FlyPast 2017-09

SPECIAL SECTION COLD WAR GUARDIANS Britain’s Top-Selling Aviation Monthly

LANCASTER

NEW COLOURS THE STORY BEHIND THE MARKINGS FIRST-AIR-TO-AIRS

THE DAY AMERICA LOST THE BOMB USAF

Spotlight Hawker Sea Fury

BANGING OUT

COLD WAR

Leaving a Lightning the hard way

Ultimate pistonHISTORY engine fighter POST WAR www.flypast.com

MUSTANG’S EPIC ATLANTIC CROSSING

Exclusive pilot interview

WARBIRDS

HURRICANE WORKSHOP RESTORATION

SEPTEMBER 2017 £4.60 CAN $9.99 AUS $11.50

BrooklandsMuseum_FP.indd 1

17/07/2017 09:07

Welcome

H

ello, and welcome to your September edition of ‘FlyPast’. Unbelievably we’re in August, which means that not only is it more than half way through the year, but even the spectre of Christmas cannot be ignored. Luckily, the airshow season is in full swing to distract warbird enthusiasts from present-buying forays, and no event was more welcome this year than the always magnificent Flying Legends at Duxford. Suffice it to say, it was a great show with lots of unusual warbirds – even the British weather decided to play along and give up a beautiful cloudless sky. However, as most of you are aware, the Sunday event was slightly marred when Mustang TF-51D 44-84847 ‘Miss Velma’, for many years a resident at Duxford with the Fighter Collection, had to make an emergency landing in a nearby field. The accident is still under investigation, so we can’t comment on the cause, but what did grab my eye were the headlines in the popular papers the next day. Take this one, for example, from ‘The Sun’ – “Horror in the skies: Duxford on-lookers tell of moment out-of-control plane headed for them before hero pilot brought it down in a field”. The use of the word “horror” suggests all manner of scenarios, but the reality – a Mustang performing a safe and controlled dead-stick landing – certainly isn’t one of them. Such emotive statements were unnecessary. Note too, the phrase “out of control”. Had the aircraft been in such a condition, it would not have been bought down as skilfully as it was – exactly where the pilot wanted it to go. Perhaps the only positive term is the word “hero”, adding at least some good feeling to the hyperbole.

Deputy Editor Steve Beebee

Contributing Editor Ken Ellis

EDITORIAL: Editor – Chris Gilson Deputy Editor – Steve Beebee Contributing Editors - Ken Ellis and Dave Unwin Group Editor - Nigel Price General enquiries to: Editor’s Secretary: Johanna Buckley FlyPast, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1XQ, UK Tel: 01780 755131 Fax: 01780 757261 E-mail: [email protected] www.flypast.com DESIGN: Art Editor – Mike Carr

Group Editor Nigel Price

Art Editor Mike Carr

Advertising Manager Alison Sanders

PRODUCTION: Production Editor – Sue Blunt Deputy Production Editor – Carol Randall Sub Editor - Norman Wells Production Manager – Janet Watkins ADVERTISING AND COMMERCIAL: Commercial Director – Ann Saundry Group Advertisement Manager – Brodie Baxter Advertisement Manager – Alison Sanders E-mail: [email protected] Sales Executive - Paige Hayward Ad Production Manager – Debi McGowan Ad Production Controller - Cheryl Thornburn E-mail: [email protected] Group Marketing Manager – Martin Steele Marketing Manager – Shaun Binnington

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/flypastofficial

Aviation enthusiasts will probably be gnashing their teeth in annoyance at the sensationalist approach. This, however, seems to be the default position of the mainstream press in the post-Shoreham world where even a small accident is hyped to the point of scaremongering. Why not consider writing into a mainstream newspaper next time it publishes a story like this to express your distaste at the way it handles such news? I certainly will. Let’s try to spread the word that airshows are actually safe, and not a sea of accidents. One notable aircraft not at Duxford this year was the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Lancaster, which has just undergone a comprehensive overhaul by the Aircraft Restoration Company. The Duxford-based firm has done a splendid job, and the much-loved bomber looks magnificent in its new colours – read the story inside. Elsewhere in this issue, we have a special Cold War section, which features a fascinating article from Victor air electronics officer Mike Beer, and a gripping account about the time the USAF misplaced one of its giant, ten-engined B-36 Peacemaker bombers, which was thought to have an atomic weapon aboard. Until next month, savour the rest of the airshow season and enjoy your magazine.

Chris Gilson Editor

Below The Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum’s de Havilland Mosquito T.III TV959 has flown in the US. See ‘News’. FHCAM

MANAGING DIRECTOR/PUBLISHER: Adrian Cox EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: Richard Cox SUBSCRIPTIONS / MAIL ORDER: Manager – Liz Ward PO Box 300, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1NA, UK Tel: 01780 480404 Fax: 01780 757812 E-mail: Subscriptions: [email protected] E-mail: Mail Order: [email protected] Readers in USA can place subscriptions by visiting www.flypast.com or by calling toll free 800-4283003 or fax 757-428-6253 or by writing to FlyPast, 3330 Pacific Ave, Ste 500, Virginia Beach, VA23451-9828. SMALL PRINT: While every care is taken with submissions, the Publisher cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage incurred. All items submitted for publication are subject to our terms and conditions. These are regularly updated without prior notice and are downloadable from www.keypublishing.com We are unable to guarantee the bonafides of any of our advertisers. Readers are strongly recommended to take their own precautions before parting with any information or item of value, including, but not limited to, money, manuscripts, photographs or personal information in response to any advertisements within this publication. The entire contents of FlyPast is © Copyright 2017. No part of it can be reproduced in any form or stored on any form of retrieval system without the prior permission of the publisher.

FlyPast (ISSN 0262-6950), September, is published monthly by Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1XQ, UK and distributed in the USA by UKP Worldwide, 3390 Rand Road, South Plainfield, NJ 07080. Periodicals postage paid at Rahway, NJ and at additional mailing offices. Periodicals Postage Paid at Piscataway, NJ and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to FlyPast, Key Publishing Ltd, C/O 3390 Rand Road, South Plainfield NJ 07080. DISTRIBUTED BY: Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PP Tel: 020 7429 4000 Fax: 020 7429 4001 PRINTED BY: Warners (Midland) plc, The Maltings, Bourne, Lincs. PE10 9PH PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY: Key Publishing Ltd, address as Editorial

Printed in England ISSN 0262-6950

Britain’s top-selling aviation monthly

Features 22

Tribute

32

Former Lightning pilot Ian Black reflects on the career of aviation entrepreneur and jet devotee Mike Beachy Head.

24

Sqn Ldr Clive Rowley tells the story behind the choice of colours worn by the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Avro Lancaster.

Fighting back The Polish Air Force crews put up dogged opposition when their country was invaded by Germany. Robert Gretzyngier describes their gallantry.

Memorial Flight Lancaster

88

Valour over the Pacific Thomas Cleaver profiles US airman Hamilton ‘Mac’ McWhorter who became the first Grumman Hellcat ace.

96

Last to fall The ‘honour’ of dropping the last bombs on Berlin went to a 105 Squadron Mosquito crew, and not to 109 Squadron as first thought. Richard Stowers explains.

104 Norseman Darren Harbar goes air-to-air with Noorduyn Norseman 44-70515, the only flying survivor of the type in Europe.

120 Combat Lancer The F-111 had a disastrous operational debut in Vietnam. Warren E Thompson describes the revolutionary jet’s baptism by fire.

126 Berlin Express FlyPast examines North American P-51B Mustang ‘Berlin Express’ which recently flew to Britain from the US.

Contents September 2017

No.434

Front Cover

The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Avro Lancaster PA474 flying in new markings. See feature beginning on page 32. JOHN DIBBS-THE PLANE PICTURE COMPANY This page, main image: An atmospheric evening view of Hawker Hurricane P3717 (G-HITT) at Old Warden, Bedfordshire. NEIL HUTCHINSON

24 Fighting back

88 Valour over the Pacific

120 Combat Lancer

Regulars

COLD WAR WARRIORS A series of features profiling the men and machines of the Cold War, and analysing some of their frequently hazardous missions. 40 SOUTHEND DELTA

56 EJECT! EJECT!

46 BROKEN ARROW

58 DAYS OF THE VICTOR

Avro Vulcan B.2 XL426 has a new home at London Southend Airport. Steve Beebee spoke to its owners.

Dr John Clearwater reveals what happened to a B-36 Peacemaker that went missing in 1950 while carrying an atomic bomb.

Johnny Squier survived ejecting from a Lightning at Mach 1.7 and 40,000ft. Ken Ellis tells his story.

52 PUSHING TOO FAR

Andrew Brookes describes how, in less than an hour, the RAF lost a pilot and six Hawker Hunter jets.

Squadron Leader Mike Beer tells FlyPast what life was like as an Air Electronics Officer on the Handley Page Victor.

20 94

Airshow

A report and pictures from Duxford’s spectacular Flying Legends Air Show.

Glory Days

A portfolio of rarely seen images showing Gloster Javelin jets in service with 46 Squadron in 1956.

108 From The Workshop

Darren Harbar visits Hawker Restorations at its new base and describes a trio of exciting Hurricane projects.

114 Airfields

A forgotten base in East Yorkshire is being commemorated by local residents. Chris Gilson went along to the site at Carnaby.

130 Finals

North American Mustangs.

News

Spotlight

• Hurricane takes to the air • Sea Fury flies again in US • Arizona museum acquires Spitfire • US Mosquito to make public debut • First flight for Canadian Spitfire • Help needed to save Sea Vixen

Hawker Sea Fury

FREE gift when you subscribe! Claim your FREE Warbirds Of Air Racing DVD or Pathfinder book when you take out a two-year or Direct Debit subscription to FlyPast. See pages 86 and 87 for details or visit www.flypast.com to find out more about our digital packages.

70 72

Origin and History

78

Sea Fury In Combat

80

We recount the naval fighter’s history.

By the early 1950s, the Sea Fury should have been outclassed – but, as Andy Thomas explains, it excelled in action over Korea.

Sea Fury in Profile

Andy Hay artwork of a fighter that shot down a MiG-15.

Men Behind the Hawker

Graham Pitchfork profiles three Sea Fury pilots, including one who managed two very different ‘tours’ on the type.

NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE

Sea Fury airborne again in California Hawker Sea Fury T.20 WE820 made its first post-restoration flight on July 1 from Auburn, California, in the hands of Ken Dwelle. The aircraft, formerly known as Critical Mass, has been the subject of around ten years of work. It was accompanied in the air by a second T.20, flown by Dennis Sanders and Ken’s brother Tom.

Ken recounted the moment of truth: “I pulled onto the runway, closed and locked the canopy. Locked the tailwheel. Mixture rich. Boost pump on. When Dennis was halfway through the final turn I powered up and launched. It was just about that quick.” Once airborne, Dennis and Tom joined up on Ken’s right wing and the pair climbed to 8,000ft and headed south to

Ione for an inspection by Fury specialists Sanders Aeronautics. Ken lowered the landing gear and touched down successfully. The inner landing gear doors failed to close on the flight so the fighter was pushed into the Sanders workshop and raised on jacks to resolve the problem. Finding no other issues to contend with, the pair of T.20s went up for a second

30-minute flight. Ken then flew WE820 back to Auburn. “After three flights, she is back in the hangar,” he said. “It’s not dripping oil. So that was about as successful as I could have imagined and way above expectations. It’s been a long road. It’s exciting and very rewarding to have reached this point. The Sea Fury is a wonderful machine.” STEPHEN CHAPIS

Hawker Sea Fury T.20 WE820 has been restored to fly in California. MARK LOPER

Test pilot’s son visits restored Supermarine Swift David Thorne, son of the late Air Cdre Peter Thorne OBE AFC*, recently visited Doncaster Sheffield Airport to see Supermarine Swift F.4 WK275. Peter was the machine’s test pilot and described it as being among his top ten favourite aircraft. David, seen here with wife Jane, said he was amazed by the quality of the restoration, carried out over several years by Yorkshire’s Jet Art Aviation on behalf of its owner.

Vintage Wings’ Spitfire flies in Canada Supermarine Spitfire IX TE924 recently made its first post-restoration flight from Gatineau, Quebec in the hands of John Aitken. The aircraft has been returned to the skies by Vintage Wings of Canada (VWoC), after initial work by the Comox Air Force Museum in British Columbia. The aircraft represents MK304 ‘Y2-K’, the fighter flown by RCAF 442 Squadron’s Flt Lt Arnold Roseland, who completed 117 Spitfire flights, 6 FLYPAST September 2017

around half of them in Y2-K. The remains of the Canadian-built fighter were rescued from a South African scrapyard in the 1990s and delivered to Canada. The long-term project to return it to airworthy condition picked up speed in late 2014, when the fuselage was transferred to VWoC. www.vintagewings.ca John Aitken flying Spitfire IX TE924 from Quebec in June. PETER HANDLEY-VWOC

www.flypast.com

Corsair flies to new home in Washington

Corsair 88303 shortly after arriving at Paine Field, Everett, on June 23. HEIJO KUIL

The Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum took delivery of Goodyear FG-1D Corsair 88303 on June 23. It is the latest airworthy fighter to join the Everett, Washington-based collection. Built by Goodyear in April 1945, ‘523’ was delivered to US Marine Squadron VMF-115 in the Philippines, with whom it flew combat missions in July and August of that year. After VJ

Spitfire XIV arrives for display in Arizona Duxford opens art installation to celebrate centenary IWM Duxford has marked its centenary with the creation of DX17, a contemporary art installation through which visitors can hear up to 100 voices from the airfield’s history. These include Frank Burslem’s recollections of being attacked by a German aircraft while flying a de Havilland DH9. Meanwhile, an airworthy DH9 (E-8894) is being rebuilt at Duxford by the Historic Aircraft Collection. COURTESY IWM DUXFORD

Supermarine Spitfire XIVe MT847 has been put on display at Tucson, Arizona’s Pima Air & Space Museum. The fighter is well known to British enthusiasts, having been at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry from 1995 until 2014. It first flew in April 1944 and operated with Maintenance Units, Operational Conversion Units and the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment

Day, the aircraft passed through the hands of several owners, including the now defunct Champlin Fighter Museum of Mesa, Arizona. In 1995 it launched off the deck of the USS Carl Vinson to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Acquired by its current owner in September 1998, it has been the subject of a thorough restoration. www.flyingheritage.com

Spitfire XIVe MT847 is now on display at Pima. WITH THANKS TO MEGHAN MARUM-PIMA

at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, prior to retirement in 1952. It served as a gate guardian at Warton, Lancashire, for a few years before being transferred to Freckleton. From 1964 it was mounted on a pylon at Cosford, Shropshire, before being removed for restoration work in the early 1970s. It replaced Spitfire Vb BL614 at the Manchester museum, arriving there on March 22, 1995. www.pimaair.org

Mosquito to make public debut in US The Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum’s de Havilland Mosquito T.III TV959 has made its first flight since arriving in the US, and – as FlyPast went to press – was due to make its public debut on July 22 at the attraction’s FHCAM Skyfair. Built in Leavesden, Herts, as a

trainer in 1945, it was among the last of the type to be retired from RAF service, finally being withdrawn in 1963. Turned over to the Imperial War Museum, it appeared in the 1964 film 633 Squadron. Avspecs in New Zealand restored the aircraft over several years, after

it had been grounded for around four decades. Its first post-restoration flight was carried out successfully on September 26, 2016, by Keith Skilling and David Phillips. It was temporarily repainted in RNZAF colours, but now represents NS838 ‘UP-J’, an FB.VI belonging to the RAF’s 605 Squadron.

Now resident at the Everett, Washington-based museum, the aircraft retains some aspects of a trainer, but subtle cosmetic changes have been made to recreate the appearance of a fighter-bomber. www.flyingheritage.com WITH THANKS TO FHCAM

DH Mosquito T.III TV959 in its new colours at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. COURTESY FHCAM

September 2017 FLYPAST 7

NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE

Classic aircraft collection for sale in US The Golden Wings Flying Museum of Blaine, Minnesota, is selling its unique collection of mostly airworthy historic aircraft via California-based broker Platinum Fighter Sales. The aircraft are available to purchase both individually and collectively. The museum features around 30 rare machines, mostly hailing from the 1920s and 1930s. Among the rarities are a 1931-built three-engined Stinson SM-6000-B, and a Fairchild FC-2W2, the first aircraft acquired and flown by NACA (now NASA). Also for sale is a Ford Tri-Motor dating back to 1927, believed to be America’s oldest existing airliner and the world’s oldest flying metal aircraft. One of the most unusual exhibits is a 1954-built Taylor Aerocar, a flying car. Interested parties should contact John Rayner or Simon Brown at Platinum: [email protected]

Ford Tri-Motor 4-AT-B N1077 is among the airworthy machines for sale in Minnesota. VIA JOHN RAYNER-PLATINUM

Catalina project gathers pace in Australia

briefings

The Rathmines Catalina Memorial Park Association has been making steady progress on its restoration of Consolidated PBY5-A Catalina 48412 which is located near Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia. The complete nosewheel assembly, including the gear doors, has been removed, along with most of the internal components in the cockpit, such as the control column and rudder pedals. The items will be cleaned, replaced or repaired as necessary. The team is also working on the rear fuselage around the blister compartment. A set of blister rotating sections have been acquired on loan to use as a template in creating authentic

8 FLYPAST September 2017

Work is continuing on the restoration of the Rathmines Catalina in Australia. JOHN RICHARD VIA PHIL BUCKLEY

looking versions for the project. The tail section and elevators are being reskinned, and volunteers have been cleaning the wing centre section prior to restoration. The port engine is currently in Edinburgh, South Australia, where it is being worked on by RAAF personnel. The Rathmines group is still looking for one pilot’s seat for the cockpit, a seat for the engineer’s position and corrugated walkway components for the rear hull. http://rathmines-catalina.com PHIL BUCKLEY

Members of the USAF Thunderbirds jet display team flew in North American B-25J Mitchell 44-28866 Champaign Gal recently while in Ohio for the Vectren Dayton Air Show. Around 30 airmen took turns to go on familiarisation flights in the Champaign Aviation Museum’s bomber at Grimes Field Airport in Urbana. WITH THANKS TO TIM GAFFNEY

Temporary desert colours for ARC Buchón Aircraft Restoration Company’s Hispano Buchón G-AWHK received a temporary paint scheme prior to its recent appearance at Duxford’s Flying Legends Air Show. Pictured at Bicester’s Flywheel Festival on June 24, it now represents Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7 ‘Black 8’ of JG 27. The original machine was flown by Lt Werner Schroer while based at Ain el Gazala, Libya in April 1941. Schroer ended the war with 114 victories. PHOTO-MICHAEL MIKLOS

The Aviation Experience Company is a new business specialising in aircraft-themed activities, including flights in light aircraft and helicopters. The company also offers flight simulator experiences, from ‘straight flights’ to ‘scenario-based adventures’. Throughout the year it will undertake many trips and tours, and activities can be personalised to a customer’s requirements. Company owner Toni Hunter said: “There are so many different aviation-themed destinations in this country, and many are desperate for visitors. By creating an easy-tonavigate site and utilising social media, we can help to preserve our heritage by bringing more visitors to these places.” For more information see: www.theaviationexperiencecompany.co.uk

www.flypast.com

Trislander flies into retirement at Duxford Britten-Norman at its factory at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight and spent its entire commercial ‘career’ with Aurigny. It completed over 86,000 flights and spent 28,000 hours in the air. The British Airliner Collection currently consists of 12 British-built

airliners, including a Concorde and de Havilland Comet, as well as aircraft with strong Channel Island ties, such as the Handley Page Herald and Vickers Viscount. The aircraft are maintained and preserved by a dedicated team of volunteers. www.das.org.uk

End of the road for Southend HS 748s

Duxford Aviation Society’s David Hands and Peter Archer (left and right) with Aurigny’s Nigel Moll (second left) and pilot Robert Wotton with G-BEVT on June 21. IWM DUXFORD

The last Britten-Norman Trislander to be used by Guernsey airline Aurigny flew into IWM Duxford on June 21 to take its place in Duxford Aviation Society’s British Airliner Collection. Aurigny’s first Trislander entered service in July 1971 and since then the company has operated a total of 23 of

the distinctive, three-engined aircraft in various versions of the company livery and some in sponsored paint schemes. Duxford’s latest acquisition, G-BEVT, is painted in a scheme that prominently displays the airline’s website. Victor-Tango was built in 1977 by

Three Hawker Siddeley HS 748s stored at London Southend Airport have been scrapped. Previously owned by Janes Aviation, work had begun to restore the machines on behalf of a Kenyan company, but issues with corrosion are believed to have halted the efforts. Two other HS 748s – former RAAF airframes VH-AHL and VH-AMQ – remain at Southend. SIMON MURDOCH

Warhawk lifted from Black Sea Substantially intact wreckage of a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was recently recovered from the bottom of the Black Sea by construction workers building a bridge across the Kerch Strait. The aircraft is believed to have been lost in 1943 during the Kerch-Eltingen landings, one of Russia’s biggest amphibious offensives of World War Two. VIA ROGER SOUPART

Auster AOP.3 NJ957 is currently in storage in the Netherlands after being repainted into the colour scheme it wore with No.6 (Dutch) Auster Squadron. The aircraft landed in Amsterdam on May 5, 1945 during the German occupation to collect Major Kamphuis who was in the city on a secret mission, the details of which are still unclear. J W LAROO VIA ROGER SOUPART

Aerospace Bristol is hosting a special VIP Concorde Anniversary Gala Dinner in the company of Concorde pilots Christopher Orlebar and John Tye on November 16. This one-off event at the new Filton-based venue will include an opportunity to step inside the attraction’s supersonic airliner G-BOAF. The evening will begin with a drinks reception and a private viewing of Concorde before guests enjoy a three-course dinner underneath the aircraft’s wings. Live music will be provided by a string quartet and a photographer will be providing complimentary souvenir pictures. It will also include a Q&A session with both Concorde pilots and a signed copy of Christopher’s The Concorde Story. Tickets are priced from £99. www.aerospacebristol.org September 2017 FLYPAST 9

NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE

Hawker Hurricane trio flies at Old Warden

Following its recent return to airworthiness by Hawker Restorations, Hurricane Mk.I P3717 was piloted by Stu Goldspink at the Shuttleworth Collection’s Classic Evening Airshow on June 17. The 1940-built fighter was joined by Sea Hurricane Z7015 flown by Chris Huckstep DFC and Keith Skilling in Hurricane Mk.I R4118. All three aircraft are now based at the Bedfordshire aerodrome. www.shuttleworth.org JAMIE EWAN

Spitfire PR.IV being restored to fly in Sweden

Steve Austin’s work on the cockpit of Hawker Sea Hawk WV903 was rewarded with the Grand Champion prize at Newark Air Museum’s annual Cockpit-Fest on June 17 and 18. As ever there was a diverse range of exhibits on show as well as several supporting displays. The Cockpiteers Cockpit Award went to Frank Millar for his English Electric Canberra PR.9 testrig. Frank also picked up one of the two Wrecks & Relics Spirit of CockpitFest Awards (presented as always

The fuselage of Spitfire PR.IV BP923 is being rebuilt in Sweden. JAN FORSGREN

briefings

Supermarine Spitfire PR.IV BP923 is being restored to fly near Stockholm, Sweden. Acquired by Sven Kindblom in the early 1990s, the Spitfire served with both the RAF and the Soviet Air Force. When completed, it will be the world’s only flyable Spitfire PR.IV. Delivered to the RAF on March 30, 1942, BP923 initially served with 1 PRU at Benson, Oxfordshire. In August 1942, it was one of three PR.IVs selected to fly to Russia as part of Operation Orator, supporting convoy PQ18 bound for Murmansk. On completing this task, it

10 FLYPAST September 2017

Sea Hawk takes top honours at Cockpit-Fest

was handed over to the Soviets. During a sortie to Altafjord on September 4, 1943, BP923 crashed at Vaddasgaisa in northern Norway, killing pilot Vladimir Solovkin. Discovered in 1972, the wreck was recovered in 1989. Its precise identity was unclear until the numerals ‘923’ were identified in two places. No completion date has been set for the project, and while a final colour scheme still has to be decided, Sven is considering returning the aircraft to its Soviet livery. JAN FORSGREN

Cessna 310J T-12, previously on display in Morón, near Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been donated to the country’s Flight Personnel and Aeronautical Technicians Training Centre for use as an instructional airframe. The Cessna originally flew as N3160L before operating in Argentina as LV-PDQ and LV-IOI. ESTEBAN BREA

by FlyPast’s legendary Ken Ellis). The other went to the display provided by the South Yorkshire Air Museum. Ken also presented an award to the event’s former organiser, Bill O’Sullivan, and those attending witnessed a flypast from a Spitfire and Hurricane from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Next year’s Cockpit-Fest has been confirmed for June 23 and 24, 2018. www.newarkairmuseum.org WITH THANKS TO HOWARD HEELEY

Exhibits on display at this year’s Newark Air Museum Cockpit-Fest. HOWARD HEELEY

Dassault Mirage F1M C.14-14/14-08 has been given a special paint scheme at the Academia Básica del Aire in León, Spain, to mark the unit’s 25th anniversary. The former Ala 14 fighter is currently used as an instructional airframe. As well as tailfin art, it also has the dates ‘1992-2017’ stencilled onto the fuselage. ROBERTO YÁÑEZ

Page_Template.indd 1

17/07/2017 09:20

NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE

Newly restored Hurricane completes test flights Hawker Hurricane I P2902 (G-ROBT) returned to the sky for the first time in over 77 years on June 19. It has made several more flights since and appeared at Duxford’s Flying Legends Air Show on July 8 and 9 (also see pages 20-21). The 1939-built fighter is now owned by Anglia Aircraft Restorations, and was restored over many years by Hawker Restorations (see From The Workshop, pages 108-112). Originally allocated to 245 Squadron it flew patrols over Dunkirk and the Channel during Operation Dynamo – the evacuation of British forces from northern France in 1940. On May 31 of that year it was

being flown from Hawkinge, Kent, by 19-year-old Plt Off Kenneth ‘Mac’ McGlashan when it became involved in a combat with German bombers and Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Wounded and with his aircraft damaged, Mac succeeded in bringing the Hurricane down on a French beach – he was rescued by British soldiers and managed to escape from Dunkirk aboard the paddle steamer The Golden Eagle. The fighter was eventually recovered and brought to the UK for restoration. It was registered G-ROBT by then owner Rick Roberts on September 19, 1994. The aircraft was acquired by its current owner in May 2016.

Top left

Hurricane G-ROBT in flight over Suffolk recently. Above

Hawker Hurricane I P2902 lifts off from Elmsett, Suffolk on July 3 in the hands of Stu Goldspink BOTH DARREN HARBAR

12 FLYPAST September 2017

Bonhams_fp.indd 1

17/07/2017 09:09

NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE

Corsair jet removed for refurbishment Former US Navy LTV A-7E Corsair II 159303 was recently removed from its display position in the Edwardsville Township Community Park in Illinois so restoration work can begin. Previously mounted on a pedestal, the jet was lowered to the ground by Keller Construction, working on behalf of the Flight Deck Veterans Group, a Tennessee-based charity LTV A-7E Corsair II 159303 after being removed from its pedestal (left) in Edwardsville. TONY SACKETOS

More MiG-21s go on display in Europe Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF 9606, a former Hungarian Air Force machine, was mounted on a plinth at a busy roundabout near the entrance of Kecskemét airfield earlier this year. It had previously been in storage at the base. No fewer than three MiGs have recently been put on show in Bulgaria. MiG-21bis White 36, originally built in

Russia and delivered to the Bulgarian Air Force in 1990, can now be seen in the village of Semchinovo. A second Fishbed, MiG-21bis 340 was unveiled as a monument in the town of Dalgopol during May, while another has been delivered to Kazanlak airfield for preservation. The identity of the latter has yet to be confirmed.

that refurbishes naval aircraft. The work is expected to take around six weeks, during which time the A-7E will be protected within a tent. Corsair II 159303 was declared operational on February 1, 1967, and was stationed aboard USS Nimitz from 1975 until 1980. It flew from the USS John F Kennedy in 1982, and from the Saratoga between 1984 and 1986. After a period in storage it was put on display in the park in 1991. www.fdvg.org TONY SACKETOS

Whitley undercarriage being rebuilt in UK Part of the undercarriage from Whitley N1498. COURTESY ELLIOTT SMOCK

ROBIN POLDERMAN

MiG-21MF 9606 on display at Kecskemét in Hungary on June 6. ROBIN POLDERMAN

briefings

The Whitley Project has started work to restore the undercarriage of Armstrong Whitworth Whitley N1498. Team leader Elliott Smock reports that Michael Doveton has achieved the difficult feat of taking the first oleo strut apart – no easy task given that

14 FLYPAST September 2017

the legs survived a crash and a fire and spent many years exposed on a Scottish mountainside. The internal parts are described as being in surprisingly good condition. Although one axle is missing, the Whitley Project has enough spares from other aircraft to replace it.

The front section of Argentine Lockheed C-130B Hercules TC-56 has been opened as a memorial to the crew of C-130H TC-63 who were shot down during the 1982 Falklands conflict with the loss of all on board. The exhibit, on show at El Palomar, Buenos Aires, is painted to represent TC-63, and features the names of the eight crew. ESTEBAN BREA

Chile’s Museo Aeronáutico of Los Cerrillos is to restore Beech Turbo Baron 56TC FACh 471 for its collection. The aircraft has been in storage at its facilities since 2006. It originally served with Chile’s Directorate for Civil Aviation (DGAC) from 1968 before being sold into private hands in the 1980s. It will be repainted into DGAC colours. ÁLVARO ROMERO

www.flypast.com

Former RAF Rapide being restored in France The French association Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis (AJBS) is working with the Fondation du Patrimoine Ile de France to restore de Havilland Dragon Rapide F-AZCA. Built in 1942, it served with the RAF during World War Two, prior to a long career in civilian hands. It was acquired by AJBS in 1976 and took part as ‘Blue Way’ in the 1981 Air Transat Paris to New York air race. ERIC JANSSONNE

Tornado and Starfighter displayed in Austria

Panavia Tornado ‘38-12’ is now mounted on a pole at Groß-Siegharts. MAX WALDRON

Austrian company Test-Fuchs currently has two airframes on display outside its premises at Groß-Siegharts. Panavia Tornado IDS 44+66 has been on show in the main car park since September 2015. The former Luftwaffe machine now wears the code ‘38-12’. The same code adorns Lockheed RF-104G Starfighter 24+60, which is mounted on a pole outside the company’s main building. The latter was involved in a mid-air collision with F-104 26+35 over Söllingen, Germany on October 8, 1980. Hptm Manfred von Bergh was unhurt and managed to land his badly damaged aircraft at Memmingen, but sadly the other pilot was killed. The jet was struck off charge in July 1981 and sold to Test-Fuchs in September 1991.

F-15 Eagle receives a repaint in Missouri McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle 76-0094 has been given a new paint scheme at the Museum of Missouri Military History in Jefferson City. The 1976-built aircraft previously served with 110 FS of the Missouri Air National Guard, but was transferred to the museum in the summer of 2016. TONY SACKETOS

MAX WALDRON

MBB Bolkow Bo-105CB HE.15-10/ET-132, previously in service with the German Army as 82+92, has been damaged in strong winds, and removed from its display position adjacent to Airbus Helicopters in Albacete, Spain. The helicopter has been transported to the factory where it will be repaired. It is also likely to be repainted in new colours. ROBERTO YÁÑEZ

Two World War Two veterans experienced a flight in a Spitfire recently courtesy of the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar (Fly a Spitfire Ltd). Fg Off Gerry Abrahams flew Lancasters in the war while W/O Ron Dearman (pictured) flew Ansons and Dakotas. Staff emphasise that veterans are always welcome to visit their facility. ROBIN J BROOKS September 2017 FLYPAST 15

NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE

Submerged Soviet Havoc discovered off Finland The aircraft’s gun turret can clearly be made out. Left

Sonar imaging showing the Havoc lying on the seabed. BOTH NORTHSTREAM 2 VIA ROGER SOUPART

An almost complete Douglas A-20 Havoc was recently discovered at a depth of around 100m (330ft) off western Finland. The light bomber was used by the Soviets under the Lend-Lease programme during World War Two. Following an assessment by

marine archaeologists, it is described as being in a largely intact state. The aircraft was discovered by a company undertaking scans of the seabed in preparation for laying underwater pipelines. The Havoc’s future remains unclear – although a salvage operation

has not been ruled out, there are no plans to begin one. Through Lend-Lease, Soviet forces received more than two-thirds of the A-20Bs manufactured, along with large numbers of ’G and ’H variants. The aircraft made its

combat debut in Russian hands at the end of June 1942. The Soviets were dissatisfied with the type’s four Browning machine guns, and replaced them with the faster firing 7.62mm ShKAS, capable of up to 1,800 rounds per gun per minute. ROGER SOUPART

German flying bomb on display at Kent museum

briefings

A rare Fieseler Fi 103R-4 Reichenberg flying bomb was placed on display at the Lashenden Air Warfare Museum at Headcorn, Kent, on July 2. Believed to be one of only six extant examples of the manned bomb, the exhibit can be viewed from an enclosure in the attraction’s new hall while work continues on other displays within the building. A development of the German V-1 ‘Doodlebug’, the Reichenberg was modified to carry a pilot (who stood a very slim chance of survival if he could bale out before impact) and was intended for use against shipping or heavily defended ground targets. It was designed to be carried beneath a Heinkel He 111 bomber in a similar fashion to the earlier, pilotless Fi 103s launched against Britain. Hitler was persuaded by his commanders to cancel the weapon programme before

16 FLYPAST September 2017

The Fi 103R-4 Reichenberg flying bomb at its new home. TREVOR MATTHEWS-LAWM

has been finished as it was when displayed at Farnborough in 1945. It has been listed as a ‘Benchmark’ aircraft in the National Historic Aircraft Register as being of World, National and Technical significance. WITH THANKS TO TREVOR MATTHEWS www. lashendenairwarfaremuseum.co.uk

it could be used in anger. The Lashenden example is believed to have been captured at the Dannenburg V-1 factory by the US Army and transported to the UK in 1945. It was displayed at the German Aircraft Exhibition at RAE Farnborough, and later passed to the Joint Services

Bomb Disposal School at Horsham, West Sussex, and then the Territorial Bomb Disposal Unit at Fort Clarence in Rochester, Kent. Prior to its arrival at Lashenden, restoration was carried out in Germany by Auktionshaus Fur Historic Technik. The Fi 103R-4

Rick Anderson is gradually restoring CAC Boomerang A46-3 to static display condition in Australia. Parts of the aircraft, including the pilot’s seat (pictured) are currently stored in various locations, and are slowly being put back together. The aircraft originally served with 2 OTU in Mildura, New South Wales from October 1942. RICK ANDERSON VIA PHIL BUCKLEY

The People’s Mosquito charity has recovered over 20,000 technical drawings from an abandoned de Havilland factory designated for demolition. It reports that the collection casts new light on everything from the secrets of airborne radar to variants of aircraft that were never made. Members are confident the discovery will also contribute to its efforts to return a Mosquito to British skies. “An aircraft engineer for a well-known company got in touch with us,” explains chairman John Lilley. “He understood the value in these drawings and how useful they could be. The building was soon to be demolished and the contents discarded. It’s incredible to think that they might have been lost forever.” www.peoplesmosquito.org.uk

www.flypast.com

Panther to be restored for static display The Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho, took delivery of a Grumman F9F-5 Panther via flatbed truck on June 29. The museum purchased the airframe – currently stripped of paint or identifying markings – from a private owner in Texas. The metal appears generally sound, although slight damage to the fuselage skin will need to be repaired before the jet can

be painted and put on display. A new canopy and windscreen side panels have been located, but museum founders John and Sue Paul are still searching for a set of wingtip fuel tanks to complete the project. John plans to display the F9F in a way that pays tribute to the US Marine Corps as well as the US Navy’s Blue Angels, which flew Panthers in the early 1950s. FREDERICK A JOHNSEN The Warhawk Air Museum’s Grumman F9F-5 Panther arriving in Nampa on June 29.

