Winged Heroes

[Tizer]

I'm glad to see the crew are OK. Also that the Lancaster itself seems not to have much damage. We have to look after these old ladies, whether they are old bombers or 92-year-old auxiliary pilots!

[Stanley]

Movies4men has been re-running the story of Bomber Command, one hour each day, as part of the VE day celebrations. All it is is interviews with old crew men and archive footage. Some interesting footage, some of it intriguing like modifying one bomber by retro-fitting a Lancaster type forward gun turret. I remember being surprised when Bob Jacobsen, my old friend who was a tail end Charlie in the 100th bomber group, told me that when the B17 first came into service it had no rear gun until one air crew did their own modification and cut the tip of the pointed tail off and fitted a single gun. When you look at them it was always a very cramped location.



Here's the unofficial certificate his mates made for him when he completed 33 missions. You're right Tiz, we should cherish the memory of these young lads doing impossible things. (Click to enlarge)

[Tizer]

While at the military museum on the old Davidstow airfield in Cornwall, UK, I saw this photo of an ASWEPS Lockheed Constellation of the US Navy, presumably visiting Davidstow in the 1950s. At the start of WW2 the US military requisitioned the newly designed Constellation and had them converted for military use. After the war many were handed back to the civilian airlines but some were kept, together with later specialised variants, for the US Navy. This one bears the name `El Coyote' and the ASWEPS title, which stands for `Antisubmarine Warfare Environmental Prediction System'. The objective of ASWEPS was to investigate the possibility of collecting vast amounts of oceanographic data globally and to use it for anti-submarine warfare studies. In fact it was a predecessor of the earth orbiting satellites which we are familiar with now. The studies were also used for prediction of meteorological conditions, and there were even suggestions that it would become possible to manipulate the climate for military purposes. Lockheed Constellations were used in the Vietnam war, one task being to beam down TV to American troops! But one wonders whether that might have been a cover for more serious activities such as monitoring the enemy's communications.

From the lettering on the tail it looks like this aircraft, El Coyote, was attached to Project Magnet, which was Geomagnetic and Gravimetric Survey. However I've read elsewhere that El Coyote was with Outpost Seascan on Hydro-acoustic Survey. Perhaps it switched from one to the other. LINK
[Photo taken through glass, hence the corrupted image.]

[Stanley]

Interesting stuff Tiz. You are quite right to speculate on just how extensive the role of the aircraft was. Nobody will ever know the full story of how much money and expertise has been invested By the US (and other Powers as well) in surveillance and information gathering, particularly under the sea. Many years ago my late son in law Big Harry asked me for advice about the construction of a capsule about the size of a dustbin that could withstand immense pressures and sit on the sea bed for years powered by an atomic source. It was to contain one of the nodes in a network of such units connected by Very Low Frequency radio to intelligence centres throughout the world, the primary intention was to keep track of foreign naval ships all of which could be identified by their sound signature. (Battle Space Management) This work by Harry for the US navy was the genesis of the later NASNET system developed by him and his colleagues at Nautronix. (LINK)

[Stanley]

See What Attracted.... for the Indonesian plane crash. The C31 was 50 years old. Surprising how long they can fly......

[Tizer]

I hope there will be some TV footage of these events:

Today, starting from Biggin Hill...
"Biggin Hill to launch largest ever Battle of Britain flypast. In what has been hailed as the biggest memorial flight of its kind, 18 Spitfires and six Hurricanes will scramble from Biggin Hill Airport at 12.45pm, before splitting into three formations of eight aircraft." LINK

And on 15th September at Goodwood...
"Battle of Britain Day Flypast. Around 40 Spitfires and Hurricanes will take off from Goodwood Aerodrome to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain." LINK

[Stanley]

I saw a report and film on TV last night, I hadn't realised there were so many left airworthy.....

[Tizer]

There are video clips here on the BBC: LINK

[Tizer]

View the RAF's Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary Commemorative Mosaic on the following web link. The picture is made up of many tiny photos submitted by the public. Zoom in with the +/- buttons on the bottom left of the picture and you'll see individual images. If you have a photo of someone who was in the Battle of Britain (taken then or later) you can easily submit it to the web site. LINK

[Stanley]

I've been watching the Hawker Hunter crash videos and it reminds me of the crash I saw in Cheshire in 1954 when, as a young soldier, we were doing crowd control at an air display. The fighter never pulled out of a loop and went straight in in open country. Only the pilot was killed.

[Tizer]

Judging from posts on one of the forums used by the aircraft enthusiasts the puzzle is why was the plane flying along the line of the A27 when the airfield's display area runs at right angles to it? Apparently the traffic lights are temporary ones used when the air show is on; normally there are no lights at that point. Under normal conditions the road would have had a continuous stream of speeding traffic and the plane crash would have caused a long multi vehicle pile up as well as the damage that it actually caused.

[Stanley]

I note that the Red Arrows refused to appear at the air show because they didn't consider there was enough safe air space for their display....

[Whyperion]

I note in respect of the Hawker Hunter incident at Shoreham that a commentator today on the preliminary investigation results released that the speed at before manoever appeared a little lower than would be expected and that the height attained was also lower than expected. It was not explained in themselves if these variances were dangerously so thereby contributing to the incident, nor if the pilot was aware of the differences.

[Tizer]

The interim report of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch on the Shoreham Hunter crash can be viewed here: LINK

[PanBiker]

Our heritage weekend flypasts have been subdued by the weather down in Lincolnshire. Apparently fighter ops are off due to high winds so the Spitfire and Hurricane we should have today have been grounded. BBMF are trying to get Dakota ZA947 to visit us today. No news yet on tomorrows planned Spitfire and Hurricane flypast which was timed to coincide with the Memorial Gardens re dedication. Weather is good here but I would rather have the fighters safe to fly another day if it's dodgy at base.

[Wendyf]

Distant Dakota.

[PanBiker]

Lots of pictures on Barnoldswick Talk, Aidens is an excellent shot.

[Stanley]

You were quick to get that pic Wendy!

[Wendyf]

I was outside the back door when it came over to the south of Kelbrook Moor so I dashed through the house and out the other side, grabbing my camera as I went. The amazing thing is that the photo is in focus!

[Tizer]

The photo shows the characteristic sweptback, pointy wings of the Dakota. Do I detect the D-Day black & white fuselage stripes in front of the tail?

[PanBiker]

Indeed Tiz, she's in full invasion paint. Have a look at Aiden's picture on the link I put up, (you may have to scroll down a bit). he only noticed the guy waving from the jump door when he looked at his shots later on his PC

[Tizer]

I'm not a Facebook member Ian!

[Wendyf]

It's a closed group as well Ian. Can you copy the photo for us?
Is today's fly past on do you know?

[PanBiker]

I forgot about that Wendy. Not sure about today's flypast. I'll have a look and see if Peter has put an update on, Its all depending on the operational conditions down at Coningsby, they don't risk putting the fighters up in heavy crosswinds.

[PanBiker]

No update as such but Peter has mentioned that a Spitfire and Hurricane made it to the Scottish Air Show, and ZA947 that we had yesterday was heading North when she left us. Yesterdays sorties were shot to bits with the weather in Lincolnshire but with a bit of luck we may see some (or all) of them heading home. Nothing official from the BBMF at present but keep watching the skies.

I have asked Aiden if I can copy his picture over here.