What is it about the Wessex that makes people so fond of it?
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Radfan - Pingers? Yes, who was it who fell backwards down the slope? And yes - I did some AS work in a WW7 ( sandy coloured of course) with Beast Rufus in the back! Ended up in a carpark at the Bill with some problem or other, but never found a submarine - which seems par for the course really. I have noted that Pingers are always very proud of their Jungly time but not the other way round - any suggestions as to why this should be? 
PS 212 man seems very young to have posted all those posts. Is he with the drink taken? Perhaps we should all club together and get him a spellchekker!
PS 212 man seems very young to have posted all those posts. Is he with the drink taken? Perhaps we should all club together and get him a spellchekker!
212man was in knee pants when the Wessex was around....I bet he never flew a Sikorsky with a great big radial engine....and probably never even saw one with two HUGE radials.
(For the youngsters.....CH-34 (S-58) or CH37 Mojave (S-56))
The 58 had a wonderful auto pilot...unless some one down below opened the cabin door while the BarAlt was engaged. The 56 had a very commodious cockpit...even Nick Lappos could move around in the thing without need of a can of Crisco.
If you liked the Wessex....you would have loved the 37.
(For the youngsters.....CH-34 (S-58) or CH37 Mojave (S-56))
The 58 had a wonderful auto pilot...unless some one down below opened the cabin door while the BarAlt was engaged. The 56 had a very commodious cockpit...even Nick Lappos could move around in the thing without need of a can of Crisco.
If you liked the Wessex....you would have loved the 37.
Last edited by SASless; 8th May 2008 at 18:22.
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Reference my earlier post about midair collisions I thought these may be fun to post. The Fox and Hounds was lucky to get our trade I suppose, we could have ruined their roof.
PS seems I got the piccies a bit too big. I will try harder.
You will have to track right to see the WX5.
Last edited by Senior Pilot; 9th May 2008 at 11:50. Reason: Fix the photo display
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I fully realise that some Pingers, and I use the capital P out of respect for their wasted time in the FAA, may not believe the "Visual search procedures" used in desperation to find a submarine - so I post a photo of the crew manning the aircraft involved in the trials. I hope that this helps the cause of Jungly/ Pinger fraternity.
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An aside, ref Speechless2's comment on Tanganyika and the revolting Tanganyikans. (Can you say that these days?) The silverware exhibited in the foyer of 45 Commando Sgt's Mess was 'discovered' during that little foray. Names and numbers of those involved are available; a very enjoyable two hours was spent in the company of the man who liberated the items, I haven't laughed so much in ages.
There was a comment during our conversation about the helicopter pilot's navigational capacity in terms of the intended LZ ie they had to 'acquire' a huge truck to get to their objective, from the harbour.
Comments on a Zimbabwean dollar note.
There was a comment during our conversation about the helicopter pilot's navigational capacity in terms of the intended LZ ie they had to 'acquire' a huge truck to get to their objective, from the harbour.
Comments on a Zimbabwean dollar note.
bast0n,
Shades of Happy Hour on Friday night at the original CU Wardroom: pingers one end of the bar, junglies the other, and Moet at 19/6d used at will
Ditched Sea King the latest Mod status, doors on the wrong side? No wonder it got wet
Very impressed with the SHAR photo: that was fairly close
Shades of Happy Hour on Friday night at the original CU Wardroom: pingers one end of the bar, junglies the other, and Moet at 19/6d used at will
Ditched Sea King the latest Mod status, doors on the wrong side? No wonder it got wet
Very impressed with the SHAR photo: that was fairly close
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BastOn you old bugger! A breath of fresh air! I'm afraid the Pingers will always outnumber us on here - all those years of button pushing. However Quality not Quantity. Keep the Stories rolling. There's always that photo of the Wasp on Mike Reece's lawn in Helston...... HH
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No, but how about the great man in my Moke outside the Bayuca, Jonny and Tina Stagnetto ran it, in Gibraltar. ( Stunning onion soup with huge lumps of bread).Malim later fell out after a particularily nifty bit of driving on my part to avoid the Military Police (who had quite accurately surmised that we had stolen an army officers mess armchair to put in the back to make Rob W more comfortable in deference to his paddedness), and rubbed all the pattern off his blazer buttons and broke his designer sunglasses whilst sliding down the road unaccompanied. You may remember that I only had the Moke on board as I needed something to tow my boat. Happy Days. Perhaps one day I will tell you how I fell out of the Moke in Helston, whilst driving it, at Peter Craigs Leaving do.
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Looking back I see I do have a motorcycle shot of me giving a lift to an elderly pinger, Colin MacGregor, in the arctic. This shows that we Junglies do have hearts of gold towards distressed gentlefolk especially if they write your 206. I will not tell you what the shovel was for.
Bast0ns phots perhaps indicate one answer to the original title of the thread:
Its not just the aircraft, its the blokes that flew in it and serviced it. An inate ability to display a potent mix of punchy flying, gall, cameraderie, daftness, spirit and irreverence whatever the Wx mark, variant and operational role ! Happy days indeed.
Its not just the aircraft, its the blokes that flew in it and serviced it. An inate ability to display a potent mix of punchy flying, gall, cameraderie, daftness, spirit and irreverence whatever the Wx mark, variant and operational role ! Happy days indeed.
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The nervous and tired line up for the previous formation.
By the way if anyone wants any of these photos, and I have oodles more, do let me know.
Also you lot out there must have a wealth of unseen material that would be fun to share, as PP says it is not only the aircraft that made us happy, it was also the sometimes potty people who flew and maintained them and the mistakes/adventures they had.
Any truth in the rumour of a certain `junglie`( D.L) thrown out of a pub one night,when next night flying at the same location ,flicks fuel jettison ON-OFF,..find it hard to believe really,as I was told `junglies` didn`t fly at night,or couldn`t do two things at once !!!