Museum acquires potentially airworthy Electra Junior The Spirit of Flight Center in Erie, Colorado, has taken delivery of 1936-built Lockheed 12A Electra Junior 1205 (originally registered NC16079). The museum plans to restore the machine to airworthy condition as part of its living history programme. Having originally served with the Continental Oil Company, the Electra Junior was sent to Canada during World War Two as part of the Lend-Lease programme. Its arrival at the museum has been made possible by the support

of benefactors Robert and Carol Leyner. The attraction is now seeking donations to help return it to the skies. “The Lockheed 12A will be a great complement to the full-size statue of [legendary aviator] Amelia Earhart that is on display at Spirit of Flight,” said museum board member Doug Eastman. “The really neat thing is that [aircraft dealer] Charles Babb, who once owned Electra Junior 1205, signed Amelia’s first pilot’s licence.” www.spiritofflight.com WITH THANKS TO GORDON PAGE

FREDERICK A JOHNSEN

The forward section of Lockheed 12A Electra Junior 1205. COURTESY GORDON PAGE

Czech Alca jet’s Spitfire tribute scheme The Czech Air Force has temporarily repainted Aero L-159 Alca 6053 in the markings of Spitfire V AD572. The latter was flown by František Perˇina of 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron, the nation’s first ace of World War Two. The jet is pictured at Yeovilton Air Day on July 8. RICHARD HALL

The Aviodrome museum at Lelystad has completed its Spyker V2 project. Essentially a Dutch-built two-seat version of the Sopwith Pup, V2s were manufactured in the country from 1917. Aviodrome’s example is a replica based on a Pup, but is fitted with an original Thulin engine, previously used on a 1919-built naval V2. ROGER SOUPART

David Bremner’s Bristol Scout replica ran its engine for photographers and enthusiasts at Larkhill, Wiltshire, on July 7. The former airfield was used for flight testing Scouts from February 1914. The event included a talk by David about the project, and ended with a flypast from the Historic Aircraft Flight’s Westland AH.1 XT626. RICHARD HALL September 2017 FLYPAST 17

NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE The future of Sea Vixen XP924 hangs in the balance unless a major sponsor can be found. ANDY ROUSE-NAVY WINGS

‘White Knight’ needed to save Sea Vixen Following the emergency landing of de Havilland Sea Vixen XP924 (G-CVIX) at Yeovilton on May 27, Navy Wings is urgently seeking what it describes as a ‘white knight’ to save the aircraft and restore the unique fighter to flying condition once again. Sadly, the structural damage to the airframe is more serious than first thought. It includes cracks on both tail booms, warping of the main bulkheads in the engine compartment and major damage to the gear box. The Sea Vixen suffered a major

hydraulic failure of both systems, and the pilot, Cdr Simon Hargreaves, was unable to lower the flaps, along with the undercarriage. It’s estimated that returning XP924 to flying condition will cost between two and three million pounds, and take up to four years to complete. Navy Wings is hoping to attract a major sponsor in the near future to underwrite the considerable sums involved. www.navywings.org.uk

New display position for Dutch Starfighter

Newark Monospar project enters final stages

briefings

Newark Air Museum has taken another significant step in its restoration of Monospar VH-UTH. The aircraft’s fuselage has now been covered, with the last sections applied by the Nottinghamshire attraction’s dedicated volunteers in late June. Final detailing will be completed around the fabric joints before the fuselage is painted. HOWARD HEELEY

18 FLYPAST September 2017

A memorial stone was laid at Cenin Renewables’ green energy base at Parc Stormy in Bridgend, South Wales in July. Between 1939 and 1946, the site was a busy air gunnery school known as RAF Porthcawl and then RAF Stormy Down. The ceremony included a flypast from the BBMF and the Red Arrows jet display team. DAVID SWIDENBANK

Lockheed F-104G Starfighter D-8061 has been placed on external display at Lelystad’s Aviodrome museum in the Netherlands. The former Royal Netherlands Air Force jet had previously been indoors. It continues to wear the colours of Volkel-based 312 Squadron, its final operational unit. ROGER SOUPART

East Midlands Aeropark was broken into and vandalized on June 25. A pair of offenders caused extensive damage to the shop and staff room. After breaking the door to the hangar, they stole a safe out of the shop and it’s estimated that repair work will cost around £5,000. If you have any information please contact Leicestershire Police on 101.

A memorial was unveiled near Ramstein in Germany on July 1 to commemorate two of World War Two’s ‘Great Escapers’, Sqn Ldr Roger Bushell and S/Lt Bernard Scheidhauer. Representatives from both the RAF and French Air Force were in attendance, along with a guard of honour that included German officers. Relatives of both men laid wreaths.

Page_Template.indd 1

17/07/2017 09:21

AIRSHOW DUXFORD

Warbird Weeke

The Flying Legends Air Show celebrated its 25th birthday in style last month. Steve Beebee reports, with photog

T

hose of us who have been making an annual pilgrimage to Duxford for the famous Flying Legends Air Show might find it hard to believe that the event is now in its 25th year. That said, the show is so well executed that it seems to come and go very quickly – when things are this much fun, time does indeed fly. This year’s display, held over the weekend of July 8 and 9, was as memorable as always, and aided in no small way by wonderful weather.

The now traditional Spitfire scramble began the historic element of the flying on both days, preceded by the ever-popular RAF Red Arrows display team on the Sunday. A highlight on both days was the presence of Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Sally B, escorted through the skies by North American P-51D Mustangs. The mighty ‘Fort’ is now the only airworthy example of its kind in Europe – this somewhat sobering thought should lead us to appreciate these sights and sounds all the more, and the incredible

work that enables her, and other warbirds, to keep flying. Other unforgettable moments included a section dedicated to air racing, including the Shuttleworth Collection’s remarkable de Havilland DH.88 Comet G-ACSS – and Hawker Hurricanes galore. There were five examples of the latter (including Old Warden’s Sea Hurricane) on the Duxford flightline – that’s one third of the

A pair of Spitfire Mk.Is flying in close formation.

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress ‘Sally B’ is escorted by Mustang KH774 (G-SHWN).

Below

Anglia Aircraft Restorations’ Hawker Fury (bottom) with the Fighter Collection’s Grumman F8F Bearcat.

Hispano Buchón G-AWHK in its temporary desert colours during a simulated combat.

20 FLYPAST September 2017

world’s airworthy population in one place. Where else but Legends? On a less happy note, Mustang Miss Velma had to make an emergency landing during Sunday’s show. The aircraft did suffer some damage but thankfully nobody was hurt. Sadly, P-51B Berlin Express (see pages 126-129), a visitor from the US, was unable to participate in Sunday’s flying due to damage sustained to the canopy in an unrelated incident on

kend

th photography by Darren Harbar

Saturday. The rare, high-backed fighter remained on static display for visitors to admire, and another visiting Mustang, F-6K Frenesi, was equally popular. With numerous ground attractions, including a 1940s-style big band and the sublime Manhattan Dolls vocal trio, this year’s Flying Legends was another success, balancing celebration and nostalgia in equal measure. Here’s to the next 25 years.

A sight rarely seen anywhere in the world – four Hawker Hurricanes flying in formation. ALL DARREN HARBAR Below

A jaw-dropping array of warbirds positioned on Duxford’s flightline.

Three Curtiss-built fighters – P-40C Warhawk, P-40F and Hawk 75 – at Flying Legends.

A trio of North American P-51D Mustangs fire up for their display. Gleaming in the July sunshine, a pair of Beech 18s fly with Douglas C-47A N431HM.

September 2017 FLYPAST 21

OBITUARY MIKE BEACHY HEAD

Days of

Thunder Former Lightning pilot Ian Black reflects on the career of the late Mike Beachy Head

Top

Mike Beachy Head. JUSTIN DE REUCK

Above

English Electric Lightning T.5 XS452 (ZU-BBD) flying in South Africa. VIA IAN BLACK

S

unday May 21 was a dark day for the aviation world, as it witnessed the loss of one of its most inspirational characters. Mike Beachy Head, who died aged 59, accomplished so much in his life. His love affair with flying began in the air freight business, following his military service. He quickly made a name for himself as a ‘can do’ person. A lifelong passion for British post-war jets led Mike to create a ‘living’ museum aptly named Thunder City at Cape Town in South Africa. He initially purchased an English Electric Canberra but soon yearned for the unique charisma of the Hawker Hunter. In the early 1990s the RAF was disposing of a range of types and Mike was quick to see the potential in operating a fleet of classic British jets. Having converted to the Hunter in the UK, Mike took an interest in the Lightning and realised these sophisticated, powerful machines would need to be operated

outside of the UK if they were to be kept flying. He successfully purchased four of the type – a pair of two-seaters and a pair of single-seat F.6s. The task of dismantling four Lightnings and shipping them 5,000 miles to Cape Town would have put most people off, but Mike relished the challenge. Acquiring a pair of Blackburn Buccaneers, Mike’s fleet began to grow inside its purpose-built hangar. Already an accomplished aerobatic pilot, Mike undertook the daunting task (for a civilian aviator) of converting to the Hunter, Lightning and Buccaneer – three distinct types that required great skill and care to operate. Within a few years Thunder City had become hugely successful in offering fast jet passenger flights to eager customers. Not content with this, Mike restored and operated an ex-military Aérospatiale Puma helicopter, and had much success in Formula 1 Powerboat racing with Caudwell Marine. Despite setbacks,

Thunder City continued to thrill crowds at airshows, participating as recently as 2015 in Namibia. Mike was a gifted pilot and was always striving to improve safety. As an engineer and innovator, he was equally exceptional, constantly developing new ideas and providing solutions to seemingly impossible dilemmas. His is an incalculable loss to the aviation world. Without his vision and drive, aircraft that once ruled British skies might never have flown again. His passion for his fleet was legendary – he adored his Hunter F.6 (which once served with the Black Arrows display team), his Lightning XS452 (ZU-BBD) and his favourite Lightning of all, XR773, usually referred to simply as ‘773’. Mike was a devoted father and husband, and a man who lived life in full reheat. Few of us will meet his kind again. It does seem that this planet’s brightest stars shine only for the shortest time.

“His is an incalculable loss to the aviation world. Without his vision and drive, aircraft that once ruled British skies might never have flown again” 22 FLYPAST September 2017

anticsonline.co.uk antics model shops and online stores

MASSIVE RANGE AIRCRAFT MODELS

OF

FASTER THAN A FIGHTER - BUT NOT FOR LONG! In 1935 the new Bristol Blenheim bomber made its first flight at Filton and was faster than any fighter then in service with the RAF. Fulfilling a great need, 4422 Benheims were built but the type also had the sad distinction of having lost more aircrews than any other. By 1939 it was outclassed by most of the fighters it was likely to encounter. G-BPIV is preserved at Duxford. Corgi Aviation Archive 1/72 die-cast model (AA38408). RRP £71.99

£58.50

SHOPS IN... • Bristol • Cardiff • Coventry • Gloucester • Plymouth • Stroud

CALL US: 01453 825381 Email: [email protected]

TOO SOON Lost in action 30th September 1940, Josef Frantisek fled Czechoslavakia had fled his own country, then Poland and France to fly Hurricanes from RAF Northolt, downing 17 aircraft in his short intensive career! Hobby Master’s 1/48 die-cast model of his Hurricane, R4175, is a beaut, 10” long! (HA8601)

£39.95

complete with plastic kits of a B17G,

Cushman 39 Package Car, Chevrolet Bomb Service Truck, M5

Bomb Trailer,

Autocar Tractor Unit and F1 Fuel Trailer. (A12010)

£45.00

TOUGH TRAINER

MORE THAN MOST

Aviation 72’s neat model of the RAF Tucano trainer turned out in a camouflage livery for the 2013 RAF display season The RAF encountered the Tucano in the Falklands in 1982 and subsequently adopted a variant built by Short Bros, Belfast as an early stage trainer. A great little aircraft. Antics’ special price! (27002)

Corgi chose Lancaster B.III ED888 named ‘Mike Squared’ to mark the 75th anniversary of the first flight of Avro’s famous bomber. ED888 put in an astonishing 140 missions, more than any other Lancaster and survived the war. A big 1/72 scale with 435mm wingspan and in the usual super presentation box. We’re offering this one at just £99.99, saving £49 from the recommended price! (AA32624)

£25.00

Page_Template.indd 1

FILL HER UP Very useful 1/72 Diorama set from Airfix

£99.99

17/07/2017 09:23

WORLD WAR TWO POLISH AIR FORCE

AGAINST THE

ODDS

FAR FROM FOLDING ON THE FIRST DAY OF WORLD WAR TWO, THE POLISH AIR FORCE PUT UP DOGGED OPPOSITION. ROBERT GRETZYNGIER DESCRIBES THEIR EXCEPTIONAL GALLANTRY 24 FLYPAST September 2017

S

G

erman propaganda maintained that the Polish Air Force was destroyed on the ground on September 1, 1939, the first day of World War Two. Some writers continue to repeat this assertion, but it’s far from the truth. When the Luftwaffe hit Polish air bases, only training aircraft, and others undergoing repairs, were destroyed. Combat

units had moved to camouflaged forward airfields several days before. The German forces were roughly five times larger and vastly superior technologically. The Polish Air Force put up a valiant fight against overwhelming odds, its flyers’ skills, determination and courage being its main assets in the fight. Lt Wojciech Januszewicz is a good example. He was born into a noble family on April 30, 1911 at Krzywiec near Słonim (currently in Belarus) which, once Polish, was

Above

occupied by the Tsarist Russian Empire at that time. In 1918 Poland regained independence and Wojciech Januszewicz (pronounced Voy-chekh Yanoo-shea-veech) was among the first generation educated in the newly liberated state. In 1930 he became a primary school teacher in a small village, but found teaching “a very hard job” and turned his interest to becoming a commissioned officer in the army.

The duel on September 3, 1939 over Zielonka: Lt Januszewicz fighting with four Messerschmitts Bf 110s in his nimble PZL P.11. P FORKASIEWICZ © 2017

September 2017 FLYPAST 25

WORLD WAR TWO POLISH AIR FORCE Below

PZL P.11c ‘8’ of the 111th Flight, flown by Wojciech Januszewicz during the fighting of September 1939. He scored two victories in this aircraft. P FORKASIEWICZ / W NIEWEGŁOWSKI © 2017

PURSUING PERFECTION

He enlisted in 1931 and the following year joined the Infantry Cadet Officers’ School at Ostrów Mazowiecka but, while still a cadet, applied for air force service. Commissioned on August 15, 1934 he was posted briefly to the 21st Infantry Regiment before completing a flying course at the Air Force Officers’ Training Centre at Dęblin in July 1935. Posted to the 1st Air Regiment based at Warsaw Okęcie, Januszewicz joined a bomber flight equipped with Breguet XIX biplanes. But the rookie pilot was not content with the role of a ‘chauffeur’ and wanted to transfer to a fighter unit should the opportunity arise. After an advanced flying course in 1936, his dreams finally came true with a posting to the elite 111th Fighter Flight. This unit continued the glorious traditions of the 7th Escadrille from the Polish-Bolshevik

officer, pursuing perfection in aerobatic training. On November 1, 1937 he became deputy commander of the 111th Flight (commanded by Captain Gustaw Sidorowicz, also born near Słonim) and the following year reached the rank of lieutenant. Known for his air combat skills, Januszewicz would typically test a rookie by flying head-on at 220mph (350km/h). A pilot who broke to one side too early, fearing a collision, was considered useless as a fighter.

HOMELAND DEFENCE

Hitler’s plan to invade Poland became clear after the annexation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. The Polish Air Force had been unprepared for the war: although modernisation and expansion plans were to be implemented by 1942, work on modern designs was still at the prototype stage. And the Poles could not afford to keep up with the arms race the German Third Reich had begun: the ratio of war budgets

of their air forces was roughly 1 to 100. The 111th Flight was assigned to the Pursuit Brigade of the 1st Air regiment, tasked with defending the Warsaw area. It comprised the 111th to 114th Flights with ten aircraft each, plus two aircraft in each squadron headquarters section. The 123rd Fighter Flight, equipped with ten obsolete P.7s, later increased the brigade’s total strength to 54 fighters. A skilled pilot and tactician, Colonel Stefan Pawlikowski, took command of the brigade with Lt Col Leopold Pamuła as his deputy. Chief of Staff was Major Eugeniusz Wyrwicki, one of the most talented fighter commanders of the younger generation. The Pursuit Brigade flew as part of a bigger air defence system – a monitoring network consisting of 800 observation posts located concentrically across the country, providing information

“After an advanced flying course in 1936, his dreams finally came true with a posting to the elite 111th Fighter Flight”

Bottom right

Pilots of the III/1 Fighter Squadron in October 1938 at Aleksandrowice. Lt Wojciech Januszewicz is third from right, Captain Tadeusz Opulski (commanding the 112th Flight) ninth from the right, Captain Zdzisław Krasnodebski (CO III/1 Squadron) 11th from the right and Captain Gustaw Sidorowicz (CO 111th Flight) 14th from the right.

war of 1919-1921 – when it included US volunteers – and was named after Polish-American hero General Tadeusz Kościuszko, its emblem including US ‘stars and stripes’. The year 1936 brought changes for Januszewicz and the Polish Air Force, which became the first to be fully equipped with all-metal, highperformance fighter monoplanes. Polish engineers developed several aircraft that gained worldwide respect during the inter-war period, such as the ‘Puławski fighters’: PZL P.7s, P.11s and P.24s. Even the RAF considered purchasing P.24s in 1934. Januszewicz was a hardworking

26 FLYPAST September 2017

on enemy aircraft flying over Polish territory. The Air Defence Command Centre in Warsaw, which processed the information, was linked by dedicated telephone lines to the Pursuit Brigade’s HQ at Zielonka, on the outskirts of Warsaw. There was no radar but the system was quite effective: it took less than ten minutes from spotting enemy ’planes to scrambling fighters to intercept them. Wyrwicki divided the airspace around Warsaw into coded sectors, which enabled quick vectoring of aircraft towards the oncoming enemy.

DAY ONE

Three days before the outbreak of World War Two, Januszewicz led P.11 fighters of the 111th Flight to a forward airfield at Zielonka, near Warsaw. Most servicemen had no doubt that should the war start, it would be short: Germany would be attacked by Poland’s French and British allies and victory would be achieved in no time. History, however, took a different path... In the early morning of September 1, 1939 Germany attacked Poland. From the outset the Luftwaffe used previously unknown tactics: supporting invading ground forces, destroying logistics and communication facilities and making unprecedented terror attacks

on defenceless towns and villages. The fierce aerial battles over Warsaw were among the most heroic episodes in the history of Polish military aviation. Almost the entire force of the Pursuit Brigade scrambled in the early morning of the 1st, its squadrons flying in loose formation for better manoeuvrability and responsiveness. Not all the aircraft had radios, so pilots were on constant alert watching for the enemy and any signs from their section commanders. Lt Januszewicz led a section tasked with providing high cover, opening fire at a reconnaissance Dornier which quickly vanished between clouds with no visible results of the attack. A few minutes later the first big aerial battle of the war started near the Bug and Narew rivers north of Warsaw. The Pursuit Brigade engaged German bombers escorted by fighters, which flew in groups to test Polish defences. The clash turned into chaos as, despite orders to fight in sections, aircraft were scattered by the intensity of fighting, returning alone to their airfields. Later that day the brigade, alerted in time by the monitoring network, took off in full strength to intercept some 200 German bombers and fighters attacking Warsaw from various directions. It was impossible to stop them all, but some of the bombers were diverted from their targets.

Polish pilots were amazed by the speed and firepower of the Messerschmitt fighters – which cost the brigade almost 25% of its machines destroyed or damaged, luckily with only one pilot killed and a few wounded. But at the same time, they were reassured by the better manoeuvrability of their P.11s.

Above

ID document photo of Wojciech Januszewicz at the end of 1936, as a fighter pilot of the 111th Flight.

September 2017 FLYPAST 27

WORLD WAR TWO POLISH AIR FORCE

Above

Januszewicz’s second victim, Ju 87B Stuka ‘A5+GL’ of I/StG 1, shot down on September 4, 1939. Above and right

In 2016 remains of a Messerschmitt were found near Nadma village in Poland. Investigation confirmed it was the crash site of Bf 110B 932 from 3(Z)/ LG 1, shot down by Januszewicz on September 3, 1939. Pilot Uffz Sigismund Mazurowski and gunner Uffz Günter Lother were killed. K KARASIEWICZ

Captain Sidorowicz was among those shot down – wounded and badly burnt – Januszewicz taking over command of 111th Flight. Not much happened around Warsaw on the 2nd, due to heavy overcast and morning mist. The enemy started missions against Warsaw relatively late but no engagements were recorded. Mechanics were meanwhile working day and night to repair the damaged PZLs while servicemen and civilians alike started wondering: “Where are our allies?”

LIFE AND DEATH DUEL

The weather in Warsaw was good on Sunday September 3. Eighteen aircraft from the 111th and 112th Flights took off against a similar number of Messerschmitt Bf 110s. The Luftwaffe lost one of the twin-engined fighters, plus another damaged, for the cost of three Polish aircraft destroyed and two damaged. A pack of four Bf 110s had appeared over Zielonka airfield, catching Polish fighters either away from the base or being refuelled and rearmed on the ground. Januszewicz took off in the only aircraft that was ready and attacked first before slipping away, repeatedly hitting pairs of the Messerschmitts. Entering a spin, everybody thought that was the end of the brave Polish pilot, but he recovered very close to the ground. He then used every opportunity to fire at the passing Messerschmitts,

28 FLYPAST September 2017

trying to aim at their cockpits or engines. A witness on the ground remembered: “We watched with bated breath, from the roof of the house, an amazing duel of a Polish fighter with enemy machines. We noticed at once that the Germans abandoned the idea of downing the Polish fighter, stopped firing and, using an upcoming shoal of cumulus, vanished in the clouds. “But not all of them: one Messerschmitt remained. What happened then I’ll never forget. It was a fierce life and death duel in the air. The cracking sound of short bursts from machine guns, the highest-level aerobatic figures performed with great artistry by the Polish pilot, who had a much slower aeroplane, were shocking but a great spectacle! “We didn’t know exactly how it happened that the PZL appeared very close to the tail of the aircraft marked with black crosses. From that point, the Polish pilot was very persistent. Instantly, one burst after another, he pounded a series of bullets into the fuselage and engines of the German aeroplane. “With the right engine trailing black smoke the German aeroplane suddenly stopped shooting and broke the fight. It flew unsteadily

at low height over the forests in the direction of Struga village. After a few kilometres it crashed on the ground.” The outcome of the fight was surprising: Januszewicz shot down one Bf 110B and probably damaged another while the rest of the Messerschmitts had fled. The skills and bravery he showed were outstanding, delighting the personnel and commanders of the brigade. But the reality of war was harsh... There were mounting logistical problems for the Pursuit Brigade The intense activity – 250 dogfights in three days of war – led to a rapid drop in fuel reserves and spare parts were in short supply, preventing quick repairs on the spot. Staying at the same bases increased the risk of being discovered, so the brigade moved to airfields on the western side of the capital: Zaborów (111th and 112th Flights from Zielonka) and Radzików (113th, 114th and 123rd Flights from Poniatów). Eighteen aircraft had been lost, 34% of the brigade’s initial strength, and the monitoring network became less effective due to bombing, sabotaged telephone lines and the German advance. Spirits, however, were high, as on that day Britain and France declared war against Germany.

the Vistula river. I signal him to land. I suppose he didn’t get it. I fly a cross over him. He shakes his head, meaning he doesn’t know. I place myself just below his tail. The distance is 15 metres. I lean my head and press – a burst. I aim at the engine. The engine stops. The Ju 87 kicks left. It sits down across furrows.” On the 6th, he shot down another Ju 87B, but soon fell victim to a Bf 110 and had to land. Mechanics counted dozens of holes in his aircraft, but luckily he was not injured. Called out of Warsaw, the Pursuit Brigade flew to the Lublin area on the 7th with just 18 aircraft. Pilots left

WAR ON TWO FRONTS

On September 4, Januszewicz showed his expertise again. After several close-up attacks on a Junkers Ju 87B, its pilot indicated that he was giving up. Flying just a few yards away, the Polish pilot escorted the ‘Stuka’. He wrote: “We are approaching

the capital with heavy hearts as they had seen the Luftwaffe’s ‘knights of the air’ attacking hospitals, churches and refugees on the roads. They knew that, being away, Warsaw would become virtually defenceless from the air. During the rest of the campaign the intensity of aerial fights diminished

as Polish fighter units had problems communicating with the High Command. They transferred from one airfield to another almost every day, fuel shortages forcing the Pursuit Brigade to fly fewer and fewer sorties. On September 17, the Soviet Army invaded Poland from the east, in accordance with a secret agreement signed between Stalin and Hitler – the brigade being ordered to cross the Romanian border, continue fighting abroad and eventually liberate the Polish homeland.

Below left

Warsaw air defence interception sectors in 1939. R POSTEK © 2017

Below

PZL P.11s of the Pursuit Brigade, camouflaged at Młynów, September 10-13, 1939.

FRENCH RETREAT

Leaving Poland and their families under German occupation was hard for the young servicemen. On the 18th, Januszewicz crossed into Romania with his unit and was later evacuated to France by sea, arriving at Marseilles on October 29. Among 9,000 Polish airmen who made it to France, he retrained on French fighters at the Polish Air Force Training Centre in Lyon. When the Blitzkrieg started in the west, Januszewicz was posted on May 18, 1940 as a commander of the second Polish fighter section attached to the French Groupement de Chasse (GC) II/7, and took part in several sorties flying Dewoitine D.520s. When France surrendered on June 22, GC II/7 was en route to Africa across the Mediterranean. Januszewicz noticed that his Dewoitine had a defect preventing him from keeping up with the rest of squadron, and he crossed the Tunisian coast on the last drops of fuel. The outcome of the campaign in France was disappointing for the Poles, Januszewicz writing about the French allies: “My God, they did not want to fight for their own country, forget any

September 2017 FLYPAST 29

WORLD WAR TWO POLISH AIR FORCE

Top

Hawker Hurricane I P3892 in which Fg Off Januszewicz was shot down and killed on October 5, 1940. R GRETZYNGIER © 2017

Above

King George VI talking to Fg Off Henneberg at Northolt, September 26, 1940. Standing next in line are Fg Offs Januszewicz and Grzeszczak – all from 303 Squadron. Above right

The pilots of 303 Squadron in this photograph all knew each other from the III/1 Fighter Squadron in Poland. Left to right: Sgt Stanisław Karubin, Fg Off Wojciech Januszewicz (still wearing his uniform from France), Plt Off Mirosław Feric (behind), Sgt Stefan Wójtowicz (behind) and Sgt Eugeniusz Szaposznikow. The only one to survive the war was Szaposznikow.

other. Sad as it is, the spirit was lousy, individuals showed some strange fear, powerlessness, no will to sacrifice.” In Tunis he joined other Poles who were evacuated by train to Casablanca and then by ship via Gibraltar to Britain.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

The Battle of Britain was raging when, on August 2, Januszewicz was posted to 303 (Polish) Squadron, forming at Northolt. As part of the reborn Polish Air Force, the unit adopted the badge of the 111th Flight. Officially entering into action on August 31, within two months it had become the topscoring squadron of the battle. At 11:10 hours on October 5, Januszewicz took off for his 21st operational sortie of the conflict, a fighter sweep over the English Channel. Flying Hurricane I P3892, he was shot down some 30 minutes later in combat with Bf 109s over the Hawkinge area. His blazing fighter crashed at Stowting Common and 29-year-old Flying Officer Wojciech Januszewicz burned with it.

“More than 18,000 men and women served with the exiled Polish Air Force and around 2,000 lost their lives. Sadly, for political reasons, few of those who survived the war were able to return to their homeland” exiled Polish Air Force and around 2,000 lost their lives. Sadly, for political reasons, few of those who survived the war were able to return to their homeland. Let their dedication, bravery and sacrifice never be forgotten. Today the Polish Air Force’s 23rd Tactical Air Base is the custodian of the heritage of Kościuszko squadrons – the 7th Escadrille, the 111th

Fighter Flight and 303 Squadron. A special commemorative scheme was designed for the unit’s MikoyanGurevich MiG-29 Fulcrums. Each jet assumed the name and portrait of an outstanding pilot on the tailplanes and the squadron badge on the upper surfaces. MiG-29 ‘Red 38’ is named after Wojciech Januszewicz. Once again, a gallant warrior soars in the sky.

MIG TRIBUTE

One of 15 Polish Air Force squadrons formed on British soil, 303 Squadron fought throughout World War Two. More than 18,000 men and women served with the

30 FLYPAST September 2017

MiG-29 ‘Red 38’ of the Polish Air Force’s 23rd Tactical Air Base is named after Wojciech Januszewicz. A ROGUCKI

We are a leading British War Medal dealership based in the heart of London. We specialise in British and World Orders, Decorations and Medals and carry an extensive range of general militaria from both Great Britain and around the world.

www.london-medals.co.uk 020 7836 8877 BUY & SELL WAR MEDALS • BUY & SELL MILITARIA VALUATIONS • PART EXCHANGE WELCOME • MEDAL MOUNTING SERVICES BUY MEDAL RIBBON • DISCREET SERVICE • NEXT DAY DELIVERY • BUY & VIEW ALL AVAILABLE STOCK ONLINE • BUY & VIEW ALL AVAILBLE STOCK ONLINE

p031_FP_Sept17_ad.indd 1

18/07/2017 09:31

WORLD WAR TWO AVRO LANCASTER

A K ANGAROO

WITH BAGPIPES! A

green Aldis light from the runway controller’s caravan beside the runway at Binbrook signalled the clearance to take off. It was 19:48 hours on Monday, September 6. The concrete was damp from a recent shower of rain as, with its four Merlin engines roaring under the strain of full power, a Lancaster of 460 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) surged down the runway. Moments later, its pilot, Australian Flt Sgt ‘Jerry’ Bateman, heaved his heavily-laden charge off the runway and into the air. The sun had just set as Lancaster III, W5005 ‘AR-L’, climbing slowly, thundered off into the gathering

32 FLYPAST September 2017

darkness for what was to be its 30th operation over enemy territory. For the crew it was their 12th ‘op’ of the 30 they needed to complete a full tour and it was their 10th in L-forLeader, their allocated aircraft; a Lancaster with colourful nose-art.

BOMB TALLY

One of 18 from 460 Squadron flying on September 6, W5005 was part of a force of 400 bombers: 257 of them Lancasters. They were tasked with hitting the BMW aircraft engine plant on the northern outskirts of Munich; a regular target for Bomber Command at this stage of the war. Leader was carrying a 4,000lb HC

(high capacity) blast bomb, known as a ‘Cookie’, a single 500lb general purpose bomb and 600 small 4lb incendiaries in canisters; a typical load for this sort of target. Over Munich the target was completely obscured by clouds, the tops of which were at 14,000ft. Running in from 20,000ft at 23:50, the crew of W5005 dropped the bombs using the ‘sky marker’ target indicators laid by the Pathfinders. Broadcasts from the Master Bomber – a recent innovation – provided further directions. The crew later reported that they had seen a: “good concentration of fires burning in the target area”. Others from 460 encountered

SQN LDR CLIVE ROWLEY TELLS THE STORY BEHIND THE NEW MARKINGS FOR THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL FLIGHT’S LANCASTER moderate flak with searchlights illuminating the clouds to silhouette the bombers for the night-fighters. They also said that enemy fighters were very active: “with paths in the sky of three lines of seven fighter flares at regular spacing, showing the bombers’ route.” Nineteen aircraft, including three Lancasters, failed to return from the raid. Having been airborne for 8 hours 25 minutes, W5005 landed back at Binbrook at 04:13 on September 7. After debriefing and a breakfast of bacon and eggs, the crew got some well-earned sleep. Meanwhile, the ground crew worked on the aircraft and during

the following morning someone added a new yellow bomb symbol to the growing tally next to Leader’s nose-art. It now sported two rows of 12 symbols – the middle row had been painted first – plus six on the top row; a total of 30 'ops'. Two days later, on September 9, there was a press visit to 460 Squadron. A number of photographs were taken of the unit’s aircraft and personnel, including several of Leader. No doubt the photographers were attracted by the nose-art of a kangaroo wearing wellington boots, playing the bagpipes. As well as the bomb tally of 30 symbols, there were four ice cream

cones, designating raids on Italian targets. Two red bombs, on the unfinished top row, recording recent raids on Berlin, flown by the Bateman crew. [Some sources link this noseart with 460 Squadron Lancaster JB607. This is incorrect as JB607 was lost on its ninth operation and could not have displayed 30 ‘ops’ on the bomb log - Author.]

