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Newsletter No 136 October 2008

STEVE ROBSON RAF ENGINEER

At the September meeting, Steve Robson gave us a view on his varied experiences as an RAF engineer, having started initially as a pilot until finding he suffered from motion sickness. He gave us a brief idea on how the RAF is organised along with the levels of aircraft servicing and then showed how he had worked in these different situations. RAF Binbrook, a front line air defence unit operating Lightnings, provided his baptism of man management being in charge of the support bays and to satisfy the demands of unforgiving aircraft operations. The cold Lincolnshire wolds were followed by as much contrast as you can get by going to an island, Masirah, in the tropics off the coast of Oman and providing visiting aircraft with turn rounds – except when they went sick.

One particular aircraft, a Britannia, had required 3 engine changes and during this work when it was decided to move the aircraft, a main undercarriage leg broke. The aircraft was renamed from Bellatrix to Bago'trix. The Belfast was another visitor and following some recovery work Steve flew on the air test during which the flight down the island showed an aircraft wreck in the sea. This was visited later when it was worked out that the tides were low enough to allow access. Other pastimes included pistol shooting on a range with a 20knot cross wind and maintaining the only railway on the island, or Oman for that matter.

A return to England at Thorney Island gave him a squadron tour on 46 Sqn looking after the multi role Andover aircraft. This tour was cut short when the station was closed in the 1975 defence review. After a course at Cranwell the RAE at Farnborough enabled him to get his hands dirty doing some boring lab work but more interesting and important during the cold war was work on the pilot's NBC protection equipment in which he became a co-patentee.
A complete change again saw him in South Wales as the production officer for overhaul of the Adour jet engine and its many modules. A secondary duty of Air Cadet Liaison Officer kept him busy during the periods of the Summer Camps.
His first staff tour was at Headquarters Strike Command looking after the airworthiness and availability of the Andovers including those of The Queens Flight and the airfield calibration squadron, which had taken some of the former 46 Sqn aircraft. Key at HQSTC were the review of maintenance including the cessation of 'half lifing' of components on TQF aircraft, the control of modifications on the Hercules during the initial and follow up stages of the Falklands conflict and the handling of the engineering consequences following the crash of a Dan Air 748, the civilian version of the Andover.
Returning to a station, albeit Brize Norton, the largest RAF transport station, in a coordination role seemed a bit tame – however... shortly after he arrived the station was tasked with the evaluation of the BAe146 for its suitability for The Queens Flight. As most aircraft are introduced over a 3-year period, the 6 months given ensured life was not dull requiring the finding of accommodation, training and making special equipment. Also the Tristar had been purchased and the initial engineering project work added to the 'fun'. A tour at MOD in the Engineering Policy branch showed that staff work was not his cup of tea and Steve left the RAF having served a fascinating 19 years.

SUPPORT BY MEMBERS FOR NOVEMBERS MEETING
Fred Hambly has asked that I remind members that we need a good turn-out in November for the RAF Presentation Team talk. Fred has promised them at least 60+ in the audience.

WHEN TO TRUST THE PILOT

· A passenger was giving the check in desk attendant a hard time complaining about everything. The attendant remained cool, polite and smiling. After the obnoxious passenger had been checked in, the next passenger complimented the attendant on her polite behaviour. “No problem” said the attendant, “this guy is going to New York and his bag is going to Paris!”

· The little boy said to the airline pilot “You’re a pilot??, That must be exciting” The pilot stuck out his chin and responded “Not if I do it right”

· A passenger piled his bags on the scales at an airline counter in New York and said to the clerk “I’m flying to Los Angeles, I want the square case to go to Denver and the two round ones to go to Seattle”. “I’m sorry sir but we can’t do that”. “Why not, you did it last time”.

· After taxing to the runway the airliner abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After a long wait it finally took off. A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant “what was the problem?” “Oh, the pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in one of the engines,” explained the flight attendant “and it took us a while to find a new pilot”.

· A Huey Cobra practicing autorotation during a military night exercise had a problem and landed on the tail rotor, separating the tail boom. Fortunately it wound up on its skids, sliding down the runway, doing 360s in a brilliant shower of sparks. As the Cobra passed the tower the following exchange was heard:
Tower: “Sir do you need any assistance?”
Cobra pilot: “I don’t know tower, we aint done crashin yet!”

NO HOLDING BACK, ARAB STYLE!!
The brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, sat in its hangar in Toulouse, France without a single hour of airtime. Enter the Arab flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine run-ups, prior to delivery to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area. Then they took all four engines to take-off power with a virtually empty aircraft. Not having read the run-up manuals, they had no clue just how light an empty A340-600 really is.
The take off warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit because they had all 4 engines at full power. The aircraft computers thought they were trying to take off but it had not been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc..) Then one of the ADAT crew decided to pull the circuit breaker on the Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the alarm. This fools the aircraft into thinking it is in the air. The computers automatically released all the brakes and set the aircraft rocketing forward.

The ADAT crew had no idea that this is a safety feature so that pilots can't land with the brakes on. Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was smart enough to throttle back the engines from their max power setting, so the $200 million brand-new aircraft crashed into a blast barrier, totaling it. The extent of injuries to the crew is unknown, for there has been a news blackout in
the major media in France and elsewhere.

