Fitter2

You have a better memory than me (or a better diary). I was only a spectator at this South Cerney comp, but I think at the time we were told that it was an American 'ace'. And I'm pretty sure his elevator was 'Up'. I can't understand the problem with the tow rope. We always used the same hooking on point for winch and aero. None of the gliders I ever flew had a nose hook. Even if this guy was used to a nose hook surely he could have coped OK with the rope in the winch release position? It doesn't seem to tie up. It was a very nasty thing to watch, and luckily the only thing damaged was the Chipmunk and the glider pilot's ego. After wrecking the Chippy he just flew on over the top of the wreckage and landed ahead!

I do remember the heavy landing and the noise it made.

Things must have been a bit easygoing in those early days. Later when I was part of the team organising and running the Nationals in 1971 at Husbands Bosworth we had an inspector from Speedwells come to check over all the gliders before we would launch them. I'm pretty sure any mod. like the one the Swiss guy had, that was not properly authorised would have got the aircraft disqualified.

I also landed the job of taking all the competitors who had not flown at HB before up for a check ride as HB was quite a small grass field. Two very 'senior ' competitors flew their check so badly that I didn't pass them, and they got a second trip with the CFI to sort out their airmanship.

Some old gliders have a compromise hook, others have two hooks, some have just a CoG hook and an aerotow has to be done very carefully if at all. IF you are expecting to be towed on a nose hook and the wrong one is connected I'm not surprised it went wrong, though I am surprised the pilot didn't notice the wrong hook being connected.

Another case of never mind the truth for a good story! A Chipmunk is a Chipmunk ... only mods for towing were bolting on a tow hook (on an A frame from the tailwheel/tailplane mount, run the release handle to the cockpit and fit a mirror.

I meant because of the towing they had stretched.

......and probably meant as a joke🤔

Hot Chipmunks
 

463 Do you recall if the service Chipmunks used for towing still had the carb heat wired hot !!!

Pobjoy

No idea. I was towed by Chipmunks from time to time, usually in the summer. We never ever flew our club Tiger in icing conditions so carb heat was never an issue.

I think the Towers GC ones were. Was in one of two T21s towed CW-Weston Super Mare at Easter - never been so cold

I can confirm all the RAF Chipmunks had carb heat wired hot. We had 37 of them at South Cerney (36 after the BeBe Sharman/Ritzi event), but only 30 were used during the launching as the first was queuing up for it's second launch before the last had gone, and more just got in the way. After launching all 54 Standard Class gliders in 13 minutes early in the Competition, the launch team were asked to slow down to 20 second intervals as the dropping zone was too congested.

Re site checks at HusBos nationals, my first launch there was on the first Comp day on the Nationals, and although I had to produce my logbook as currency evidence, nobody invited me to be site checked. Maybe a glance at the logbook indicated I was too dangerous to fly with?

When I worked on Chippies (1980 - 83) the carb air was only 'locked' with copper wire,so a little judicious 'untwisting' could give cold air - not that I am suggesting for a minute that any of our VRT pilots would ever have done that :)

When I worked on them around the same time we used to make the loop in the wire just big enough to slip on and off to save the said "untwisting". Should the need arise......

Yes - that is what I meant Clarkie :) - I shoulda said 'loosened' LOL

Dearie me. And you signed the 700 to say all was correct according to the edicts from on high. (I suppose the staute of limitations applies to all of us now).;-)

A bit of thread drift... That was the reason Wellingtons weren't used for towing Horsas, Hadrians and the like. The geodetic construction caused the Wellingtons to stretch and shrink like lazy tongs rivetters.

Non Icing Tiger
 

463 Your Tiger had an 'automatic' carb heat system, directly controlled by the throttle lever. The carb already had a warm jacket from the exhaust system and when the throttle was closed it operated a flap that was fed by exhaust heated air. Could be flown in all conditions of temp/humidity, and very reliable.

Fitter2

I think it may have depended or whether you were available to be checked and maybe also on your experience. I only checked a few guys selected by the CFI. You mean no one asked to see your competition licence? You will recall then that it was not a particularly good comp weather wise. I was task setting with the Met man, who had come from Bracknell with his caravan, every morning before the briefing. IFIRC we scrubbed quite a few tasks and shortened others. I also had to check the turn point photos,and when we did fly I was up all night waiting for retrieves to arrive back to get the results out for the following morning. There was a lot of landing out that week. Happy days. I do remember Philip Wills turning up to give out the prizes as well. I think we are seriously off topic now.

Pobjoy

My involvement with the Tiger was confined to checking the oil and filling it up with petrol. Our tuggies were all ex RAF and well up in the intricacies of the Gipsy Major engine which was definitely not my style. I was trained on Merlins and Griffons.

Is this an Aviation History and Nostalgia thread?

And there lies the problem in this thread; too many people remembering how things used to be in the flying arena within the ACO (sorry RAFAC). Things have moved on, yes not for the best, but have moved on; so get over it.

You could start a whole new thread complaining about the number of RAF stations or squadrons now compared with during WW2, but whats the point.

Pegasus & campbeex

Precisely. The question is why ATC gliding (and arguably the organisation itself) has been decimated. Asked and answered, and names named. Let us hope the links are exposed in court next month.

Pegasus107 wrote: Comparison with wartime strength is somewhat pointless, but comparison with the RAF at the time even of GW1 might be germane?

When I finished my UAS tour in 1993, at my dining-out I mentioned that, as a student, when the UAS moved from White Waltham to Abingdon, one of the QFIs said "At least they'll never close this place". Well, sadly they did - or rather it was squaddified. So we moved to Benson - when I said that this was just one of the 40 or so places where the RAF used to fly in the UK when I joined, but no longer did, the Group Captain spluttered "Good God...40?".

Back in the days when the RAF could afford its own training aircraft and QFIs, we had UAS Summer Camps at operational RAF stations 'to see the real RAF'. My first was at Thorney Island in 1970 - as well as the based aircraft, there were quite a few visitors including the last Meteor TT20 and Vampire T11 still being used for fleet requirements. A privilege to see the very last of the first generation jets still in everyday use.

But they can't afford the luxury of such training these days. Air Cadet gliding was the USP for the organisation; a few minutes in a plastic pig miles from the ATC squadron, or playing with a 'part-task trainer' learning bad habits simply cannot compare. Playing pongos and buggering about on 'adventurous training' can be done better by others - the 'Air' must be put back into 'Air Cadets'!

Mind you, at a time when EFT graduates only have a couple of hours of PIC time on a course of over 60 hours, what hope is there for that?