Above left

LACW Margaret Turner in the cockpit of W5005. Note the 30 bomb tallies. Above right

Lancaster PA474 showing off its new nose-art at Coningsby on July 4.

TIME FOR A ‘MAJOR’

The nose-art on W5005, captured in the photographs taken at Binbrook on September 9, 1943, is now faithfully replicated on the port side of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s

THE OTHER SIDE While the port side of Lancaster PA474 wears the squadron code letters and artwork of 460 Squadron’s W5005 ‘AR-L’, the starboard side is painted with the code letters of 50 Squadron’s ‘VN-T’. These were the codes worn by Lancaster I LL922 in which the current Officer Commanding BBMF Sqn Ldr Andy ‘Milli’ Millikin’s grandfather, Fg Off Douglas Millikin DFC, flew 27 of his tour of 35 'ops' Fg Off Douglas Millikin DFC. with 50 Squadron between May and July 1944, along with his crew. Wireless operator John Tait is the sole surviving member of the crew today. ‘Dougie’ Millikin went on to fly a second tour of ‘ops’ with 156 (Pathfinder) Squadron. Sqn Ldr Millikin, said: “The new livery for the port side of Lancaster PA474 recognises and commemorates the John Tait, 50 Squadron Lancaster wireless airmen and ground crews from the operator, with OC BBMF Sqn Ldr Andy Millikin. Commonwealth nations, particularly VIA SQN LDR ANDY MILLIKIN Canada, Australia and New Zealand, who played such a huge part in the operations by Bomber Command during World War Two. “Some 20,000 Australian airmen served with Bomber Command and over 4,000 of them failed to return. That is why we chose the markings of 460 Squadron RAAF Lancaster L-for-Leader with its colourful and humorous nose-art. “I decided to have the starboard side of PA474 painted with the 50 Squadron code letters ‘VN-T’, T-for-Tommy to commemorate my grandfather and his crew who flew a full tour of operations in a Lancaster with those markings. The opportunity to honour both my own kin and a surviving veteran – my grandfather’s wireless operator John Tait – was unique and so I seized it. I hope my indulgence is forgiven.”

September 2017 FLYPAST 33

WORLD WAR TWO AVRO LANCASTER

Above

The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Avro Lancaster PA474 in its newly applied markings. ALL AIR-TO-AIR PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN DIBBS

(BBMF) PA474. Its new ‘identity’ commemorates the eclectic mix of men and women from Australia, Britain and other Commonwealth nations who maintained and flew the Lancasters of Bomber Command and of 460 Squadron RAAF in particular. At the end of the 2016 ‘season’, PA474 was flown to Duxford to begin a scheduled ‘Major’ service, carried out under contract by the Aircraft Restoration Company. This involved a massive amount of work to ensure the 72-year-old bomber’s continued airworthiness for many more years. Included was a repaint, giving the opportunity to portray two more Bomber Command units – see the panel on page 33 for the starboard side. The Lancaster flew its ‘post-Major’ air test on July 3. It was returned to its home at Coningsby the following day, almost exactly nine months after it had departed.

FIRST CREW

Built by Metropolitan-Vickers at Trafford Park, Manchester, in the spring of 1943, W5005 was a Mk.III, identical to the Mk.I but 34 FLYPAST September 2017

fitted with American Packard Merlins rather than Rolls-Royce powerplants. Issued to 460 Squadron in May 1943, it took over the individual aircraft letter ‘L’ from W4939. That Lancaster was lost on its 20th 'op', a raid on Krefeld, on June 22, with the deaths of all but one on board. The first crew to be allocated W5005 as their individual aircraft, was captained by Australian Flt Sgt Ken Giles. He and his crew had already completed three-quarters of their first tour, but not without serious incident. They had been flying the previous ‘L’, W4939, when it was hit by flak on April 16/17, 1943. They were able to bomb the target, Pilsen, and to return to base, but W4939 needed repairs. When W5005 arrived on the squadron and was coded ‘AR-L’ it was natural that it was allocated to the Giles crew. On their first 'op' in W5005, to Düsseldorf on May 25, they had to feather the starboard inner engine before the target, but continued to drop their bombs and then returned home on three

engines. After eight trips in W5005, the Giles crew had completed their full tour of 30 'ops' and were ‘rested’; five of them being awarded the DFM. (Ken Giles died in Australia in 2013, aged 101 years and 11 months.)

MIXED NATIONALITIES

The next crew to take on W5005 was captained by a Scottish pilot, Sergeant (later Flt Sgt) J D ‘Jock’ Ogilvie, one of the few British pilots on the Australian unit. There were three other ‘Brits’: wireless operator Sgt P W Moore, mid-upper gunner Sgt S F Hare and flight engineer Sgt John (Jack) ‘Mad Mac’ Mckenzie, a 20-year-old former Halton apprentice who came from Pembroke Dock in Wales. The other three members of the Ogilvie crew were Australian: navigator Sgt R J Garrett, bomb aimer Fg Off H G D Dedman and rear gunner Sgt J E Atherton. It was the Ogilvie crew that came up with the idea for W5005’s nose-art. It reflected their mixed nationalities: the kangaroo for the

Australians, the bagpipes for the Scot and the welly boots for the Welshman! Fg Off ‘Vic’ Watts, a navigator on 460, was also a talented artist and he painted the nose-art on W5005. Watts served with the unit for two tours, the first ending in November 1943 and the second from October 1944 to May 1945. By that time, he was a flight lieutenant with two DFCs. He painted nose-art on several of 460’s aircraft, with style and humour, signing them with his initials. Vic Watts passed away some years ago, but a remarkable photograph from his own album, held by his

family, shows him painting the kangaroo with the bagpipes onto W5005 in July 1943. At that point, the aircraft had completed 12 'ops'. The Ogilvie crew flew W5005 on nine sorties between June 21 and July 29, 1943, three of which were aborted for a variety of reasons. During this period Leader was also flown twice by the Commanding Officer of 460 Squadron, Wg Cdr Charles ‘Chad’ Martin DSO DFC, and his crew.

Above

Vic Watts painting the nose-art on W5005. COURTESY OF ROBYN JACKSON

Left

Australian Flt Sgt Ken Giles and his crew.

BATEMAN CREW

On their first 'op' in W5005, to Düsseldorf on May 25, they had to feather the starboard inner engine before the target, but continued to drop their bombs and then returned home on three engines

In early August 1943, W5005 became the individual aircraft of Jerry Bateman and his crew. They flew it for the first time on operations – their second 'op' – to Mannheim on August 9. Bateman, 21, came from Broome, Western Australia, and was known for wearing his cap at a particularly rakish angle. He was commissioned as a pilot officer in November 1943 and eventually reached the rank of flight lieutenant and was awarded the DFC. September 2017 FLYPAST 35

WORLD WAR TWO AVRO LANCASTER

Below right

Jerry Bateman DFC. Below

Berlin briefing, with the Bateman crew in the front row: Hemming, Challis, Douglass, MacKay.

His crew consisted of four other Australians: bomb aimer Flt Sgt Jack Thomson, wireless operator Sgt Jack McKay and two gunners, Sgt ‘Col’ Challis in the mid-upper and Sgt ‘Glen’ Douglass in the rear. All the flight engineers on 460 were British; Jerry’s being Sgt Eric Bailey from Yorkshire. The navigator was also British: Sgt ‘Bert’ Hemmings. The Bateman crew flew 22 'ops' in W5005. Three of these were aborted; one because icing froze the pitot head, leaving them without an airspeed indicator. The successful sorties included two raids on Milan in Italy, and four to Berlin. On November 24, Bateman wrote in his diary: “Eric, our flight engineer was killed this evening whilst flying with another crew.” Eric Bailey had been flying with RAAF pilot Flt Sgt T Newstead on a simple night cross-country training flight when their Lancaster, JB647, crashed near Kelstern in Lincolnshire. The pilot, the flight engineer (Bailey) and the bomb aimer were all killed, although the others survived. Two nights later, on November 26, the Bateman crew flew to Berlin and back with a 'spare' flight engineer. Four days after that they attended Eric’s funeral at his home town in Yorkshire. Bateman wrote in his diary: “Very sad day. Attended Eric’s funeral in Kippax. Crew and I carried coffin. Very sad loss to us all.”

36 FLYPAST September 2017

On December 20, the Bateman crew flew W5005 for the last time on their 23rd 'op'. They then took on a new aircraft, ND394, coded ‘AR-J2’. Being a three-flight unit, 460 Squadron’s ‘C’ Flight carried the individual letter suffixed with a ‘2’ carried in the same manner as the mathematical symbol for ‘squared’. They went on to complete their full tour of 30 'ops' in ‘J2’, including taking it to Berlin and back four times. Their 30th was to Magdeburg, on January 21, 1944. Most of the original crew had survived a full tour, which was very much against the odds. However, bomb aimer Jack Thomson had missed six operations and he continued towards his 30 with other crews. Tragically, he was killed while flying with Sqn Ldr E A G Utz DFC* in ND361 on the disastrous Nuremberg raid of March 30/31, 1944, when 97 Lancasters were lost. Jerry Bateman died in Australia in October 2011, aged 89.

NEARLY A ‘CENTURION’

There were five more 'ops' with 460 Squadron for W5005 in February and April 1944 – the final three captained by Australian Flt Sgt ‘Dan’ Cullen. At the war’s end Cullen was a flying officer with a DFC; he passed away in Australia in January 2016, aged 101. The aircraft had been re-coded as ‘AR-E2’ and its last ‘op’ with 460

The Lancaster flies as a tribute to all those who served with Bomber Command. Lancaster W5005 undergoing damage repairs at Binbrook on May 4, 1944. Dan Cullen DFC and his crew.

“In an attempt to avoid going off the end of the runway, Dan Cullen tried to turn the aircraft at speed, but this resulted in the starboard undercarriage collapsing”

Squadron, its 51st, was to Karlsruhe on April 24/25. On return from this sortie the aircraft did not touch down until well into the available runway length. In an attempt to avoid going off the end of the runway Dan Cullen tried to turn the aircraft at speed, but this resulted in the starboard undercarriage collapsing. It was an ignominious end to the stalwart W5005’s time on the squadron. The Lancaster was quickly repaired

on site by an outside working party. It was transferred to 550 Squadron based at North Killingholme where it was re-coded as ‘BQ-N’ and known as N-for-Nan. It kept its nose-art with its new owners, probably because it was thought too good to lose. It flew its first ‘op’ with its new unit on May 9/10, 1944 against coastal batteries at Mardyck, near Dunkirk. Luck ran out for W5005 on its 94th

'op', its 43rd with 550 Squadron, to Kiel on August 26/27, 1944. It was hit and damaged by flak and on its return to Killingholme the pilot, Flt Sgt R Hopman RAAF, was attempting a flapless landing. It seems he ran out of options and the Lancaster was ditched in shallow water on mudflats in the Humber Estuary near Killingholme Haven. The crew of five Australian and two British crewmen were uninjured and paddled ashore in their dinghy, but it was the end for W5005, which had flown over 600 hours and narrowly missed out on becoming a ‘ton-up’ or ‘centurion’ Lancaster. Special thanks to Richard Munro (460 Squadron Veterans and Friends Group, Australia), Flt Sgt Daryll Fell (current 460 Squadron RAAF) and Gary Eason (Flight Artworks) for their invaluable assistance in researching and uncovering the sometimes recalcitrant history for this article. The author was Officer Commanding, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, 2003 to 2006. September 2017 FLYPAST 37

Hornby_fp.indd 1

17/07/2017 09:11

THE PEACE

PRESERVING

In this issue we present a series of features dedicated to the men and machines of the RAF and the USAF who served during the Cold War

40 SOUTHEND VULCAN

Avro Vulcan B.2 XL426, a resident at London Southend Airport, has a new hangar and a bright future. Steve Beebee speaks to its owners.

46 PEACEMAKER DOWN

When a B-36 Peacemaker carrying an atomic weapon went missing in 1950, it led to one of the most exhaustive searches in aviation history. Dr John Clearwater investigates.

52 OUT OF FUEL

Andrew Brookes explains how, in the space of 50 minutes, the RAF lost a pilot and six Hawker Hunters.

56 LIGHTNING ESCAPE

Ken Ellis describes how Johnny Squier survived ejecting from a Lightning prototype at Mach 1.7.

Above

On June 17, 1960, four Avro Vulcans of 617 Squadron demonstrated a scramble to watching journalists. Seen here is the unit’s Wg Cdr George Bastard and his crew entering XH487. George is holding on to the steps, wearing a beret, while climbing aboard is Fg Off Charles Burkard, the crew’s Air Electronics Officer, who sadly died four years later when Vulcan B.2 XM601 crashed at Coningsby on October 7, 1964. KEY COLLECTION

58 V FOR VICTOR

Squadron Leader Mike Beer tells FlyPast what life was like as an Air Electronics Officer on the Handley Page Victor. September 2017 FLYPAST 39

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / AVR O VULCAN

QUEEN

Southend’s Avro Vulcan – XL426 – has a new home and an exciting future. Steve Beebee spoke to its owners

OF THE SOUTH “I

feel like we’re back in the game. I think in the past a lot of people didn’t really know we were here, but with the facilities we have now, that’s going to change.” Chief engineer Matt Lawrence is talking about the recent advances made at London Southend Airport where Avro Vulcan B.2 XL426 is being looked after by the charity that owns it, the Vulcan Restoration Trust (VRT). After decades in the open air, the delta was given its own hangar earlier this year when airport authorities announced they needed to move it in order to expand parking facilities on site. What might have sounded the death knell for VRT has – thanks to the airport’s support – put the group in its strongest position to date. Now settled into their new home, the team members also have access to the adjacent hangar, where equipment and spares can be stored. Being under cover not only assists the Trust’s efforts to keep the aircraft in tip-top ground-running condition, but also creates a far more amenable environment. Gone are the days of having jobs curtailed

40 FLYPAST September 2017

by adverse weather, or needing to transport equipment to and from the aircraft, tasks that often added hours to the working day. The new facilities will also make it possible to expand the public-facing operation (see panel for details of forthcoming events). As well as allowing people to visit the aircraft, and sit in the cockpit, VRT will be able to tow the bomber outside, run up the engines and taxi. “We certainly plan to do that again in the near future,” nods Matt. “We’re undertaking maintenance at the moment, and while we’ve been doing that, the airport has been evolving around us. When all the work is finished, we’ll be in an ideal position to run up the engines and take her outside. We’ve been taxying her at slow speed for the last few years, and we’ll be looking to repeat that and then increase the speed in due course.”

A NEW START

The Southend Vulcan first flew on August 23, 1962, and went on to fly with Lincolnshire’s Scampton Wing, firstly with 83 Squadron. From 1971 it operated with 617 Squadron for ten years, and briefly with 27 Squadron

and 230 Operational Conversion Unit. Its final unit was 50 Squadron at Waddington, Lincs, where it was used as a crew trainer for tanker conversion. Although XL426 did not fly in the 1982 Falklands War, it did take part in the victory flypast over London on October 12 that year. Retained for airshow use by the Vulcan Display Flight it eventually flew into retirement at Southend on December 19, 1986, having been purchased by Roy Jacobsen. Its owner’s ambitious plans to return it to the skies did not come to fruition, and the aircraft was acquired by VRT (then known as the Vulcan Memorial Flight Supporters Club) in 1993. “It was a new start when we took on the aircraft, and it got a lot of people interested,” recalls trustee Richard Clarkson, VRT’s secretary. “The future of the aircraft had been in some doubt. There was a significant outstanding parking fee on XL426, as it had been stuck on the main apron for a long time. A local scrapyard had been put on alert. When we found that out we contacted the airport and offered to give them some money from

Visit the Vulcan Those keen to see XL426 in its new home do not have long to wait. The Vulcan Restoration Trust’s next open day is on Sunday, August 20. As well as a chance to see the bomber up close, there will be a flypast from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and displays of aircraft cockpits and historic vehicles. Entry is just £4 for adults (with an additional £3.50 for cockpit visits). Keep an eye on the website (below) as VRT is hosting an engine ground run and a V Force Boys book signing event with author Tony Blackman on September 3. In addition, it will run another Visit The Vulcan day on September 24. The team is hoping to raise funds to complete the refurbishment of its new hangar, and would also like to purchase an additional toilet with disabled facilities – if you can’t attend the open days but would still like to contribute, see the ‘Donate’ section on the website: www.avrovulcan.com

our reserves, and it turned out they were keen to help us look for a solution. They wanted a group of people to take on the aircraft, be contactable, and do something with it. We moved the aircraft from its previous position to the airport’s eastern perimeter, and that’s where she remained until earlier this year.” Maintaining a large and complex aircraft in running condition in an open air

environment is no small task, as lead engineer Andy Wagstaff explains: “There’s a lot of hours involved, and it helps to be a jack of all trades. The biggest thing is probably keeping the

electrical systems in good condition, bearing in mind the age of the aircraft and how long it has been outside. A lot of the electrics are inside open gear bays, so they’ve been exposed to the elements. We dehumidified the cockpit, but you can’t do much with the bays. The contacts and relays get damp, or suffer from a little corrosion, so those need attention. Now we’re in the hangar, those things can be kept dry, so all these little faults should start to melt away.” In a period of around ten days, the team (typically comprising around 15 volunteers) has removed and replaced an engine cap – a task that would previously have taken weeks. “With everything close at hand and under cover, we can achieve spectacular things in the next few years,” adds Andy.

September 2017 FLYPAST 41

Above

The Vulcan is now housed inside Hangar 6 at London Southend Airport. VRT Below

Avro Vulcan B.2 XL426 at a recent Vulcan Restoration Trust open day at Southend. ALL LIAM SHAW UNLESS NOTED

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / AVR O VULCAN

Above

Vulcan B.2 XL426 with lights on during an evening event on April 23.

WORKING TOGETHER

To their great credit, the authorities at the airport are well aware of the Vulcan’s popularity, and see its presence as an asset rather than an obstacle. “They’ve been great,” says Matt. “Even though they’ve been working on other projects they’ve helped us with the move. We need to thank them, because in a less supportive environment we could have ended up in a much worse position.” “We put in a lot of work to get the place ready,” says Richard. “Jobs included installing about 200 new ceiling tiles. But now it’s done, it’s a wonderful space to work in. We’ve got facilities for both crew and visitors – it’s fantastic. You’re out of the wind and rain, and you can come in during the evening and put the lights on. We can set up our trade stall and leave it up, rather than constantly taking it down after every event, and there’s an office area that’s perfect for board meetings. We’ve not had those luxuries before. As a result, we’re transitioning into becoming a much more professional outfit.” Trustee Peter Archer recalls one of the more time-consuming problems faced by VRT during open days: “We had to put up around 80 fence panels because in the old place the Vulcan was technically airside. We’d have to take them all down afterwards, and we might get home some four hours

42 FLYPAST September 2017

after the event finished. We can now have a semi-permanent fence around our pan. To demonstrate engine runs now, it’s simply a matter of pulling her out of the hangar onto the apron. Previously we had to tow her all the way around to a particular engine running area.” “It’s going to allow much better access for the public,” enthuses Matt. “When you step out front you’re in such a great position for watching things like engine and taxi runs. We’re getting close – we’re looking at doing low-speed runs before the year is out, moving up to mid-speed and beyond next year. We’re also looking into doing engineering experience days here in the future.”

A TALE OF TWO VULCANS

Given that the Vulcan’s first civilian owner wanted to get the jet flying, it’s tempting to wonder if there was ever any rivalry with the Vulcan To The Sky Trust (VTST), the team led by Dr Robert Pleming that did succeed in returning one of the bombers – XH558 – to the air. The truth is quite the opposite. “We were involved with the fundraising for XH558 and set up an appeal on their behalf,” recalls Richard. “We’ve always had a good relationship and plenty of friendly banter between us. By the time the campaign to get ’558 really got going, it was already apparent that ’426

would not be flying again. When Robert started digging in to what was really required, it became clear what an absolutely massive task he was facing. “Their airframe was in better condition than ours, and that sort of a fundraising drive is something that can only happen once. It was a magnificent achievement, and it has been mutually beneficial. There have been a lot of spares swaps between us over the years. We’ve helped them out when we could, and they’ve been very supportive of us. They’ve flown over here a few times too.” “The cap we have just fitted on our number two engine was donated to us by them,” adds Andy. “They had more spares than they needed, and it’s effectively brand new.” The Southend Vulcan remains on the UK civil register as G-VJET (“just because we can,” laughs Matt) but its flying days are definitely over. That said, a nosewheel leg belonging to VRT did fly – on XH558. It was a spare that the Trust donated to VTST in exchange for two engines that the latter had no further use for.

BRIGHT FUTURE

You don’t need to have second sight to pick up on the fact that these are exciting times for VRT. Unlike many places that are home to historic aircraft, the Vulcan’s base is very much a ‘live’ environment, with airliners

Left

Volunteers from the Vulcan Restoration Trust with XL426 during an open day. Below

An evening view of XL426 at Southend.

taking off and landing nearby, and with further activity from next door’s Seawing Flying Club. From the team’s superb new vantage point, the prospect of seeing XL426 thunder along the tarmac is truly tantalising. Richard is also keen to echo Dr Pleming’s desire to engage more young people in this interest, hopefully firing a passion for engineering and technology. “It won’t ever be like a museum where you’re behind a barrier,” he explains. “This is something people can come along and see, hear and touch.

People are often amazed when they go up into the cockpit and see that all the lights are on. We can explain what the systems do and how they work. Nothing against museums, but this is a very different experience.” It’s now more practical to bring in visitors and small groups to see the aircraft. Hosting such tours had previously been a relatively complex operation, involving getting hold of airside passes. It also means that the talks VRT is currently happy to go out and deliver can now be brought

‘in-house’ with XL426 present as a stunning backdrop. Equally, engineering challenges will be much easier to overcome, meaning the Vulcan has an exceptionally bright future. “One of our volunteers summed it up rather nicely for me,” says Matt. “He walked in here, looked around and said: ‘blimey, it now actually feels like a real, living museum’. This is someone who has seen plenty of our aircraft before, so I was quite touched. It meant a lot to know that we have come this far.”

“This is something people can come along and see, hear and touch. People are often amazed when they go up into the cockpit and see that all the lights are on. We can explain what the systems do and how they work. Nothing against museums, but this is a very different experience” September 2017 FLYPAST 43

AW AY D AY S

JOIN VINTAGE FLIGHTS FOUNDATION and FLY THE ICONIC MUSTANG P-51 IN BELGIUM OUR AIRCRAFT IS A FULL DUAL CONTROL TF-51 CONVERSION OF ‘SCAT VII’ FLOWN DURING WWII BY TRIPLE ACE GEN. ROBIN OLDS

We operate year-round from our homebase Antwerp/Belgium (EBAW) or many other airfields during selected events.

Special opportunity flights: 1st & 2nd of July and 26th & 27th of August: overfly ‘Flanders Fields’ and ‘Tyne Cot’ from Kortrijk Airport (EBKT). 9th of September: fly during the spotter’s day at KB airbase on the occasion of International Sanicole Airshow. [email protected] | 0032(0)3 239 6000 | www.vintage.flights In cooperation with FASTAERO, a premier warbird maintenance and training organization, we also offer Mustang type conversion training.

44 FLYPAST September 2017

Flypast Single Page.indd 54 p044_FP_Sept17_ad.indd 3

16/06/2015 09:16 17/07/2017 10:34

AW AY D AY S DAKOTA NEW ZEALAND AIR TOUR 2018 12 Days; departing...

10TH APRIL 2018

from Auckland, New Zealand

kable r a m e r A ar e y r e t s e y re! adventu

Re-live aviation’s golden years! See New Zealand as never before – flying ‘low and slow’ in a classic AOC certified Dakota! Fully hosted and inclusive with professional aircrew, 12 fun flights in a Dakota, 4-5 star hotels, meals, ground sights and attractions, cruises and much more. This is small group touring at the next level!

NZD $9,790 Twin-Share (approx GBP 5,600) NZD $11,260 Single Room (approx GBP 6,400) E: [email protected]

P: +64 9 298 9180

www.pacifictrailways.co.nz

SIT IN FAST JET COCKPITS

COME AND SEE METEOR N.F.11 WD 686 BEING RESTORED

www.boscombedownaviationcollection.co.uk Call: 01722 323636 Hangar 1, Old Sarum Airfield, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 6DZ September 2017 FLYPAST 45

Flypast Single Page.indd 54 p045_FP_Sept17_ad.indd 23

16/06/2015 09:36 09:16 17/07/2017

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / B-36 PEACEMAKER

BROKEN

ARROW

When a B-36 Peacemaker carrying an atomic weapon went missing in 1950, it led to one of the most exhaustive searches in aviation history. Following a visit to the crash site 53 years later, Dr John Clearwater reveals what happened to the aircraft and its crew on the day that America lost the bomb

46 FLYPAST September 2017

W

1950 it had amassed just over 185 flying hours. The B-36B was designed to carry the Mk.4 weapon – also known as ‘enhanced Fat Man’ – the first massmanufactured atomic weapon which was itself superseded within a short space of time.

D

epending on which conspiracy theorist you ask, this story potentially involves Soviet submarines, a stolen bomber, and even a full mutiny of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Atomic Energy Commission. Of all the nuclear weapon accidents, the loss of Convair B-36B Peacemaker 44-92075 holds the imagination like no other. This is due to the persistent mystery of the event and a lack of clear answers to seemingly simple questions. It was the first time in history that ‘Broken Arrow’, the two-word code for a missing nuclear weapon had been used in earnest. The world’s first truly intercontinental bomber, the six-engined B-36 could carry conventional or nuclear weapons. Its first test flight was on August 8, 1946 – see the February 2017 edition of FlyPast for more on the type’s development.

The average cost of a B-36 is reported to have been $3.63 million but the whole programme cost taxpayers a staggering $1.4 billion in 1950 – that would be $14.1 billion today. It was the highest amount ever spent on a military acquisition to that point. At Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas, the 7th Bomb Wing, comprising the 9th, 436th and 492nd Bomb Squadrons, was the first operational unit to accept B-36As, on June 26, 1948. The A-models had only an initial capability; the first nuclear-capable B-36B was delivered to the wing from the adjacent Convair factory in November 1948. With this conversion, the 7th became a service test unit until June 1950. B-36B 44-92075 was completed on July 31, 1949 and was assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing’s 436th Bomb Squadron. At the time of its loss overnight on February 13/14,

BOMBING SAN FRANCISCO

In the immediate post-war years, the combat readiness of the newly formed Strategic Air Command (SAC) had become about as bad as it could get. Even when a squadron could generate a sortie, it had almost zero chance of hitting a target. This was all to change under the control of General Curtis LeMay who assumed command in 1948. LeMay instituted rotating deployments, annual bombing competitions, the appointment of a SAC Lead Crew school, and on-the-spot promotions. Accuracy improved quickly. The crew of B-36 44-92075 was sent to one of the coldest places imaginable in preparation for an unusual training mission. SAC had directed the 7th Bomb Wing to send several aircraft to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, where temperatures were known to fall below -30˚C, as part of a practice strike force utilising atomic weapons to a target inside September 2017 FLYPAST 47

Above

A B-36 Peacemaker with wingtips and tail surfaces in red. Left

The Latin motto of the 7th Bomb Wing translates as ‘Death from Above’. Bottom left

A Mk.4 atomic bomb, a refined version of the ‘Fat Man’ plutonium-fired type, used over Nagasaki in August 1945.

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / B-36 PEACEMAKER The crew of B-36B Peacemaker 44-92075 Survivors Captain Harold L Barry 1st Lt Raymond P Whitfield Lt Col Daniel V MacDonald 1st Lt Ernest O Cox 1st Lt Charles G Pooler 1st Lt Paul E Gerhart 1st Lt Roy R Darrah S/Sgt James R Ford S/Sgt Vitale Trippodi Cpl Richard J Schuler S/Sgt Martin B Stephens S/Sgt Richard Thrasher Missing Captain William M Phillips (30) Captain Theodore F Schreier (35) Lt Holie T Ascol (37) S/Sgt Elbert W Pollard (28) S/Sgt Neil A Straley (30)

Pilot Co-pilot AFSWP* bomb commander Flight engineer Engineer Navigator/radar operator Observer/scanner Radio operator Radio operator Radio mechanic Gunner Gunner

Navigator AFSWP* weaponeer Bombardier Gunner (body recovered in 2012) Gunner

* Air Forces Special Weapons Project

Right

The nose gunner’s position on a B-36F.

the US. This would help develop procedures for working with atomic weapons from forward operating locations, especially in the far north. The crew was to fly from Eielson along the coast of British Columbia and on to San Francisco (see the panel for crew details). This simulated a combat mission, including night and high-altitude flying. After one or more practice runs, they would fly directly to their home base in Texas.

LAST MOMENTS

Potentially dangerous icing conditions were scattered throughout the flight path, but this was unknown to the pilot Capt Harold L Barry. He told the accident board of inquiry: “I hadn’t flown in the Arctic and I didn’t know when you are liable to get iced up there. I figured that, cold as it was, all the moisture in the air should already be frozen.” The aircraft began to build up ice on the wings, tail, engines and propellers and started to lose altitude. The bomber struggled to stay aloft, and the crew applied more power. Engine No.1 caught fire and was immediately shut down. Just before midnight, the crew sent their first emergency broadcast. Barry described the final minutes of the flight: “As soon as the scanner called in – fire in No.1 – the engineer feathered it and turned the manual switch to stop it. The scanner called fire in No.2, so he feathered that one 48 FLYPAST September 2017

“Since the plutonium core of the Mk.4’s warhead was not installed in the factory, it was intended that during the flight the bomb would be armed by inserting the component into the centre of the device via an access point in the lens on its nose” and between the fire in Nos 1 and 2 the engineers changed seats. “Then the right scanner called fire in No.5, so he feathered that one and by that time we were losing altitude quite rapidly, in excess of 500 feet a minute. I asked the radar operator to give me a heading to take me out over water. We kept our rapid rate of descent and we got out over the water at about 9,000 feet, and the co-pilot hit the salvo switch [to drop the weapon]. “The radar operator gave me a heading to take me back over land, and the engineer gave me emergency power to try to hold our altitude. We still descended quite rapidly and by the time we got over land we were at 5,000 feet. “So I rang the alarm bell, and told them to leave. The radar operator told me there was terrain, which in a few

places ran up to 3,500 feet, and that is one reason I wanted them out.”

BOMB GONE

The B-36 was over the mountainous Princess Royal Island on the north coast of British Columbia, Canada where US military records report that the 17-strong crew baled out from 5,000ft into the cold, dark rain. All were out in ten seconds. It was five minutes past midnight on February 14, 1950. This was the second loss of a B-36. The first had occurred on September 15, 1949 when B-36B 44-90279 crashed shortly after take-off from Carswell. Since the plutonium core of the Mk.4’s warhead was not installed in the factory, it was intended that during the flight the bomb

would be armed by inserting the component into the centre of the device via an access point in the lens on its nose. This required the weaponeer to carry out the arming process inside the bomb bay, a system that was discontinued on later generations of nuclear weaponry. Co-pilot Raymond P Whitfield recalled at the postcrash investigation: “There were mechanical systems for handling the core, which was not installed [or on board the aircraft] for this flight.” The bomb was fused to detonate conventionally if it was jettisoned using a barometrically-operated TNT charge. This would destroy the secrets of the design and prevent a Soviet submarine from picking it off the ocean floor.

At the rate the B-36B was losing altitude, it should have crashed in less than ten minutes and Captain Barry set the autopilot on to a seaward course after allowing the crew to evacuate in relative safety. However, instead of heading out to sea 44-92075 turned 180° to the north, gained at least 2,500ft in altitude and climbed over several mountain ranges. If flew for at least two more hours, crashing 220 miles (350km) away from the bale-out point. The Peacemaker impacted near Mount Kologet in British Columbia’s Kispiox Valley at 56° 03’ 00” N, 128° 32’ 00” W.

SEARCH AND RESCUE

Captain Barry told the press: “Only myself and Lt Ray Whitfield knew we were really in trouble.” Barry said that when he asked the radar operator for a fix on the nearest land, it was a mere three miles away. “When we got near land we were rapidly losing altitude so I put the plane in a slow turn, put it on the automatic pilot and got in line to bale out. I was the last one out of the front compartment.”

The Canadian and US militaries conducted what was probably the largest ever search effort at the time. More than 40 aircraft were involved, and more were on standby. The Canadians launched search and rescue Operation Brix, but were told nothing of the atomic bomb. The first ten crewmen were picked up on Princess Royal Island by a team led by fishing boat captain Vance King. He stated: “The men had been out in the pouring rain for 24 hours and were soaked through. They were wet, tired and looked pretty grim, but none seemed seriously injured. All were very hungry.” Lt William Kidd and CPO E Wooley led a 16-man rescue squad from the HMCS Cayuga to retrieve Sgt Vitale Trippodi. In complete darkness, they carried the injured airman off the mountain. Flight engineer Lt Charles Pooler was the last man rescued. He was seriously injured, having broken his ankle when he fell out of a tree. On February 16, he heard the voices of the Cayuga ground search crew and was found at the edge of an September 2017 FLYPAST 49

Above

The Court of Inquiry held after the loss of the B-36. Left

Cpl Richard Schuler is greeted by press photographer Peggy Spencer on his return to Fort Worth, Texas.

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / B-36 PEACEMAKER

Above

Oxygen bottles and parachutes from the bomber are recognisable in the debris field. Above right

Mangled cockpit framework. Right

Part of the B-36’s rear compartment.

uncharted lake by Lt D E Rosenroll’s team. It was no easy task to get him back to the ship; carrying a stretcher nearly two miles through the snow took seven hours. Five crewmen were still missing and as they had been the first to jump from the B-36, the search teams concluded they must have landed in the icy waters between Ashdown Island and Princess Royal Island and drowned.

