FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1566.PDF
366 FLIGHT SEPTEMBER 23RD, 1948 Lincolns Over London "met." observation, and the Lindholme rescuegear in one of the bomb bays. Pending the arrival of Shackletons these stalwart ex-bombersare doing splendid work. Before ascending to the forward interior ofLincoln LSB-" Baker" we noticed the bulged bomb-bay doors and special bomb slips for a12,000-lb "Tallboy," and the turretless nose, housing something extra-special in the way ofbomb-sights. Comment on these features drew from F/L. Bull the information that he had beenengaged on Project Ruby—the experimental bombing of the Farge U-Boat pens. Once we had installed ourselves in the cockpitbehind the flight engineer it was a matter of a few minutes before our Skipper reported" B-Baker rolling" to Control, and the other Lincolns and Lancasters, stacked tightly behindat the head of the runway, receded swiftly as the Merlin 68As were progressively opened up to fullpower. Clear of the airfield F/L. Bull ordered gradually reduced output—"2,850 + 9," "2,650+7," and finally a modest 2,200 revs. At this r.p.m. the other Lincolns quickly closed on us, and our mid-upper gunner was soon asking the skipper to tell D-" Dog " that his door was open. By the time it had been explainedthat Flight's photographer was flying in "Dog," the whole Wyton formation was complete. One of the Coastal Commandflights now called up to ask if, as only two of its Lancasters had managed to get airborne, these could go into line astern;another voice thought this was a good idea. Someone else gave warning to look out for Superforts; and soon " Heavy Leader "(leader of the Binbrook formation, which we were soon to join) notified us that he was at Angels 1.3, upon" which F/L.Bull declared his intention of descending to Angels 1.5. The Binbrook Lincolns suddenly came bearing down on usfrom starboard, and we turned, opening up to 160 knots, to overhaul them as they drew away. Closing in from asternwe quickly felt their slipstreams and saw the twin cannon in their mid-upper turrets variously traversed and elevated. Oncourse for Great Yarmouth—now in open order—we could see Lakenheath, with its groups of parked Superfortresses."Halifax Leader" now reported his position as eight miles south-west of Cambridge, height 2,000ft; the Training Com-mand Lancasters asked '' Heavy Leader " " Do you read ? (to which, even after repetition, there came no reply) ; aCanadian voice politely requested a course, and someone re- marked (not, we think in this connection) that there was oneborn every minute. Rendezvous at Yarmouth. By 1746 hrs Yarmouth was below, and here we turned portover the bird-swarming sandbank off-shore, losing height in a manner which caused "No. 3" of the flight ahead to breakformation and veer away as we orbited the town. He re- turned gingerly after a few minutes and edged his way backinto position. Without warning a formation of four-engined aircraft (possibly' the Training Command Lancasters) nowmaterialized out of the murk to port, closed swiftly on us and passed close above. A second—possibly the Halifaxes—clipped across our bows, and miscellaneous Mosquitoes drew in from various points. (Such, at least, was our visual impres-sion ; in fact, we have an idea that a Mosquito formation may have broken up on our account). The newly-met forces seemed to sort themselves out, andonce on course for Southend in open formation (so open that the inter-mingling of the Binbrook and Wyton flights at onetime appeared imminent) the skipper allowed himself a thermos- thimble of tea.From now on the name " Kinder" became familiar over the R/T. We later gathered that this was the call sign of the flyingTraining Command Lancasters, from Shawbury, and as the result of requests from "Kinder" we learned from "HeavyLeader" that our position was twelve miles north of Ipswich, height 1,100ft, E.T.A. Southend 1730 hrs. Ipswich passed toport at 1717, as F/L. Bull asked for another .50 revs, causing E.2 Simmonds to adjust the pitch levers accordingly. Maldon,Essex, drifted by the cockpit window at 1727, and the order now came to close formation. The flight engineer remarkedthat things looked grim over London, which no one disputed. All the way from base visibility had been murky to poor. When Southend should have been more-or-less below (wemust confess that, peer as we might, we never did see it) a Hurricane—doubtless the Hurricane—passed us to port andwas soon lost in the gloom ahead. A] lrentr*\ ---After briefing at Wyton, G/C. Odbert, WiC. Thompson and tt.at the planned rcute lies by way of Derby, home of the Merlins used in their Lincolns. By 1734. with ten minutes to the zero line, our formationwas tight and orderly, despite stronger and more frequent bumps. One of our crew spotted a favourite pub. As herecalled the happy cans he had emptied there in his time sun rays came slanting through the clouds ahead, gilding thegasometers and flooding Dockland in a pool of light. The old river closed in from port and as we fell to meditating onBritain's seaborne commerce, the Royal Navy, in the form of Sea Hornets and Firebrands, emerged from the grimy hazeastern and forged ahead with a good hundred knots in hand. Suddenly there came a flash of sunlight so dazzling that it wasimpossible to make out the Lincoln directly ahead. A patch of blue—the same blue in which decisive battles were foughtout eight years ago that day—was briefly visible, and the battered City round St. Paul's lay before us in mellow autumnsunshine. Momentarily the sun caught silver wings far ahead, and a woman's song came faintly over the R/T. Between Tower Bridge "and Dorset House, at 2,000ft, some-one complained that he had only "115 on the clock"; such are the difficulties in handling formations of large, relativelyslow aircraft to rigid time limits, with poor visibility, bumps, and slipstream interference as confounding factors.Remarkably enough, visibility over central London itself was so good that landmarks stood out clearly. Especiallynoticeable was the white-painted Lancaster in the park near Marble Arch. Some of our crew were able to spot the Meteor,Vampire, Spitfire and Hurricane on the Horse Guards Parade. Near Chiswick, as we turned south, a red-tailed SwissairDakota slipped close below on course for London Airport, and circling, we were able for the first time to see the streamof Lancasters and Halifaxes astern. Coming up from the south once more we crossed the river near Millwall at 160knots indicated. Again there was a small blue patch over the City, but threatening clouds lay ahead. Hendon, with its Dakotas and smaller fry, having passed by," Chester Leader " (whose identity we were unable to establish) asked permission to return to base, and soon " Halifax Leader "was calling "Heavy Leader" with a similar request. "Yes, ii you wish," was the reply, "we are pressing on to Man-chester." Our own aircraft was now asked by "Heavy, Leader, "Can you see me in this visibility? " and scarcely hadour affirmative reply been made when our Lincoln began to set up vapour trails, from wing tips and other portions ofthe mainplane, which would not have shamed John Derry— this at 150 knots The flight engineer thought momentarilythat a coolant leak had developed. Much of the windscreen was now spattered with insects, anda trickle of water crept across the cockpit floor. Mused the skipper, "This is the slickest 145 knots I've ever done." TheA.S.I, showed 16a. That conditions generally were really becoming trying is.witnessed by the following from ' 'Coastal Leader'' : " With the strain of flying in this visibility, and in your slipstream, myboys have had enough. May I break off? " So the Lan- casters departed with our good wishes. Our remaining forcenow tightened formation and increased speed to 170 knots, but soon "Wyton Leader"—our own Skipper—was calling" Heavy Leader " to tell him that we intended to break forma- tion after Coventry. As things turned out, this was unneces-sary, for the order "Cancel exercise" soon came. A green Verey light soared up from '' Heavy Leader'' and we flew(Continued on page 386.) B 8
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
