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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1639.PDF
FLIGHT, 29 September 1949 40; EXERCISE "BULLDOG" . . , ron from Honily. The Auxiliary boys were "scrambled" in the air and for a while the southern side of the airfield presented a confused picture as the Vampires chased the Harvards at tree-top level. It is frequently remarked that air exercises do not give a true picture because there are no bullets flying. But nobody could watch a wing scramble of 27 Meteors—all away in less than six minutes—such as occurred at Thorney Island on Sunday, with three nations, Holland, Belgium and Britain taking part, without being intensely moved. The noise, the complication, the perfection of the man- made machines and the discipline and the skill of the pilots that fly them—all go to quicken the pulse of the informed onlooker. And whose heart did not beat faster when he beheld that wondrous contrail picture presented to the south of England later that same autumn afternoon, when " Flighl " photograph. A pilot of No. 605 R. Aux. A.F. Squadron climbs into his Vam- pire to be at readiness. the jet fighters got among the B.50S at about 27,000ft? The Dutch squadrons at Thorney Island were those which came over for Foil earlier in the year, and they were commanded as before by Maj. Flinterman. The Belgians were here for the first time since the war, and this was also the first time they have taken part in Western Union air exercises, either in England or on the Continent. Major A. Van de Velde was in command and the contingent was drawn from Nos. 350 and 349 squad- rons, which became famous as part of the R.A.F. during the war. About a third of the pilots served with the " Flight " pholoqravli A Mosquito of Bomber Command's marker force is loaded. Sb g ,;,-,...,. ... ,.: .. .....-•-- flight " photograph The crews of Mosquito night fighters are briefed at a Kentish base by F L. H. V. Thornley. R.A.F. at that time and the remainder have all been trained in this country. They have had their Gloster Meteor 4s for some five months now and are loud in their praise. Like the Auxiliary squadrons, each unit is to have a couple of two-seat Meteor 7s for training. WITH THE R.O.C "TPHIS fine Corps is an integral part of the air-defence •*• system of this country, and we are very much de- pendent on them." Thus spoke the C.-in-C, Fighter Com- mand, of the Royal Observer Corps. Watching one phase of Bulldog on the plotting-table of an R.O.C. Group to the. N.W. of London, we realized the truth of his words. Here was an ops room like that of a fighter sector: the same intent huddle of uniformed, headphoned men and women round the big table under the hard bright fluorescent lighting; the same gallery ot officers and specialists; the familiar tabbed maps and coloured signal-lights. What happens, briefly, is that approaching tracks are first indicated (raid number, height, number and type of aircraft) on a "long-range" map of neighbouring areas. As they enter the group's own area and the reports begin to come in from the posts, they are shown on the big centre table by the plotters, each of whom is telephonic- ally linked to three posts. The tracks are then plotted across the table, the changing picture of which is passed continuously by a "teller" to the R.A.F. ops. rooms con- cerned. Civil Defence representatives likewise initiate any necessary alerts on the information shown. Going to the other end of the wire, so to speak, Flight also visited one of the posts. Spotting is either by sound (the human ear unaided) or, preferably, visually: a simple instrument somewhat resembling a sextant, sighted on the aircraft, gives a reading of its height and, simultaneously, an approximation of its position on the gridded plate showing the post's operational radius ; it is this information which is fed to fce Group Centre. On this occasion Bulldog offered us nothing more hostile than Dakotas and Austers going about their lawful oc- casions : but all, as orders demanded, were dutifully reported. •. . The R.O.C., incidentally, badly needs recruits of both sexes ; and enquiry will show that it is no mere spotters' club, but a real Service that can offer a vitally interesting and useful spare-time occupation. AGGRESSION IN A HARVARD action during the first two days of the exercise one could not. have done better than join a unit of Training Command operating with the bomber forces and located at (Continued on page -job)
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