to support flight training operations at nearby Carlstrom Field,

where the Embry Riddle Academy operated a contract flight training school.

It was assigned to the USAAF East Coast Training Center (later Central Eastern Training Command) as a primary (Level 1) pilot training airfield,

and was operated by Embry-Riddle Corporation under 54th Flying Training Detachment primarily as a training airfield for Royal Air Force flying cadets"



http://www.airfields-freeman.com/FL/...m_6c1868d9.jpg

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/FL/..._m7742aec9.jpg

As you pointed out, I think some of the captions with these photo's may be a bit misleading...

Cheers

Michael

There is probably more training aircraft lined up in that picture than the RAF has now.

Octane (#11717}.

Dorr Field - that's the one ! Thanks ! I don't remember a Control Tower (or any other buildings) in September 1941. Just a field, as I remember. They must've had a Crash Wagon, I suppose.

All the PT-17s would be at Carlstrom.

Danny.

Lovely pix octane, is that a Kingfisher amphibian at top right corner? Just think ... maybe Danny learned his trade on one of these Stearmans.

Geriaviator (#11720),

Checked my log: we did not enter any aircraft identification numbers or letters - did the Stearmans have any ? At Basic (Vultee BT-13) and Advanced (North American AT-6A) Schools they had numbers: we entered them in logbooks. AFAIK, they did not lose many Stearmans, (none in the two months I was there); it is quite possible that I flew one or more of those on parade here.

Danny.