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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0982.PDF
Barnstormers o •C V- Tied-together Tigers, man on wing, and tape-duck ing Turbulents are on the programme of the Tiger Club'air show By KENNETH OWEN THE place was London Aeroplane Club's Panshanger Aero drome ; the date was Easter Monday. Before a crowd of some 10,000 spectators, the proprietor of a North London mens- wear shop stood on the top wing of Tiger Moth G-ARAZ being flown some 10ft above the ground by a BE A Vanguard captain, and tried to burst two balloons hanging from a line strung between two poles. An Electricity Board engineer signed an elegant aero- batic signature in a Tiger Moth Special at 2,000ft; an RAF Hunter pilot twisted a Cosmic Wind racer as if on a rubber band in a fast-rolling run across the field; and a West End recording-studio director led a cavorting team of Turbulents in a lively tailchase around the field and under a 10ft tape. The Tiger Club was in business with its first 1962 air show. With a two-hour programme ranging from classic aerobatics to slapstick humour, the club's air show is nicely balanced to satisfy both flying enthusiasts and the general public. It is being presented at aerodromes all over the country this season. What is the back ground to this professional-quality show staged by amateur show- pilots, this barnstorming affair that takes us back in atmosphere to the flying circuses of the 1920s and 30s? The idea for the Tiger Club was conceived by Norman Jones and a group of other enthusiasts over the coffee and brandy at the 1956 air racing dinner at the Royal Aero Club. In January 1957 the club came into being, with four Tigers available for hiring at low rates to experienced pilots accepted for membership. The main objects were to encourage young pilots to learn the art of air racing, and in general to enable members to have fun with their flying. It was not long before the club's fleet of bright-painted Tigers was seen at other people's air displays, race meetings, rallies and fly-ins. And not much longer before the club began to arrange its own modest programme of displays. But the Tiger Club has come a long way since the early, informal days, and is now able to present a highly organized variety show involving some 15-20 aircraft of seven different types, working to an exact, well co-ordinated schedule. There is no one "producer" of this variety show; the organization is essentially a team affair—and this for the Tiger Club is fact, not the more-usual platitude. Notwithstanding the second-sharp timing of the inaugural 1962 show at Panshanger, the club has no run-through or dress rehearsal of the complete display. Individual acts are rehearsed throughout the winter, and come together for the first time at the opening display of the season. Close co-ordination, clearly, is essential if this system is to work. The parachutists must not descend while the Tigers are bursting balloons, for instance, and for the tied-together formation to become mixed up with the Turbulent race and the Cosmic Wind's aerobatics would not be a good thing. An outline for the current year's show, based on last year's experience plus a sprinkling of bright new ideas, appears in the form of scribbled notes at a small, informal meeting held in March. Which aircraft will be available ? Who is to be responsible for what ? Will special permission from the Ministry be needed for any of the items ? These and similar questions are rapidly sorted out. Display director John Piercy neglects slightly the work of his London photographic studio in order to draft the exact programme, which is approved by the main organizing committee a few weeks before the date of the first display. At this stage each leader of the individual acts knows precisely how many minutes "on stage" he will have, but has no idea how the whole programme will fit together. On the morning of the date chosen for the first show, the Tiger Club's varied aircraft fleet take-off from their Redhill base and descend on the aerodrome where the display is to be held. Pilots and helpers see the full printed programme for the first time, and Turbulents on the line at Panshanger warm up prior to the first display of 1962
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