Coverage of the story was deemed insulting to Muslim Arabs. Finally, the photos are starting to leak out!!!!!

Newsletter 135 September 2008

2008 TALKS (all talks start at 7.30pm) No meetings in August / December.

September 12th 2008. “An Engineer in the Royal Air Force” by Stephen
Robson (NFAG Member)
October 10th 2008. ”Life of a BA Pilot” by Captain Michael Cobb, JP
November 14th 2008. “The Royal Air Force” by the RAF Presentation
Team

JULY 2008 DAVID EAGLES

David Eagles, ex Chief Test Pilot for the Tornado & EAP gave the July meeting a detailed insight into the life of a test pilot in the British aviation industry. He started with detailing his National Service in 1953. Dave applied to join the Fleet Air Arm. He did six months as an Aviation Cadet on HMS Indefatigable in Portland Harbour.Then, after 15 months flying training with the US Navy, flying Harvard‘s, T28 Trojan’s and Grumman Panthers, he returned to the UK to convert to the DH Vampire and A.W. Seahawk. Dave then spent 2 years on exchange with the Australian Fleet Air Arm at Nowra, flying the Fairy Firefly and Hawker SeaFury.

On his return to the UK in 1963, Dave entered the Empire Test Pilots School and spent 3 years at Boscombe Down flight testing the Blackburn Buccaneer, DH Sea Vixen,Supermarine Scimitar, etc and trips in RAF aircraft including the Javelin, Lightning , Vulcan and Gnat. He ejected during a Buccaneer catapult launch trial off HongKong in 1966 and returned to the Navy proper to lead the BuccaneerAeros team at Farnborough in 1968.   Dave joined BritishAerospace as a test pilot, getting involved in the Strikemaster, Lightning, Canberra & Jaguar. He was heavily involved in the introduction into military service of the M.R.C.A. which became the Tornado. He was the pilot for the first flight of the EAP in August 1986, forerunner of the Eurofighter Typhoon.

BOURNEMOUTH AIRSHOW
After the well publicised cancellation of the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, due to health and safety concerns regarding muddy conditions in the car parks and in the public areas, many local airshow attendees were looking forward to the free Bournemouth Air Festival over the weekend of the 28-31st August. There was certainly a lot of hype and local advertising prior to the festival. A good marketing ploy, a week before the show, was the appearance of a bright red ex Swiss air force DH Venom, placed alongside the Wessex Way leading into Bournemouth, with advertising for the air festival stuck all over the fuselage and booms. Then that other magic ingredient, the great British weather was all that was required. So the first day, Thursday set the scene for things to come. Excessive traffic (both human and mechanical, on the ground and in the air) decending into Bournemouth, caused gridlock around the town and at the airport. Not everybody chose to take up the £10 per car park and ride option at three locations around the town and took their chances parking in sideroads close to the beaches. The Royal Fleet Auxilliary vessel RFA Mounts Bay acnchored in Bournemouth Bay and the the free boat trips operating from the pier to visit the vessel proved to be a huge success, and soon became fully booked. RFA Mounts Bay became a familiar backdrop to the display, along with the hundreds of small boats anchored offshore.

Saturday dawned hot and sunny and the show was opened by the Red Arrows appearing from behind the clifftop announcing their noisy arrival in red, white and blue style, in formation with a HS Gnat, XR537 (G-NATY) the former aircraft type operated by the Reds up to 1980. The Gnat was flown by a former Red Arrow team pilot Justin Hughes. As is now widely reported, the Avro Vulcan due to make an appearance on the Saturday, was unable to attend, due to a repair to an undercarriage door, not being signed off until the following Monday by Marshalls of Cambridge. The disappointment of no Vulcan display seemed to be forgotton somwewhat, by the appearance over the beaches of the Eurofighter Typhoon, flown by New Zealander Charlie Matthews, from 13 Sqn at RAF Coningsby on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Another highlight for many were the “Blades” aerobatic team, flying four Extra 300’s. All the pilots were ex Red Arrows and provided an exhilirating aerobatic display, some even hinting that the flying was more severe and exciting than the Reds…!!
A rather nice display was flown by a Douglas DC-6 operated by Air Atlantic, sporting “British Eagle” colours. The pilot, a current air accident investigator gave a very lively display putting the big propliner through tight banks and low beachside passes.
Brian Grant, who gave a talk to the New Forest Aviation Group back in April, 2006 was pilot in the DH Sea Vixen on all the days it displayed. Brian certainly put this big heavy jet through it’s paces and proved that at nearly 70 years old, he still has what it takes to be a fast jet pilot. Brian announced at the Air Feastival that Sunday would be his last ever display and that he was retiring. He had hoped to formate with the Red Arrows but low cloud and poor visibility put paid to that idea. However Brian went out in style, and didn’t appear to want to leave at the end of his slot!!
The Army Helicopter display team, the “Blue Eagles” , showed off what the Army Lynxs can do, impressing everyone with back flips and barrel rolls, whilst the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight were greeted with applause when the Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane turned up to display.

