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Tizer
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21/12/2007
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11:56
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I have uploaded my first picture to the Barlick site I hope to be able to add it in this thread if/when it gets approval from Doc. It is a postcard from the 1940s entitled Winged Heroes and showing Hawker Hurricanes. (The picture is in the next post if you are on page 1 of the thread; if you are on another page you need to go back tp page 1 to see it.)
Please feel free to add your own stories, pictures or comments regarding everything to do with aeroplanes and their pilots, both past and present.
Edited by - Tizer on 11/11/2010 15:11:42
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Tizer
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Posted - 06/03/2011 : 16:44
And when they'd delivered a plane during the day they would be flown back at night - not much sleep!
Remember the print of the BB Memorial Flight that I got thanks to David (Tripps) giving me a voucher from the Daily Mail? We gave the print to my father with his Christmas presents and now it's framed and on his lounge wall. He's very pleased with it, especially the signatures around the edges. Thanks David!
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 07/03/2011 : 06:02
Ian, I think that was the lady. Yes, I did see the programme about the ferry pilots and I read a good book about them once. Liberators via Gander and the Azores?
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
panbiker
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Posted - 07/03/2011 : 09:25
Anytime anywhere Stanley, fog was the bogey man for the girls as they used landmarks on the ground for navigation. Some of the arcraft they flew were not fully kitted out with instruments so they had to navigate on what they could see. Remarkable young women.
Ian |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 08/03/2011 : 05:03
I saw a black and white movie a while ago about B27s and they showed a sequence where they cut the end off the fuselage at the tail and a bloke got in with a machine gun. It looked authentic to me and I never realised until then how cramped my mate bob's turret was compared with ours. So a question, did the original B27s have tail guns or were they an add-on.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
panbiker
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Posted - 08/03/2011 : 10:36
Stanley are we talking about B17's or B29's. If you meant the B17 "Flying Fortress" that your mate Bob served in, this Wiki article has some information.
Pre-production test versions of the aircraft (YB17's) had no rear turret. The test YB17's became the production B17's, which by variant E had an extended fuselage, larger tail fin and a rear turret added. All variants up to the model E were essentialy test aircraft and not produced in quantity. By September 1941 the design had reached B17-F and was introduced into theatre, the design continued through to the G model. A total of 12,731 aircraft were produced and used throughout the duration.
I dont think any "tail end charlies" had much room to swing a cat, but the fortress design is very streamlined towards the tail which would add to the cramped conditions particularly if you compare it to British heavy bomber designs.
Late versions of the B17 were used in Korea but the majority were scrapped off after the end of hostilities and by 1946 only used as target practice drones. A sad end to a major player in all theatres of WWII.
Ian |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 09/03/2011 : 04:13
Bob was on B17s and it would be about 1943. He was quite tall and I don't think he had a lot of wriggle room. He told me about the times when his electrically heated suit packed up, a bit hairy! Another thing he told me thwas that many films get it wrong when they show men in B17s wearing full sheep skin lined jackets. Their's were silk lined so they could move round easier. He made sure I got the right sort when I bought mine. He inspected it and passed it for service! He said that the pilots of the 'Little Friends' wore the fully lined jackets.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 16/03/2011 : 20:29
A web site worth close scrutiny for aviation buffs. This link is to the archive which has some interesting plane cut-away diagrams and you can use the search function to get pages rom old issues of Flight magazine.
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/index.html
And another interesting site - "The Greatest Air Race Of All Time?"
Edited by - Tizer on 16/03/2011 20:38:55
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 08/06/2011 : 08:02
I've been reading the history of Napiers and they mentioned the biggest single engined aircarft in the world in 1920. Have a look at this LINK.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 08/06/2011 : 20:35
No wonder it was abandoned - it doesn't follow the guideline of "if it looks right it is right"!
A Dakota flew over here heading west down the peninsula yesterday, sporting D-Day invasion stripes. Now that plane really does `look right' (and sounds right too). What a beautiful aeroplane. We have to be thankful that Arthur Emmons Raymond decided to leave the hotel business and become a fitter and eventually a designer. Interesting to see that he went on to work for NASA on spacecraft - from Dakota to Apollo in one man's lifetime! (Just noticed - that last photo on the Dakota page looks like it was taken at Tempelhof Airport, Berlin.)
Edited by - Tizer on 08/06/2011 20:38:10
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 10/06/2011 : 07:36
I'm reading the three volume history of Rolls Royce by Pugh and have just come on to the aero-engine involvement in WW1. Authoritative stuff.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
panbiker
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Posted - 26/06/2011 : 15:21
15.05 - BBMF Spitfire transiting across Barlick. One of the two that were at Broughton Game Fair today. Flypasts were advertised at 11.30 and are both shown as such on the BBMF display flight plan. I would think though that they would have one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A tad too high to see the registration and which one of the BBMF 5 but unmistakable sound of Merlin grabbed my attention but camera not to hand.
Sally says she saw 2 Spitfires this afternoon flying in staggered formation when she was down at the Greenberfield Lockstop. In that case I would assume both were delayed from their original flightplan. Anyone go to the Game Fair to confirm flight time? Could only see one from my vantage point though.
Edited by - panbiker on 26/06/2011 16:21:06
Ian |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 27/06/2011 : 06:48
I think I may have seen it. The engine note grabbed my attention but it was too high to make out what it was. Just read Rubbra's book on RR piston aero engines. Complicated stuff and so many problems solved by experiment more than theory. Fascinating!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 27/06/2011 : 11:30
This coming Friday the remaining five Hercules are doing a final fly past at RAF Lyneham and over Wiltshire towns (including Wootton Bassett I should think). We will miss them - we're on the flight path between Lyneham and Braunton and have been used to seeing them frequently, very low and close over our house. A wonderful sight and sound! When we moved here in the 1990s we used to get them in threes and on most days but that has declined over the years to twos, then a single aircraft and not so often. That must tell us something about defence spending.
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panbiker
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Posted - 11/07/2011 : 14:37
Had the pleasure of seeing Spitfire MK356 (Mk LFIXe) from the BBMF which did a flypast at the event we attended in Stratford on Saturday. It was a Hospice fundraiser that we were at with son and family in the park opposite the RSC on the banks of the river Avon.
The pilot made four passes and did an excellent job of dislaying the aircraft at all angles to the crowds below. A couple of nice banking turns, head on attack run and vertical climb and roll out, fantastic! There are a few more details on this particular aircraft earlier in the thread (P18) from when I visited the hangar at RAF Conningsby. A good finale to a nice day by the river.
Edited by - panbiker on 11/07/2011 14:39:09
Ian |
tripps
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Posted - 11/07/2011 : 19:57
Has the news of the air collision betwen two vintage Mustangs at Duxford yesterday reached you yet? One crashed - pilot parachuted to safety, with just a broken arm, and the other managed to land with part of his wing missing. No casualties on the ground. Remarkably lucky.
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Winged Heroes
