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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1514.PDF
662 FLIGHT, 30 May 1952 (Left) A section of the "four-engined" storage park at Aston Down. Hastings and Lincolns are in the majority. AT ASTON DOWN The tail de-icing strips of a Hastings protected against the continued action of sunlight. Immediately behind the Hastings is a cocooned Spitfire. THE decision to hand over all aircraft-ferrying work from Maintenance Command to Transport Command on June 1st gives special interest to these Flight photographs, taken during a visit to Aston Down last week. Commanded by W/C. F. B, Sutton, D.F.C., R.A.F. Station, Aston Down, Gloucester, houses No. 2 Ferry Pool and No. 1689 Ferry Pool Pilots Training Flight. Since February, 1946, when the task of ferrying was first given to Maintenance Command, pilots from the No. 2 Pool have delivered 14,420 aircraft in 24,517 flying hours and flown over 4,000,000 miles. The Training Flight, which operates a variety of machines, provides conversion training on to the different classes which the student pilots will be required to fly when they join the Pool. All types are included except light trainers and flying-boats. So specialized is the opera tion of flying-boats that the squadrons do their own ferrying. Even the flying-boat squadrons working with the United Nations forces in the Korean theatre fly their boats back to England when major overhaul becomes necessary. In addition to the Pool and Training Flight there are also at Aston Down an aircraft storage unit,—No. 20 Maintenance Unit; the Maintenance Command Ground Combat Training School (at present away at Bisley); and a small technical school for training civilian labour employed by Maintenance units through out No. 41 Group. To the Maintenance Unit falls the task of making regular modifications to stored aircraft, thus keeping them up to opera tional standard before issue or re-issue to squadrons, and ser vicing all their ancillary equipment. In addition, experiments have been made in the process of cocooning machines; a number of Lincolns and Tempests have been so treated. Jobs for the boys: FjL. J. F. Niven, F/L M. Feldman and Master Pilot C. 0. Black peruse their day's duty-sheets. •Flight" photographs In charge at Aston Down: (left to right) S/L L C. Clarke. CO. of No. 1689 F.F.T.F.; S/L W. R. Middleton, Chief Technical Officer; W/C. F. B. Sutton, D.F.C., Station Commander; and S/L G. Smythe, who commands No. 2 Ferry Pool. (Below) F/L A. A. Fenn, test pilot to No. 20 Maintenance Unit. The Meteor in the background has made 3,200 landings over a period of three years without requiring the change of a single major component. ••BBWBBBt
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