Upwards of a estimated quarter of a million people attending the festival on the Saturday, has meant that on Sunday it was announced that due to the huge success of the 2008 Festival it will be repeated again in August 2009. Perhaps the Vulcan will attend next year….fingers crossed.

Newsletter No. 134
July 2008

2008 TALKS (all talks start at 7.30pm) No meetings in August / December.

July 11th 2008. ”Memories of a Test Flying Career” by David
Eagles, Chief Test Pilot, Tornado & EAP
September 12th 2008. “An Engineer in the Royal Air Force” by Stephen
Robson (NFAG Member)
October 10th 2008. ”Life of a BA Pilot” by Captain Michael Cobb, JP
November 14th 2008. “The Royal Air Force” by the RAF Presentation
Team

These days July always heralds the start of the “biggies” in the UK airshow scene. This month will see both the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford and Flying Legends at Duxford take place over the same weekend. Whoever planned these two shows to clash with each other, seriously messed up at the planning dates stage! To stump up a small fortune for tickets and to then drive all the way to deepest Gloucestershire on one day, then all the way to Cambridgeshire the next day, would only be undertaken by the most ardent airshow supporters…….As one, I will let you know what happened at both shows in the September newsletter!!

I simply couldn’t resist the prospect of seeing the Avro Vulcan displaying at Fairford in 2008 after 15 years on the ground being restored, or the chance to see the newest fighter in the USAF inventory, the F-22 Raptor, being put through it’s paces above Fairford. I see that the Vulcan now requires an estimated £250,000 just to get it through to the end of the current airshow season. The Vulcan to the Sky group (www.tvoc.co.uk) has used up nearly all of it’s financial resources, as the Vulcan has carried out twice as many test flights as planned. I think the collecting buckets will be out at Fairford this year? Then at Duxford there is then the chance to see three airworthy Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses together in the air, as US based “Liberty Belle” has arrived in the UK this week, after a transatlantic crossing to attend “Legends”. Hopefully “Pink Lady” from France will join “Liberty Belle” and UK resident “Memphis Belle” at Duxford. All they need to do now is roll out the B-17 “Mary Alice” from the American Air Museum on the airfield…now that would make a great line up on the flightline for a photo, four B-17’s!

HELIMEET AT EASTLEIGH
Eastlieigh Council are commemorating the 60th anniversary of the maiden flight in 1948, of the Cierva Skeeter, with a “helimeet” at Fleming Park in Eastleigh (M3, Jct 13) on Sunday 3rd August. The Skeeter was designed and built in Eastleigh. There are 6 static Skeeters attending, out of only 25 left in the world and a number of other helicopters are flying in for the event. The Skeeter was the first British designed and built helicopter to enter service and several “parts” were subsequently used in the Westland Wasp and Scout. Entrance to the “helimeet” is free, with helicopters arriving at 09.30am. Also scheduled to attend are examples of the Westland Scout, Sioux & Wasp, plus a Bell Long Ranger, a MD500E, Robinson R44 and R22 and an Sud Aviation Allouette. The Hampshire Air Ambulance and Coastguard Rescue helicopters are also scheduled to attend (emergencies permitting!!). The “Black Knights” will perform a parachute drop. The event will close with departing helicopters leaving around 5pm.

AN EVENING VISIT TO A SMALL AIRFIELD MUSEUM AT RAF WELFORD
On Thursday 26th June, Alan and Margaret Brown drove to Hungerford in Berkshire to meet up with a fellow Parachute Jump instructor (P.J.I.) who was with Alan at Parachute School in early 1946. He asked Alan if he would give a talk about New Forest airfields to the Ridgeway Military & Aviation Research Group. If Alan could find his way to his friends house in Hungerford, he and his son would drive them six miles through a maze of small lanes to RAF Welford, once the base for the 315th and 435th Troop Carrier Groups of the 9th USAAF, now one of the largest ammunition compounds for the USAF in Western Europe for heavy munitions.
The talk was to be on the upper floor of a big American style building, whilst down below were sections of gliders, half a Dakota fuselage, a Lancaster’s top turret and hundreds of other items and photographs. Alan said his talk seemed to go down well with the members of the Group and there was plenty of interest in the airfields in our area. At the end of the evening, nearing 10pm, despite his protests, Alan was given a cheque for £30, which he has since sent to the RAF Benevolent Fund. With Margaret’s help, Alan has given over a hundred talks since 1994 and all money he has been given has been donated to the RAF Benevolent Fund and the club or society always gets a thank you letter from the RAFBF and a copy for Alan. A week before the Welford talk Alan sent another £30, donated at the Highcliffe Probus Club and paragraph two of a letter sent to Alan said:
“It is donations such as this which enable us to provide funding for childcare centres across some 18 RAF bases, where such facilities were sadly lacking for families. These provisions make the lives of serving personnel and their families more manageable and enable them to cope with the stresses and strains of often having one partner absent for many months at a time”.