CRASH SITE

For three years no one knew what had become of the giant bomber. No wreckage had been sighted in the inland waters near the bale-out point. A search of the Pacific Ocean in the area yielded nothing, and although a small oil slick was spotted in the region it was not thought to be related. The Peacemaker had apparently vanished without a trace. Then, on September 2, 1953, while the Royal Canadian Air Force was conducting an ultimately unsuccessful search and rescue mission for the US millionaire oilman Ellis Hall, lost in his de Havilland Dove, they spotted the downed bomber far from where the search had been focussed. All of the technology in the B-36 was still a closely guarded state secret, so it was imperative to destroy what remained. Three expeditions set out to reach the bomber, but bad weather doomed all attempts that year. Finally, in August 1954, a small USAF team accompanied by a local guide made it to the crash site where the relatively undamaged and complete B-36 lay in its snowy grave. The aircraft had survived intact, with the harsh terrain covered up by winter conditions. In essence, one of the USAF’s largest and most secret of weapons had lain undetected until now. They spent three days placing explosives and destroying evidence. Then weather trapped them on the mountain for another week. Even 50 FLYPAST September 2017

after the team had left, many of their explosives remained scattered on the mountain and the Canadian military had to deal with them decades later. The Department of National Defense, Directorate of Nuclear Safety, sent a radiological survey to the site in August 1997. All of the collected samples were analysed and found to contain no radiation other than normal background traces. The only hint of radioactivity came from the cockpit directly below the instrument control panel that had melted in the fire. The instruments at the time of the bomber’s manufacturing were painted with radium to make them glow in the dark. This coating had also melted and produced a tiny radiation signature. There was no evidence of any plutonium or uranium (either natural, depleted or weapons grade) at the crash site, suggesting that the bomb itself had either been jettisoned before impact, or was not on board to begin with.

FUSED TO EXPLODE

Testimony from the crew and declassified documents all indicate that prior to baling out, the atomic bomb was fused to explode

(conventionally) at a pre-set altitude after jettisoning from the B-36, and would detonate above the water, west of Princess Royal Island. The 1950 USAF report to a congressional committee – the only declassified statement released so far – notes that the bomb was presumed destroyed. Some have speculated that a weapon, together with its plutonium core, was on the aircraft. Carrying a core-equipped weapon was never authorised and the crucial component remained in the custody of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) – the custodian authority for US atomic weapons. If the core had been on board the bomber, it would have suggested a full mutiny by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and SAC with the complicity of the AEC board and all associated personnel. Release of cores was the sole prerogative of the President. There is no reason for the military to have effectively taken a nuclear core for a training mission.

SEARCH FOR ANSWERS

In August 2003 a small team, including the author and a camera crew, flew to the crash

site by helicopter to examine the wreckage, collect artefacts, and search for answers. The group had been given the first permit ever issued by the provincial government. The trip was sponsored by the Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum and Michael Jorgensen of MythMerchant Films, who had taken an interest in the case and wanted to know the true story of what had occurred. It was determined that the bomber was probably headed eastnortheast to about 075° when it hit the top of a ridge on Mount Kologet. The team expected it to have been flying almost directly north, based on the bale-out location and was slightly surprised to find a more easterly heading. At the crash site the author found the remains of the forward bomb bay, where records show the weapon was carried. The bomb shackle was completely intact, having survived the crash. The locking knuckle that was used

to hold the bomb by a single point on the shackle was undamaged and closed. The Mk.4 must have been dropped before the crash, when the aircraft was still over the ocean, or the knuckle would have been damaged when the bomb was wrenched away during impact with the mountainside. This lends credible physical evidence to the records declaring the bomb was dropped prior to the crash. The many artefacts collected from the crash site are displayed at the Diefenbunker, just outside Ottawa. There is no viable explanation of how the B-36B managed to fly from the bale-out point to the crash site. Captain Barry told reporters soon after the accident that he had set the “automatic pilot and somehow it [the bomber] turned in the air and came back over us.” He

also said he knew what the aircraft was doing in the dark as “there were three engines burning and I could follow the ship’s progress as I went down in my parachute.” Some speculate that an autopilot error, combined with improved weather conditions, allowed the bomber to gain altitude and fly several more hours. Another theory is that it is nearly impossible for the aircraft to have made it so far into the mountains without a pilot at the controls. Without access to the full records held by the USAF and the Department of Energy, we shall never know the complete truth. The author has written Broken Arrow #1 – The World’s First Lost Atomic Bomb, published by Hancock House Publishers – www.hancockhouse.com

September 2017 FLYPAST 51

Above, left to right

The complete and relatively undamaged bomb rack, knuckle and salvo box from the bomb bay. Below

Memorial plaque at the crash site. ALL COURTESY OF DIEFENBUNKER: CANADA’S COLD WAR MUSEUM

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / HAWKER HUNTER

BEYOND Below

A scene at West Raynham in September 1955, with Hunter F.1s of the DFLS ready for a sortie. The aircraft had received white markings as can be seen on WT648. The aircraft behind appears to have white paint applied to the wing.

Andrew Brookes describes how, in the space of 50 minutes, the RAF lost a pilot and six Hunters for no good reason

THE LIMITS A

dolf Galland, the great Luftwaffe fighter leader, used to say that the three most useless things to a pilot were yesterday’s weather forecast, the runway behind you and fuel left in the bowser. Focusing on the last, one of the problems with early jet fighters such as the Gloster Meteor and Hawker Hunter was their healthy appetite for fuel. Towards the end of a flying training sortie on February 26, 1952, an instructor and his pupil in Meteor T.7 WF831 of 207 Advanced Flying School found themselves over Flamborough Head with precious little fuel remaining. The instructor shut down the port engine to conserve fuel but even so there was very little sloshing about in the bottom of the tanks as the T.7 approached its base at Full Sutton, to the east of York. The short 2,700ft runway was well placed to starboard and the instructor made a beautifully judged asymmetric approach given that there was no

52 FLYPAST September 2017

headwind component. Unfortunately, there was a railway embankment just short of the touchdown point, and what should be passing along at that moment but a train full of fish from Hull. The Meteor’s nose went between two wagons, throwing several trucks off the rails, and the aircraft came to rest with the cockpit intact but swimming in over-ripe fish. A chastened crew was extracted with no more than a broken arm, dented pride and stinking flying overalls. They had learned the hard way that it pays to know your aircraft’s limits and to stick to them.

ELITE TEACHING THE ELITE

The Hunter F.1, powered by the 7,550lb st Rolls-Royce Avon 7, had a top speed of 617mph at 36,000ft. It could climb to 45,000ft in 9.8 minutes and had a ceiling of 51,000ft. Neither the F.1 nor the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphirepowered F.2 had wing tanks or

provision for drop tanks as they were essentially short-range fighters. Sole armament consisted of four 30mm Aden cannon firing a combined rate of 80 rounds per second. Hunters were stockpiled at the Hawker test airfield at Dunsfold in 1954 as doubts were expressed by the RAF about the fighter’s endurance. Several examples, flown by very experienced pilots at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down, landed with insufficient fuel remaining even to taxi away from the runway. Nevertheless, a limited release to service was issued for the F.1 on July 1, 1954 so it could be flown by a selected few at the RAF’s Central Fighter Establishment (CFE) at West Raynham in Norfolk. A dozen F.1s were issued to CFE the following week whereupon the Hunter showed its mettle by intercepting highflying Canberras (a Meteor couldn’t have got even close) but successful

interceptions could only take place up to 80 miles from base because of prescribed fuel limitations. Half of CFE comprised the Day Fighter Leader School (DFLS) which was established after the war to teach leaders of fighter wings and squadrons how to handle their formations effectively. To quote from the syllabus, a good fighter leader: “must know how to best operate and manoeuvre formations of aircraft in the face of varying tactical contingencies in order to maintain maximum cohesion whilst making the minimum concession in speed, climb and manoeuvrability”. In other words, DFLS saw itself as the elite that taught the embryo elite, but there is always a risk that any self-proclaimed master race will make minimum concessions once too often.

THREE OUT OF FIVE

The abiding fuel problem didn’t go away as a newspaper headline

dated November 1955 illustrated: “JET AIRCRAFT CRASHES – FUEL EXHAUSTED IN BAD WEATHER”. The article explained: “Three out of five jet aircraft which had been flying together crashed yesterday after they had run out of fuel. There were no casualties. Two were Hawker Hunters of 54 Squadron’s aerobatics team. The third was a two-seater Vampire trainer in which a camera man of the United States Air Force had been photographing their manoeuvres. “The five aircraft were unable to land at Odiham, Hampshire, when the weather suddenly deteriorated. They were diverted to Farnborough, but one Hunter crashed at Slinfold, Sussex, and the Vampire at Frensham, Surrey. The three occupants baled out safely. A second Hunter made a wheels-up landing at Tangmere, Sussex. The other two Hunters landed safely at Farnborough.

An RAF court of inquiry will be held.” [The incident took place on November 3, 1955. The Slinfold Hunter was F.4 WT709, the other 54 Squadron machine was repaired and returned to service; Vampire T.11 XD539 was part of the Odiham Station Flight.]

FLYING ON FUMES

The most legendary case of Hunters coming to grief due to lack of fuel took place on February 8, 1956. After the headline “SIX JETS CRASH IN NORFOLK”, The Times reported: “Six out of eight Hunter fighter aircraft crashed in the area of Swaffham, Norfolk, yesterday in bad weather. One pilot was killed, and four others baled out of their aircraft. “The Hunters, on a training flight from the Central Fighter Establishment at West Raynham, Norfolk, were recalled to base when the weather deteriorated, and then were diverted to the RAF station at

September 2017 FLYPAST 53

Above left

An early publicity shot of the Hunter F.1 showing the sleek look of the design. Above

A row of DFLS Hunter F.1s pictured in February 1955.

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / HAWKER HUNTER Marham, Norfolk. Two landed safely at Marham, one crash-landed on the approach to the airfield, and another, the pilot of which was killed, crashed in an adjoining field. The remaining four pilots were all uninjured after baling out. The name of the dead pilot had not been announced last night. His next-of-kin are abroad. “The weather at midday, the approximate time of the accidents, was given as eight-tenths cloud with a base of 100ft, and visibility of 660 yards. Earlier the main cloud base was given as 5,000ft, with broken cloud at 1,800ft. A meteorologist told

FOUR-VERSUS-FOUR

On that day, two instructors and six students had taken off from West Raynham at 10:50 hours in eight Hunters to carry out a four-versusfour dogfight at 45,000ft. There was some low cloud and widespread mist but although the weather was expected to improve, at the time it was so foul that the other half of CFE – the Air Fighting Development School – refused to fly at all. The DFLS Hunters climbed to height, formed up into battle formation, made a few turns and then had to return to base because their

card was to roll the fog over Marham while the Hunters transited the short distance from West Raynham. Red One and Red Two overflew Marham at 1,000ft, made a quick circuit, broke cloud at 500ft and then flew into the fog. The instructor in Red Two lost his leader but pressed on, landing at 11:32 after 42 minutes in the air. Red One flew three timed circuits before he saw the runway. He landed successfully but his engine stopped from fuel starvation as he taxied in. Two aircraft had been saved but that was to be all – see the panel.

DFLS Hunter F.1 losses February 8, 1956 Serial WT629 WT639 WW603 WW633 WW639 WW635

Pilot Sqn Ldr W Ives Lt Cdr N R Williams RN Flt Lt B Watford Flt Lt J A MacPherson Flt Lt M J Norman Sqn Ldr R J Tumilty

Age 34 29 32 29 25 31

Tumilty was killed when WW635 crashed northeast of Swaffham. The canopy had been jettisoned and the aircraft was under power when it impacted. All the others baled out successfully.

Above right

Coded ‘E’, 43 Squadron’s WT580 refuels. This aircraft passed to 229 OCU before being wrecked in a landing accident in March 1957.

The Times that there was a cold front approaching from the North Sea at the time. “All the aircraft crashed on open ground, and local fire brigades soon put out the flames. No civilians were involved. An official of the Air Ministry said that early inquiries had shown that the pilots who baled out complied with the drill of pointing the nose of the aircraft out to sea. “One of the fighters involved yesterday crashed on the home farm of Cockley Cley Hall, owned by Major Sir Peter Roberts MP. It caught fire and was burnt out. Mr F J Callaby, manager of the estate, said: ‘The pilot was unhurt. He had baled out. I took him to Swaffham police station. He said that he had run out of fuel.’ “The Air Ministry said last evening that low cloud, mixed with fog, came in suddenly from the sea and visibility was reduced ‘alarmingly quickly’. After the aircraft had been diverted to Marham the weather deteriorated rapidly there as well. “An inquiry will be held into the crashes, when questions of fuel supplies and the weather will be considered. The value of a Hunter fighter is about £100,000, an official of the makers, Hawker Aircraft., said last night.”

54 FLYPAST September 2017

“Mr F J Callaby, manager of the estate, said: ‘The pilot was unhurt. He had baled out. I took him to Swaffham police station. He said he had run out of fuel.’” fuel was running low. By the time they were in the West Raynham overhead at 20,000ft, they found that far from the weather improving, the cloud base was down to 400ft and fog had reduced surface visibility to less than 1,000 yards (914m). With some 20 to 25 minutes of fuel remaining, the octet could have diverted either to Marham – less than a dozen miles to the southwest – or to Waterbeach, 20 miles further on in the same direction. A Meteor and Vampire had already successfully diverted from West Raynham to Waterbeach but it was decided that the Hunters would opt for Marham. Once over West Raynham at 2,000ft, the Hunters set off for their diversion with 30-second intervals between pairs. Being on a Canberra station, the controllers at Marham might not have been experienced in dealing with a bevy of fighters’ short of fuel. Their ground-controlled approach radar was also not of the best, but Fate’s trump

LESSER MORTALS

Yellow Three could only snatch glimpses of the ground from 500ft so he climbed and ejected. Yellow Four pressed on but the squadron leader pilot on board WW635 died when his aircraft crashed into a field. Yellow Two – the other instructor – lost his leader and with 12 gallons remaining, climbed and ejected. Yellow One was slightly luckier. He was forced to climb when he saw trees in his path but on letting down again to 150ft for a low-level circuit, he saw the runway. Unfortunately, his engine flamed out as he turned on to finals and he force-landed straight ahead. Red Four likewise lost his leader and on descending to 600ft without seeing the ground, he climbed and ejected as the engine flamed out at 2,500ft. Red Three also climbed to 4,000ft and ejected, his aircraft hitting the ground at 11:40. In the space of 50 minutes, the RAF had lost one life and six fighters for no good reason at all. Ironically, while all

this was happening the weather had improved at West Raynham. The short timeframe of this tragic accident said much about the internal fuel capacity of the Hunter F.1 but the blame for the catastrophe did not lie with the aircraft. It can be argued that the DFLS lost six Hunters because it had got into the habit of regarding normal safety procedures as constraints that only applied to lesser mortals, and it did not learn otherwise until it was too late. Flying to the limits is very commendable but flying beyond them is not. In mid-1955 the Hunter F.4 began to replace the F.1. The F.4 had the advantage of an internal fuel capacity of 414 gallons as against 334 gallons on the Mk.1 and it could also carry a drop tank under each wing. Thereafter the Hunter became a superlative aeroplane.

SILENCE DESCENDED

Despite the challenges of new technology, too many accidents over the years have resulted from mundane error rather than from

crews being at full stretch. The RAF’s first Canberra accident occurred after B.2 WD985, an early production aircraft, was delivered to Hawarden, near Chester. The following day, April 8, 1952, WD985 was flown by the unit commanding officer with the ferry pilot checking him out from the jump seat. During the landing checks, the check pilot called for “All fuel cocks on” whereupon the pilot under instruction switched them all off. As silence descended, an attempt was made at an engineless bellylanding on a grass airfield – Sealand – nearby. The Canberra slid off across the boundary and one of the RAF’s latest shiny bombers was written off. In the words of the exceptional US aviator and the first human to go supersonic,

Brigadier General ‘Chuck’ Yeager: “the best way to fly safe is to know what the hell you are doing”. Richie Profit was a qualified flying instructor on Hunters, Harriers and Jaguars. He was a Harrier squadron commander and Jaguar station CO before becoming the RAF Inspector of Flight Safety. “I didn’t join the Hunter force until 1966 and by then just about all of the old Hunter day-fighter guys had either retired, moved on or been killed. It should be borne in mind that they were flying [the] Hunter F.1, which was short of fuel before it even got airborne. “It was also a DFLS accident, an outfit not known for its flight safety record. In my experience of operating with some of its later graduates, [they thought] safety was for wimps and aircraft were disposable. Not that unusual in the fast jet force and it only really changed when the Tornado entered service and accidents became extremely expensive.”

September 2017 FLYPAST 55

Below left

A formation of 54 Squadron aircraft prepare for a display at Farnborough in 1955. Note the variations in tail markings on the three aircraft, with the leader having a yellow lightning flash on his mount. ALL KEY COLLECTION

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / TESTING TIMES

OFF THE RADAR

INTO THE WATER Johnny Squier survived ejecting from a Lightning prototype at Mach 1.7 and 40,000ft. Ken Ellis recounts his remarkable career

Below

Painted ready for their appearance at the September 1959 Farnborough airshow, development batch Lightning F.1 XG331 and the prototype T.4 XL628. ENGLISH ELECTRIC

P

aperwork arrived in the spring of 1944 announcing that Plt Off ‘Johnny’ Squier had been seconded to Avro at Woodford, near Manchester, as a production test pilot. He was to work under chief test pilot ‘Sam’ Brown – the man who had carried out the maiden flight of the Lancaster in January 1941. Prior to this appointment Johnny had been flying with ferry pools and testing at maintenance units and before that, he had fought in the Battle of Britain. (See the panel.) From early 1945 he moved across the Pennines to the Avro ‘shadow’ factory at Yeadon, near Leeds, signing off Ansons and Lancasters, before returning to ferrying work. Duties included trips to Samlesbury, near Preston, to pick up Halifaxes built by English Electric (EE) and one of the early de Havilland Vampires made at the plant. These sorties were a taste of things to come; in August 1946 Johnny left the RAF and started work as a production test pilot (PTP) with EE at Samlesbury. There was plenty to do: EE was a major Vampire contractor completing its last example, an FB.9, in February 1952.

56 FLYPAST September 2017

FAR FROM ROUTINE

A routine second test of an EE-built DH Vampire III 17043, destined for the Royal Canadian Air Force, went very wrong on November 3, 1947. The engine failed on take-off at Samlesbury – at just 10 feet up. In his book Tests of Character (Airlife, 1995) Don Middleton vividly described the outcome as Johnny: “...missed the aerodrome fence and headed for a hedge with [a] farmhouse slightly to the right and a tree slightly to the left, the distance between the two being less than 30 yards. “The Vampire hurtled between the two obstacles and struck the ground in a shallow, dried up pond which hurled the aircraft back into the air. Squier went through the bottom of the seat and the canopy shattered; he was then airborne again towards a row of trees and very conscious of the

fact that half a ton of Goblin engine was behind him and only a light wood shell in front. “He decided that to avoid total disaster he must put one wing down

by applying full aileron to starboard; the tip hit the ground and the aircraft spun round to slide backwards, stopping with its tailplane inches from the nearest tree.” On October 7, 1949 Johnny became the second pilot to fly the prototype Canberra, VN799. The first person, of course, was his ‘boss’, EE chief test pilot Roland ‘Bea’ Beamont. By 1951 Johnny had been appointed as chief PTP, testing Canberras from Samlesbury with James ‘Jock’ Still as his deputy. Johnny carried out the maiden flight of the prototype Canberra B.5, VX185, on July 6, 1951. The B.5 was a radar-equipped target-marker version of the B.2 and did not enter production. Used for a wide range of trials, VX185 was transformed into the prototype B(I).8 interdictor and given its debut in that guise by Bea on July 23, 1954.

HIGH MACH ROLLS

Twelve days after Beamont had taken the Canberra B(I).8 into the air for the first time, he was at the

From Spitfires to Lightnings John William Copous ‘Johnny’ Squier was born in 1920 at Chelmsford, Essex. He joined the RAF in 1939 and was posted to 64 Squadron at Kenley in July 1940. Flying Spitfire I P9369 on August 8, 1940 Johnny was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 of JG 51 just after 11am. He crash-landed close to the cliffs at Capel-le-Ferne, Kent, and suffered serious facial injuries. Taken to East Grinstead Hospital, Johnny was treated by Dr Archibald McIndoe, the pioneer of ‘plastic’ surgery. Three months of surgery followed, making Johnny one of McIndoe’s famous ‘Guinea Pigs’. In November 1940 Johnny was back on ‘ops’, flying Spitfire Is with 72 Squadron from Coltishall and by the end of the year he had joined 603 Squadron, with Spitfire IIs from Drem. On a patrol of the northeast coast on Christmas Day in P7597, Johnny intercepted and shot down a Junkers Ju 88. From 1941 Johnny began a series of stints as a maintenance unit pilot, or attached to a ferry pilot pool: an ideal background to become a test pilot.

controls of the second aircraft in EE’s product line, P.1A WG760 – the Lightning prototype. As construction of single-seaters gained pace, the need for an operational trainer was pressing. Bea flew the first T.4, XL628, on May 6, 1959 from Warton, Lancashire. Along with development batch Lightning F.1 XG331 and Canberra PR.9 XH134, XL628 attended the Farnborough airshow in early September. Both XG331 and XL628 had been painted with a prominent lightning flash and the name ‘Lightning’ in script on their noses. Beamont showed off XL628 with his usual style and vigour during the daily flying display. Johnny made the transition to the new type and was soon to hit the headlines. On October 1, 1959 he was detailed to carry out rapid rolls in XL628 at 40,000ft and at Mach 1.7. This was the two-seater’s 94th flight and it had just over 40 hours ‘on the clock’. Taking off from Warton midmorning, Johnny transited to the test area, over the Irish Sea northeast of the Isle of Man and south

of the Solway Firth and began the trials. The two-seater started to yaw violently and try as he might, Johnny could not correct this. The yawing was joined by pitching; the pitot tube bent across the air intake and XL628 was uncontrollable. Johnny ejected, only to discover that the automatic deployment of the parachute had failed to co-operate and he used the manual over-ride. The prototype T.4 plummeted into the water – it was the first Lightning to crash. The trace on Warton’s radar vanished. There had been no ‘Mayday’ call. Down in the Irish Sea, Johnny sorted out his dinghy and awaited hopefully the sound of a helicopter. He was not to know it, but the battery on his personal locator beacon had long since gone flat. There was an intensive search going on, but the Irish Sea is

a large place when there isn’t a telltale ‘blip’ on a radar to help narrow down the area. Johnny made his own landfall in Wigtown Bay a staggering 28½ hours after he left XL628!

ESCAPE SYSTEM EXPERT

After the huge search effort to find Johnny, EE turned its attention to recovering wreckage to discover just what had gone wrong. This operation was abandoned by the following spring but by then sufficient material had been gathered. It was believed that the fin had suffered a structural failure and a strengthening programme was instigated on both single- and twoseaters.

Johnny had injured his back and damaged his ears and eyes in the high-Mach ‘bang-out’. His report on the flight concluded with a wry comment that he had no intention of having a boating holiday once he had recovered. After a period of convalescence, he returned to his role signing off production Canberras and Lightnings. He retired from test flying in December 1966 by which time he had over 6,000 hours to his credit on 75 types. Johnny took the post of Cockpit Design Liaison and Safety Equipment Officer, the latter highly appropriate after his ditching. He worked on the escape system for the BAC TSR.2 and for the SEPECAT Jaguar and finally left what had become British Aerospace in December 1983. Johnny Squier died on January 30, 2006, aged 85. He was one of ‘The Few’, a meticulous test pilot and a reluctant but resilient Irish Sea sailor. Adapted from Volume Two of Testing to the Limits – British Test Pilots since 1910 by Ken Ellis. Both volumes available from Crécy Publishing, more details at www.crecy.co.uk September 2017 FLYPAST 57

Above

Personnel examining the wreck of Vampire F.III 17043 at Samlesbury, November 1947. KEC

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / WW2 DESERTER OR PATRIOT?

Below right

A low pass from XL513, one of 139 Squadron’s nuclear-capable B.2s, in low-level configuration. By this time the Kuchman ‘carrots’ had been fitted to the trailing edge, and the hydraulic leadingedge flaps can be clearly seen. Eventually, these were fixed at a permanent droop. KEY COLLECTION

A

HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR

s Pilot Officer Mike Beer ran down the road leading from the Officers’ Mess at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, he could only watch in dismay at the situation unfolding in front of him. It was a classic case of irresistible force meets immovable object and, for the hapless young officer, it was made more poignant by the fact the ‘force’ in question was his antiquated car, careering towards the latter at alarming speed, and the ‘object’ was a Handley Page Victor B.2, the RAF’s latest bomber, and one of the V-Force nuclear deterrent. It was Mike’s first day at Wittering, and he had just arrived to join 139 Squadron as an air electronics officer (AEO) on his first operational posting to flying duties. Yet, as he hared along after his recalcitrant vehicle, it occurred to him that not only could his service career be a potentially short one, but that his third-party insurance wasn’t likely to cover the outcome. “I had just written off quite a reasonable car at [RAF] Gaydon,” he ruefully remembers, “And I bought a bashed in 1946 Daimler for £37/6d. It had a series

of faults, which included a faulty starter, so you had to swing it on the handle. “Standard operating procedure (SOP) was to jam a book under the accelerator cable under the bonnet, turn the handle, remove the book then drive away. That morning as I drove down to the mess, I noticed that the parking spaces were full. At this point the engine died on me as it was a cold morning, so it was back with the SOP.” Mike was going to be late for his first day of simulator training at the nearby operations block, so, given the circumstances it seemed logical to save precious time and simply drive to the classroom. It was at this point, however, that fate stepped in. “I hadn’t followed the procedure correctly and selected neutral on the pre-selector gears. It was still in second gear, and as the engine fired, two tons of ancient car moved towards me.”

Having initially attempted to stop the car by the simple expedient of standing in front of it, he quickly realised that wasn’t going to work, so instead he rushed round to the driver’s door, but the by now quickly moving vehicle simply brushed him aside and set off down the road heading to a T-Junction at the end. “At the end of the junction was 40 metres of grass and then the first hangar. Outside the hangar was the first time I ever set eyes on a Victor B.2, which was XL231 [still ‘live’ to this day at Yorkshire Air Museum – ED]. The car continued down the road, hit the grass and started beaming in towards the undercarriage of the aircraft.” It looked like it was all over at this point when suddenly the unbelievable occurred. “It started to slow down, and I thought ‘there might be life after death’, and it coasted to a halt just after it got onto the apron and stopped. As I ran across the grass towards it, I noticed my book.”

DRIVING

FROM THE B Squadron Leader Mike Beer MBE tells FlyPast what life was like as an Air Electronics Officer on the Handley Page Victor.

58 FLYPAST September 2017

The impact with the rough ground had jolted the volume from under the bonnet, causing the cold engine to decelerate and stop with the car drifting to a halt shortly afterwards. Nervously, Mike looked around but there wasn’t a soul in sight on the rather misty morning. Rapidly following SOP once again, he turned the Daimler around, parked in front of the ops block and rushed inside to a very welcome cup of coffee.

A SUITABLE CHOICE OF CAREER

To the young Mike Beer, a Devonian growing up in Gloucester in the 1950s, service life was second nature. His father was in the RAF working in administration, and the Beer family, including Mike and his sister spent much of its time in married quarters at RAF Innsworth during his early youth. By 1955, his father had received a posting to RAF

Changi, Singapore and after a six-month wait because of the Suez Canal blockade, the rest of the Beer family joined him, sailing from Liverpool on the Bibby liner

Devonshire. “We travelled around the Cape of South Africa, up to Ceylon [now Sri Lanka] and down the Straits of Malacca, a journey that took 43 days,” Mike recalls, “It gave me a thirst for travel.” At the time, the Malayan

Emergency was in full swing, and from the veranda of his school, which faced the airfield, the teenager watched RAF Vickers Valetta, and Handley Page Hastings transports, together with a squadron of New Zealand Air Force Bristol Freighters, operate supply missions to the troops upcountry. “This thing about flying started to get into my system, as well as the travel. I was 12 at the time, and that’s where it all began.” His dawning interest was encouraged by an occasional visit to nearby RAF Tengah where a friend he had made on the journey across lived. At night, the two boys

BACK SEAT September 2017 FLYPAST 59

Above

The Blue Steel weapon of Victor B.2 XL158 is examined in February 1964. The aircraft saw service with both 139 Squadron and the Victor Training Flight, before being converted to a K.2 tanker. It was one of the last survivors, being struck off in January 1994. KEY COLLECTION

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / WW2 DESERTER OR PATRIOT?

HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR

“Mike was offered either navigator or air electronics officer duties, despite not knowing much about either. Having ticked both boxes, he plumped for the AEO position when offered”

60 FLYPAST September 2017

would sneak out and from the police control post they’d watch Avro Lincolns and de Havilland Venoms leave on operations, a scene that vividly remains in Mike’s memories to this day. “Just before I finished my O-levels, and before I started my A-levels, I responded to an offer for an RAF

cadetship for engineering officers. My father was quite explicit in his advice to me that there was no future in flying as missiles were going to take over and pilots were no longer going to be necessary, so he directed me accordingly. “So off I went to RAF Hornchurch, and passed the initial

The nose of 543 Squadron SR.2 XL233. The blue panel on the nose is the RAF Wyton badge and shows the insignias of 51, 58 and 543 Squadrons. The Victor survived until May 1988. KEY COLLECTION

phase, and then I went to Cranwell, for the second phase. The results came out and unfortunately – but fortunately as it turned out – I wasn’t high enough on the list and didn’t get the cadetship, continuing with my studies into A-level.” When his studies ended Mike re-applied to join the RAF, heading to Biggin Hill in 1962 and rapidly moved onto aircrew selection, where one obvious disadvantage became readily apparent. “I wasn’t offered a pilot’s position,” the 6ft3in Beer laughs, “after being stuffed into a cockpit – I think it was a Meteor – it became readily apparent that with full port or starboard on the control column there were these large things in the way called legs.” Mike was offered either navigator or air electronics officer duties, despite not knowing much about either. Having ticked both boxes, he plumped for the AEO position when offered. “That was good enough for me,”

he recalls, “I was in the RAF, I was going to fly and I was going to travel. I was 18 years old. So, on December 31, 1962 – a horrible winter – I managed to get to RAF South Cerney after having walked five miles from Cirencester along the snowed-in roads with my suitcase, to be greeted by the first serviceman of my career who was an RAF Regiment Flight Sergeant who handed me a shovel and set me clearing the camp entrance.” Following the regulation four months’ basic training, the young cadet moved to RAF Topcliffe, Yorkshire to start his ground studies course, which included becoming proficient in Morse, something that has remained in Mike’s head for 54 years. “It’s so ingrained, I can still send and receive Morse at a speed that would satisfy my instructor.” Teaching rapidly moved from the ground to air exercises in the twinengine Vickers Varsity trainer before two overseas visits to Gibraltar and

Malta, where the trainee found it wasn’t all as easy as it looked. “At Topcliffe we were ‘bookperfect’, but in the big wide world when you started calling up French and Spanish control centres, those procedures just didn’t exist.” Mike soon discovered that air traffic controllers across the globe didn’t always do things as meticulously as the RAF, but despite the occasional linguistic difficulty, he graduated successfully, and found himself posted to RAF Kinloss in Scotland, to join an Avro Shackleton unit. Once again fate played a hand, and at the eleventh hour all the postings were changed and instead the young AEO found he had been posted to RAF Wittering on Victor B.2s, something he knew little about, apart from articles he had read in the RAF News. More training at Gaydon and Lindholme followed, with courses of ground instruction on the Handley Page Victor and Blue Steel nuclear deterrent respectively, before a posting to the Victor Training Flight back at Wittering for a series of flying conversion exercises. Finally, Mike was crewed up with the four other airmen who would fly with him in the cramped cockpit of the bomber, joining 139 (Jamaica) Squadron in Cambridgeshire in April 1965 with Flt Lt Breslain as his pilot. September 2017 FLYPAST 61

Top, left to right

The business end of a Victor as far as the AEO was concerned. This view of 139 Squadron’s XL158 shows some of the variety of jamming and ECM equipment mounted in the tailcone of the airframe. KEY COLLECTION

A rare view of Victor SR.2 XL193 on charge with 543 Squadron. This view is at Prestwick on January 9, 1970 and shows the sniffer cones for the filter baskets used in the air sampling role mounted on the drop tanks beneath the wing. KEY COLLECTION Mike’s first squadron – 139 – had been associated with Jamaica since World War Two. Here, the Jamaican High Commissioner, His Excellency Sir Laurence Lindo talks to aircrew at Wittering. Mike is on the far left of the picture. MIKE BEER

Bottom left

A Victor B.2 of 139 Squadron takes off from RAF Wittering on May 13, 1968. VIA ANDY THOMAS

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / WW2 DESERTER OR PATRIOT? Right

A somewhat pensive Mike Beer on a jungle survival course in 1972. MIKE BEER Below

RAF Marham plays host to 232 OCU’s XL190 on April 7, 1976. The nose section of this aircraft survives in preservation. KEY COLLECTION

THE QRA BLUES

HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR

Mike’s first impression of the Victor was that he’d never seen anything quite like it. “I was used to more conventional designs,” he says, “I was quite amazed when I saw it. It was an exceedingly beautiful and sleek aircraft that really surprised me, and it seemed to change shape as you looked at it from different aspects. Then, getting inside you realised just how small the cockpit was, and how the three in the back were sat cheek by jowl in near darkness.” Despite the excitement of joining the V-force, as well as the relief of not writing off a multi-million pound Handley Page Victor, Mike soon found that the posting had its disadvantages. “That crew stayed intact for the next five years,” he thoughtfully remembers, “which is an awful long time for five people to stay with each other as a team, and we were part of the Quick Reaction Alert force. That meant that when we were on QRA duties we ate together, travelled together and slept in the same building. If we wanted to go to the Astra cinema, we’d go as a fivesome. Overall, I found that not to my taste.”

