Winged Heroes

[Stanley]

Ten Merlins in concert.... Wonderful!

[Wendyf]

Would I have just seen a Vulcan Bomber passing low and slow from West to East? it must have come over Barlick, did anyone else see it?

[Wendyf]

The last flying Vulcan was at an air show in Northern Ireland this afternoon, so if it was on its way back to Doncaster it might well have come this way.

[Stanley]

Good view from that hill and sharp-eyed Wendy!

[Wendyf]

It was the noise that alerted me Stanley, and it was very low & slow, leaving an unhealthy looking dark exhaust trail. I could have waved to the pilot if I hadn't been jumping up and down screeching "what is that!" at Colin, who never raised his eyes from his computer screen.

[Stanley]

I used to like seeing those Hercules transports practising low flying, they went so slowly that you wondered how they could stay in the air. I think it's the size that does it, I've noticed the same thing with jumbo jets coming in to land, they always look as though they will drop out of the sky at any moment.

[Tizer]

We're fortunate to enjoy low-flying Hercules over us frequently and there used to be a lot more before they started moving them north. Some seem to have returned to this flight path since the trouble in the Middle East heated up. The pilots say they're so responsive it's like flying a fighter (even though they do irreverently call them Fat Alberts). A story in The Times yesterday says that a big wagon turned up at the gates of, I think, RAF Lyneham full of stuff to be dropped to help the poor people at Irbil in Iraq. At first they didn't let it in - the International Development Department had arranged it but nobody thought to tell the RAF. The air base had to do an urgent job of finding a free Hercules at very short notice and that delayed the goodies for people who can't afford to have anything delayed when they are so near to death. The military are saying that the first they heard about the decision to drop stuff was when Michael Fallon came out of a COBRA meeting and announced it to the press.

Wendy, I don't doubt you saw the Vulcan, you can't mistake it for much else that flies these days! It was at the Yeovilton air show near us a couple of weeks ago but we didn't go because the day was scorching hot and we couldn't face the prospect of spending hours in the sun on the concrete. We kept an eye open for it flying over us but never saw it although we heard the thunderous rumble. A bit like the Hercules, it can creep up on you very low and quietly - but the difference comes when it starts to climb!

[Stanley]

I saw a single mention yesterday of a US aid flight dropping non-parachute supplies from 15,000 ft. which shattered when they hit the ground. I can't believe anyone could be so stupid. A bum report?

[Stanley]

I've been furtling and found the following on the web about the airshow crash I mentioned which we covered on the old site. 1954 is the correct date. The Meteors were doing a tail chase in a loop and one pilot failed to pull out, straight in to the ground at full speed.


By Eric Shipley, 29 November 2012 @ 8:52 pm

I was also at the Battle of Britain Open day in 1955 and rememeber well watching the Meteor tailchase in which the second aircraft hit the ground almost vertically following a half roll. I had an uncle named Bill Rosinson which re-inforced my recollection of the incident.
Jimmy Edwards of “Take it from here” fame was doing the commentary at the time andcompletely dried up. There was no further PA announcement and people slowly drifted away when it became obvious this was not some kind of stunt. I was 15 at the time so the memory is quite vivid.


By Paul Barrett- Brown, 20 May 2014 @ 10:20 am

The crash was in 1954 and I witnessed it. My farther, Squadron leader A. Brown (deceased), used to fly into Hooton park regularly in a chipmunk so was familiar with the airfield (he flew Sunderland flying-boats during the war). He took us to see the air display on that fateful day; I was twelve at the time.

As I recall, the aircraft involved peeled-out of a low-level, follow-my-leader display, went upwards for some distance and then came back down almost vertically, impacting on the opposite side of the runway (the river side) to the watching crowds. The fire-ball was huge so I guess the aircraft was carrying a fair amount of fuel. My father visited the crash site and later told me that the crater was big enough to swallow a small house. Rumour has it that the pilot was in contact with the control tower and refused to bail out as the aircraft was almost uncontrollable and he (the pilot) was concerned that the aircraft might veer-off into the crowd – perhaps he flew it into the safest area he could manage – away from the crowd and also avoiding the many fuel and chemical storage tanks to be found in the area at that time – it would be interesting to read the accident investigation report.