AIRSHOWS 2008
July 19-20th Farnborough Airshow £23 (advance)
July 28th Wallop 08, Middle Wallop
August 3rd Helimeet, Eastleigh, Hants (free)
August 14-17th Eastbourne Airshow (free)
August 24th “Wings and Wheels”, Dunsfold, Surrey
August 28th –31st Bournemouth Air Festival (free)

Newsletter No. 133
June 2008

2008 TALKS (all talks start at 7.30pm) No meetings in August / December.

June 13th 2008. "The Convair Tradewind Saga" by John Thompson

John’s talk will relate the story of the problems with the last of the US Navies big transport Flying Boats. A story that started with such promise and ended in a costly failure. The Talk will be supplimented with a 30 minute Video and his 1/22nd scale RC Scale model.

July 11th 2008. ”Memories of a Test Flying Career” by David
Eagles, Chief Test Pilot, Tornado & EAP
September 12th 2008 . “An Engineer in the Royal Air Force” by Stephen
Robson (NFAG Member)
October 10th 2008. ”Life of a BA Pilot” by Captain Michael Cobb, JP
November 14th 2008. “The Royal Air Force” by the RAF Presentation
Team

Last month, self-taught aviation artist Philip West came along to the meeting to give a talk on his career as a professional aviation artist. Having become jaded with his first job career as an estate agent, he discussed all the hardships he endured after giving up selling houses and then trying to sell paintings! He also brought along many examples of his well-known work and provided members with an opportunity to stock up on Christmas cards! Philip has completed over 100 paintings now and is regarded as one of the world’s finest aviation artists. His talk covered the gathering of reference material during the preparation for a painting and his Powerpoint presentation illustrated the step by step approach to completing one of his paintings. The featured example he used was his painting “H.M.AS. Ark Royal” which features a Royal Navy Phantom thundering away from the deck of HMS Ark Royal in the 1970’s.
For more information on Philip West click on www.swafineart.com/pages/philip.htm

Newsletter No. 132
May 2008

Graham Perry gave a very detailed insight to life in the Engineering section of the RAF in the 1960’s and 1970’s at the April talk. Superb, clear, colour slides of Lightning’s, Jet Provosts, Hunters, Whirlwinds and Wessexs set the scene and Graham provided a humorous glimpse into life on various RAF stations. His tales of other RAF personnel working alongside Graham provided an outsider like myself with a view of life in the Royal Air Force.

COMET
A new, free exhibition at The Science Museum, South Kensington, London, which shows the way Britain re-invented itself after WW2, has on display a section of the DH Comet 1 airliner, which crashed into the Mediterranean in 1954. This helped the investigation team to pinpoint the fatal flaw with the square windows and provided the answer to the break up in mid-flight of the airliner.

LAST FLIGHT ON A DAKOTA

For all our members who were not in the services and have never experienced a flight in a Dakota, Classic Flight may have an answer, but be quick! The company are running a Dakota Farewell Tour to passengers this summer.

EU regulations coming into force mean that 2008 will be the final year passengers are allowed to take a flight in a Dakota in UK skies. The Dakota’s of Classic Flight based at Coventry Airport will be visiting Bournemouth airport on Saturday July 5th and Sunday July 7th and Exeter on Monday June 30th and Tuesday July 1st.
Fights will cost £99 for a 30 minute trip and can be booked through Classic Flight on 0870 330 4747 or on line at www.classicflight.com .

RAF BENTLEY PRIORY
This Sunday, the 13th, will see a number of the remaining “Few”, the pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain, gather for a special signing event at RAF Bentley Priory in Stanmore, North London. The Ministry of Defence has sold the Bentley Priory site within a contract for land disposal tied to a major rebuild at RAF Northolt. Bentley Priory was the HQ for Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh “stuffy” Dowding, Air Officer Commanding, RAF Fighter Command, during the Battle of Britain. Dowdings office has been preserved with artefacts relating to that time. There will be an opportunity to visit Lord Dowdings office on the day. Funds raised through signing vouchers will be donated to the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust and the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. The Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust is a registered charity set up to preserve part of this historic building for the nation when the Royal Air Force vacates the site in 2008. Legendary names from the conflict including Billy Drake, Pete Brothers and John Ellacombe will be in attendance along with some twenty other pilots who took part in the conflict. There will be a strict dress code as RAF Bentley Priory is still an operational base.
Collared shirts, trousers and shoes to be worn, no jeans or trainers please.
The main gates will open at 8.30am & the doors will open at 9.30am.

Newsletter No. 131
April 2008

TYPHOON ENTERS A MUSEUM
I recently saw that an example of the Eurofighter Typhoon has entered the RAF Museum, Hendon. I thought that this fighter was too modern to become a museum piece, but Hendon has taken delivery of the all black, ZH588, pre production prototype. Recently the RAF Typhoons and Tornados have been busy as they are once again scrambling to meet Russian Tupolev Tu-95 “Bear” strategic bombers. The Russians have recommenced testing the reaction times of the RAF defending northern UK airspace. Towards the end of the 1990’s, these flights into UK airspace reduced, due to budget restrictions within the Soviet Union, but with the Russian economy booming once again due to natural resources, such as oil and gas being sold to the West, the Soviet Air Force seems keen to recommence these flights. Perhaps it is the RAF who are the ones who can’t afford the fuel these days, for thirsty Typhoons and Tornados!