The QRA crews were on hand to be launched at immediate notice if a nuclear attack was made on the United Kingdom by the Warsaw Pact powers. This was the height of the Cold War, and the crews had to be ready to react at a moment’s notice. It was a key part of the nuclear deterrent that guaranteed Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) to both sides in the event of war breaking out. “It was far too regimented for a 19-year old who was keen to see the world. On the positive side, the flying itself was quite challenging, as by that point nuclear operations had moved from a high to a low-level profile. “Training for that profile wasn’t easy. Mostly low level over Scotland, popping down to 500ft, then down to North East England heading south, and we would head for a bomb plot in the Lincolnshire area. Instead of releasing something though, you would be transmitting a tone before your reached the target, and when you reached your release point you would turn the tone off. “When you landed, you would receive a score as the position where your ‘bomb’ would have landed would have already been

worked out, based on your radar track and where the transmission stopped, with the information then forwarded on.” The crew would practice Blue Steel profiles using one of the Devonbased ranges, or perhaps recreate an unserviceable bomb drill, which would necessitate a high level approach and release. “I found it all very stimulating,” relates Mike, “and occasionally I would be required to fly an

“I was quite amazed when I saw it. It was an exceedingly beautiful and sleek aircraft that really surprised me, and it seemed to change shape as you looked at it”

62 FLYPAST September 2017

electronic countermeasures (ECM) run. I had the electronic warfare suite in front of me, and that was a very simple warning receiver called Blue Saga, which looked for signals from threat and early warning radars. I also had a Red Steer active tail warning radar, to warn of a possible fighter interception from behind, and mounted on top of the wing were two chaff [foil strips used to confuse radar signals] dispensers.

You could select the correct settings to disrupt a particular fighter-type radar. “Of course, these could malfunction and drop the entire lot on the pan at Wittering, and the poor old airman had to come along with a dustbin and brush and pick the whole lot up.”

Mike also had a variety of jamming equipment at his fingertips including the Red Shrimp, Blue Diver and Green Palm systems. It required a considerable amount of skill to control all these devices, and make the right decisions – no easy task for a 19-year-old newly commissioned officer. “The first few years it was a mix of lots of low level and a bit of high-level attack and the ECM

September 2017 FLYPAST 63

Above

A view of SR.2 XH672 in 1970. This aircraft is preserved at the RAF Museum, Cosford. VIA ANDY THOMAS

COLD WAR WAR RIOR S / WW2 DESERTER OR PATRIOT?

HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR

“...there was the air sampling role, which in reality saw us flying against the French and Chinese, locating and taking samples of their nuclear testing for comparison to our own”

runs. Then one day all the crews were gathered into the briefing room, where we were told that the fatigue testing of the Victor testbed had shown unexpected structural damage [caused by stress on the airframe] and that we would have to cut back on the low-level training. It was important that the airborne nuclear deterrent lasted until the Royal Navy’s Polaris submarines were operational, so the Victor’s operational life had to be eked out.” The writing was on the wall for the Victor as a bomber, with the focus now on the Polaris system, and in 1969 first 100, and then 139 Squadrons were disbanded. One of the highlights for Mike while on 139 was the continuing affinity with Jamaica, as the former UK-territory had sponsored the squadron since World War Two. “We received gifts of cigars and rum at Christmas time,” laughs Mike, “and we got an invite to send three aircraft to Kingston to do a flypast to open the 1966 64 FLYPAST September 2017

Commonwealth Games. At the eleventh hour, someone else pulled out and I was selected as the reserve AEO, kitted out and sent to Jamaica. “The three aircraft did a flyby in the afternoon streaming green, black and yellow smoke – the national colours of Jamaica – which was a moving occasion.” Another standout moment was a detachment to Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts for display purposes, after his crew had come second in a Blue Steel bombing competition. As the decade closed, Mike turned from one task to another, which would see the Victor take on a very different, but equally vital role.

UP, LOOKING DOWN

It wasn’t long before Mike found himself on the move from Wittering to 543 Squadron at nearby RAF Wyton, also in Cambridgeshire. He was preceded by several of the 100 Squadron crews after their squadron

disbandment, and with some of his own unit began his posting on the Victor SR.2 strategic reconnaissance model. Nine SR.2s had been created after being converted from the bomber variant by Handley Page. As part of that the Blue Steel system was removed and replaced by three hardpoints that could accommodate additional fuel tanks or camera points. Mike said: “543’s role was predominantly maritime or photo reconnaissance, something that was completely new to me. We had the ability to take horizon-tohorizon pictures using a fan of eight cameras, producing survey-quality photography that cartographers could use to build maps. “We spent our time flying very precise flight lines. No cloud cover, no bank, just fly straight and level. It was quite accurate flying, but the venues [such as the Seychelles] were very attractive. Then there was the air sampling role, which in reality

saw us flying against the French and Chinese, locating and taking samples of their nuclear testing for comparison to our own.” Mike visited Lima, Peru for seven-week detachments on these assignments, as well as having an occasional stay in Alaska. The missions would involve meteorologists, together with Atomic Weapons Research Establishment personnel on the ground, and would see aircrews fly W-shaped legs towards the drifting cloud from the test site, stepping down in height until radiation was detected. “The instrumentation was bolted onto the side of the aircraft and was in front of me. There was also a dosimeter to measure the amount of radiation absorbed by the aircraft and individual instrumentation attached to the crew members. On one memorable detachment I flew with Flt Lt Tom Barnard from Lima, in 1972, on several missions, and climbed to 56,000ft to collect

the sample, which was the highest we ever reached. It’s not an exact science but it took me to places I never dreamed I’d ever get to.” At the same time Mike was promoted to AEO Leader in 1973: “My first brush with authority,” he smiles wryly. The same year saw him posted from 543 to 232 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) at Marham in Norfolk in time for the first K.2 tankers to arrive from Woodford, where they had been converted from redundant bombers. Having helped write the training syllabus for incoming AEOs to the tanker force, he stayed on as an air instructor, helping to form the nucleus of what became 55 Squadron. “At this point I’d been on a bomber squadron, a SR.2 squadron and an OCU, so I now did a tour as the Victor standardizer, the examiner, and from there I went to RAF Bawtry as the Victor training AEO, which I enjoyed despite the fact it was a ground tour for four

years. I did enjoy the rugby there, though.” Eventually, AVM Mike Knight called Flt Lt Beer into his office and asked him what he would like to do. Roles in both the Shackleton AEW3 and Nimrod R1 force were suggested, but after much thought there seemed to be only one option. So, eight years after leaving 543 Squadron, the by now seasoned AEO re-joined the Victor tanker force at Marham in the Autumn of 1981, just in time to make the acquaintance of one Sqn Ldr Bob Tuxford, a charismatic tanker captain with as deep-seated a love of the former nuclear bomber as Mike. However, thousands of miles away in the South Atlantic, a situation was developing in a largely ignored British territory called the Falkland Islands, and the veteran aircraft and its devoted crews would find themselves finally going to war.

Continues in the October 2017 issue of FlyPast. September 2017 FLYPAST 65

Above

Wideawake Airfield on Ascension Island was the home for the Victor crews during the Falklands conflict. Here, 57 Squadron’s Victor K.2 XL164 is seen on the short runway. KEY COLLECTION

The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Avro Lancaster PA474 in its latest colour scheme. JOHN DIBBS-THE PLANE PICTURE COMPANY

v

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is commemorating its 60th anniversary in 2017 and, as part of the celebrations, an exciting new book has been produced in association with the RAF ‘THE FLIGHT’ features: • Foreword by Squadron Leader George “Johnny” Johnson DFM, Lancaster Bomb Aimer who flew with 617 Squadron on many missions during WW2 including the famous Dams Raid. He is the last surviving British “Dambuster” • Introduction by OC BBMF, Squadron Leader Andy Millikin.

DE LIV *Ple ER ase Y F no RO te M : AU G1 7

JUST99 £19.

‘THE FLIGHT’ is a photographic commemoration of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, arguably the most famous collection of flying warbirds in the world. Featuring exclusive contemporary and historical imagery, combined with personal accounts, ‘THE FLIGHT’ offers a new and exciting volume that celebrates the work and the ethos of the BBMF. The carefully considered and specially commissioned air-to-air imagery by award winning photographer John Dibbs is supported by insightful and fascinating interviews and quotes from veteran aircrew compiled by Clive Rowley, former OC Hardback, c180 pp BBMF and unit historian. ‘Lest We Forget’ — The mission of the BBMF is to commemorate the past of the RAF’s air combat power. The aim of ‘THE FLIGHT’ is to take that message to a new audience.

• Contemporary photographs of the BBMF’s unique collection of World War 2 aircraft, including Spitfires, Hurricanes and the Lancaster in their natural environment • Archive photography from World War 2. • Veteran Stories. Interviews and quotes from veterans who flew the types operated by the Flight are woven into the imagery. • Brief historical backgrounds to the aircraft types used by the Flight and their roles in WW2 • Boxed featurettes, period graphics and World War 2 memorabilia add a vintage feel PLUS! • How the BBMF was born • The BBMF today • Keeping the dream alive

ORDER DIRECT - delivery from Wednesday August 17

JUST £19.99 PLUS FREE P&P

Free P&P* when you order online at www.keypublishing.com/shop

*

*Free 2nd class P&P on all UK & BFPO orders. Overseas charges apply.

Call UK: 01780 480404 Overseas: +44 1780 480404 Monday to Friday 9am-5:30pm

GMT

SUBSCRIBERS C ALL FOR YOUR £2.00 DISCOUNT! SUBSCRIBERS C ALL FOR YOUR £2.00 DISCOUNT!

Also available in leading bookstores 401 alt FLIGHT book fp.indd 85

*Cover subject to change 401/17

29/06/2017 12:18

Spotlight Hawker

Sea Fury

17 Pages in detail

70 Origin and history 72 In combat - the Hawker at war 78 Sea Fury in profile 80 Men behind the machine

Main picture

A dramatic view of a Hawker Sea Fury serving with the Royal Canadian Navy. KEY COLLECTION

This month our Spotlight focuses on one of the fastest single-engined piston-powered fighters ever built – the Hawker Sea Fury. A navalised version of the Fury, and derived to an extent from the earlier Tempest, the Sea Fury did not become operational until after World War Two, but it nevertheless served with distinction in the Korean War, and other conflicts. At a time when jet power was becoming prevalent, the Sea Fury repeatedly proved its worth. It was also a success for other nations, operating in Canada, Australia and the Netherlands, among others. With rarely seen images and new artwork, we look back at one of the last great propeller-driven fighters.

Spotlight Hawker Sea Fury

Scrutinizes the history of...

Sea Fury A The Hawker

Above

A trio of Royal Navy Hawker Sea Fury FB.11s. VX620 is nearest the camera. KEY

lthough it did not enter service until after World War Two, the Hawker Sea Fury performed well in post-war naval hands, particularly during the Korean War in the early 1950s. One of the ultimate propeller-driven fighter aircraft, it was popular with Royal Navy pilots and flew with several overseas air arms, including Canada, the Netherlands, Pakistan and Australia. The type was initially designed to fulfil an RAF requirement for a single-seat fighter. Although the end of World War Two curtailed plans for the Fury, the Royal Navy saw the potential of the design as a replacement for its increasingly obsolete carrier-based fighters. The Sea Fury had many similarities with Hawker’s earlier Tempest – although the wings and the fuselage originated from the Tempest, both were significantly modified. The company built a total of six prototypes, two of which were powered by Rolls-Royce Griffon engines, and three with the Bristol Centaurus. The latter would eventually be chosen to equip all production Sea Furies. The sixth Fury prototype was a test structure.

70 FLYPAST September 2017

Into service

The first Fury, NX798, flew on September 1, 1944 – its Centaurus XII drove a Rotol four-bladed propeller. The first naval conversion to fly was SR661, regarded as the first Sea Fury. It took to the air on February 21, 1945, from Langley in Berkshire. This machine was fitted with an arrester hook for carrier landings, but lacked a folding wing mechanism. This was added to SR666, the second Sea Fury prototype. Due to frequent crankshaft failures, the production aircraft were fitted with the improved Centaurus 18 unit. After a period of flight testing from Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, in 1946, trials began aboard HMS Victorious. Various modifications were made, and the new type was cleared for operational use in 1947. The first British units to receive them were 778 and 787 Naval Air Squadrons (NAS). The Royal Canadian Navy’s 803 NAS was the first operational Sea Fury unit, replacing its Supermarine Seafires in August 1947. Although designed as a fighter, the new aircraft performed superbly as a fighter-bomber – the FB.11 variant was dedicated to this role. The Royal Navy’s Fleet Air

Arm operated the Hawkers throughout the Korean conflict, primarily in the ground attack role. They were used to strike bridges, airfields and railways, disrupting North Korean logistics, while also flying frequent air patrols. Aerial opposition was minimal at first, with the greatest threat posed by groundbased anti-aircraft fire. However, on August 8, 1952, Lt Peter ‘Hoagy’ Carmichael, flying an 802 Squadron Sea Fury, shot down a MikoyanGurevich MiG-15 – he became one of only a few pilots of a propeller-driven aircraft to shoot down a jet. Reports of the combat are confused, with some sources suggesting that a second MiG was damaged or dispatched.

Overseas

The Netherlands was another export customer for the type. The Royal Netherlands Navy ordered an initial batch of ten Sea Fury F.50s, which were delivered during April and May 1948, and were given the serial numbers 10-1 to 10-10. A further order for a dozen FB.60s followed. These were delivered between May and July 1950, and numbered 10-11 to 10-22. During 1951 the surviving aircraft from the first order were

SPOT FACT The TT.20 was developed by Hawker for West Germany as a target tug

Origin & history

Hawker Sea Fury FB.11

AT A GLANCE: RANGE (miles) 0

4,00

8,00

1.200

1,040*

* With drop tanks

AT A GLANCE: SPEED (mph) 0

100

200

300

400 460

Construction: First Flight: Powerplant: Dimension: Weight: Performance:

AT A GLANCE: CEILING (feet) 0

10,000

20,000

30,000 35,800

upgraded to the newer standard. With the Hawker-built aircraft operating successfully, the Dutch ordered a batch of 25 FB.51s built by Fokker in the Netherlands. Aircraft belonging to the Royal Netherlands Navy’s 860 Squadron served aboard the carrier Karel Doorman from January 1952. The unit flew on until June 1956 when

3,900

Armament: 40,000

Crew:

A total of 864 Sea Furies were built. The first Fury (NX798) flew on September 1, 1944, with the first Sea Fury (SR661) flying on February 21, 1945. One 2,480hp (1,850kW) Bristol Centaurus 18-cylinder twin row radial engine. Span 38ft 5in (11.7m). Length 34ft 8in. Height 15ft 11in. Wing area 280sq ft (26.01sq m). Empty 9,240lb (4,191kg). Loaded 12,350lb. Max speed 460mph (740km/h) at 18,000ft (5,500m). Service ceiling 35,800ft. Rate of climb 4,320ft per min. Max range 700 miles (1,126km) or 1,040 miles with drop tanks. Four Hispano Mk.V cannon, 12 three-inch rockets and up to 2,000lb (907kg) of bombs. One.

Note: performance and weights varied according to role and configuration.

it was temporarily disbanded. Its aircraft were passed to 3 Squadron for use as trainers until they too were withdrawn in January 1957. The Fleet Air Arm retired its Sea Furies in 1953, but the speedy, agile fighters continued to fly overseas for many years. Pakistan operated them until 1960, but the final user of the type (as a frontline fighter) is

believed to have been the Burmese Air Force which flew them until 1968. The TT.20 target tug version remained in German service until the early 1970s. Several retired aircraft were retained in private hands – due to the type’s speed, they were used successfully as air racers, with others being maintained as warbirds.

Below

Sea Fury FB.51 10-2 at Langley, Berkshire, awaiting delivery to the Royal Netherlands Navy’s 3 Squadron in 1948. VIA ANDREW THOMAS

interceptions were carried out by Sea Furies in the Korean War September 2017 FLYPAST 71

Spotlight Hawker Sea Fury

Fury ov By the early 1950s, the Sea

A

t dawn on Sunday June 25, 1950, communist North Korean troops invaded the south, so beginning the Korean War. The United Nations then authorised military intervention, and before the end of the month British forces were committed to action. But the North Koreans advanced steadily and soon had Allied forces trapped in the Pusan perimeter. The Royal Navy was part of Britain’s response and aircraft carrier HMS Triumph’s Air Group conducted its first strike on July 3. Triumph was replaced in October by HMS Theseus with the Sea Fury FB.11s of 807 Squadron under Lt Cdr M P GordonSmith alongside the Firefly FR.5s of 810 Squadron. The vessel was on station in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of Korea and operated a ten-day cycle before returning to Japan to replenish. In addition to their four integral 20mm cannon, the Sea Furies could carry 60lb rocket projectiles or 500lb

72 FLYPAST September 2017

or 1,000lb bombs under their wings, and were tasked with interdiction of road and rail traffic to interrupt the flow of supplies to the front line, including attacking bridges and tunnels. Other roles were combat air patrols (CAP) to defend the carrier and to cover any downed pilot (RESCAP); tactical recce; bombardment spotting for Allied warships; and close air support (CAS) often directed by a forward air controller (FAC).

Mounting losses

Sea Furies began operations over Korea on October 10 when a quartet led by the Air Group Commander, Lt Cdr Fred Stovin-Bradford, attacked a supply dump south of the port of Chinnampo, 70 miles (112km) behind enemy lines. Stovin-Bradford’s wingman, 26-year old Lt Stanley Leonard in VW628, was hit by fierce anti-aircraft fire and crash-landed in a paddy field, breaking his back in the process.

Fury should have been

Nearby troops were kept at bay by fire from the rest of the flight as an American helicopter arrived and performed a gallant rescue. With the North Koreans in retreat, Chinese forces intervened on October 27, and their massive offensive soon had the American-led UN troops falling back. Allied air attacks hammered at the advance, which initially proved irresistible. But on December 19 at least 17 trucks were destroyed by 807 Squadron and a few days later the unit inflicted at least 200 casualties while strafing a column of troops. Soon afterwards, Lt Cdr B Bevans became 807’s CO and, following a replenishment break, Theseus returned to action on January 7, 1951 when six Furies conducted three separate strikes – including one on the captured airfield at Kimpo where they strafed two abandoned Allied aircraft. On the 26th, the unit suffered its first fatality, Lt A C Beavan, in VR940, crashing into the sea having

ou

SPOT FACT 807 Squadron’s Sea Furies were the first to arrive ‘in theatre’ in Korea

Sea Fury in Combat

ver Korea

een

outclassed – but, as Andy Thomas explains, it excelled in action over Korea failed to recover from a spin. The next day Air Group Commander Lt Cdr Gordon-Smith’s Fury was hit by flak near Seoul and forced to ditch, but he was rescued unhurt. The poor run continued two days later when Lt Peter Keighly-Peach was shot down over enemy territory. He recalled: “We were flying down a valley looking for anything that moved. I was about 200 feet high when the next thing I knew there was a colossal crunching and my engine caught fire. Ground machine guns had hit me and the whole aircraft started to break up. So there was nothing for it but to belly-land. Flames were pouring into the cockpit as I put her down.” Lt Ian Hamilton, his wingman, radioed a distress call and a helicopter managed to rescue Keighly-Peach from under the noses of nearby Chinese troops.

Friendly fire

By March, the Chinese advance had

3

been halted and slowly pushed back over the 38th parallel as the war entered a stalemate. The following month Theseus sailed to the Sea of Japan on the opposite side of the Korean peninsula. During a patrol on April 10, Lt Tom Leece and his wingman, Lt Charles Lavender, came under attack from a pair of US Marine Corps Vought Corsairs from VMF312. The starboard wing of Leece’s VX691 caught fire, but he managed to return to the carrier. Hearing Leece’s calls, Petty Off Richard Johnson in VW698 went to assist but was hit by deadly 37mm anti-aircraft fire and crashed in a valley. Seriously injured, he became a prisoner of war. Other Furies searched for him, but flak damaged the wing of VR948, so its pilot, Lt Harry Julian, diverted to Kangmung but overran and ended up in a paddy field. Three days later near Ham Hung, flak hit VX710, obliging Lt J S Humphreys to crash-land.

Covered by other Sea Furies, a US helicopter managed to pick up the injured Royal Navy pilot. In a strike in the Wonsan area on April 14, intense flak hit Lt Irwin Bowman’s VW658: “We were rocketing a fuel dump and trenches covered in straw,” he said. “Just as I pulled up I heard a loud ‘whang’ and my engine conked out.” Bowman force-landed near a railway and was rescued uninjured by a US Navy helicopter, despite heavy fire.

Below

Sea Fury FB.11 TF968 of 807 Squadron aboard ‘Theseus’. B LOWE VIA T BUTTLER

Spring offensive

Theseus ended its tour on April 18 and among the awards made to 807’s Sea Fury pilots was a bar to the DSC for Cdr Stovin-Bradford “for his

distinguished service in operations in Korean waters”. HMS Glory then arrived on station for the first of three Korean tours. On board were 21 Sea Furies of 804 Squadron, under Lt Cdr John Bailey, with Lt Cdr Maurice Birrell as Senior Pilot; both later received the DSC.

British carriers operated Sea Furies in the Korean War September 2017 FLYPAST 73

SPOT FACT Sea Furies were painted with black and white ‘invasion’ stripes in Korea from late July 1950 Right

Furies of 807 Sqn on ‘Theseus’ in early 1951. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

Below right

Sea Fury VR924 of 804 Squadron being positioned on ‘Glory’ during the late summer of 1951. VIA R C B ASHWORTH

Below

Snow cloaking the deck of HMS ‘Theseus’ off Korea during the bitter winter of 1950. KEY COLLECTION

Their arrival coincided with the start of the Chinese spring offensive. Operations began on April 28 with rocket attacks around Seoul. Lt Ted Stephenson, flying CAP in VW655, disappeared in poor weather near Clifford Island; and on May 2, Lt Peter Barlow had to force-land in VX610 behind enemy lines but was promptly rescued by helicopter. Bad weather then interfered with ‘ops’ and it was not until the 15th that three sections staged an armed recce along the coast near Pyongyang. Lt J A Winterbotham in VW669 was shot down, but rescued from the sea. Glory then departed for replenishment, returning for more ‘ops’ on June 10 when Lt Cdr Bailey led an attack on the Chinnampo waterfront, later landing with several bullet holes in his Fury. With the arrival of better weather, 804 could maintain more than 50 sorties a day, albeit in the face of increasing opposition. This was evident on July 18 during a raid on railway sidings near Osanni when a cannon shell exploded in Lt Young’s cockpit, but he recovered safely. Lt ‘Toby’ Davis meanwhile had to ditch VX609 near Sariwan but Glory’s helicopter picked him up after 90 minutes in the water. Commissioned Pilot Terry Sparke

74 FLYPAST September 2017

reported being hit while attacking a gun emplacement and died when VW573 crashed in flames. Part of the interdiction of enemy supplies included searches offshore for junks. On August 16 two were hit off the coast, one of which blew up spectacularly with a bright orange flash. Other Furies hit ox carts and artillery positions that day, but at the cost of Lt Doug McNaughton’s VW558 which was hit near Chinnampo. He crash-landed on a beach at Cho-do but was not picked up for some time. On September 25, Glory was relieved by the Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Sydney after 2,892 sorties and sailed to Australia to refit.

Sea Fury in Combat Flak traps

Sydney’s air group included 24 Sea Furies of 805 Squadron under Lt Cdr Walter Bowles and 808 under Lt Cdr John Appleby. Senior Pilot on 805 was Lt Keith Clarkson while 808’s was Lt Gillian Campbell who, when serving with the RAAF in 1945, had claimed one of the last Spitfire victories of World War Two – as related in the June issue of FlyPast. The Air Group Commander was Lt Cdr Michael Fell, also a successful 1940s fighter pilot. Action from Sydney began on October 5 when Fell led a strike on a ferry terminal at Taedong and a road

On October 23, a flight from 805 led by Lt Cdr Bowles conducted close air support under FAC control in support of the Commonwealth Division, resulting in an estimated 75 enemy dead. In contrast, the next day they searched for the crew of a missing B-29 Superfortress. The Australians lost their first Fury on the 26th when Lt Colin Wheatley had to ditch WE796 but he was picked up by a USAF SA-16 Albatross amphibian. Later that day the CO, Lt Cdr Appleby, was hit in the wing by flak; the next day Lt Noel Knappstein was less fortunate and had to force-

nearby was smothered with Chinese machine guns.” Flak also claimed Sub Lt Dick Sinclair of 808 Squadron on December 7, and although he baled out of WE786 his parachute failed to open. By the end of the year the Chinese had become expert in camouflage and had more effective techniques to defend against UN aircraft. On December 13, Sydney’s Furies strafed enemy vehicles but Lt Walter Bowles’ VW646 was hit in the engine and he was forced to bale out. Landing in shallow water off Ongjin he was

Left

Lt J L Treloar over Ongjin at the controls of WJ237 of 802 Squadron, 1952. VIA R C STURTIVANT

Below left

Lt Cdr Walter Bowles (left), the CO of 805 Squadron, with Sub Lts Lane, MacDonald and Lt Sherbourne on the deck of HMAS ‘Sydney’, 1951. RAN HERITAGE CENTRE

bridge. Soon afterwards the carrier was ordered to the east coast of Korea to concentrate on targets at Kojo. Furies from Sydney spotted for the guns of the cruiser HMS Belfast and the battleship USS Missouri on the 11th, after which 16 aircraft attacked a thousand Chinese troops, leaving an estimated 200 dead.

land in an estuary with flak damage. On November 3, Lt Keith Clarkson in WE674 led an attack on troops but was hit and killed. His wingman, Sub Lt Ian MacDonald, recalled: “I was about 200 yards behind him. At the bottom of a strafing run he rolled to his right and hit the ground on his back. It was a flak trap, a little hill

picked up by a friendly junk which eventually transferred him to an Australian destroyer. Bowles later received the DSC. In January 1952, Sydney was relieved by Glory which still had 804 Squadron embarked. In the face of snow and bad winter weather, operations were often limited. To enhance the reconnaissance capability on the ship, in late February a Sea Fury was fitted with a modified drop tank that carried a pair of cameras. With improving weather, ground attacks achieved some success, but the Ides of March – the 15th – proved sadly prophetic for Lt Richard Overton when strafing in the Chinnampo area: WE803 was hit by flak and crashed on Amgak peninsula. Around this time the Furies began carrying 500-pounders in place of rockets, and combat operations continued through to mid-May when HMS Ocean arrived.

MiG menace

Ocean carried the Sea Furies of 802 Squadron under Lt Cdr D A Dick. Their tour began badly with two aircraft lost on the first day of ‘ops’.

264

combat sorties were flown from HMS Theseus in October 1950 September 2017 FLYPAST 75

SPOT FACT Sea Furies acted as spotter aircraft for UN artillery around Inchon, Wonsan and Songiin presented impossible targets. They made no attempt to bracket us. “One MiG came at me head-on. I saw his heavy tracer shells. I fired a burst, then he flashed past me. I believe Carl got some hits on him too. This aircraft then broke away, and went head-on to my numbers 3 and 4, Davies and Ellis. They were seen to get good hits on one who broke away with smoke coming from him.” A MiG was seen to hit the ground and the victory was credited to Carmichael – other jets being credited as damaged to the other Sea Fury pilots. Next day, August 10, there was a

Above

A Sea Fury divebombing a road convoy. KEY COLLECTION

Right

Armourers loading 60lb rocket projectiles onto the rails of a Sea Fury before a strike over Korea. KEY COLLECTION

Three days later, on May 14, Lt Keith Macdonald was shot down in WE793 by flak west of Yonan. It seems his death was a consequence of making more than one run over a target in the face of intense ground fire. On the 17th, Ocean flew 123 sorties, a record for a single carrier during the conflict. During Operation ‘Billhook’ on June 1 the carrier supported a landing by South Korean guerrillas in junks behind enemy lines, the Sea Furies hitting enemy strongpoints. Late in the day on June 4, Sub Lt ‘Oggie’ Swanson was shot down when attacking a gun position. He managed to bale out of his blazing aircraft, WE694, suffering severe burns. Colleagues flew RESCAP over his dinghy and were joined by US Navy Corsairs, and Swanson was in the water for just half-an-hour before an American helicopter picked him up. On June 22, Lt Peter ‘Hoagy’ Carmichael led a strike on several hundred Chinese troops spotted in woodland, and called in Fireflies to back them up. He also headed raids on bridges, the Furies often carrying 1,000lb bombs. Attacks on the enemy power grid intensified too. The air war remained fluid and US jets regularly tangled with Chineseand Soviet-flown Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Fagots. The swept-wing enemy jets were also occasionally seen by Fleet Air Arm and US Navy strike aircraft over the north. On July 4, MiGs downed four US Marine Corps Corsairs working in the same area as 802’s strike. The squadron took part in a huge raid on Pyongyang on the 11th, its Furies bombing railway targets in

76 FLYPAST September 2017

the face of heavy flak. Ominously, on July 22 MiGs engaged one of Ocean’s strikes for the first time and damaged Lt Hawksworth’s Firefly. Later in the day MiGs fired on four of 802’s aircraft off the port of Chinnampo but withdrew into low cloud as the Furies fired back at extreme range. Two days later, 802’s CO, Lt Cdr Dick, was shot down and killed by ground fire while flying WJ238. He was temporarily replaced by Lt Carmichael.

Piston versus jet

After a replenishment Ocean returned on August 8, and the following morning Carmichael in WJ232 led Sub Lt Carl Haines (WE806), Lt Peter Davis (WE724) and Sub Lt ‘Smoo’ Ellis (WJ223) on an armed recce to check on the state of bridges. The Chinnampo-HanchonPyongyang corridor was vital to the enemy and regularly patrolled by MiGs. In the north of the area Ellis spotted a formation of MiGs and radioed the contact, as Carmichael later recounted: “Eight MiGs came at us out of the sun. I did not see them at first, and my No.4, ‘Smoo’ Ellis, gave a break when he noticed tracer streaming past his fuselage. “We all turned towards the MiGs and commenced a ‘scissors’. It soon became apparent that four MiGs were after each section of two Furies, but, by continuing our break turns, we

similar incident. This time a MiG got behind Carmichael, but Lt Davis was able to make him break off. The dogfight lasted ten minutes, after which one enemy was seen to be trailing black smoke and heading northward. Peter Davis was credited with a ‘probable’. By the end of the month, Lt Cdr P H London arrived as CO and led 802 for the rest of the eventful tour, which ended on October 31. Ocean had mounted 1,907 sorties, unleashing 16,868 rockets and almost 50 tons of bombs. The pilots of 802 Squadron had damaged nearly 200 bridges, destroyed more than 50 trucks, a train and many sampans as well as claiming one MiG destroyed, two probables and two damaged.

Ceasefire

Glory returned for a third tour, this time with the Sea Furies of 801 Squadron under Lt Cdr Peter Stuart. The ship’s Commander (Air) was Cdr Jimmy Sleigh, one of the Royal Navy’s most decorated pilots. On November 28, Furies led by Lt R Neville-Jones in TF971 attacked the

Sea Fury in Combat Sinwon railway bridge, but coming off the target he was hit by anti-aircraft fire and spun in flames onto nearby mud flats. The carrier’s target area was generally between the North Korean capital at Pyongyang and Nameh Onjom, but operations were hampered by snow and freezing conditions with fog and low cloud which continued into 1953. One of the first operations of the new year targeted bridges near Chaeryong on January 5. Lt Derek ‘Pug’ Mather, in WF626, said: “We’d been dive bombing some bridges on a river. We attacked the first bridge with bombs, and staying in the area

was a bad idea, so my wingman, Ted Anson, and I went off on an armed reconnaissance. “We had some secondary targets, one of which was another bridge. I led the second attack in – they were waiting for us. It was a flak trap. I released my bombs and suddenly there was a bang from a 76mm shell.” Mather managed to extricate himself as the aircraft broke up but on landing in the snow he was promptly captured by the North

2,366

Koreans and entered a cruel captivity. The incident ended in tragedy when WE689, flown by Sub Lt James Simonds, was searching for the missing Mather – but he probably became disorientated and crashed. Also combing the area was Sub Lt Brian Rayner whose aircraft was hit by flak and he crashed into a hillside near Chang Yang Don. In early February, four of 801’s Furies came under ineffective attack from MiGs. On the 9th, flak hit

WF622 over North Korea and its engine seized. Sub Lt M L Hayes ditched in the Taedong-Gang estuary but was rescued by a helicopter within minutes. Two days later, 801 suffered another loss while strafing a storage facility near Sariwon. Lt Cedric MacPherson’s aircraft, WH620, was hit by flak and crashed in flames into a hillside. Two more were shot down on April 25 and their pilots killed before Ocean, with Lt Cdr T L M Brander’s 807 Squadron, arrived on station in midMay. Peace talks were under way by then, as one of 807’s pilots, Lt Alan Lane, recalled: “When we arrived off Korea the war was virtually over and I carried out strikes mainly against bridges and railway tunnels before hostilities ended.” The Sea Furies of 807 flew their last attack on July 22 against a bridge, a truce being declared five days later – but Ocean remained in the area until November. Hawker’s last piston-engined fighters had acquitted themselves with distinction in the skies over Korea.

Above

Rocket-armed Sea Furies of 807 Squadron conducting power checks before launch from ‘Theseus’. VIA T BUTTLER Left

Pilots of 802 Squadron involved in shooting down a MiG pose in front of WJ223, one of the aircraft used in the action. Left to right: Sub Lt Ellis, Lt Davis, Lt Carmichael and Sub Lt Haines. VIA R C B ASHWORTH Below

Led by VW581, 801 Squadron Sea Furies preparing to launch. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

combat sorties were flown by Australian Sea Furies in Korea September 2017 FLYPAST 77

Spotlight Hawker Sea Fury

Korean

MiG-killer Andy Hay artwork of a Sea Fury that shot down a MiG-15 during the Korean War

Artwork

Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 WJ232, flown by Peter Carmichael, 802 NAS, from HMS ‘Ocean’ in 1952. ANDY HAY-2017

W

hile the prolonged development of the Hawker Sea Fury resulted in it entering service after World War Two, it nevertheless made an impact in the early stages of the 1950-1953 Korean War. Sea Furies were flown throughout the conflict, primarily in the ground attack role, and were also used to escort Fairey Firefly Mk.Vs and USAF aircraft, including Boeing B-29

78 FLYPAST September 2017

Superfortresses. The Hawker pilots operated from HMS Glory, Theseus, Ocean and from the Australian carrier HMAS Sydney. Due to the mounting threat posed by Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s, flown by both North Korean and Chinese pilots, the Sea Fury was relegated to secondary roles, such as artillery spotting. However, when bounced by eight enemy jets while escorting Fireflies on August 9, 1952, Lt Peter ‘Hoagy’ Carmichael of 802 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) managed to shoot

down one of the attackers while at the controls of FB.11 WJ232. Some sources claim that a second MiG was either destroyed or damaged in the same action. The feat certainly highlighted the Sea Fury’s potency as a fighter, despite its increasing obsolescence in the rapidly rising light of jet technology. Peter was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1953, and went on to become CO of the Hawker Sea Hawk-equipped 806 NAS at Lossiemouth. He died in 1997.

