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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1860.PDF
30 December 1955 983 SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News CF.E. Canberras ReturnT WO Canberra P.RJs of the CentralFighter Establishment recently re- turned to West Raynham after completingone of the Establishment's regular visits to the air forces of the Commonwealth. Tak-ing off from West Raynham at the begin- ning of November, the Canberras flew outto Australia via Abu Sueir, Karachi, Colombo, Singapore, Darwin and Mel-bourne. The crews were led by A. Cdre. J. Grandy, C.F.E. Commandant, and con-sisted of S/L. C. K. Cooke, S/L. R. D. Coleman, W/C. R. B. Cole (captain of thesecond aircraft), S/L. K. L. Charney and F/L. B. de Iongh. Belgian Squadron Commander AN officer of the Belgian Air Force,L Major J. E. H. Kaisin, is to command No. 56 Sqn. at Waterbeach. The appoint-ment has been made under an exchange scheme between the Belgian Air Force andthe R.A.F. which has been in operation for several years. An R.A.F. officer alreadycommands a Belgian Meteor squadron, and this is the first occasion on which aBelgian has been appointed to command an R.A.F. squadron. No. 56 Sqn. isequipped with Hunters. Queen's CommendationT HE Queen's Commendation has beenawarded posthumously to Lt. M. W. Winfield, R.N., of No. 806 Sqn., F.A.A., Snr. U/Off. M. J. Griffith (left) and Snr. U/Off. G. C. Hubbard won the Sword of Honour and the Queen's Medal for Cranwell's No. 66 Entry. who lost his life at Kingston Gorse,Sussex, after his Sea Hawk suffered engine failure. Lt. Winfield, realizing that hewould be unable to make an emergency landing at Ford, headed towards the coast.He remained with his aircraft until it had cleared a built-up area and people on thebeach, and then ejected at 100ft. He sub- sequently died from his injuries. Sarah in Service THE miniature search and rescue andhoming beacon "Sarah," developed by Ultra Electric, Ltd., which can be carriedin a Mae West is now in service with the R.A.F. Search aircraft, helicopters andair/ sea rescue launches are fitted with the homing receiver which will allow accuratepin-pointing for ditched airmen at ranges up to 70 miles. When mounted in a launch,the receiver will give an indication of the beacon's position accurate to within a fewfeet, so that a rescue can be made by this means even in zero visibility. Sarah alsohas a speech transmission and reception facility which allows voice communication A recent acquisition by the Imperial War Museum is this excellent picture of the Sopwith Triplanes of No. 1 Sqn., R.N.A.S., at Bailleul during World War I. Tke squadron was later redesignated No. 201 Sqn., R.A.F. An article concerning it appears elsewhere in this issue. with the rescuer during the final stages ofa pick-up. The beacon will transmit con- tinuously for many hours and is auto-matically switched on by the removal of the cover of its flexible aerial. Mascot Promoted A SKEWBALD Shetland pony, themascot of the Aircraft Apprentices' Wing, R.A.F. Locking, has been promotedto leading aircraft apprentice after 21 months' service. The single chevron of hisnew rank was pinned on his blue-and- grey saddlecloth by W/C. S. Linnard,O.C., No. 1 Apprentice Wing. The pony, called Hamish McCrackers, is ostensiblyon a 30-year regular engagement in the Apprentice Wing. Promotion to juniortechnician is expected for him after satis- factory completion of three years' service. R.A.F. Gliding YearT HE R.A.F. Gliding and Soaring Asso-ciation has had its best season to date. In the eight clubs there were 15,082launchings, and 1,389 gliding hours were logged. These figures for the first timeexceed those of the 2nd T.A.F. Gliding Association; and they do not include glid-ing by R.A.F. personnel with civil clubs. Members number about 600 and gliderstrength is 47, including Olympias, Kran- ichs, Sedberghs and Cadets. During theyear, 94 "A", 89 "B", 46 "C" and a number of silver "C" gliding certificates wereawarded. R.Aux.A.F. AppointmentI T has been announced that S/L. R. E.Tickner, R.A.F., is to command No. 605 (County of Warwick) Sqn.,R.Aux.A.F., at R.A.F., Honiley. S/L. Tickner flew Hurricanes with No.32 Sqn. in England and North Africa dur- ing the war, and later served with No. IllWing and Nos. 122 and 65 Sqns. At the end of the war he was a test pilot at anM.U., and carried out test and ferry duties at home and in Germany. In 1949 he wentto a Mosquito A.F.S. at Brize Norton, be- fore graduating as a test pilot at Farn-borough in 1952, and serving at Boscombe Down until November this year. Met. Office Signals TrafficT HERE has been an increase of nine percent during the last year in signals traffic at the Central Forecasting Office atDunstable. Weather information is trans- mitted either by radio or teleprinter infive-figure code groups. On one specimen day in 1955, 542,755 groups were trans-mitted and received, as opposed to 497,096 on the same day in 1954.
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