THE FLYING PRINCE
A proud father will today present his son with his “wings”. After fourth months on a condensed training course Flying Officer William Wales, more commonly known as Prince William, will be at RAF Cranwell, where his father, Charles, in his capacity as Air Chief Marshal, will present William with his RAF wings. William went solo eight days into his training, in a Grob 115 at Cranwell. He then progressed onto the Shorts Tucano. Normally an RAF pilot would take up to four years to gain his wings.

Newsletter No. 130
March 2008

2008 TALKS (all talks start at 7.30pm) No meetings in August and December.
March 14th 2008. “Boscombe Down” by Tim Mason
April 11th 2008. “From Whirlybirds to Lightnings” (Living with Aircraft)
by Graham Perry,
May 9th 2008. ”Aviation Art” by Philip West
June 13th 2008. ”A Lucky Life” by Nick Berryman
July 11th 2008. ”Memories of a Test Flying Career” by David
Eagles, Chief Test Pilot, Tornado & EAP
September 12th 2008 . “An Engineer in the Royal Air Force” by Stephen
Robson (NFAG Member)
October 10th 2008. ”Life of a BA Pilot” by Captain Michael Cobb, JP
November 14th 2008. “The Royal Air Force” by the RAF Presentation
Team

NFAG member & former Works Manager of the Edgeley Optica factory, John Thompson, gave a thought provoking talk to the February meeting after the AGM, on the history, early success and eventual collapse of the Edgeley company & the launch of it’s Optica aeroplane project in the early 1980’s. John talked about the crash of the Hampshire Police Optica at Ringwood in 1985 and about the company’s financial problems and arson attack on the factory hangar at Old Sarum, three factors which ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Optica aircraft company in the mid 1980’s. John, complete with map of the “scene of the crime”, played a 1980’s TVS documentary about the company, which included footage of a youthful Works Manager being interviewed (!).

RAF PRESENTATION TEAM EVENING AT THE ROYAL BATH HOTEL
On Tuesday 26th February, I took (dragged!) my wife down to the “Royal Bath” hotel in Bournemouth for a sneak preview of the presentation that the RAF Presentation Team will be giving to the group in November. An RAF band greeted guests arriving at the event, then the audience were treated to a film presentation dealing with the career possibilities available in today’s RAF. There was a Q & A section afterwards which led to some interesting debate between audience and the members of the RAF Presentation Team, who were on hand to deal with questions on the roles and challenges faced in these modern times by a highly flexible, professional, well trained air force. I think members will be impressed when we get the chance to see the presentation in Lyndhurst in November.

MARGARET BROWN
A short message from Margaret:
“Margaret would like to thank all concerned for the lovely, utterly “scrumptious” box of chocolates she received at the last meeting. They were much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed”.

AIRSHOWS 2008
A selection of airshows up to July 2008

May 4th Abingdon Air & Country Show
May 18th Duxford, Spring Air Show
June 7-8th Biggin Hill Air Fair 2008
June 15th Kemble Air Day
July 5th Yeovilton Air Day
July 12-13th Flying Legends, Duxford
July 12-13th RIAT, Fairford
July 19-20th Farnborough Airshow
July 28th Wallop 08, Middle Wallop

BLIND PILOT
A woman was flying from Seattle to San Francisco. Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.
Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. The man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her guide dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight.
He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, "Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?" The blind lady replied, "No thanks, but maybe Buddy would like to stretch his legs."
Picture this:
All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog!
The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying
to change airlines!

 

Newsletter No. 129
February 2008

2008 TALKS (all talks start at 7.30pm) No meetings in August and December.

February 8th 2008. A.G.M. followed by “The Optica Mystery” by John Thompson
March 14th 2008. “Boscombe Down” by Tim Mason
April 11th 2008. “From Whirlybirds to Lightnings” (Living with Aircraft) by
Graham Perry,
May 9th 2008. ”Aviation Art” by Philip West
June 13th 2008. ”A Lucky Life” by Nick Berryman
July 11th 2008. ”Memories of a Test Flying Career” by David Eagles, Chief
Test Pilot, Tornado & EAP
September 12th 2008 . “An Engineer in the Royal Air Force” by Stephen Robson
(NFAG Member)
October 10th 2008. ”Life of a BA Pilot” by Captain Michael Cobb, JP
November 14th 2008. “The Royal Air Force” by the RAF Presentation Team

The January talk saw Air Commodore J. L. Mitchell LVO, DFC, AFC. give a talk based around his wartime career, starting in 1939 flying Fairey Battles, then onto AW Whitleys at Abingdon. He was then selected in 1943 to become part of an all RAF crew for an Avro York, being fitted out in drawing-room luxury, for the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Later, the York was replaced by a Douglas C-54B Skymaster, both aircraft belonging to the V.I.P. flight, based at RAF Northolt in West London. As the aircraft’s Navigator, Mitchell made many trips to Tripoli & other parts of North Africa, Gibraltar, Malta, Italy and Russia amongst other places. His humorous tales about the PM, the King of England and other VIP’s which the plane carried during WW2, gave a personal insight to the interesting career of this particular Speaker. Air Commodore Mitchell mentioned that Churchill always travelled with his ADC, Cdr.Thompson. RN, Lord Moran, his personal doctor, Inspector Thompson, of the CID, and Sawyers, his personal valet. Also carried were one of the No.10 secretaries and a typist!!

ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS
At the January meeting, 44 members attended, plus 7 visitors. Total taken £58, hire of the hall had gone up to £47. Postage of Newsletters to absent members was £7.68. Refreshments were £2.82 and a bottle of wine for the excellent speaker £5.99, so total loss for this meeting was £17.49.

RAF MUSEUM HENDON TRIP
Doug Hare has asked that those who have provisionally booked places for the coach trip to the RAF Museum at Hendon on Tuesday April 22nd now need to pay the total cost of £15 to Doug ASAP to enable Doug to calculate if the trip will still run. The £15 includes coach fare and guide and so the cost represents real value for money to this excellent museum, which over the past few years has had major changes since the last NFAG trip. Cheques should be made payable to NEW FOREST AVIATION GROUP and sent to Mr. Doug Hare, 6 Park Road, Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire, SO41 0QU. Telephone 01590 644243.

NEWSLETTERS TO ABSENT MEMBERS BY E-MAIL
If a member is absent from a meeting, then Gerry Coote will post a Newsletter out to them after the meeting. It has been suggested that if absent, would it be possible to e-mail the Newsletter to members who have computers or access to computers. This would save postage costs. So, if any members would like to receive the newsletter in this manner if absent at any time, then can they supply Gerry Coote or myself with their current E-mail address.

Newsletter No. 128
January 2008

2008 TALKS (all talks start at 7.30pm) There are no meetings in August and December.
January 11th 2008. “Diary of a Navigator, VIP Flying in Wartime” by Air Commodore J. L. Mitchell LVO, DFC, AFC
February 8th 2008. A.G.M. followed by “The Optica Mystery” by John Thompson
Other dates for your diaries are: March 14th, April 11th, May 9th, June 13th, July 11th, September 12th, October 10th, November 14th.

Happy New Year to all of you, I trust you all had a stree-free Christmas. In case some of you had not heard, there was some very sad news towards the end of 2007. Our President, Vice Admiral Sir R. Halliday, KBE, DSO, passed away in November.

ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS
To give members an idea of attendance at meetings, monthly income and expenditure the Treasurer, Roy Arnold has provided details for the last meeting in November 2007. 41 members attended the talk, plus 8 visitors. 32 members were absent and Gerry Coote posted them their newsletters (second class). Hire of the hall and kitchen was £44, plus money for refreshments, stationary & postage, plus £25 for the Speaker,, which left the meeting showing a loss of £22.68
Alan Brown (Chairman)

BOURNEMOUTH AVIATION MUSEUM CLOSES
Due to the need for more car parking spaces required as part of the expansion of Bournemouth airport, the Bournemouth Aviation Museum has been forced to close its doors for the last time on December 16th 2007. Alternative premises were offered on the northern side of the airport, but were turned down by B.A.M., as they were “not considered financially sustainable”. De Havilland Aviation, who operated a number of classic jets from the same hangar, will move to a new site on the airfield.

 

2008 TALKS (all talks start at 7.30pm) No meetings in August and December.

February 8th 2008. A.G.M. followed by “The Optica Mystery” by John Thompson
March 14th 2008. “Boscombe Down” by Tim Mason
April 11th 2008. “From Whirlybirds to Lightnings” (Living with Aircraft) by
Graham Perry,
May 9th 2008. ”Aviation Art” by Philip West
June 13th 2008. ”A Lucky Life” by Nick Berryman
July 11th 2008. ”Memories of a Test Flying Career” by David Eagles, Chief
Test Pilot, Tornado & EAP
September 12th 2008 . “An Engineer in the Royal Air Force” by Stephen Robson
(NFAG Member)
October 10th 2008. ”Life of a BA Pilot” by Captain Michael Cobb, JP
November 14th 2008. “The Royal Air Force” by the RAF Presentation Team

The January talk saw Air Commodore J. L. Mitchell LVO, DFC, AFC. give a talk based around his wartime career, starting in 1939 flying Fairey Battles, then onto AW Whitleys at Abingdon. He was then selected in 1943 to become part of an all RAF crew for an Avro York, being fitted out in drawing-room luxury, for the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Later, the York was replaced by a Douglas C-54B Skymaster, both aircraft belonging to the V.I.P. flight, based at RAF Northolt in West London. As the aircraft’s Navigator, Mitchell made many trips to Tripoli & other parts of North Africa, Gibraltar, Malta, Italy and Russia amongst other places. His humorous tales about the PM, the King of England and other VIP’s which the plane carried during WW2, gave a personal insight to the interesting career of this particular Speaker. Air Commodore Mitchell mentioned that Churchill always travelled with his ADC, Cdr.Thompson. RN, Lord Moran, his personal doctor, Inspector Thompson, of the CID, and Sawyers, his personal valet. Also carried were one of the No.10 secretaries and a typist!!

ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS
At the January meeting, 44 members attended, plus 7 visitors. Total taken £58, hire of the hall had gone up to £47. Postage of Newsletters to absent members was £7.68. Refreshments were £2.82 and a bottle of wine for the excellent speaker £5.99, so total loss for this meeting was £17.49.

RAF MUSEUM HENDON TRIP
Doug Hare has asked that those who have provisionally booked places for the coach trip to the RAF Museum at Hendon on Tuesday April 22nd now need to pay the total cost of £15 to Doug ASAP to enable Doug to calculate if the trip will still run. The £15 includes coach fare and guide and so the cost represents real value for money to this excellent museum, which over the past few years has had major changes since the last NFAG trip. Cheques should be made payable to NEW FOREST AVIATION GROUP and sent to Mr. Doug Hare, 6 Park Road, Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire, SO41 0QU. Telephone 01590 644243.

NEWSLETTERS TO ABSENT MEMBERS BY E-MAIL
If a member is absent from a meeting, then Gerry Coote will post a Newsletter out to them after the meeting. It has been suggested that if absent, would it be possible to e-mail the Newsletter to members who have computers or access to computers. This would save postage costs. So, if any members would like to receive the newsletter in this manner if absent at any time, then can they supply Gerry Coote or myself with their current E-mail address.

AIRSHOWS 2008
A selection of airshows up to July 2008

May 4th Abingdon Air & Country Show
May 18th Duxford, Spring Air Show
June 7-8th Biggin Hill Air Fair 2008
June 15th Kemble Air Day
July 5th Yeovilton Air Day
July 12-13th Flying Legends, Duxford
July 12-13th RIAT, Fairford
July 19-20th Farnborough Airshow
July 28th Wallop 08, Middle Wallop

November 2007 Newsletter

Philip Taylor, Senior Inspector of Accidents (Operations) of the Air
Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) gave the talk "Air Accident
Investigations" to the October meeting. The AAIB has its headquarters in
Farnborough, Hants and is an independent part of the Department of
Transport, but is not part of the Civil Aviation Authority. Responsible for
the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents
occurring in or over the UK, the AAIB also assists in UK military accidents
and investigations abroad, when a British registered or British manufactured
aircraft or engine is involved.

Philip outlined the history of the AAIB, which was established in 1915 & has
its origins in the Accidents Investigation Branch of the Royal Flying Corps.
He then talked about the reasons why crashes and incidents are investigated
and also how the AAIB then publish "yellow" reports, in which
recommendations are made to the aviation industry to reduce the chance of
the same accidents or incidents occurring again in the future. The
importance of the recovery of the Flight Data Recorders (FDR) and Cockpit
Voice Recorders (CVR) from aircraft was stressed as these are used for
replay and analysis by the AAIB. A number of case studies were used to
illustrate the type of accidents investigated by the AAIB. Copy's of the
AAIB reports on accidents and incidents can be found on their website at:

www.aaib.gov.uk .

Philip sent us some of his photographs -

October 2007 Newsletter

INFORMATION SOUGHT ON Ju88 CRASH AT MILFORD-ON-SEA
I am a part time local history researcher. I am currently researching the
shooting down of a Ju88 at Milford on Sea on the 21st of October 1940. The
bomber was from KG51 and had been involved in the bombing of the Gloucester
Aircraft Factory at Brockworth, where the bombing killed five factory
workers. It was then intercepted and shot down by two pilots of 609 Squadron
based at Middle Wallop. It was the squadrons 100th kill. I write to
enquire if anyone in your organisation has any knowledge of this incident
and would be willing to share information with me. Please contact me by
e-mail: ddcol@tiscali.co.uk
Regards
Del Jones

Hyde Ex-Servicemen's & Social Club
Hello
Please excuse this rather distant approach but I am the Secretary of Hyde
Club at Hern Lane in Hyde near Fordingbridge. The Club has been going since
1927 and is celebrating its 80th anniversary on 13 October 2007 for which I
am starting to write up a history from existing club records. The Club in
its broadly present form was created in July 1942. While it is a private
members club I expect that during the 2nd World War it must have been a
watering hole for some of the forces from here or abroad in view of its
proximity to Ibsley airfield. I was wondering whether there is any
historical material, reminiscence etc among your members, which would add to
the Club's story. We have few of our senior members left now and the records
are not that comprehensive, so I would be grateful for any steers you might
have that I could follow up.
Many thanks
Brian Neal