SPOT FACT Production Sea Furies were armed with four wing-mounted Hispano V cannons

10

Sea Fury in profile

F.50s were ordered by the Royal Netherlands Navy on October 21, 1946 September 2017 FLYPAST 79

Spotlight Hawker Sea Fury Below

HMS ‘Glory’ with 801 Squadron embarked.

F

or several months in 1952, 801 Squadron had not been embarked on a carrier, and a number of new pilots had arrived. Shore-based at Hal Far, Malta, the unit was due to join HMS Glory, heading for Korea. One of 801’s pilots, Lt Alan ‘Spiv’ Leahy, was an experienced air warfare instructor who had been with the squadron since August 1952. Their priority was to practise deck landings and undergo a concentrated period of weapon training. The unit’s Sea Furies were capable fighters and carried out air defence exercises under the control of Malta Radar. The most likely use of the aircraft was in the ground attack role, with rockets or as a dive-bomber. Although they practised rocketry, it was envisaged that the other embarked unit, 821 Squadron with Firefly FR.5s, would concentrate on such weapons. Bombing attacks were made in a 45° dive from 4,000ft, pulling out at 1,500ft after releasing the 500lb bombs – 801 Squadron also practised formation dive-bombing. All pilots were trained in 20° strafing

80 FLYPAST September 2017

Fast and using the 20mm Hispano cannon. The two squadrons embarked on Glory on September 2, 1952 and training continued, including deck take-offs and landings. In calm conditions and when the catapult was not available, rocket assisted take-off gear (RATOG) was strapped to the fuselage. The timing of the firing of the rocket pack by the pilot was critical, and accidents occurred. On September 11 it was Leahy’s turn to practise RATOG takeoffs. After applying full power and releasing the brakes, he hit the button for the rockets but they failed to fire and he soon found himself and Sea Fury FB.11 VW659 in the sea. Managing to escape from the sinking aircraft, he inflated his ‘Mae West’ and bobbed to the surface, a few feet from the side of the passing carrier. The escorting destroyer soon picked him up from his dinghy.

In the firing line

After final briefings in Hong Kong, Glory headed for Korean waters on November 6 to begin operations. The carrier operated off the west coast with road and

rail communications as its primary targets. Bridges were difficult targets and, even when hit, were quickly replaced. Leahy was soon in action leading his division of four Sea Furies but no targets were available on his first sortie. But in the coming weeks he saw plenty of action. While road and rail facilities were regular targets, the Sea Furies also attacked villages that harboured troops and, for a period, targeted ox carts which carried ammunition to the front line – as well as occasionally flying night strikes. On one occasion, Leahy and his division were tasked for an armed reconnaissance sortie, attacking trucks north of Chinnampo near Pyongyang. On turning for HMS Glory, they were alerted that enemy aircraft were heading south. Leahy’s No.3 suddenly called a ‘break’ as two MiGs appeared: one latched on to Leahy and fired but its pilot had made no allowance for deflection and he escaped. The Sea Furies also conducted bombardment spotting. Once, one of Leahy’s pilots was working for the guns of the USS Missouri and had to tell the battleship to adjust

SPOT FACT Burma recieved 21 Sea Furies between 1957 and 1958

d Furious

Men Behind the Sea Fury Graham Pitchfork profiles three Sea Fury pilots, including one who managed two very different ‘tours’ on the type

its aim by nine miles! When it was Leahy’s turn to spot, the first shell fired by Missouri passed so close to his aircraft that it leapt upwards momentarily. The squadron provided close air support (CAS) for ground forces. Prior to a period of CAS, Leahy went ashore to discuss arrangements with Australian troops. Shortly after arriving he was taken on a tour of the front line and soon experienced a barrage of Chinese mortar fire, which lasted an hour. By the time he was back aboard Glory, he had a better appreciation of the problems the soldiers faced.

Left

‘Spiv’ Leahy (second left) and fellow pilots of 801 Squadron on HMS ‘Glory’. Below left

Leahy preparing to taxi his Sea Fury, fitted with 500lb bombs.

Sorties ashore

“Leahy’s No.3 suddenly called a ‘break’ as two MiGs appeared: one latched on to Leahy and fired but its pilot had made no allowance for deflection and he escaped”

615

There were also times when the Sea Furies had to go ‘ashore’. When a bomb failed to release, they would divert to an airstrip where the weapon was offloaded before the aircraft returned to the carrier. Leahy once had to head for dry land after an armed reconnaissance sortie. During an attack he heard a loud bang and a large hole appeared in the port wing. In the rear-view mirror he

Sea Furies were acquired by the Royal Navy September 2017 FLYPAST 81

SPOT FACT The first Fleet Air Arm unit to receive the type was 778 Naval Air Squadron in 1947

Above

Sea Furies attacking a bridge in Korea. The fourth aircraft in a dive took the photograph. Right

A Sea Fury of 801 Squadron landing on ‘Glory’.

could see the tailplane was damaged, which his wingman confirmed after a close inspection. Some 50 miles from the coast, Leahy turned and headed for an emergency beach landing strip on an Allied-occupied island. On the way he carried out an approach speed handling check and decided he had sufficient control to land, which he managed successfully before taxying clear. (This was almost certainly on December 18 in WJ295 at Paengyong-do: the FB.11 was repaired – ED.) April 5, 1953 was a particularly busy day for the carrier with more than 120 sorties launched. Leahy took off at dawn and his division attacked marshalling yards at Haeju. At 09:30 he took off again to bomb a railway bridge north of Haeju, which was destroyed. He hit another rail bridge at midday and flew a fourth sortie in the afternoon. Finally, he took off with his wingman at 17:00 to mount a combat air patrol. This hectic day signalled the end

82 FLYPAST September 2017

of Glory’s time on station, as HMS Ocean with Furies from 807 Squadron and Fireflies from 810 Squadron embarked arrived to take over the patrolling. At the start of its time in the Korean theatre, 801 Squadron had 18 pilots; by the end Leahy was one of ten that remained. His conduct as an outstanding and courageous leader was recognised by the award of the DSC. ‘Spiv’ Leahy went on to have a very distinguished career in the Royal Navy, including command of the trials unit that introduced the Buccaneer into Fleet Air Arm service. He retired as a captain.

London to Karachi

Neville Duke was an outstanding ‘ace’ of World War Two and one of the most highly decorated fighter pilots, with the DSO and three DFCs. He went on to become one of Britain’s best-known test pilots, his name forever linked with the beautiful Hawker Hunter. However, in his early test flying days he was also a recordbreaker.

Having graduated from the Empire Test Pilots’ School, Duke accepted a post with Hawker and left the RAF in June 1948. Initially, he was involved in testing and ferrying Tempests and Furies. The newly established Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF) placed the largest export order for Furies, taking 93 between 1949 and 1954.

Men Behind the Sea Fury Duke believed the Fury could beat both these times and began to plan the attempt. To complete most of the flight in daylight, and use the best period of the moon for the short periods flown at dusk, May 10 was chosen for a departure from London Airport. A minor snag with the fuel feed from one of the 90-gallon (409-litre) wing tanks caused a two-day delay, Duke ferrying the Fury from Langley to Heathrow during the afternoon of the May 11. At 04:03 the following morning he took off and climbed through cloud to his cruising altitude of 22,000ft. Over the Alps he was forced to climb

Over the Syrian coast, Duke had to climb above 25,000ft en route to overfly the RAF airfield at Habbaniya, west of Baghdad, before turning for Kuwait. Visibility improved and he had a clear run to Bahrain, which he reached at dusk. The RAF and Shell agents provided a quick turnaround before he took off into a moonlit night to head east for Karachi. On arrival, Air Vice-Marshal ‘Dick’ Atcherley, the Chief of Air Staff of the RPAF, met him. Duke’s flight from London had taken an elapsed time of 15 hours 24 minutes, at an average speed of 256mph for the 3,938-mile journey. He had broken the existing record by almost four hours. Above left

Neville Duke in front of a Fury destined for Egypt. Left

Duke at the helm of a Pakistani Fury at Langley in May 1949.

Hawker decided to use the first delivery to Pakistan in the spring of 1949 as an opportunity to establish two new records. De Havilland test pilot John Derry had flown a Vampire FB.5 to Rome in 2 hours 50 minutes in November 1948 and an Avro Lancastrian had reached Karachi in an elapsed time of 19 hours 14 minutes.

3

to 27,700ft but the flight to Rome was uneventful. On arrival Duke found Ciampino Airport was shrouded in fog. He made a low flypast above the lowlying mist and officials were able to record his time before he diverted to the nearby Italian Air Force base at Urbe having been airborne for just over three hours. His official time from London to Rome was 2 hours 31 minutes and 51 seconds, almost 20 minutes faster than Derry. The Italians were unaware of the record-breaking attempt and so there were no arrangements for refuelling the Fury. But agents for fuel company Shell rushed to the airfield and Duke was airborne for Cyprus 90 minutes after he had landed. Taking off just after 09:00, he cruised at 21,000ft and could see Cyprus from 50 miles away. He landed at Nicosia to be greeted by RAF ground crew who had him airborne again within 30 minutes, which made up the time he had lost at Urbe.

Dash to Cairo

The following year, the Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF) ordered a dozen Furies, which management at Hawker saw as an opportunity to establish another record. Duke – by now deputy chief test pilot and a squadron leader in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, commanding 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron at Biggin Hill – began planning the flight. He decided to leave from Blackbushe and stage through Malta where he would get support from the resident RAF units. The Fury left Blackbushe at 07:40 on February 16, 1950. Duke turned to fly over the start line at 300ft before climbing to 21,000ft to map-read his way to Malta. The weather was kind until he was approaching Sicily where thunderstorms were brewing. He started his let down at his estimated time of arrival and flares fired from Luqa guided him in to make his landing. He was on the ground for just 15 minutes thanks to the efficiency of the RAF and Shell personnel.

frontline Pakistani units operated Sea Furies September 2017 FLYPAST 83

SPOT FACT Benson-based 1832 RNVR Squadron was the last British unit to operate the type practices he joined 807 Squadron, which was working up at Hal Far prior to embarking in HMS Ocean. However, the carrier had not completed its refit and further training was carried out on HMS Indomitable. During his first catapult launch, on March 30, 1953, Sheppard had reached full power when the holdback strop broke and FB.11 VW697 trundled over the side. He scrambled clear as the Fury started to sink and was soon picked up by helicopter and taken to the bar. Ocean arrived off Korea in May 1953 to take over from Glory, and Sheppard and his colleagues were soon in action against railway lines and roads. On

Right

Hawker test pilot Duncan Simpson handing over Sea Fury TF956 to Pete Sheppard at Yeovilton. Below right

Sheppard low and fast in Spencer Flack’s crimson Sea Fury G-FURY. Below

An 807 Squadron Sea Fury FB.11 taking off with RATOG.

Towards the North African coast he encountered heavy cloud and had to climb to 26,000ft. Reaching the coast, the cloud cleared and he flew over the area that had been so familiar to him during his time with the Desert Air Force in 1942. With Cairo in sight he started his descent and, after an overflight, landed at Almaza 6 hours 32 minutes after leaving Blackbushe to be met by senior officers of the REAF and Royal Aero Club representatives. Duke had established another new record but

84 FLYPAST September 2017

it would only stand for two months before his friend John Cunningham flew a Comet jetliner to Cairo in a few minutes over five hours.

Love affair

Shortly after completing training as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, Pete Sheppard was converting to jets when he volunteered for service in Korea. He transferred to the Sea Fury – which, he later claimed, was “the beginning of a love affair”. After completing deck-landing

Men Behind the Sea Fury one mission he was tasked to take photographs of other aircraft in his formation bombing a target before he attacked. Short of fuel, he discovered that Ocean was shrouded in sea mist and his first attempt to land off a carrier-controlled approach had to be aborted. As he circled, a small gap appeared and he managed to land off an unconventional approach with just 90 seconds of fuel left. Just as Leahy had found out, there was a need for all the pilots to practise RATOG take-offs. Accidents still occurred: a Dutch exchange officer had a partial failure of one rocket and staggered ahead at wavetop height

as he broadcast: “This is ******* dangerous!” With the ceasefire taking effect on July 27, the 17th Carrier Air Group conducted a flypast. Sheppard’s time in Korean waters was brief and by October, having just celebrated his 21st birthday, his time on the Sea Fury was over and he converted to Sea Hawks before a long career on the Fleet Air Arm’s new fighter and strike aircraft.

Fury display pilot

It was not until January 1972 that Sheppard was reacquainted with the Sea Fury. He was serving at RNAS Yeovilton and converting to the Phantom when Hawker chief test pilot Duncan Simpson test-flew Sea Fury FB.11 TF956 for the recently established Royal Navy Historic Flight. Sheppard was nominated to test the aircraft on the basis that he was the only Sea Fury pilot around, albeit he had not flown the type for 20 years. He had just stepped out of a Mach 2 Phantom when he climbed into the piston-engined fighter for his first

860

flight, and so began his career as the Royal Navy’s Sea Fury display pilot. His ‘can do’ attitude enabled him to display TF956 in a wide variety of circumstances, flying in formation with a Concorde and with the Red Arrows during their Folland Gnatequipped days. One day he agreed to fly in formation with the Tiger Club’s team of Rollason Turbulents. The idea was conceived at the end of the first day of an airshow. The following day, the Turbulents accelerated to their maximum speed of almost 100 knots and Sheppard joined with full flap and close to stalling as the team ‘swept’ by. On another occasion, he led the

Pitts Specials of the Rothmans aerobatic team as they trailed smoke. He observed that it was fun but that “they couldn’t hold on when I entered a loop!”. Needless to say, he led many other, more conventional formations involving other Historic Flight aircraft and current operational types. Although Sheppard’s formation flying featured regularly at shows, his solo displays were often the star turn. Flying very low and fast, the noise of the 18-cylinder Bristol Centaurus XVIII radial evoked nostalgia during the predominantly jet era. He was a regular participant at the Shuttleworth Collection’s Old Warden airshows. One observer commented: “His low-level passes, closely followed by the sound of the slipstream through the trees, was an event to savour. It was a privilege to witness his displays.”

Furious swarm

One year, Sheppard had an unusual experience as he was preparing to take off from Yeovilton to practise at Farnborough for the airshow. A swarm of bees had descended on the tailplane of his Sea Fury. After a few hours a

beekeeper had caught the insects and Sheppard headed for Farnborough. He started his routine and, as he became inverted in a four-point roll, a lone bee appeared in the cockpit: the subsequent manoeuvres were difficult to explain when he landed. Others often called for Sheppard’s expertise as a Sea Fury pilot. He flew to Germany to retrieve some examples that had been used as target tugs by a civilian contractor. Once, he was flying a two-seat T.20 without a radio, escorted by Yeovilton’s de Havilland Sea Heron – which suffered an engine failure over the North Sea. Sheppard became a ‘shepherd’, relying entirely on hand signals. He also flew the late Spencer Flack’s single-seat all-red FB.11 G-FURY on numerous displays, mainly on the continent. His last flight in a Sea Fury was in 1981 when he piloted a twoseater. He had accumulated almost 600 hours on the type, most of which were with the Historic Flight. Pete Sheppard was one of the Fleet Air Arm’s great post-war characters. An outstanding pilot, he had a boisterous, and at times irreverent, streak in his character. He often flew on the edge of the rules, but underlying his exuberance and zest for life was his passion for flying, total professionalism and great airmanship. For ten years he thrilled thousands of people at airshows all over Europe with his panache and skill at the controls of the Sea Fury, recognition for which led to his being awarded the AFC when he left the Historic Flight.

Above

Pete Sheppard saluting the photographer. Left

Pete flying TF956 at Old Warden. ALL VIA AUTHOR

The author wishes to thank Alan Leahy and Pete Sheppard for their generous support.

Sea Furies of all types were produced September 2017 FLYPAST 85

When you take out a 2 YEAR or DIRECT DEBIT SUBSCRIPTION to

ONLINE www.flypast.com

PHONE UK 01780 480404 OVERSEAS +44 1780 480404

FAX UK 01780 757812 OVERSEAS +44 1780 757812

POST COMPLETE THE FORM AND POST TO:

FLYPAST, KEY PUBLISHING LTD, PO BOX 300, STAMFORD, LINCS, PE9 1NA, UNITED KINGDOM

3 EASY WAYS TO ORDER ...

THIS FANTASTIC SUBSCRIPTION OFFER!

663 FP Subs dps.indd 86

18/07/2017 16:02

FREE GIFT

CHOOSE FROM:

when you pay by easy Direct Debit – just £10.50 every quarter or £39.99 annually

PAT H F I N D E R BO OK

WORTH £7.99!

OR

Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett was one of the most outstanding figures of the 2nd World War and the creator and leader of the legendary Pathfinder Force Group. His record as a brilliant pilot and navigator made him the obvious choice as leader of the Pathfinders – the elite force designed to carry out pioneering target-marking and precision-bombing of Nazioccupied Europe. SOFTBACK, 272 PAGES.

I NTROD U C T I ON TO A I R R AC I N G DV D

WORTH £12.49!

Enjoy an exciting historical perspective to air racing from the very early years of the National Air Races & Cleveland Air Races to the more present day races in Reno Nevada, USA. This DVD includes neverbefore-seen exclusive archives of the pre-WWII 1929-39 National Air Races. In addition, witness exclusive 1946 Cleveland Air Races footage including one of the first ever appearances of the Blue Angels in their Grumman Bearcats. REGION-FREE DVD, RUNNING TIME 60 MINUTES.

YES, I would like to subscribe to PAYER’S DETAILS Title Address

First name

Surname

Postcode Email address

Country

Please complete to receive news updates and offers from us by email.

DELIVERY DETAILS Title Address

(IF DIFFERENT)

First name

Surname

Postcode Email address

Country

Gift choice Pathfinder Book

SPECIAL OFFER

Air Racing DVD

Please send gift card

(PLEASE TICK)

12 FOR THE PRICE OF 10

24 ISSUES FOR THE PRICE OF 19 PLUS FREE GIFT

UK

12 issues

 £45.99

24 issues

 £84.99

Europe

12 issues

 £54.99

24 issues

 £96.99

USA

12 issues

 $69.99

24 issues

 $123.75

12 issues

 £57.99

24 issues

 £101.99

Rest of the World

PAYMENT DETAILS I enclose a cheque for £/$ ................................. made payable to Key Publishing Ltd Please debit my Mastercard  Visa  for £/$ ...............

Expiry date

Security Code (3 digit code on reverse of card) OFFER CLOSE DATE: 30 SEPTEMBER 2017 PLEASE QUOTE: FP0917

Signature .............................................................................................................Today’s date ...................................

INSTRUCTION TO YOUR BANK OR BUILDING SOCIETY TO PAY BY DIRECT DEBIT Please tick:

UK Direct Debit

Quarterly £10.50 - Plus free gift

Annually £39.99 - Plus free gift

6 5

8

9

6

0

Image: Aviation Data Corporation 663/17

AMERICAN READERS Readers in the USA may place orders by telephone toll-free 800-428-3003 or fax 757-428-6253 or by writing to Flypast, 3330 Pacific Ave, Ste 500, Virginia Beach, VA 23451-9828 • Alternatively, order online at www.imsnews.com/flypast quoting/entering code FP0917

663 FP Subs dps.indd 87

Direct Debit UK only. If paying by Direct Debit please send in form.Free gift is only available on Direct Debit with a minimum 2 year subscription. Should you cancel your subscription earlier then an invoice will be raised for the full price of the gift Payments are accepted by Direct Debit, cheque, Postal Order, Credit Card and US Dollar check. Payments by credit or debit card will be shown on your statement as Key Publishing Ltd. Key Publishing will hold your details to process and fulfil your subscription order. Occasionally we may wish to contact you to notify you of special offers on products or events. If you do not wish to receive this information please tick here  or mention when calling. Gift subject to change. Any alternative gift will be of equal or higher value. 663/17

18/07/2017 16:02

WORLD WAR TWO GRUMMAN HELLCAT

ne

g u l S

economic Known for his n the Hellcat. o e’ c ‘a , st n r io fi it explains ecame the use of ammun elvey Cleaver McWhorter b ’ K c c a M s ‘M a n m o to il Th Ham Below

A Hellcat of VF-16 ready for launch from the ‘Lexington’ during the Gilberts’ invasion.

T

ask Force 14 headed west out of Pearl Harbor on September 30, 1943. A year before, off the Solomon Islands, at the Battle of Santa Cruz the USS Hornet had been sunk, leaving the damaged USS Enterprise as the only American aircraft carrier in the South Pacific. The fleet steaming out of ‘Pearl’ included the first ships constructed following the passage of the ‘Two-Ocean Navy’ Act of 1940. There were three new large carriers: Essex, Yorktown named for the carrier sunk at Midway and Lexington, namesake of the first US carrier lost in combat. Accompanying these were

88 FLYPAST September 2017

the light carriers Independence, Belleau Wood and Cowpens. What became known as ‘the fast carrier task force’ headed into the Pacific trade winds. Their destination was Wake Island, the first US possession taken by Japan in December 1941. Aboard Essex was VF-9 ‘Fighting Nine’ and among the unit’s young pilots was Lt Hamilton McWhorter III, who had fallen in love with flying when his uncle had let him take a ride in a Ford Trimotor, aged eight in 1929. A year later his father had given him his first shotgun and he developed a shooting ‘eye’ on the family farm.

He consistently scored well with the machine gun carried by his North American SNJ trainer during basic flying training at Pensacola, Florida, noting in his diary: “I am sure that had a lot to do with my being selected for fighter training at NAS Miami. I reported in there on Christmas Eve 1941 and the accelerated schedule of sevenday work weeks

g

and ten-hour flying days made the training go fast.” Mac, as he became known, pinned on his Wings of Gold as a naval aviator on January 28, 1942 and was commissioned an Ensign the following month. Fighting Nine had just equipped with the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat when he arrived in March 1942. The squadron went aboard Ranger in late September and was ‘blooded’ during Operation Torch, the invasion

of North Africa, on November 8, 1942. Ranger returned to Norfolk, Virginia, in late November. In December, the pilots of VF-9 were introduced to Grumman’s F6F Hellcat. In his interview with the author, McWhorter remembered: “When we came back from North Africa, we were scheduled to be the first squadron equipped with the F4U Corsair, but Vought wasn’t producing them fast enough, so we became instead the first to be given the Hellcat.” Comparing the Hellcat with its predecessor, Mac said it was “like stepping out of a Model-T into a Cadillac. The plane made carrier operations so much easier”. Under Lt Cdr Phil Torrey, VF-9 trained hard, its pilots becoming well acquainted with their new mounts. The pilots passed their final exam with flying colours on August 31, 1943 when Essex, in company with the Yorktown and Independence launched the first strike by the new carriers against Marcus Island, only 700 miles (1,126km) from Tokyo.

Fifteen minutes

Half an hour before dawn on October 5, 1943, Task Force

14 (TF 14) was just over 100 miles east of Wake Island. Essex, Yorktown, Lexington, and Independence turned into the wind and each launched three fighter divisions. The 47 Hellcats joined up in the pink light of sunrise high over the fleet steaming on the dark sea below and turned west toward their target. Essex and Yorktown launched 70 Douglas SBD-5 Dauntlesses and Grumman TBM1C Avengers for the strike that would follow the fighter sweep. Japanese radar detected the inbound attackers 50 miles out. As Wake Island gradually came into sight on the western horizon, the Hellcats were intercepted by 27 Mitsubishi A6M5a Zeke fighters. Commander Phil Torrey scored the first Hellcat victory in the first pass and evaded two more that jumped him as Mac dived into the gaggle of Zekes. McWhorter recalled: “One of them just appeared in front of me. I came up behind him and let him have a one-second burst.” The exploding A6M was his first victory, and the second of 5,223 enemy aircraft that would fall to the Hellcat’s guns over the next 23 months. Minutes later,

Left

Lt Hamilton McWhorter with a VF-9 F4F-4 before the North African invasion.

September 2017 FLYPAST 89

WORLD WAR TWO GRUMMAN HELLCAT The two fleets met in the early morning hours of the 2nd in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. The battle was confused, with the Americans up against a force of veteran night fighters. The Japanese withdrew before dawn, with neither side suffering major loss. The Americans had held off the Japanese fleet, but only narrowly. The rest of the day was spent defending the landing beaches from strong Japanese air assaults. On the 3rd, Admiral William Halsey learned that more cruisers and destroyers had arrived at Rabaul from Truk lagoon in the central Pacific to renew the attack. Lacking the force to successfully oppose this fleet, Halsey requested emergency help from Admiral Chester Nimitz at Pearl Harbor. Nimitz later stated that the

Sherman raced north at 27kts and arrived 57 miles northwest of Cape Torokina at 0900hrs on November 5. There was enough wind for easy launching and sufficient cloud cover to convince the Japanese snoopers that only cruisers were present. All 97 aircraft aboard the two carriers: 52 F6F-3s from VF-12 on Saratoga and VF-23 on Princeton; 23 TBF1C Avengers from both carriers; and 22 Saratoga SBD-5s were launched while two land-based squadrons from Barakoma and Vella Lavella provided cover to the fleet. The strike achieved almost complete surprise, which was fortunate, as more than 150 aircraft were based at Rabaul. Seventy A6M5s met the raid. By the time they realised the Americans were holding formation right through the heavy flak, it was too

“Nimitz later stated that the threat posed by the Japanese cruiser force at Rabaul was ‘the most desperate emergency that confronted me in my entire time as Commander South Pacific’.” Top

‘Bunker Hill’ seen from the ‘Essex’ during Rabaul strike, November 11, 1943. Above

Jimmy Flatley leading Air Group 10 strike against Marcus Island, August 1943.

VF-6’s commander, Lt Cdr Edward H ‘Butch’ O’Hare, the navy’s first ‘ace’ of the Pacific War, shot down a Zeke and then found and destroyed his sixth Mitsubishi G6M Betty bomber while his wingman, Lt Alex Vraciu, scored the first of an eventual 19 victories when he caught an A6M landing on Wake’s airfield. In 15 minutes of combat, the Hellcats had downed 22 of 34 Zekes and demonstrated beyond a doubt that the new fighter could more than hold its own against the enemy’s best.

In the balance

A month later, the US Navy faced the last great naval crisis in the South Pacific. American forces landed on Bougainville on November 1, the last Japanese-held base in the Solomons, in the aptly named Operation Shoestring. The Japanese mounted a counterstroke, sending a strong force of cruisers and destroyers from Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. 90 FLYPAST September 2017

threat posed by Japanese cruiser force at Rabaul was “the most desperate emergency that confronted me in my entire time as Commander South Pacific”.

Through the flak

The Central Pacific Fleet was already committed to the coming invasion of the Gilbert Islands, but Nimitz managed to release Task Group 50.3, composed of Essex, Bunker Hill and Independence, commanded by Rear Admiral Alfred Montgomery. The carriers departed Pearl on November 3. The only carriers immediately at hand were the Saratoga and Princeton, part of TF 38, commanded by Rear Admiral Frederick Sherman. The two vessels were refuelling near Rennell Island on the evening of November 4 when Sherman received the order to strike Rabaul. The mission was considered highly dangerous, but the fate of the invasion hung in the balance.

late to intercept effectively. Despite the heavy anti-aircraft fire and waiting fighters, only five Hellcats and five Dauntlesses were lost. An hour later, 27 Fifth Air Force Consolidated B-24 Liberators escorted by 58 Lockheed P-38s struck the harbour. Six of the seven Japanese cruisers in Simpson Harbor were damaged. Admiral Mineichi Koga was forced to order the damaged cruisers back to Truk for repair. The attacks ended the Japanese threat to Bougainville. That night, Halsey sent a message to Sherman: “My utmost admiration for your brilliant performance during recent operations. Your strike was another shot heard round the world. When the Saratoga is given a chance, she is deadly.”

Huge dogfight

Task Group 50.3 dropped anchor at Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu in the early evening of November 5, 1943. The next day, the aircrews learned that

they would strike Rabaul. Mac: “We were very concerned when we heard we were going there. They lost ten or eleven airplanes in that strike. We were told we could expect to find 80 to 90 Zekes there. What no one knew was the Japanese had flown in all the Zekes from their carriers at Truk down to Rabaul the day after that raid. When we got there, we were up against approximately 160 Zekes.” At dawn on November 11, 1943, TF 38 was under cover of a weather front near Green Island when they launched a strike force of 55 Hellcats, 25 Avengers and 21

Dauntlesses. The bombers found three cruisers visible in the rain and hit one. Seventy Zekes chased the raiders in and out of the weather, but caught only seven. Five of these returned to the carriers with battle damage while VF-12 scored one victory. TF 38 retired to the south without being detected by the Japanese. Essex, Bunker Hill and Independence were in the Solomon Sea 165 miles southeast of Rabaul when they launched their strikes at 0945hrs: 185 aircraft operating as separate groups from each carrier. The strike included 16 Curtiss

SB2C-1 Helldivers of VB-17 ‘Bombing 17’ making their combat debut. McWhorter related: “We ran into trouble right from the start. En route to the target, we were at 12,000 feet when a dozen Zekes found us and tried to lure the fighters away, but we stuck with the mission.” Over Rabaul, Mac spotted warships leaving the harbour at high speed. “I went after a heavy cruiser. It seemed like every weapon on the cruiser and all the other warships were firing at me and I could actually see the eight inch shells coming at me. I thought that incredible flak barrage was going to get me for sure.” The fight wasn’t over by a long shot, since 68 Zekes were airborne. As he headed for rendezvous, he saw a huge World War One-style dogfight involving 24 Hellcats and 50 A6Ms. “I saw a Zeke ahead

Left

Simpson Harbor on Rabaul, November 5, 1943, as seen from a TBF1C of VT-12. Below

A Helldiver and Hellcats aboard the ‘Essex’. Bottom

Hellcats of VF-16 aboard ‘Lexington’ warming up prior to launch.

September 2017 FLYPAST 91

WORLD WAR TWO GRUMMAN HELLCAT

Top

Air Group 10 commander Lt Cdr Jimmy Flatley ready for take-off aboard the ‘Yorktown’, ready for the Marcus Island strike, August 1943. Above

Lt Alex Vraciu in his Hellcat with his final tally of 19 victories. KEC Above right

Hamilton McWhorter in his F6F-3 with ten victory markings, making him the first Hellcat double ‘ace’.

that was scoring heavily on another Hellcat. I came in behind him and fired a short burst. I saw the Zeke explode, but couldn’t tell if the Hellcat escaped. “I heard a sound like when someone throws a handful of large rocks on a galvanized tin roof. It was the sound of bullets hitting my plane! I snapped into a split-S to get away from whoever was on my tail, and as I dove out straight down there was another Zeke passing right in front of me and he blew up when I fired a short burst. “It seemed like I’d been in that fight for an hour, but all of a sudden I was alone and when I looked at my watch, the whole thing hadn’t lasted a minute.” Fighting Nine claimed 14 Zekes shot down. Overall, the strikes were successful. One destroyer was sunk, another destroyer and light cruiser badly damaged, and three other ships slightly damaged. The attacking squadrons lost only 11 aircraft.

92 FLYPAST September 2017

Terror scale

Shortly after noon, Essex’s radar spotted an incoming strike. Pilots in the overhead combat air patrol reported “millions of them!” Soon 67 A6Ms, 27 Aichi D3A Val divebombers, 14 Nakajima B5N Kate torpedo-bombers, and a few G4M1s were intercepted by 12 VF-33 Hellcats and 24 VF-17 Corsairs as the carriers launched more fighters. Ensign C T Watts of Bunker Hill’s VF-18 had just begun to retract his wheels when a Val appeared in front of him and he shot it down. Lt Rube Denoff of VF-9 had a similar experience: “I didn’t have time to even retract my wheels before I had a Val in front of me.” He shot it down, then connected with his wingman and proceeded to destroy a Kate before he was hit by ‘friendly fire’ and made an emergency landing aboard Essex. American claims for 90 kills were excessive, but the Japanese lost eight

Zekes and 31 Vals and Kates. For VF-9, things aboard Essex were different that night. Mac remembered the situation many years later: “Up until then, the torpedo-bomber and divebomber pilots usually had little use for us ‘hot shot’ fighter pilots. But that night they came to our ready room with cigarettes, gum, and candy. We had escorted them into Rabaul and back and only one dive-bomber had been lost to [anti-aircraft] fire. On a terror scale of one to ten, Rabaul was an eight. It was definitely my most memorable mission.” The American task force departed that evening, headed for the coming Gilberts’ invasion, and rejoined the fleet on November 13.

Five ‘kills’

On November 18, the day before the invasion, the fleet struck targets in the Gilberts. That afternoon, as 12 Hellcats of VF-9 returned to Essex, Mac looked up at the right moment. “I saw a biplane on floats flying in the opposite direction about 4,000 feet above and recognised it immediately as a Pete.” This was a Mitsubishi F1M2, highly manoeuvrable and a difficult target. “He was in a shallow dive heading for the clouds below and I was closing in on his port quarter just waiting to get into firing range. He made a hardright diving turn and increased his dive angle, which turned my firing run into a perfect overhead pass. “Before I could fire, he disappeared into some clouds and I thought I’d lost him, but just then I saw a dark blur in

the clouds and opened fire on that, not seeing whether I had hit him or not. I dove on through the clouds and looked back and there he was beneath the clouds, spinning down in flames.” On patrol north of Tarawa, on November 19, his division received a call to intercept a low ‘bogie’. Dropping to 2,000ft, he spotted a Betty low over the water. “I made a flat side pass coming in on his starboard beam, aiming at the engines and nose, and gave it about a one-second burst. The port engine flamed and the Betty hit the water and burned.” Hamilton McWhorter had just become the first pilot to score five ‘kills’ in the Hellcat. Back aboard Essex, the armorers discovered he had fired only 86 rounds to down the bomber. His squadron nickname became ‘One Slug’.