[Tizer]

I saw a single mention yesterday of a US aid flight dropping non-parachute supplies from 15,000 ft. which shattered when they hit the ground. I can't believe anyone could be so stupid. A bum report?

I heard something like that on the radio but couldn't find anything more about on the web. Here's a new BBC article but it doesn't seem to mention it either:
11 August 2014
`Who, what, why: What happens when airdrops land?'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazin ... r-28740801

[Whyperion]

Slightly OT
another thing found at the in-laws
I think this might have been packaging, the shop next door to theirs was best described as a 'General Dealers', and many boxes originally addressed to them have been holding in some strange stuff in the Basement.

[Stanley]

Tiz, I heard the high altitude drop mentioned again on BBC report.

[Tizer]

Two Lancasters flying! Brief BBC video...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-li ... e-28778212

[Stanley]

Lovely, pity about the sound!

[Stanley]

I couldn't see the viewing panel on the camera but just managed to prove there were two Lancasters over Barlick on Sunday morning. 8 Merlin engines roaring away, that was the best part for me.....
It brought back memories of hearing bombers under different circumstances, we very seldom saw them but we heard them all right. The thing that warned you that they were Jerries was the way the engine sounds fluctuated. We were told that they weren't as good at synchronising engines as us but I doubt that. More likely it was deliberate to let us know what was coming!

[Wendyf]

Happened to look out the window this afternoon and saw the Vulcan coming, just managed to grab my camera and dash outside as it cruised (wrong word but I can't think of a better one) by.

[Tizer]

You lucky devil, Wendy! And a photo too! I'm envious...

[PanBiker]

Southport (Woodvale) airshow today, Vulcan would be in transit no doubt, we saw a small fixed wing stunt plane by the look of it over Barlick earlier in the afternoon. Sounded quite powerful for the size of it and he looked to be testing his display smoke.

[David Whipp]

Would it have been the Vulcan we saw near Keswick this afternoon?

We'd just come off the top of a low rise when we caught two glimpses of a large aircraft banking around the hill to fly West over Keswick.

Camera had just gone back in bottom of backpack...

[Stanley]

You must have lightning reflexes Wendy! That is so difficult even when you know it is coming. Very impressed....
How's the dog going on? Fully integrated now?

[Stanley]

Have a look at today's Bob's Bits......

[Tizer]

Boeing certainly looks better than Bong, even with the umlaut! And as Bruce Forsyth would say, "Didn't he do well..."

[Stanley]

There is a very good book, 'Wide Body' by Clive Irving. Well worth looking for as it gives the full story of the conception and development of the Boeing 747, possibly the most successful plane of all time. Here it is on Bookfinder for as little as £2.81. (LINK)

[Tizer]

BBC web site, 20 October 2014
`Viewpoint: How WW1 changed aviation forever'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29612707

[Stanley]

An interesting article Tiz. The bit about getting lost reminded me of two things. One is that there was a proposal to cover the surface of canals with coal dust to stop the reflection of light at night because they were used as navigational aids by hostile aircraft. The second was a story my old Mate David Moore told me about training to be a pilot at the end of WW2. He was lost one day on a solo flight and radioed has base to tell them he was 'temporarily unsure of his position', the reply was to look over the trailing edge of his port wing, he was directly over the aerodrome and that was why he couldn't see it. Another time he was flying solo on a training flight and realised his radio wasn't working so he returned to base and landed. When he reported his problem everyone laughed at him and pointed out he had put his leather flying helmet on back to front so the earphones were in the wrong position. Thankfully he never saw action.....