RAF BEAULIEU Submitted by John Matthews
Situated in the New Forest, I was stationed there some 50+ years ago, a
total complement of 15 to administer and guard 4 large hangars and a single
concrete runway and an asphalted peri-track, which was cracked and primroses
etc., flourished abundantly. Never knew what was in the hangars, your guess
would be as good as mine.
On this particular Saturday afternoon, the Guardroom phone rang and the
conversation went something like this.
Me: Good afternoon, Guardroom, RAF Beaulieu
Caller: Good afternoon, Bomber Command Operations, could you advise weather
conditions please?
Me: Not bad for September.
Caller: What do you mean, not bad? What's the visibility, 1000 yds, 2000
yds?
Me: North East to North West 5 miles, all else variable between 50 to 200
yds.
Caller: (starting to get agitated) What sort of answer is that?
Me: Looking out over the airfield I can see for miles, all other directions
visibility is restricted by trees of the New Forest.
Caller: Put me through to your C.O., please
Me: Sorry, he's not here
Caller: OK let me speak to the Senior Duty officer.
Me: We don't have one
Caller: Please hold one.....
New Caller: Good Afternoon, Sqn Ldr Jones here, who am I speaking to?
Me: LAC Matthews, RAF Police, sir
Sqn Ldr: Put me through to whoever is in charge please.
Me: That's me sir.
Sqn Ldr: We have an aircraft, one engine on fire, need to land quite
urgently, can you mobilise fire and crash teams?
Me: I explained that everybody was off camp. There was an LAC Fireman, (with
a bucket of sand and an Acme fire extinguisher) and me. A very naughty
expletive came down the phone line and then silence as the phone was hung
up.
All sorts of thoughts went through my mind, basically the end of a very
short military career. About three hours later the phone rang again.
Me: Good afternoon, RAF Beaulieu.
Familiar voice: LAC Matthews?
Me: Yes sir
Sqn Ldr: Just thought you would like to know, the aircraft landed safely at
RAF Burtonwood about 30 minutes ago. Sorry we caused you any problems but
you came first alphabetically in our list of operational stations, I will
see that it is deleted, bye.

What a first posting!

Newsletter No. 124
July 2007

2007 TALKS

July 13th “Albatross across the Atlantic” by Melvyn Hiscock
August No meeting
September 14th “The Aircraft I Flew” by Clive Rustin
October 12th “Air Accident Investigations” by Philip Taylor,
Senior Inspector of Accidents (Operations)
November 9th “The Strathallan Collection” by Dick Richardson,
Manager, Popham Airfield
December No meeting

JUNE MEETING NOTES Paul Kingsbury, Director of Engineering at De Havilland Engineering has followed up the talk on operating the “Sea Vixen” he gave to the June meeting, by sending NFAG website editor George Barker a selection of rather nice images of other classic aircraft operated from Bournemouth airport by the company. Included below is a superb shot of DH Sea Vixen XP924 sporting her smart new Royal Navy 899 Sqn colours, complete with 899’s “clenched fist” on the tail, last seen at Yeovilton on 899 Sqn Sea Harriers, before the SHAR’s retirement. Previous to this scheme, XP924 sported its sponsor’s rather garish “Red Bull” colour scheme, which proved controversial amongst purists, when it first appeared on the airshow scene some six years ago. Unfortunately, CAA issues and rising insurance costs look set to keep the Sea Vixen grounded this year. Some might say aircraft should wear “correct” paint schemes, but if this keeps a classic aircraft grounded, perhaps we should not become too judgemental over non-standard paint schemes adorning aircraft? Good news however, in that the ex “Red Arrows” HS Gnat is soon to fly, when the Sea Vixen’s regular pilot, Brian Grant (a previous NFAG speaker) returns from work commitments in the USA.

 

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM DE HAVILLAND ENGINEERING DIRECTOR PAUL KINGSBURY

DH Sea Vixen XP924
	DH Vampire
AW Meteor NF11 WM167

NEW FOREST AIRFIELDS EXHIBITION
Alan & Margaret Brown will be staging another of their successful “Airfields of the New Forest” exhibitions in the Pine Room, Lyndhurst Community Centre, which is situated in the main Lyndhurst car park on Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd September. The opening hours for the exhibition will be 7pm-10pm Friday and 10.30am-8.30pm Saturday and Sunday.

NFAG COACH TRIPS
I would just like to say on behalf of the group a big THANK YOU to Doug Hare for all the hard effort he has put in organising two trips recently for members of the NFAG. A small group had a trip to the RNAS Yeovilton Air Day last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed themselves, with the added bonus of the Swiss AF aerobatic team “Patrouille Swiss” performing at the show. The recent visit to Tangmere Aviation museum and the Southsea D-Day museum were also a big success. Can I also thank all who booked up for these outings. The trips will continue to be run if the support from the NFAG members is forthcoming, so please do your best to help Doug make future outings a success. The RAF museum at Hendon seems to be the next trip being considered, watch this space….

From May 2007 Newsletter

I have just finished reading a book written by Peter Vacher, detailing the discovery in 1982, in a compound at a Technical College in northern India, the rusty hulk.of a genuine Battle of Britain Hawker Hurricane, R4118. In 1996 he decided to act and made an offer to buy the remains. In 1997 the offer was accepted.

The book then documents the following six years of complicated negotiations before in 2002 Peter was given 24 hours to remove the plane from India..

 

Published by Grub Street, "Hurricane R4118: The Extraordinary Story of the discovery and restoration of a great Battle of Britain survivor” .is illustrated with many colour photographs taken during the restoration in England. It provides a rare insight into the world of classic aircraft restoration. The worldwide search for parts for R4118, the careful reconstruction, through to the flight-testing make a fascinating read. I highly recommend this book.The book then documents the following six years of wrangling, committees, red tape, Indian Air Force involvement, and much patient lobbying before in 2002 Peter was given 24 hours to remove the plane from India.