Hailstone

Following the success of the

had come since Rabaul only 97 days earlier. When the flyers received word of the proposed offensive they were eager but apprehensive. Mac remembered when he was informed of the operation: “My first instinct was to jump overboard.” The Essex shipboard newspaper, The Buccaneer, published a cartoon of the captain announcing the attack on Truk, followed by the entire crew abandoning ship. The fleet had grown with each operation after the Wake Island raid. Task Force 58 consisted of Task Group 58.1, commanded by Rear Admiral ‘Black Jack’ Reeves with Enterprise, Yorktown, and Belleau Wood; Task Group 58.2, led by Rear Admiral A E Montgomery with Essex, Intrepid, and Cabot; and Sherman’s Task Group 58.3 with Bunker Hill, Monterey, and Cowpens. Aboard this fleet were: 276 F6F-3s, 140 SBD-5s, 27 SB2C-1s and 126 TBM-1Cs – a

ducked into a nearby cloud. After several inconclusive moments, Vraciu dropped on it from six o’clock and lit it afire with two bursts. He had nearly doubled his score, to nine. “At that moment, I was the leading Navy ace of the war. The fighting over Truk was the wildest action I participated in...” Vraciu’s status as leading ace didn’t last an hour. Mac and his wingman, Lt Bud Gehoe, were escorting an Avenger on a photo mission when he spotted a flight of three ‘bogies’ in the distance coming toward them. The incident was still vivid to McWhorter later in life: “I truly couldn’t believe it when they came at us head-on and never fired a shot. I don’t see how they could have failed to spot us.” With economical bursts, he downed two in about five seconds, while Gehoe got the third. Later he saw another Zeke, came in behind it, fired, and it went down in flames.

“Lt Eugene Valencia was chased by six Zekes that fired at him continuously without result. He finally decided: ‘They couldn’t hit an elephant if it was tied down for them’.” Gilberts’ invasion, the Central Pacific Campaign rolled on with the invasion of Kwajalein in the Marshalls in January 1944. The greatest Japanese target of the war to date was now in the navy’s sights: Truk. In the 20 years since Japan had taken control, Truk Atoll had taken on the name ‘Gibraltar of the Pacific’, an indication of its importance to Japanese ambitions. To the US Navy it appeared impregnable and sailors spoke the name in awe-struck tones. It was imperative that this ‘Gibraltar’ was neutralised. The attack – Operation Hailstone – was set for February 17, which was also D-Day for the invasion of Eniwetok Atoll. In terms of audacity, this strike demonstrated how far the ‘new navy’

total of 569 aircraft. Two hours before dawn on February 16, TF 58 was 90 miles east of Truk. Alex Vraciu, an ace after the Gilberts’ campaign, recalled the morning “was clear, cool and beautiful as we launched”. When 72 Hellcats arrived over Truk at dawn, the biggest air battle of the Pacific War up to that time broke out.

Head-on

Vraciu spotted Zekes 2,500ft overhead. He, and wingman Ensign Lou Little, broke into the enemy formation, which scattered. In a series of quick fights, Vraciu gunned down two Zekes and a Nakajima A6M2 Rufe floatplane while Little also nailed a Zeke. He spotted another Zeke that

With that victory, ‘Mac’ McWhorter was the first Hellcat double ace. Lt Eugene Valencia of VF-9 became separated in the fight over Truk and was chased by six Zekes that fired at him continuously without result. He finally decided: “They couldn’t hit an elephant if it was tied down for them.” Valencia racked his Hellcat around and made a head-on pass, knocking down one. Hauling around tighter, he shot down two more and the surviving three dove away. Back aboard Essex, Valencia was questioned by the Grumman tech rep about his feelings regarding the Hellcat. Grumman’s publicity department ensured that Valencia’s answer was widely quoted: “I love this airplane so much that if it could cook, I’d marry it.”

Above left

McWhorter (right) with other VF-9 pilots after the Truk Strike, February 17, 1944. Above

A wounded Avenger gunner being helped out of his turret by corpsmen during the Rabaul strike of November 11, 1943. ALL VIA AUTHOR UNLESS NOTED

September 2017 FLYPAST 93

GLORY DAYS PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORIES

Above

Coded ‘G’, XA623 noses up to the camera, with the Solent in the background. Ryde pier is just visible in the distance. The aircraft was flown by Sqn Ldr PDC Street, with Fg Off IM Calder in the back. Right

Some of the display crews gather around the nosewheel of XA628. Note the elaborate aircraft step that fits around the Javelin’s air intake. Far right

The distinctive arrow emblem of 46 Squadron decorates the tails of its Javelins. Nearest the camera is XA628 ‘R’, with XA571 behind. Both aircraft later passed to 87 Squadron and became instructional airframes in 1961.

94 FLYPAST September 2017

A formation of four Javelins formates on the photographer’s aircraft – a Blackburn Beverley C.1 from 47 Squadron. The aircraft are XA571, XA620/627/628. It is hard to imagine the RAF putting on such a display in these austere times.

The clean lines of Gloster’s last significant type to enter service with the RAF stand out in this head-on shot. The Javelin design moved up through different variants, concluding with the afterburning FAW.9, which survived in operational service until the end of the 1960s.

In All Weathers The delta-winged Gloster Javelin is one of the most distinctive fighters from the Cold War period. On July 2, 1956, 46 Squadron opened its doors to the press at RAF Odiham, and took its Javelin FAW.1s out for a spin to impress the assembled photographers. Top right

Wg Cdr H E White DFC* AFC (left), the commanding officer of 46 Squadron, and Gp Capt A K Gatwood DSO DFC*, overseer of RAF Odiham, watch the Javelins take off during the press event.

September 2017 FLYPAST 95

WORLD WAR TWO BOMBING BERLIN

SO WHO WAS L

THE ‘HONOUR’ OF DROPPING THE LAST BOMBS ON BERLIN WENT TO A 109 SQUADRON MOSQUITO CREW, AND NOT A 105 SQUADRON AIRCRAFT AS ORIGINALLY THOUGHT. RICHARD STOWERS EXPLAINS

D

uring a conversation over a bottle of red wine with Elliot Young at Waihi Beach in New Zealand last year we discovered that both our fathers and my fatherin-law were bomber pilots during World War Two. Elliot noted that his late father, along with his Australian navigator, were the very last to bomb Berlin in April 1945. This honour had already been bestowed upon another aircrew; we resolved to find out more. After extensive research, we have managed to uncover the truth behind one of the last raids of the war. The first attack on Berlin was made on August 25/26, 1940, when 95 Handley Page Hampdens and Vickers Wellingtons were dispatched to Tempelhof Airport near the centre of Berlin and Siemensstadt. There 96 FLYPAST September 2017

was thick cloud over the target and most of the bombs fell in country areas south of the city. Although damage was slight, the psychological effect on Hitler was significant as he had believed the capital was safe from attack. Subsequent raids on Berlin prompted him to order the Luftwaffe to target British cities rather than airfields and air defences. This was at a time during the Battle of Britain when British air defences were critically close to collapse. Over a period lasting nearly five years Berlin was subjected to 363 raids by RAF Bomber Command, the USAAF Eighth Air Force, and to a lesser degree by the French Armée de l’Air and Soviet Air Force late in the war. British aircraft dropped approximately 45,517 tons of bombs and the Americans 23,000

S LAST?

Above

Two Mosquito IVs of 105 Squadron. By 1945, the unit was using a combination of Mk.IXs and XVIs. KEY COLLECTION Left centre

‘Mac’ Skinner in an informal pose. Left

David Young, pilot of the 105 Squadron Mosquito.

September 2017 FLYPAST 97

WORLD WAR TWO BOMBING BERLIN

MOSQUITO LAUNCHES, APRIL 20/21, 1945 Pilot Navigator 109 Squadron, Little Staughton M P Fellowes A A Howley J McIntosh J Neve H M J Smith W R Wade J R Brown M Bowman A J Murray D J Hudson R V Watson A N Robbins A C Austin P Moorhead D S Bell A N Mogg Source: National Archives, Air 27/856 105 Squadron, Bourn R Burrell J McCulloch T P Lawrenson D W Allen J C H DeLisle J F O C Delori C F Muller P Hall F N Briggs P C Davies E J Williams L Isaacs R H Potts J R Lake D W Young M B Skinner Source: National Archives, Air 27/828 Top

David Young’s logbook showing the final Berlin ‘op’, written in red ink. Right

A line-up of Mosquito IVs at Marham, December 1942.

Time 20:29 20:30 21:40 21:45 23:55 00:01 00:10 00:13

20:35 20:37 21:30 21:45 23:59 00:01 00:08 00:35

tons. Between November 1943 and March 1944 alone, the RAF made 16 massed attacks on Berlin, at a cost of more than 500 aircraft. Bomber Command lost around 2,690 men over Berlin and nearly 1,000 more became prisoners of war. The last Allied raid on Berlin took place on the night of April 20/21, 1945, at the time the Russian army was entering the outer suburbs of the city from the east. In all, 76 de Havilland Mosquitos made six separate attacks; all returned

98 FLYPAST September 2017

“Potts and Lake were airborne at 00:08 but Young and Skinner took off at 00:35, nearly half an hour after the previous bomber and 22 minutes after the last 109 Squadron Mosquito”

home safely. Included in this force were eight aircraft each from 109 Squadron based at Little Staughton near St Neots, and nearby 105 Squadron at Bourn near Cambridge. Both units belonged to the Pathfinder Force. So which aircrew had the distinction of dropping the final bombs on Berlin?

MAGNETO SNAG

For more than 70 years that honour was bestowed upon two airmen of 109 Squadron – Fg Offs Arthur C Austin, pilot, and P Moorhead, navigator – flying Mosquito XVI MM929. Their bomb load comprised four 500-pounders, and their recorded time of release was 02:14 hours (British time) on the morning of April 21. They arrived back at base at 04:30. New evidence has come to light that clearly gives the credit to two young airmen of 105 Squadron – pilot Flt Lt David Watson Young of New Zealand, and his navigator Plt Off Malcolm ‘Mac’ Bailey Skinner of Australia. They were flying

Mosquito XVI PF407 with a similar bomb load, but because of a minor delay in the initial stages of the raid, they released 12 minutes later than Austin and Moorhead at precisely 02:26. The eight 109 Squadron Mosquitos had taken off from Little Staughton in four pairs over a fourhour period. The last got away at 00:13 hours on the 21st. Those from 105 Squadron at Bourn also took off over a similar length of time: Potts and Lake were airborne at 00:08 but Young and Skinner took off at 00:35, nearly half an hour after the previous bomber and 22 minutes after the last 109 Squadron Mosquito. Apparently Young and Skinner were taxiing just prior to takeoff when they observed that a magneto on one of the engines was malfunctioning. They quickly made their way back to dispersal and switched to Mosquito A-for-Able, PF407, a ‘standby’ aircraft that was fully fuelled and bombed up. The delay of about 20 minutes reflects a very creditable turn-around.

STICKING TO SCHEDULE

Once they climbed away from the airfield Young and Skinner encountered a cold front moving in from the North Sea. To avoid icing on the wings, they quickly climbed to 30,000ft (9,144m), a luxury for operational crews on Mosquitos. Nearing Berlin, they dropped to 28,000ft in preparation for their ten-minute run-in to the target, and dropped their bombs at precisely 02:26 before heading home. They landed at 04:44 on the morning of Skinner’s 20th birthday. The pair had completed the operation in just 4 hours 9 minutes – a remarkable achievement for a flight to Berlin and back. The distance of a return flight in a straight line is about 1,140 miles (1,834km), but the actual course flown by Young and Skinner would have been longer and vectored to avoid enemy defences. The final approach to Berlin was made from the south to synchronise with their ‘Oboe’ navigational equipment. After the operation, the intelligence officer of 109

Below

‘Mac’ Skinner’s logbook: DCO is ‘duty carrier out’.

September 2017 FLYPAST 99

WORLD WAR TWO BOMBING BERLIN

A-FOR-ABLE’S BOMB CERTIFICATE IN DETAIL: Bomb load: Four 500lb medium capacity bombs, fused at 0.025 seconds in order to explode immediately on impact. ‘Tail Delay’ bombs were ‘armed’ by a spinner fuse in the tail. Aiming Point: ‘Alexandre Platz’, actually the Alexandreplatz public square in the centre of Berlin. Height: 28,000ft when bombing. IAS: Indicated Airspeed - 166 knots. TAS: True Airspeed, the difference is related to the lack of pressure at height - 260 knots. Time of Release: 0226.2, meaning 2.26am plus 2 seconds. Computed Error: The 50 yards is based on the ‘Oboe’ run result. Each Mosquito flew to a point 50-plus miles south of Berlin, turned north and switched on the Oboe set, signals from which were received in Britain by two stations – ‘tracking’ and ‘releasing’. As the aircraft neared the target, the navigator received a series of Morse ‘A’s if it flew too near to England, and ‘N’s if it flew too far way. The ‘clear’ middle corridor was about 50ft wide. Also, the navigator received signals at set intervals as the aircraft neared the target, then a series of five dots to which the navigator released the bombs or markers. There were always small errors: 50 yards was considered a ‘very good’ result. Airborne Time: Take-off to touch down of 4 hours 10 minutes.

Top right

Originally, 109 Squadron was thought to have dropped the final bomb on Berlin. The unit certainly had a fine pedigree as the nose of Mk.IV DK333 ‘The Grim Reaper’ shows. VIA ANDY THOMAS

Right

‘Mac’ Skinner in 2016.

Squadron assumed, because of the scheduled times of take-off, that the last of his unit’s aircraft was the last to return from the target, and consequently the last to bomb Berlin. Skinner later stated: “Flying Officer Arthur Austin, 109 Squadron, was reported in The Daily Mirror on October 10, 1945 to have dropped the last bomb at about

100 FLYPAST September 2017

2.15am. He was probably briefed to be the last one but as we had to change aircraft because of engine trouble, and then encountered a cold front causing delay, we evidently usurped his position by at least 10 minutes.” Following the publication of the Daily Mirror article, Young and Skinner corresponded with the editors with no success. They also pursued their Intelligence Officer (IO) to rectify the situation, resulting in a counter-claim being made on June 4, 1945. A signed certificate was issued by the IO in 1945 stating that the last bombs were dropped on Berlin at precisely 02:26 by Young and Skinner, 12 minutes later than Austin and Moorhead.

COMMONWEALTH TEAM

David Young was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, in 1921. He did his initial air force training in New Zealand before travelling to Britain. For over two years he taught navigators at 1515 Beam Approach Training Flight at Swanton Morley, then pilots at 14 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit at Dallachy in Scotland. He prepared for operations before joining 105 Squadron in early 1945.

At the end of the war he returned to New Zealand and became a commercial pilot flying for New Zealand National Airways and an airline inspector for the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority. On retirement he had tallied up more than 20,000 hours of flying time. He died in Wellington on June 23, 1980. ‘Mac’ Skinner was born in Ingham, North Queensland, in 1925. After joining the Royal Australian Air Force, he trained in his homeland before travelling to Britain where he continued tuition as a navigator/bomb aimer before being posted to 105 Squadron where he ‘crewed up’ with Young. After the war Skinner returned to Australia and re-joined the staff of the Bank of New South Wales, two months before his 21st birthday. Now in his nineties, Skinner resides with his wife Joyce on the Gold Coast of Queensland. Young and Skinner teamed up for a total of five operations: all in the last weeks of the war and all in Mosquitos. Targets were: Reisa on April 13/14, Wismar on April 14/15, Berlin on April 20/21, Schleissheim airfield on April 23/24, and Husum airfield near Kiel on May 2/3, the last Bomber Command operation of the war. On May 30, they took a Mosquito on a ‘tour’ around major German cities, viewing the devastation caused by Bomber Command.

Following his extensive research into who dropped the last bomb on Berlin, the author is in touch with the relevant authorities to discuss his findings with them.

p101_FP_Sept17_ad.indd 1

18/07/2017 15:28

PHOTO FILE BRISTOL BLENHEIM

BLENHEIMS

IN COL UR A member of ground crew gives the thumbs up signal to the pilot of Blenheim IV V5580 of 21 Squadron as he taxies at Watton, Norfolk, in 1941.

RCAF No 8 Squadron based its Bolingbroke IVs in Alaska during 1942. Bolingbroke 9009/YO-X is seen at Elmendorf near Anchorage in August of that year. RCAF VIA N ROBINSON

BRISTOL VIA J D OUGHTON

A pair of Blenheim Vs that served with 13 Squadron in North Africa in 1943. VIA M GOODMAN

The crew of Blenheim IV V6436/YH-L clamber out after an anti-shipping attack off the Dutch coast on August 18, 1941. P HULTON VIA R FREEMAN

Blenheim Is, including L6635/PT-A of 27 Squadron, run up their engines soon after arriving at Kallang, Singapore in April 1941. 27 SQUADRON RECORDS

102 FLYPAST September 2017

WE PRESENT A SELECTION OF RARELY SEEN COLOUR IMAGES FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANDY THOMAS

AftertheBattle_fp.indd 1

17/07/2017 09:12

WARBIRDS NOORDUYN NORSEMAN

NORWEGIA DARREN HARBAR GOES AIR-TO-AIR WITH A RARE EXAMPLE OF THE NOORDUYN NORSEMAN One of the more unusual visitors to Duxford during May’s airshow this year was Noorduyn Norseman 44-70515 (LN-TSN), which is the only flying survivor of the type in Europe. Operated by the Norwegian Spitfire Foundation and owned by Norsk Luftfartsmuseum, this example was built in Canada in 1944, and flew with the Norwegian Air Force between March 1945 and 1959. Flown configured with wheels or floats, the immaculate machine is normally based at Kjeller Aerodrome or Gardermoen Airport, both in Norway. This rare aircraft is seen over Duxford on May 28. ALL DARREN HARBAR

104 FLYPAST September 2017

IAN

September 2017 FLYPAST 105

Under 16s Go FREE

. . . Lincolnshire . UK RAF Scampton Book now at airtattoo.com

Book now at scamptonairshow.com 2017 Scampton Key Publishing.indd 1

18/05/2017 10:48:13

AW AY D AY S

September 2017 FLYPAST 107

Flypast Single Page.indd 54 p107_FP_Sept17_ad.indd 23

16/06/2015 11:06 09:16 17/07/2017

FROM THE WORKSHOP HAWKER RESTORATIONS

Three, two, one...

Darren Harbar visits Hawker Restorations at its new base and discovers that the company could complete a ‘triple’ of maiden flights this year

Nearing completion, P2902 sits in the sunlight outside the new premises at Elmsett.

108 FLYPAST September 2017

T

hey say that moving home is one of the most traumatic things you can do. Hawker Restorations has been through the process this year and that would make 2017 challenging enough. However, the company has also witnessed one of its projects fly and there is a chance two others could have their maiden flights before the year is out. Hawker Restorations Ltd (HRL)

has been located at its Milden, Suffolk, workshop for 24 years. The venue has served the team well, and will continue to do so for a while yet, but its new home offers all sorts of exciting possibilities. By late April, HRL had moved into a rather stylish new facility at Elmsett aerodrome, just north of Hadleigh in Suffolk, six miles away from its previous location. A purpose-built hangar provides more space and

possibly more importantly, a runway. Previously it had been necessary to lift aircraft over a wall onto a lorry and then transport them down tiny lanes from Milden to an airfield for re-assembly and test flight. Andrew Wenman, an HRL director, explained: “even moving our existing projects from one base to another demonstrated how much easier it will be here [at Elmsett], as it took us two hours

Move! to load a lorry at Milden and just 15 minutes to reverse the process at Elmsett thanks the

to space we have.” Andrew revealed more about the change-

This archive image of Hurricane production at Brooklands in 1937 gives some idea of the complexity of the fighter’s construction. Compare this view to the excellent results being achieved by Hawker Restorations. KEY COLLECTION

around: “We had simply outgrown our last location and it wasn’t just the access that was causing us issues. Moving to an airfield site with a 900m runway opens up far more possibilities, as we can not only look at restorations, but also carry out annuals and aircraft servicing. “It was important that we found a location that was relatively close to our

September 2017 FLYPAST 109

FROM THE WORKSHOP HAWKER RESTORATIONS

“McGlashan made a forced landing on the beach. The young pilot returned across the Channel in one of the famous ‘little ships’, the Thames paddle steamer Golden Eagle” previous base, as our workforce all live in this area. Without them, we simply couldn’t continue our restorations, so we had to ensure they could get to our new home with ease. When looking around, we evaluated a number of places and we were encouraged by the landlord at Elmsett who was keen on new tenants.”

Dunkirk salvage Potentially three Hurricanes that have been through HRL could fly this year. Restored at Milden, Hurricane I P3707 (G-HITT) was trucked to Turweston, Buckinghamshire, where Bygone Aviation finished, signed off and test flew it on March 21 – see the June FlyPast. Next in line will be the first to fly from the new base, the Anglian Aircraft Restorations (AAR) Mk.I P2902 (G-ROBT) which is almost ready. “Bringing P2902 to Elmsett posed the last of the headache transportation challenges,” Andrew said with an element of relief. “The tailplane on a completed Hurricane is ten feet wide, which is wider than the lorry. This makes it harder

110 FLYPAST September 2017

Above

Almost ready: P2902 (right) sits alongside V7497 which is awaiting painting. Right

A section of fuselage tubing for a future project – a two-seat Hurricane. Compare this image to the archive view. Top right

Components awaiting finishing at Elmsett, including a canopy and the tail structure, which has yet to receive its fabric. Bottom right

The attention to detail is simply amazing.

to move, especially as the lanes between Milden and Elmsett are hardly ideal for normal vehicles, let alone a Hurricane convoy. “The journey took us nearly two hours to complete, but ‘P2’ is now safely in the hangar and her wings are attached. We have submitted the paperwork for her, and hope that test flying can start in June, so she may even have flown by the time this is read.” [See News! - ED] In a separate conversation, AAR told FlyPast: “We are delighted to be responsible for the completion of the ‘McGlashan’ Hurricane.” This historic aircraft crashed at Dunkirk

77 years ago and the firm considers it a huge achievement to get it flying again after all that time. Based at Hawkinge, Plt Off Kenneth ‘Mac’ McGlashan of 245 Squadron took off on May 31, 1940 to patrol Dunkirk. Bounced by Messerschmitt Bf 109s, McGlashan made a forced landing on the beach. Helped out of the cockpit by Allied soldiers waiting to be evacuated, the young pilot returned across the Channel

in one of the famous ‘little ships’, the Thames paddle steamer Golden Eagle. The hulk was salvaged in 1989. The civil registration G-ROBT is derived from its 245 Squadron code ‘DX-R’ – R-for-Robert.

Battle of Britain veteran The third candidate is Battle of Britain veteran Mk.I V7497 (G-HRLI) which was being

prepared for painting during the FlyPast visit. Andrew Wenman: “Although we currently own half this aircraft, our share is up for sale. Peter Kirkpatrick and ourselves are looking for a buyer who will help him operate ‘V7’ in the UK. “The fuselage is already covered in fabric and is being painted. The control surfaces are in the

process of being covered and painted, whilst the wings remain at Milden where they are around 60 to 70% complete. “We’ve not moved the wings to Elmsett at this stage, as they are in the jig. They should be done within a month or so and will then be transported here for final fitting and painting. [They’ve since arrived - ED]. We’ll then

bring the jigs over to Elmsett in order to start the wings for the next project. If all goes to plan, ‘V7’ will be flying by the end of 2017.”

Two-seater Following ‘V7’ is possibly one of the most remarkable ventures so far. As revealed in the November 2016 issue, this is a two-seat Mk.II,

owned by HRL. Already under way at Elmsett, it presents additional engineering challenges for the team. Andrew: “As may be expected, there’s not a great deal of information available about twoseat Hurricanes. There were two made by Hawker [in 1946] and they were sent to Persia [modernday Iran]. We think there were multiple others modified in the field. We have a few pictures but no drawings exist for such a conversion. “The most important stage is to have our stress engineers work out the required bracing to ensure the structural integrity of the framework. Putting a second seat in is not as complicated as it may sound. There is a space behind the pilot’s seat where the radio would normally sit, but it will be a bit of a squeeze. “There are some cross wires in this section that will need re-engineering and a new seat fixing cross strut has been installed, along with stronger gauge steel in the uprights. The second seat will not have controls or instruments, so it will purely be for a passenger. The exact layout is being worked on, and the stress/ weight and balance calculations will determine the final design. “We are keen to ensure we do

September 2017 FLYPAST 111

FROM THE WORKSHOP HAWKER RESTORATIONS

The fuselage of V7497 awaits painting. Since this image was taken, the work has been completed.

not massively change the profile of the aircraft, as we want it to remain close to a single-seater look. The one area that will need to look different is the canopy. The plan is to reduce the size of the pilot’s canopy by one section of glazing two rather than three panels. “A second two-panel canopy will sit behind. We’d ideally like to have them as two separate parts, but a single canopy with longer slide rails may be necessary. Like

the structural design and seat installation, we are working on ideas to get an authorised modification agreed.” The modified wooden ‘dog kennel’ construction for ‘L1’ – the fairing behind the canopy – is progressing well. This will come to Elmsett in due course. The future for HRL looks set to be very busy. In addition to the two-seat Hurricane, Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a C8996 is being

worked on for a Swedish client.

Diversifying This will be brought to Elmsett once the work is complete. Andrew beamed: “It’s a lot easier to move than a Hurricane! We see the Elmsett facility as an investment in our future. We have the knowledge and expertise to carry out restorations on many different types of aircraft. Clearly, Hurricanes are something we

specialise in and we have plenty of the structural framework that is essential to the design. That gives us a big advantage when tendering for Hurricane work. “We are also well known for our sheet metal work, so we can produce cowlings and other parts to order for almost any type. Our plan is to diversify so we can look after aircraft that are already flying, as much as those that need restoring.”

“We see the Elmsett facility as an investment in our future. We have the knowledge and expertise to carry out restorations on many different types of aircraft”

Salvaged in 1989, P2902 wears 245 Squadron colours. ALL DARREN HARBAR EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

112 FLYPAST September 2017

THE BLENHEIM SOCIETY Contact: Mr R J Scott 25 Herongate Road Cheshunt, Herts EN8 0TU Tel: 01992 442608 [email protected] blenheimsociety.com

NO 72 SQUADRON ASSOCIATION Membership Secretary: T G Docherty 17 Mannachie Grove Forres Morayshire IV36 2WE Tel: 01309 675059 [email protected]

BRITISH MODEL FLYING ASSOCIATION

Contact: Mr Dave Phipps Chacksfield House 31 St Andrews Road Leicester LE2 8RE Tel: 0116 244 0028 Fax: 0116 244 0645 Email: [email protected] Web: www.bmfa.org

FRIENDS OF THE FIGHTER COLLECTION Imperial War Museum Duxford Airfield Cambridge CB2 4QR [email protected] www.fighter-collection.com

x

ASSOCIATIONS

THE SHACKLETON ASSOCIATION

Membership Secretary Wally Allaway 1 Deepdale, Wilnecoat Tamworth, B77 4PD Tel: 01827 892 332 [email protected]

(RAF/USAAF) MARTLESHAM HEATH

Contact: R W Dunnett 341 Main Rd. Martlesham Suffolk IP5 2QU Tel: 01473 624510 [email protected] [email protected] www.mhas.org.uk

No 214 (FMS) Squadron Association will celebrate formation centenary of 14 Squadron RNAS/214 Squadron over weekend

7/8 October 2017

with a Final Reunion dinner in Derby and memorial wreath-laying at Alrewas Arboretum. Former Squadron members/ families/friends welcome. Details at www.214squadron.org.uk or contact John Gulliver 01983 873248 or [email protected]

206 Squadron Association Annual Lunch on

11 November 2017 at RAF Club Details of Assoc & Lunch from

Chairman: Derek Straw [email protected] 01285 869437

September 2017 FLYPAST 113

p113_FP_Sept17_ad.indd 1

18/07/2017 14:19

AIRFIELDS CARNABY

Lost and Found The residents of the East Yorkshire village of Carnaby have started a campaign to commemorate their airfield. Chris Gilson went to see how a forgotten base is being remembered

T

o the casual motorist driving through the picturesque East Yorkshire village of Carnaby near Bridlington, there is little to indicate that there was ever an airfield in the vicinity. Close inspection of the road signs reveals a Lancaster Road and a Wellington Way, but until now not much has been done to commemorate a site that not only played a vital part as an emergency landing strip during World War Two, but was active well into the nuclear era. In fact, the site not only hosted 617 Squadron – the legendary Dambusters – but it also played its part in the development of the V-Bombers, and finished up with a placement of THOR ballistic missiles before finally closing its gates in 1963. RAF Carnaby was no ordinary station.

One of three From the start, the proposed airfield at Carnaby was to be one of three designated emergency landing grounds for Bomber Command crews returning from missions in damaged aircraft. The idea was first suggested in October 1941, and a year later work began

FIDO in operation. This view was taken at RAF Graveley in March 1945. The heat can only be imagined. KEY COLLECTION

114 FLYPAST September 2017

on purchasing the site for the Air Ministry, despite several objections from Bomber Command, which felt that not only was the area prone to fog, but it was too close to nearby Bridlington to be safe. At the same time, work also started on the other two emergency grounds at RAF Manston in Kent and RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk. Construction of the base was fraught with complications, including archaeological concerns, which were quickly resolved by simply ignoring them after an initial excavation, and the more pressing problem of the ground being boggy. During the laying of the runway, one of the steam rollers used was too heavy and sank into the mire. It was finally buried beneath the surface where it remains to this day. The runway at Carnaby was specifically designed for the task. At 750ft (230m) wide, five times the width of a standard strip (meaning three bombers could sit side by side), and being 9,000ft (2,700m) long it could hold numerous aircraft simultaneously, minimising the risk of collisions. It faced into the prevailing headwind and was located just under eight miles south

of the well-known landmark of Flamborough Head, making it easy to find for returning crews. The airfield was well equipped with 12 crash bays and could provide two 1,500ft clear areas at each end of the runway for under and overshoots. Operations at Carnaby officially began on March 26, 1944, although the runway had been used on several occasions that year before the building works were complete, prompting a bulletin from Bomber Command warning pilots about the dangers of landing on runways that were still under construction. Official records noted: “Even before the Emergency Runway at Carnaby was completed, two aircraft made emergency landings and one even made a belly landing. At the time of the landing, the contractor’s men were busily engaged on the runway. The Clerk of Works complained that the men had then threatened to volunteer service in the mines.”

Fire on the ground One noteworthy aspect of Carnaby was the installation of the experimental Fog Investigation

Dispersal Operation (FIDO) system, which was only used on 16 airfields during World War Two. The concept behind FIDO was that heat from flames would disperse fog, which was frequently a problem at the site. Two large pipelines were installed on either side of the runway through which fuel ran and was vented through a series of burners along the pipes. This was then lit during foggy conditions to remove any issues with visibility. At Carnaby, the installation involved 6,000ft of runway, with an additional 30,000ft of piping and 180 burners. A full burn could use up to 120,000 imp gallons (544,800 litres) of petrol per hour, while fuel tanks on site enabled FIDO to operate at maximum output for six hours. A total of 60 men were allocated to operate the burners, while 720,000 gallons of fuel was kept on site in case the full duration was needed as fog would quickly return once the burners were turned off. Despite its foibles, the system proved to be valuable, with August 1, 1944 seeing the first successful use of the flames to punch a hole in the fog and guide in a damaged Handley

Left

An aerial view of Carnaby looking northeast. Note the width of the runway. NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Inset left

A demonstration of the FIDO fog dispersal system at Fiskerton, staged for the benefit of the Lancasters of 49 Squadron in November 1943. KEC

Page Halifax B.III that had been diverted from nearby RAF Driffield. Waving aside the initial reservations of Bomber Command, RAF Carnaby fulfilled its job admirably, receiving 1,485 ailing aircraft from its opening date to its decommissioning in March 1946. One such rescue on March 13, 1945 is worth a mention as it not only involved 617 Squadron but also was the first planned mission using the new Grand Slam bomb. In fact, the testing of the weapon had only been completed three hours earlier in Ashley Walk in the New Forest. The force of 20 aircraft took off from Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire to bomb the railway viaduct at Bielefeld in Germany. Of these, 18 were equipped with Tallboy bombs, while two – PD119 ‘YZ-J’ flown by 617’s CO Wg Cdr C J E Fauquier, and PD112 ‘YZ-S’ flown by Sqn Ldr C C Calder – each carried the new weapon. The aircraft were routed out over Cromer, across the North Sea to the target. Two hours into the flight, at approximately 15.30 the force was at 15,000ft, with solid cloud tops 1,000ft below. After further investigation by the fighter

“One noteworthy aspect of Carnaby was the installation of the experimental Fog Investigation Dispersal Operation (FIDO) system, which was only used on 16 airfields during World War Two” September 2017 FLYPAST 115

AIRFIELDS CARNABY escort the force was ordered down to 5,000ft where the cloud thinned but then began to thicken again. On reaching the Dümmer See at 15:46 and with solid cloud in force, the commander gave the order to return. The reason for diverting to Carnaby is unclear, and does not seem to have been related to weather at Woodhall. It may be that since the Grand Slam aircraft had to use all of Woodhall’s runway to get airborne it was felt that the bigger runway at Carnaby would give more leeway for error on landing – and its extra width would help should any swing develop. In the event, all 20 Lancasters landed without incident

after their aborted sortie. The following day after remaining overnight at Carnaby, the squadron despatched 15 aircraft – 14 Tallboy carriers and one Grand Slam to Bielefeld between 13:41 and 13:56. Because Carnaby had no separate taxi track, the aircraft had to negotiate the length of the runway on the south side of the emergency landing lane in order to reach the start of their take-off run. There should have been two

116 FLYPAST September 2017

Grand Slam carriers, as before, but Fauquier’s Lancaster became unserviceable with an engine failure on start-up, leaving PD114 to carry the first Grand Slam to Bielefeld.

