Concentrated Relaxation
 

He did always seem to turn up at my mixer when I was just starting the mix, which menat he had to hang around for a while.....

(How I blagged myself onto running a mixer for 2 days I will never know!)

;) 91 AAITC - Taceval first night! Andy M (LM) and I had just returned from York in his Morris 1100 (compulsory red bucket seats) having had a few and were sewing on our Eagles when the sirens went off. 5 Hours later under a Vulcan with SLR in hand and a hangover to kill a normal person - what am I doing??
John Hoath - top bloke. I remember one of the chaps knocking on his door and being summoned in to find him reading a paper. Stude asks if he could see the Flight. 'No' was the reply, then he puts the paper down and says 'but you can now'! Ho Ho Ho.
Admin lessons always put me to sleep hence running with a chair above my head around the parade square (normally with RK) became the norm.
Hope all you chaps ex 9 Flt and 91 AAITC find yourselves well.
Frank

Andy M.

Could light a fire by rubbing 2 blocks of ice together! Friggin' pyromaniac.

Top Bloke.

CG

Mentioning Andy M doesn't half get the grey cells going trying to remember all the rest of the gang.

Sadly I know we've lost Denis Wynne & Iain McMillan, but hopefully as wishywashy says hope you're all doing fine & dandy.

ww hope you've settled into them big lazy circles in the sky. Look after yourself matey

CG, Leaky and Konfused - I too was at Swinderby on 29 Aug 79 (Yes another jock) and Jimmy Rodgers was indeed on the same intake and flight. As I was under 17 at the time Jimmy R was, I think, tasked to keep an eye out for me so I would not get into trouble. It,s not true that he bought me beers in the Naafi or in Lincoln. Still speak to him often. 30 years service this year. Starting to get the hang of things now :O I think?

Like leaky, I too went the way of the techie until changing to aircrew in the early 90s. :ok: Leaky and I have cross paths over the years too, both as techies and aircrew.

Happy Days

At the time I hated every moment of AAITC but with the benefit of 20 odd years worth of hindsight I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Fond memories of one of the funniest double acts I've ever seen - Jake McQueen and Mal Aston - they must have had a team of scriptwriters for the block inspections.

I am proud to have been there and to have met all the people I met. As The Real Slim Shady said "It made you what you are today" and I can't think of another block of seven weeks out of my life that's had such an impact.

Now, Hoppy, we all know that you do.

Norman, we hadn't graduated, we were just about to do the spec phase flying and it was made abundantly clear to us by all concerned that our graduation was by no means a certainty at that point.

snapper41 - I remember visiting the SSA to sign out stuff from you on several occasions, hope you're keeping well.

My time at Finningley was one of the happiest times of my life, it's sad to see gatehouse and the main school have disappeared.

I'd like to see what todays AAITC is like.

http://www.liangdianup.com/subpages/airfitting_1.htm
 

Now that is a lot of brass air fittings there is just about every type of air fitting that you could want. Wholesale prices too. I guess these could be used as small water pipe fitting also. I
used some of the parts to make my babington wvo burner.

Now I'm really confused!
 

jkjllkj - WTF over!:rolleyes:

Processor Overload - PM me with your ID - can't think who you are - the heat out here has obviously led to memory loss.

Ah, the babington wvo burner, I remember it well.

Eh? :confused:

Anyone from 83 AAITC out there? (1978).

Hello "CG" - you big girls blouse! (All well?)
Visited Finningley a couple of years back and got a couple of pictures of the AAITC building, through the wire.
Lots of memories of AAITC, few happy, but struggled through!
lsh

sorry Ish, I'm joining the 91st ITC love fest - Kinloss Chapter

Brilliant days, although the course photo JR gave me doesn't reflect it. Shows a mix of apprehensive hairies and sprogs scowling into the camera with one or two faces crossed out for added interest.

Mick Evans and John Hoath can rest easy knowing they did a pretty good job with us apart from those who fell by the wayside to booze or commissioning!

