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Aviation History
1973
1973 - 0143.PDF
FLIGHT International, 18 January 1973 LETTERS 89 Six gallons, too, and on to Brooklands non-stop? Slightly corny, this bit, with the ghost already departed. Or is the whole thing just a warning of what too much Glenlivet the night before can do? I instructed at Montrose during 1937-9 but I never saw the ghost. I wish I had. But it was the sort of place where odd things happened. I remember one night, having flown a couple of trips, relieving my "oppo" as Paraffin Pete. I took over half-a-dozen or so in the circuit, some dual some solo, and he told me the order in which to land them to keep the programme going before taking off for his own stint. It was tricky sorting out which navigation lights were whose but after some crosschat with the sig naller we were soon giving greens and reds accordingly. Or so we thought until the nasty moment when we suspected one was missing. Perhaps he had gone up the coast to have a look at the lights of Aberdeen? Dawn was streaking up from the sea as we landed them all, one by one, except alas for one, solo, of whom there was neither sight nor sound. I recall the awful, ghastly silence after the last engine had been switched off, broken only by the faint lap of tiny wavelets on the shore and the wail of waking sea birds. And nothing was ever found, nothing ever washed up, of that Oxford—nothing. Montrose also had the first RAF*, casualty of World War Two a pilot of a Coastal Anson (No 269 Sqn?) who was on patrol across to Norway when war was actually de clared. I believe on his way back he dived on a Dornier seaplane (WAL pusher?) with his front gun but was hit in the eye by one random bullet from a probably gash burst by the rear gunner. I had just taxied alongside when they were wheeling the poor lad out feet first and I remember thinking what a short war he had had and wondering what might be in store for the rest of us. Insignificant, perhaps, in the light of all that happened since, but odd all the same. So, wishing us all the very best for 1973, for by Gum we may need it. G. M. MACINTOSH, Crofton, Hargham Road, Attleborough, Norfolk SIR,—No 2 Sqn the senior unit in the Military Wing? Oh dear me no! Without doubt the senior unit was No 1 Sqn, ex No 1 Company (Airship), the Air Battalion, Royal Engineers—known as the "Gas Company." The next, and most senior with aerodynes, was No 3 Sqn, ex No 2 Company (Aeroplanes), AB RE formed in 1911 some years after Army balloonautics started. Reference to Raleigh, The War in the Air, shows that No 2 Sqn was formed "from a nucleus of aeroplanes and officers at Farnborough" and that No 3 Sqn "as a unit in being" was the first RFC unit to get airborne in aero planes. Eagle Flying Services, . CAPT J. T. C. LONG Leavesden Aerodrome, Watford, Herts Rooftop Landings at Olympia SIR,—On page 863 of your December 14 issue there is a photograph showing a helicopter landing on the roof of the London Press Centre in Shoe Lane. You claim that this is believed to be the first rooftop landing in Britain. May I put the record straight by drawing your attention to the landing on the roof of Olympia's official garage at the back of these exhibition halls of a Westland Sikorsky heli copter on July 15, 1948, which was reported in your journal. Indeed Sir, you have in your records a photograph of this event. In addition, at least one further landing was made on the garage roof in 1949 when a direct flight from Olympia to Paris was made with a short stop at Le Touquet. Olympia Exhibitions Ltd, G. F. CLEMINSON Kensington London, W14 "Flight" photograph An S-51 helicopter landing on the roof of the Olympia garage in con nection with the 1948 Mechanical Handling Exhibition (see "Rooftop Landings at Olympia"). The Sikorsky S-51, with a British engine in place of the American unit, was the basis of the licence-production agreement with Westland two years previously, from which sprang the close association between the two companies Well Travelled Tiger SIR,—The photographs of Capt Roger Sherron's Tiger Moth (RAF Picture Pageant) have no doubt given a great deal of pleasure, particularly to former Tiger instructors. My own pleasure was further increased when my log book confirmed that I had done l34hr in this very aircraft (T7467) on May 13, 1944, at No 29 EFTS Clyffe Pypard, where I instructed for some 21 months. If others have written in similar vein it would be interesting to piece together the movements of this air craft, and the stations from which it was flown. 42 Bodley Road, i. B. TAYLOR New Maiden, Surrey Martynside Inverted SIR,—If, as you say, the picture of the instrument panel of the Martinsyde F.4 on page 909 of Flight for Decem ber 21 was "what the F.4 pilot saw," I must presume that he was either disorientated or suffering from the after effects of the seasonal celebrations. Or did he trip up whilst entering the cockpit? 42 Campbell Avenue, PHILIP JARRETT Ilford, Essex I Our apologies are due for a production error that caused the photograph to appear upside down—Ed] DIARY Jan 18 RAeS Rotorcraft Section: half-day symposium, "The Place *of the Rotor in Civil Aviation"; 2.15 p.m., preceded by a.g.m. at noon, Lecture Theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1. Feb 11-17 First World Hot-Air Balloon Championships: Albuquerque, NM. Feb 14 RAeS Astronautics and Guided Flight Section: all-day symposium, "The Impact of the Shuttle on Future Launching . Systems"; 10 a.m., Lecture Theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1. Feb 14 RAeS Main Society lecture at Preston Branch: "MRCA Project" by G. Madelung; 7.30 p.m., Harris College, Preston, Lanes. Feb 14 The Institution of Electrical Engineers: "Transport in the Future; Challenge and Excitement"; by Prof A. J. Ellison; 6.30 p.m., City University, St John Street, London EC1. Feb 15 The Institution of Electrical Engineers: 44th in the series of Faraday Lectures: "Navigation—Land, Sea, Air and Space"; 6 p.m., Central Hall, Westminster. Repeated February 16 6 p.m. Feb 24 United Service and Royal Aero Club: Air Racing Symposium; Excelsior Hotel,^Heathrow. Mar 7 RAeS all-day symposium; "Problems and Opportunities for Aerospace aryj;, Allied Technology in Europe"; 10 a.m Lecture Theatrfe, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1. Mar 11-18 1st World PararSki Cup meeting: Flims, Austria. Mar 12 RAeS Air Law Group: half-day symposium; "Probability Concept in Air Law and Engineering"; 2.15 p.m., Lecture Theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1. Mar15 RAeS: all-day symposium, "Flight Deck Environment and Workload"; 9.30 a.m., Lecture Theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1.
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