THOR’s hammer After the war ended, uncertainty surrounded the future of RAF Carnaby for several months until in September 1947 aircraft manufacturer Blackburn was given permission to test prototypes on the airfield. This happened again in May 1950, when the manufacturer’s first GAL.60 WF320/G-AMUX, which was later developed into the Blackburn Beverley, was flown there. In June 1951, another aircraft

Above and right

The planned memorial to RAF Carnaby as proposed by the Carnaby Airfield Memorial group. CAM/PETER NAYLOR Far right

Despite its early demise, the HP.88 helped to prove the effectiveness of the crescent wing used on the Victor. The aircraft, VX330, is seen in flight near RAF Carnaby before heading south to Stansted. VIA TONY BUTTLER Below

The Handley Page HP.88 on the ground at Carnaby in 1951. VIA TONY BUTTLER

appeared for testing – one that would influence the creation of the Handley Page Victor, the last of the three V-Bomber designs. This was the sleek HP.88, serial numbered VX330, which was essentially the fuselage of a Supermarine Attacker combined with a smaller version of the Victor’s unique and experimental crescent-shaped wing and its T-tail with slab tailplane. Brought by road from the Blackburn factory at Brough, near Hull, the aircraft was tested until August 1951, when it was sent to Stansted, Essex for further work. Sadly, it was destroyed in September 1951 while practising for the year’s SBAC air show at Farnborough when it broke up in flight at 300ft after severe pitching and oscillation, killing the pilot. The site continued to provide a relief landing ground and training strip, until October 1958, when it was allocated for use as a THOR ballistic missile location under the care of 150 Squadron. Jointly operated by the RAF and USAF, Carnaby was also

protected by the Bristol Bloodhound surface-to-air missiles of 247 Squadron, which were located at the base. The tenure of the missiles lasted until 1963, when the nuclear defence responsibility was once again passed fully to the V-Bomber force, mainly located in East Anglia, and Carnaby closed its doors. Despite Air Ministry plans in 1966 to potentially re-use the runway again as a relief and training ground, it lay derelict for several years until being sold in 1972 for £50,000 to Bridlington Corporation. The runway remained in operation by light aircraft as late as 1987, but the ground was progressively colonised by a large industrial estate, which expanded sufficiently to swallow up virtually every trace of what was once an airfield.

Roundabout plans Move forward several decades, and I’m sitting in Carnaby’s Ferns Farm Hotel talking to landlady Kate Dawson and local historian Gayna

“The site continued to provide a relief landing ground and training strip, until October 1958, when it was allocated for use as a THOR ballistic missile location under the care of 150 Squadron”

A THOR missile site. KEC

Wallis, who are explaining the plans behind the Carnaby Airfield Memorial (CAM) group, which has been set up in the village. “I was talking to the parish council,” recalls Gayna, “and they were looking at getting a memorial [to the airfield] put on the industrial estate, but they’d been talking about it for about 25 years, so I thought I’d look into it.” Gayna has become an expert on the history of RAF Carnaby, an interest that was spurred when she unearthed a section of the FIDO pipeline in her back garden one day. Since 2014 she, with the tireless support of Kate and many

of the villagers, has worked hard to make sure the base and its importance to Bomber Command and afterwards, isn’t forgotten. This work has seen the publication of her comprehensive book on Carnaby, Station XI – The Story of RAF Carnaby. Consulting with local artist Peter Naylor who had designed a memorial for 158 Squadron at the former RAF Lissett nearby, Gayna came up with the idea of constructing a life-size statue of an aeroplane to be mounted on the roundabout of the main road into Carnaby, not far from the old RAF station. “Peter drew up plans for a 100ft

life-size representation of a bomber in skeleton form, which is designed as if it’s coming in to land. It will look incredible when done. “The original idea was to have it on the remains of the actual runway, so we were looking at places on the site and trying to get some land there, but we were unsuccessful. Then we set up a committee, were granted charity status and began various fund-raising activities.” Gayna also has a personal interest in the site as her grandfather worked there as an electrician during World War Two, as well as at RAF Leconfield nearby. “We’ve been developing different events to raise money, and we’ve got some land available [on the roundabout], on which to place the memorial – it’s now a case of getting planning permission. We’re also trying to get as many stories and photographs about the site, while I’m working my way through squadron

archives seeing who landed here and the reason why.” So, why is the airfield being remembered now? I ask Gayna what sparked it all off. “A lot of the local residents were asking why we hadn’t got a memorial when lots of the other local airfields have,” she says. “It hasn’t been acknowledged, despite the fact it saved nearly 1,500 aircraft and so many lives, and something needed to be done to recognise that.”

Gayna and CAM would love to hear from those who were based at Carnaby or who have images and stories to tell. Contact FlyPast for further details. Station XI – The Story of RAF Carnaby by Gayna Wallis is a mustread for anyone interested in the site. Priced £8, it is available from: www.carnabyairfieldmemorial. org September 2017 FLYPAST 117

MARKETPLACE ACCESSORIES

AUCTIONS See our next sale at www.chaucerauctions.co.uk or call us on 0800 1701314

ACCOMMODATION

AVIATION FAIRS

HOLIDAY COTTAGE in Lincolnshire near RAF Coningsby. Detached, sleeps 5, fully equipped, enclosed garden. Also available, fully equipped barn, sleeps 2. Tel: 01526 342 943. www.the4ge.co.uk

MIDLAND AIR MUSEUM (COVENTRY) AVIATION FAIR Sunday 8th October 10.00am Baginton Coventry Airport CV3 4FR. Admission £5.00

AVIATION ART Aviation - Motorsport Specialising in Limited Edition prints by some of the world’s top artists Signed by Heroes and Champions email: [email protected] www.oliversart.com

• Battle of Britain Pilots • Fighter and Bomber Aces • Victoria and George Cross winners • Dambusters • RAF Escapers • Luftwaffe aces • U-Boat commanders • Concorde and much more Call us for a free catalogue.

http://speedbird707.wix.com/midlandaviationfair

We are always interested in buying collections or putting them into auction.

Tel:0790 384 8726

CLOTHING

Oliver’s Art Gallery

Chaucer Auctions run a two weekly autograph auction which includes...

PECARD LEATHER DRESSING. Ideal for conservation of leather flight clothing. Online ordering. www.antiqueleatherdressing.co.uk Tel: 01458 241816

AVIATION ART

ANTIQUES

Aviation Art G-OAB – Aircraft built 1976 - 2000 retired 150 copies signed and numbered by artist Geoff Hutchins Size 480mm x 290mm for £38.00 plus p&p Payment by cheque or paypal Please call or email for details Email: [email protected] Tel: 01525 759398

AVIATION BOOKS Bosleys 60x42mm.indd 1

AVIATION BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

- Brian Cocks, 18 Woodgate, Helpston, Peterborough, PE6 7ED 01733 252791. Email: [email protected]

Catalogues Spring and Autumn £1 (Europe £3 Other £5 overseas airmail). Visitor by appointment. Website:

09/01/2015 16:28

AVIATION BOOKS

BOOKFINDING SERVICE All subjects, including aviation. Also journal articles, CDs and DVDs. Books willingly posted overseas. Visa/MC/AmEx welcome.

Barlow Moor Books, 29 Churchwood Road, Manchester M20 6TZ Telephone: 0161 434 5073 email: [email protected]

EVENTS

RAF KENLEY AERO/AUTOJUMBLE SUNDAY OCTOBER 8TH

• Gate opens: 9.00am • Entrance: £2.50

Traders apply to: [email protected]

www.aviationbookhouse.co.uk 18 West Street, Dorking, Surrey RH4 1BL Tel: 07860 762277 118 FLYPAST September 2017

FOR SALE A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE ORIGINAL AVIATION ARTWORKS BY THE LATE MAURICE GARDNER (former associate member of the Guild of Aviation Artist)

617 SQUADRON TORNADO GR1

COASTAL GUARDIAN 206 SQUADRON – LOCKHEAD HUDSON

Oil painting on stretched canvas.1015cm x 540cm not framed £4,250

GATHERING STRENGTH BRISTOL BLENHEIM MK1 4094

DAMBUSTERS 617 SQUADRON Oil painting on stretched canvas, 560cm x 570cm, not framed, this painting was commissioned for a book jacket (The Dambusters Squadron Fifty Years of 617 Squadron RAF by Alan Cooper) £3,750

Oil painting on stretched canvas 610cm x 385cm framed £3,250

Limited edition print (print 116) under glass and personally signed by the pilot and the artist, 530cm x 400cm, framed £275

To arrange purchase please contact PAUL GARDNER on 07825 956260

AVIATION & AEROPLANE MAGAZINES FOR SALE ROYAL OBSERVER CORPS complete year sets 1942/43 to 1970 AIR PICTORIALS complete year sets 1956 to 1968 £10 per year set, plus P&P

We buy and sell aero engines and parts. WWII and early jets preferred.

AIR TRAINING CORPS GAZETTES July 1942 to February 1946 £1 each plus P&P

CONTACT MARTIN ON: Tel: 07515 937154 / 01332 793105 Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 0131 554 3674

www.ashbyaero.com

TWO FIRST EDITION Spitfire prints by Robert Taylor signed by Douglas Bader and Johnny Johnson. Offers please phone 01643 704482

FLIGHT EXPERIENCE

- www.flypast.com MILITARY

www.theaviationexperiencecompany.co.uk Flights, trips and tours, simulators, private transfers and much, much more. Let our knowledge guide your aviation dreams. Contact us on

0845 456 6515

visit our website or email: [email protected]

WANTED COLOUR SLIDE AND B&W PHOTO/NEG COLLECTIONS WANTED - TOP PRICES PAID - All other aviation related items considered, will collect. Contact Chris Tel: 0208 422 5899 Email: [email protected] AIRCRAFT-MILITARY PLASTIC KITS WANTED unmade, especially large collections, individually priced, cash paid, will collect. Tel: 02476 542196.

PHOTO

ALL MAKES OF UNMADE PLASTIC KITS PURCHASED Courier collections arranged for large quantities. Unit 8 Cedar Court, Halesfield 17, Telford, TF74PF Telephone: 01952 586457 Email: [email protected]

 WEB DIRECTORY

OLD WOODEN PROPELLERS in any condition. Tel: 07808 727939

BOOKS

AVIATION BOOKS, MAGAZINES, photos, slides,

PHOTO

TOP QUALITY

Colour Slides/Colour Photos/ B&W Photos Check out our website

models, ephemera wanted. Whole or part collections bought. Please phone Mark 01264 334779. Email: [email protected]

ALL PLASTIC MODEL KITS WANTED Unmade or already built, any quantity, especially large collections, also diecast models & books. Will collect nationwide and pay best cash price. Please call 01202 976974 or 07901-890461. Thankyou.

VINTAGE FIREWORK COLLECTOR

DO NOT LIGHT THE BLUE TOUCH PAPER AND BURN BRITISH HERITAGE. PRIVATE COLLECTOR WILL PAY CASH AND COLLECT FROM ANYWHERE. LICENSED EXPLOSIVE STORAGE

CALL TONY 07956506300

www.airphotographicinternational.com

September 2017 FLYPAST 119

VIETNAM GENERAL DYNAMICS F-111

C MBAT LA The revolutionary F-111 had a disastrous operational debut in Vietnam. Warren E Thompson describes the baptism that nearly became a requiem

120 FLYPAST September 2017

D

uels between F-86 Sabres and MiG-15s during the Korean War and rising tensions during the Cold War caused a torrent of swept-wing designs reflecting the latest advances in technology. When Robert McNamara was appointed US Secretary of Defense in January 1961 he set about combining the needs of the US Navy, looking for a replacement for the McDonnell F-4 Phantom and the USAF, seeking a successor for the Republic F-105 Thunderchief. Both armed services shared a requirement to carry heavy armament and greater fuel loads, to

have high supersonic speed, twin engines and two seats, and probably the use of variable geometry wings. Specifically, the air force was looking for tandem seating, lowlevel penetration ground attack with the potential to travel at Mach 2.5. Under the designation TFX - Future Tactical Strike Fighter McNamara gave project oversight to the USAF.

No pain, no gain

The old adage of ‘no pain, no gain’ could probably be applied to the selection, design, development and wartime application of the F-111.

LANCER The pain began in Washington and the gain began in Southeast Asia. After a lengthy process that lasted almost a year, the two services came up with a final plan. The winner was General Dynamics which beat Boeing for the final contract. This was just the beginning of a complex process. In addition to General Dynamics, 17 subcontractors provided the major subsystems, particularly the revolutionary terrain-following radar (TFR), navigation and attack systems, and the crew escape module. The prime contractors, General Dynamics

and Grumman, signed the contract at Fort Worth, Texas, on December 21, 1962. Exactly two years later, the first F-111A undertook its maiden flight from Carswell Air Force Base (AFB), Texas. Grumman spearheaded the naval version, the F-111B, but only a handful appeared before the US Navy pulled out of the programme in June 1968. Computers, self-adapting controls, TFR, automatic navigation and attack systems, and other electronic marvels put the pilot and his avionics rightseater in a hands-off world where the aircraft did its own mapping and performed its own bombing countdown.

The radar in the long black nose of the F-111A, the heart of the TFR system, looked down, ahead and to each side. As the aircraft flew at supersonic speed less than 100ft above ground level, the TFR defined objects as small as a flag pole and automatically decided whether to go over or around the obstacle. The F-111 swiftly gained the nickname ‘Aardvark’ – perhaps because of its long nose and its ability to fly ‘down in the dirt’. Uniquely, the USAF retrospectively adopted this as its official name in a ceremony on July 27, 1996, in the type’s twilight years. The first 18 aircraft to come

Below

A Combat Lancer F-111A peeling off over Thailand at low altitude. CHARLIE ARNET

Bottom left

The first F-111A to land at Takhli in March 1968 generated considerable attention. JERRY CUSTIN

September 2017 FLYPAST 121

VIETNAM GENERAL DYNAMICS F-111 F-111 VIETNAM GENERAL DYNAMICS Right

Captain Hodges and Major Marquardt pose for photographers in their escape capsule (from 660017) after it had been salvaged on March 25, 1968. HARRY WINBERG Below right

A Combat Lancer F-111A returning from an early morning flight in North Vietnam. Note the emblem on the fin, which was worn by the original six Takhli aircraft. TOM GERMSCHEID

Below

A lone F-111A over Laos. USAF

off the assembly line were destined for the two main test sites: Eglin AFB in Florida and Edwards AFB in California. Initial service testing, codenamed Combat Bullseye I, went well and the results of this project laid the groundwork for sending the F-111 for operational evaluation in Vietnam.

Ironing kinks

The first 30 F-111As were allocated for test, trial and evaluation; the 31st was meant for combat duty. Colonel Ivan ‘Ike’ Dethman, a veteran of 36 combat missions in Europe in the final stages of World War Two flying Douglas B-26 Invaders was appointed as commander of Harvest Reaper, the F-111 trials programme. Based at Nellis AFB, Nevada, its aim was to develop tactics for the new aircraft. To show off the new fighter, Dethman flew the 31st F-111A from Fort Worth to Nellis, a distance of 1,100 miles (1,770km) using the TFR and never exceeded 500ft ‘altitude’. A total of 22 pilots, working with seven

122 FLYPAST September 2017

instructors trained on the F-111 as they developed the combat tactics they would soon need. As the training regimen increased in intensity, the new pilots and rightseaters became more confident in the aircraft and what it could do. Despite all the positive things that the pilots were reporting, the media continued to criticize the aircraft and the public formed a negative opinion based on what they read. Captain Joe Hodges comments on an incident that happened during the work-up: “When we first got out to Nellis, none of us knew much about the new F-111. The only knowledgeable ones were the guys that had been testing it out at Edwards AFB. The ones we had to fly were some of the pre-production models and were awful. “My first flight, in the right seat, was memorable and almost a disaster. When my pilot took the active runway and ran both engines up to full power, both compressors stalled and blew fireballs out the ends of the aircraft.

I asked him what was going on and he responded that it was normal for this to happen. I had 500 hours in the F-4 Phantom and had never seen a compressor stall! “He ran the engines up again and the same thing happened. By this time,

“My first flight, in the right seat, was memorable and almost a disaster. When my pilot took the active runway and ran both engines up to full power, both compressors stalled and blew fireballs out the ends of the aircraft. I asked him what was going on and he responded that it was normal for this to happen”

I was ready to taxi this thing right back to the maintenance guys and let them have it. But once again we lit the burners and this time there was no bang. “We flew up to the Nellis bomb range and as he was showing me the area, we heard a loud noise and both windscreens became impossible to see out of. We could hardly see anything that was dead ahead which forced us to fly back to base using full flaps at about 230 knots. Our approach was flown in a full crab, so my pilot could see out the left hatch. “When we got back on the ground, we found that we had been hit by

large hailstones from a storm that we never saw. The hail also punched holes in the leading edge slats as big as your thumb. We had survived the training period and the next step was for us was to take the F-111 to Vietnam.” Politicians and the media continued to question the programme and in 1968 the USAF decided to send a detachment of F-111As to Vietnam to prove once and for all that it was a viable weapons system. This was a huge gamble – the many kinks in the complex project were far from ironed out. The name chosen for the operation was Combat Lancer – this took the work of Harvest Reaper to war. The purpose was to boost night and all-weather attacks in theatre while testing the aircraft’s overall combat capability.

Two down

Combat Lancer kicked off on March 15, 1968. The six aircraft deployed to Vietnam were 66-0016, -0017,

-0018, -0019, -0021 and -0022. They reached Royal Thai Air Base Takhli on the 17th. The Thais named the F-111 ‘The Black Bird’ which is a bad omen in the Orient. Operating the aircraft was Detachment 1 of the 428th Tactical Flight Squadron (TFS). On the night of March 25, the F-111A went into combat over North Vietnam. The first mission was flown with pilot Col Dethman and his right-seater Captain Rick Matteis in 66-0018. The bomb run was made at low altitude from the west so that the egress from that area could be made over water. Briefers in Saigon let it be known that the aircraft did exactly what it was designed to do: streak in low below the radar against a strongly defended target, ducking in and out of valleys, skimming over mountains at tree-top level, through the magic of its TFR. Three nights after the opening round of F-111 operations, 66-0022 was lost. The North Vietnamese

Top

Combat Lancer F-111s on the ramp at Takhli. TOM GERMSCHEID

Left

Major Rick Matteis posing by the jet pipes of his F-111A at Takhli. TOM GERMSCHEID

September 2017 FLYPAST 123

VIETNAM GENERAL DYNAMICS F-111 F-111 VIETNAM GENERAL DYNAMICS

Above

Major Charlie Arnet posing by a bombed-up Combat Lancer F-111. CHARLIE ARNET

Above right

A pair of F-111As topping up from a Boeing KC-135. TOM GERMSCHEID

Right

A pair of F-111As returning to Takhli. TOM GERMSCHEID Below

A pair of Harvest Reaper F-111As. JOE SNOY

claimed it was shot down over Ha Tinh Province, 150 miles (240km) north of the demilitarized zone, but the air force had reason to believe it never got out of Thailand. Whatever happened to it, the wreckage was not found and the two-man crew was never recovered. Two days later, a second F-111 went in. Major Sandy Marquardt and Weapons Systems Operator (WSO) Captain Joe Hodges in 66-0017 had entered Laos en route to a target in North Vietnam and while descending from 10,000ft, with the wings at 50° sweep, experienced a violent pitch-up manoeuvre immediately followed by an uncontrolled roll. Unable to gain control, the crew chose to eject, using the escape capsule. The wreckage was located in Thailand near the Mekong River town of Mukdahan. The enemy had not got its hands on the valuable black boxes that made the F-111 different from all the other warplanes around at that time. The USAF conducted a thorough investigation and at first it was thought that a tube of sealant had become accidentally wedged in the flight controls. It was later proved that there had been a structural failure of an actuating valve in the stabilator system, which controlled both pitch and roll.

Into thin air

With only four of the original six left, the remaining F-111s were grounded until replacements could be flown

124 FLYPAST September 2017

over. These arrived in the form of 66-0024 and -0025 on April 5, 1968. Lt Col Ed Palmgren and his rightseater Lt Cdr ‘Spade’ Cooley, on exchange from the US Navy, were flying 66-0021. Palmgren had extensive experience in the Republic F-84 Thunderjet during the Korean War. They had been in radar contact until they began their bomb run at a very low level, between 200 and 500ft. The aircraft vanished and probably went down in a mountainous area. No wreckage, no beeps from the pilot’s survival radio, not even a glimmer on anyone’s radar screen. Both members of the crew were listed as killed in action and the aircraft was never recovered. It was a general assumption that the cause of 66-0017’s loss, stabilator failure, was again to blame. If this was the case, Palmgren and Cooley would have had no chance of banging out at the low level they were flying

at. There was never any intelligence to support the possibility that the wreckage had fallen into enemy hands. The loss of this third aircraft almost ended the project, but the determination of the crews remained undiminished. There was concern that the warloads carried by the three F-111As could have played a part in the losses, but that was never a problem according to the flight crews. All three had taken off with a dozen 750lb (340kg) ‘iron’ bombs under the wings. This load was not a particular issue, even in the thin tropical air, since the F-111A was capable of packing 52 such bombs, four under the belly and 48 on the wing pylons. The Aardvarks kept flying, but not in the same way. They didn’t fly low. The all-weather, day-or-night, all-purpose fighter seldom went out except under the best possible conditions, always in the company of an electronic intelligence ship.

Proving a point

Major Sandy Marquardt flew with Detachment One back in 1968. He recalls the thoughts he had when he read about F-111s going back into Vietnam with Operation Linebacker I in 1972: “I have a lot of memories of when we had just arrived in Takhli with six of the F-111As. We had worked hard together at Nellis AFB for nine months and we had all become very close. “The aircraft was new then and we had picked up our birds straight off the production line, flew them to Nellis and began training. Even long before we began this, the aircraft was referred to as the ‘Controversial F-111’. It seemed that during the entire training period we had reporters trying to find out more facts about ‘McNamara’s Folly’. “In addition to this, we always had a lot of military ‘brass’ surrounding us in efforts to find out if this stateof-the-art machine could actually

do everything that the manufacturer claimed it could. “General Dynamics had designed a plane that could go into hostile territory at a very low altitude, at night and in bad weather, in all types of terrain and find a target. Up until this time, there was no aircraft that could do this. “We were trying to prove this lowlevel capability as a normal routine mission, which basically meant we were trying to fly at a very low altitude [down to 200ft] reliably, night after night, without having airplanes running into the ground, so this concept alone generated a lot of interest. “The military wanted to see if it would work and the politicians wanted to see if the money was well spent. The F-111 did not come cheap by any means. The original estimated cost was to be about $4.5 million, but by the time the first production

models began coming off the line, the cost had gone up to $6 million. “If it worked, then we had a weapons system that the bad guys couldn’t touch, with modern day technology that would leave them very vulnerable for any type of war they might attempt to wage. In late 1967 and early 1968, our maintenance troops learned to keep the aircraft flying. “Our air crews learned to sneak in around various terrains from California to Florida at very low altitudes and get direct hits on their [simulated] targets. This proved to be a major challenge because every radar site in the US was looking for us. Sometimes, they would find us and we’d learn what we had done wrong. “Most of the time, the first sign that anyone knew we were in the area was when they would hear the roar of our engines as we flew overhead. It was this success that allowed us to go into Vietnam in 1968.”

Below

The terrain-following radar could keep the F-111As low where it would be impossible to pick them up. A Combat Lancer is seen here on a trial run over Laos. USAF

“If it worked, then we had a weapons system that the bad guys couldn’t touch, with modern day technology that would leave them very vulnerable for any type of war they might attempt to wage” September 2017 FLYPAST 125

WARBIRDS P-51 MUSTANG

Across Above

North American P-51 B Mustang Berlin Express. IWM-JAMES RAEDER Right

A triumphant Lee Lauderback at Duxford.

126 FLYPAST September 2017

A

mong the most recognisable warbirds flying today is North American P-51B 43-24837 Berlin Express. The veteran fighter, one of the few early marks of Mustang still flying and unusually fitted with a Malcolm canopy, has long proved to be a favourite with airshow crowds and, this year, was booked to perform at the famous Flying Legends weekend at Duxford. The question then became how to get it across the Atlantic in time? Convention normally dictates that a warbird is meticulously dismantled, packed safely in crates and reassembled carefully on the other side of ‘the pond’. This time, things weren’t going to be that simple, and after some discussion between the Mustang’s owner Dan Friedkin and well-known P-51

operator Stallion 51, it was decided to fly the veteran over the water in a series of legs from Texas in the heart of America to rural Cambridgeshire in the middle of Great Britain. To everyone involved there was only one person for the task, Lee Lauderback – the owner of Stallion 51, and probably the most experienced Mustang pilot flying today. “The idea came from Dan Friedkin (owner of 43-24837 and member of the Horsemen P-51 Mustang formation aerobatic team) to pay tribute to the men and women who did this for real,” explains Lee, “When they first started talking to me about it though, I thought they meant 2018, not two weeks. It was quite the adventure.” For Lee too, the chance to fly a rare

One of the highlights at this year’s Flying Legends airshow was North American P-51B Mustang ‘Berlin Express’, which was flown across the Atlantic from Texas. Chris Gilson meets its pilot Lee Lauderback. mark of the famous fighter wasn’t to be turned down, as it would feel substantially different to the TF and P-51D versions in which he’s normally found. “It’s a little lighter and sportier. To get into a B model with a Malcolm hood is terrific. [Berlin Express is] a good flying aeroplane, which not all Mustangs are, and it’s very original.” He laughs: “It was like getting out of a mini-van and getting into a Ferrari, and you think ‘this is exactly the way it was in combat days’.” Satisfied with his mount, Lee and Dan had to work out the practicalities of such a venture, with fuel and range foremost in their mind. It was agreed the 5,470-mile trip should be in eight legs, spanning seven days, starting from San Antonio in Texas to Paducah (Kentucky)

and flying via Dunkirk (New York), Bangor (Maine), Goose Bay (Canada), Narsarsuaq (Greenland), Keflavík (Iceland) and Wick (Scotland), before the short flight to Duxford where Dan would fly Berlin Express in the Flying Legends Air Show. Having planned the route, the next stage was managing the fuel capacity of the P-51, which – as a single-seat fighter powered by a thirsty engine – is not noted for its economical properties. To this extent, drop tanks – also aptly called Berlin tanks – were fixed to the wings. The scene was now set for the trip of a lifetime, as Lee recalls: “We had seven people involved in the programme. There were two [Beech] King Air 350 pilots [Kevin St Germain and Kenny Patterson],

two maintenance men, one of whom was one of my twin brothers Richard, with the other being ‘Little’ John Muszala, who helped restore Berlin Express. “There was also Louis Horschel, who I trained to fly Mustangs. I needed him to help with the formation flying side of things as he understands the P-51’s capabilities. Then there was Justin Shipley, whose task was to document everything and share the experience with the world.” Images and video were shared out across Pursuit Aviation’s Instagram page.

First leg

With team and infrastructure set, the initial stage started on June 28 with the mammoth 760-nautical mile leg from Texas to Kentucky. September 2017 FLYPAST 127

WARBIRDS P-51 MUSTANG

Right

One of the Berlin tanks at Duxford. PHIL WHALLEY Right centre

Preparing Berlin Express in Texas for her longdistance flight. LEE LAUDERBACK

Opposite top

The Beech King Air 350 was the Mustang’s faithful companion throughout the eight-day journey. LEE LAUDERBACK

Opposite centre

Above the clouds. The P-51B in its natural element during the trip, with Lee Lauderback at the controls. THE FRIEDKIN GROUP

Below right

Stallion 51 CEO and transatlantic Mustang pilot, Lee Lauderback. Below

The team who made it possible. From left to right: Justin Shipley, Richard Lauderback, Lee Lauderback, Louis Horschel, Kevin St Germain, Kenny Patterson. ALL PICS BY DARREN HARBAR UNLESS CREDITED

“The first leg was a proof of concept leg for the fuel system. We had drop tanks of 75 gallons (341 litres) each, wing fuel of 105 gallons per wing cell, and a 40-gallon fuselage tank. As we don’t fly every day with under-wing tanks, we wanted to prove them and verify the range and speed needed. “We also needed to look at compatibility between the King Air and the Mustang from a speed standpoint, and what kind of power settings could be used. We were pretty much spot-on, and found that 230 knots TAS was the ideal speed at 12,500 feet.”

128 FLYPAST September 2017

When Lee landed in Kentucky after the first leg, he was pleased that the Mustang still had fuel for two-and-a half hours on board. Ultimately, Lee would change fuel cells every 30 minutes to help balance the aeroplane. This was followed by a high-stacked formation over the top of the King Air so the maintenance team could perform visual checks and see if there were fuel leaks or venting. Two legs were flown on the first day. Following a brief respite in Kentucky, the team flew 550 nautical miles to Dunkirk in New York. “The next morning, we went to

Bangor, Maine,” Lee continues, “then it was a case of refuelling and flying to Goose Bay, which was our departure point for the first over-water leg. “We took a day off there and really went over the aeroplane. I also had to make the transition from wearing a parachute to a raft. I had on extensive survival gear, what they call a ‘poopy suit’ – an exposure suit. This goes on first, then a flight suit, then flotation gear and then a harness attaches to a raft I’m sitting on, and finally a survival vest. I looked like the Michelin Man, but if I had to ditch that ’plane in the North Atlantic, my

descend to avoid icing. Each time something changed I’d been saying ‘well it can’t get any worse than this’, and then we hit turbulence. At this point I said to myself ‘I have to quit saying that!’.” What should have been a simple flight rapidly became more challenging as Lee’s P-51 bounced around in less than ideal weather, ending with him flying tight formation on the King Air in instrument conditions for over 90 minutes. “I was hanging on for dear life,” he smiles, “and I certainly got my formation practice in that day. It was intense for everybody, and we

“Eventually the Mustang’s wheels kissed the runway at Duxford, and Lee’s odyssey was over, with the transatlantic flight completed on July 4 – Independence Day in the United States” chances of survival would be good.” From Goose Bay, Lee flew the Berlin Express to Greenland – a 676nautical mile stretch – luckily with the accompaniment of good weather. On arrival, the team was also given free hangar space, on the condition Lee performed a low pass for the tower! The next day both aircraft took off from Keflavík – where once again Lee was asked to perform a low pass. “By now I was getting confident in the Mustang and the team,” Lee recounts, “and, setting off the next morning, another three-hour leg saw us land at Wick, Scotland. We put the aeroplane in one of the last-surviving World War Two hangars and spent the night there, before we flew the ‘easy’ leg to Duxford, which is 492 nautical miles.”

Short but not sweet

The final leg to Duxford should have been the simplest of all – in

American parlance ‘a milk run’, but with an inaccurate weather briefing, it proved anything but. The initial departure from Wick was put back by 45 minutes as the airport dealt with an emergency faced by a helicopter – an inauspicious start. What followed, however, made Lee and the team thankful they’d practised formation instrument flying before departure. “We were in and out of the clouds, which was pretty grey, and the fog wasn’t too thick, so I could see 50ft. As my reference, I had my formation points off the King Air, and I thought ‘this isn’t too bad’. “We then started to have to deviate because of rain showers as the clouds got thicker and visibility got less. And I thought ‘hang on, this won’t get worse’. Soon I couldn’t see the King Air for seconds at a time, just his wing tip, and then at 12,000 we had to

were all working hard – especially me. Finally, we approached Cambridge and broke into better weather. I could breathe again.” Eventually the Mustang’s wheels kissed the runway at Duxford, and Lee’s odyssey was over, with the transatlantic flight completed on July 4 – Independence Day in the United States. For Lee, the most memorable part was the final leg, although he describes the Greenland landscape as “awesome – such beautiful and rugged scenery.” Berlin Express will be staying in the UK for some months, appearing at various shows. As for getting it back to the US, Lee gives a grin: “For me it was a one-way ticket, but you never know.” With his parting shot hanging in the air, the world’s most experienced Mustang pilot returns to the veteran aircraft, mission accomplished. September 2017 FLYPAST 129

FINALS MUSTANG TRIO

In preparation for the recent Flying Legends Air Show at Duxford on July 8 and 9 (see pages 20-21), a practice day was held at the Cambridgeshire airfield on Thursday the 6th. This included a formation display from three Mustangs – F-6K Frenesi (top), P-51D KH774 with its distinctive shark-mouth nose art, and P-51B Berlin Express. Sadly, the latter did not take part in Sunday’s display due to a broken canopy. PHOTO-DARREN HARBAR

next

In our next issue, we reflect on the siege of Malta, one of the most significant engagements of World War Two. We also shine our Spotlight on an unsung British type, the Supermarine Walrus amphibian. The packed October issue will be in UK shops on September 1, or see page 86 for our latest money-saving subscription offers. * Overseas deliveries are likely to be after this date.

130 FLYPAST September 2017

C O M PA N Y P R O F I L E 1 9 1 2 - 1 9 2 0 The Sopwith Aviation Company was one of the most prolific aircraft manufacturers of the Great War period. Although it only traded from 1912 to 1920 it produced 16,000 aeroplanes during the war alone and became famous for its Pup, Camel and Triplane designs. This 100-page edition, part of the Company Profile series, looks at all the types produced by this prolific manufacturer from the 1912 Sopwith Wright Biplane to its post-war attempts to break into the civilian light aircraft market.

FEATURES INCLUDE: Sopwith Camel The finest British fighter of the Great War Sopwith Bat Boat Britain’s first successful amphibious aircraft Sopwith Scout (Pup) The perfect flying machine

NE

W

Dolphin The world’s first multi-gun single-seat fighter Sopwith Survivors The original Sopwith aircraft that are still surviving in the 21st century

AND MUCH MORE! A N E W S P E C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N F R O M K E Y P U B L I S H I N G

AVAILABLE NOW FROM

AND ALL LEADING NEWSAGENTS

ALTERNATIVELY, ORDER DIRECT

PLUS FREE

P&P *

*Free 2nd class P&P on all UK & BFPO orders. Overseas charges apply.

661/17

Free P&P when you order online at OR www.keypublishing.com/shop *

Call UK: 01780 480404 Overseas: +44 1780 480404 Monday to Friday 9am-5:30pm

S U B S C R I B E R S C A L L F O R Y O U R £ 1. 0 0 D I S C O U N T ! 661 Sopwith special fp.indd 48

13/07/2017 16:50

Pacific_fp.indd 1

17/07/2017 09:16