Never felt the need to strangle chickens (esp in an MS10) but learnt a lot about womanhood from the fair maidens of Doncaster which has stood me in good stead :O these past 30 years.

wishy, good to see you're still around - my spies tell me you re maintaining your standards and have no excuse to fail the RAFFT - good skills buddy :D you've come a long way from the Matchbox factory (little cars for little people!) That first night under the Vulcan wing was fun! Concerned about yr cruel and unusual punishment round the parade square, surely you must be able to claim compensashun for the mental anguish that caused you? It was a laugh for the rest of us though!

Happy days :ok:

At least i made 'big': my kneepads were at the knee not the ankle! On the upside, you never banged yer ed on the MGB:ok:

I'm ok mate, you?

CG

Certainly am, thanks! Still in - just...!

Charlie Luncher
 

It's only taken 25 years for someone to spot I did cock all. Though I might have got away with it for life!!

J.A.F.O:

How's it going mate? Might try and get over to see you this summer as things are starting to slack off for the first time in 5 years!

Just come across this thread and recognise several of the 'players' in it, especially in the pictures of 146AAITC in the Dales (Though can't remember where it was) where I see myself in the group shot some 21 years younger, scary!!
Visited what remains of FYY a couple of years ago to find all the familiar buildings gone though the parking slots in the Parade square, that we spent that first weekend painting, were still visible.
The buildings may be gone but the memories will live on! Ten years have passed since I left, am still in touch with 'Baldric' but have lost touch with the other Eng's, would be good to catch up.

Boe

It wasn't far from Grassington often thought about going out that way for a weekend but I have never been back to that area since then. Some of the pictures particularly of me, were taken in Grassington Village Hall were we were billeted for the weekend.

I along with the other two in the kitchen were OIC's catering. A cushy job that weekend, but we also got lumbered for it when we did the Dales hill stuff and had to cater and sleep in the back of the four tonner! Not much fun then! :)

TG

TG thanks for the location, not too far from me in the North East, Ahh, the memories of Compo!!

Topcliffe 72
 

Interesting reading everybodies memories of the AAITC. I was on 45 Course at Topclffe during 72/73 and had many happy memories of the times I shared with the other guys and girls. We had an instructor called Flt Lt Townley (if memory serves me right), he taught us electronics and if you didn't fancy learning about the transmitter chain of the STR18, then we would mention we had seen a steam train passing through Thirsk. That was it, lesson abandoned and off he would go on his favourite subject, Flying Scotsman, Mallard etc. Surprised the guy survived from having a heart attack after one student on our course decided it would be a laugh to clap his hands together when poor old Townley was connecting a scope across the transmitter :D
The course commander was a guy called Ray Brown, who I found was a real decent fellow, ex Victor AEO. I remember doing our trek across the Yorkshire Hills in February with snow all around us. The weather was so bad we had to go to Catterick to pick up an Army radio, so we could check in every couple of hours, weighed a ton, six foot antenna, and we took turns carrying it. I will never forget the sight of Ray Brown appearing over some hill on skis, skiing down to us, throwing us some sweets, telling us he wanted more effort, and then skiing off into the distance. Other memories included Dougie Wheatland and myself dragging the ground power unit upto the Varsity, only to be told by our instructor Tom Blezzard that we might find it easier if we took the brake off (god bless you Tom). I have totally lost track of the loadies that were on our course, but still have contact with a few of the AEOps, but if anybody was around from that era, then it would be great to hear from them. Does anybody have any gen on what Ray Brown did after Topcliffe closed, he used to entertain us at Hag Dike with his guitar playing, perhaps he took up busking????

Hi CG!
one of my favourites was to hold a conversation whilst walking under the tailboom JUST aft of the DME aerial - you either had to duck or ......!

Mick Evans turned up on 33 some years later.
"Eddie East" was the Master.
FS Hoath, as mentioned. Never got to know him, only there 6 weeks!

"There's none so fair as can compare with the boys of 83"

lsh

68 Aaitc
 

Was on 68AAITC time fades the memory but did College of knowledge a few years later and it was easy compared. Any others from around that time.