By: Bob - 31st May 2015 at 20:00
On again
Flying The Secret Sky
Next on: PBS America Thu 4 Jun, 7:50pm
The Story of the RAF Ferry Command
By: DaveF68 - 19th March 2015 at 10:38
I enjoyed it, and hadn’t seen it before. Interesting bit about Churchill.
Repeated, Saturday 21 Mar, 9:10am
Sky+ set!
By: AlanR - 18th March 2015 at 10:22
I enjoyed it, and hadn’t seen it before. Interesting bit about Churchill.
Repeated, Saturday 21 Mar, 9:10am
By: longshot - 17th March 2015 at 14:05
I thought I saw a date of 1988 (in Roman numerals) in the fast scrolling credits…the ‘talking heads’ look like they were filmed about 30 years ago.
‘AL504 ‘Commando’ was stretched and fitted with the single vertical tail back at the Consolidated factory but this was AFTER Churchill had finished with it. (He later flew in York ‘Ascalon’, the finally in the C-54 Skymaster EW999).
The mods to AL504 brought it roughly to RY-3 Liberator transport standard (type used by US Navy and RAF Transport Command briefly).
Books on Ferry Command:…’Ocean Bridge’ by Carl A Christie, ‘Atlantic Bridge’ HMSO, ‘Ferryman’ by Taffy Powell, ‘Ferry Pilot’ and ‘North Atlantic Cat’ (and 3 more!by Don MacVicar
By: stuart gowans - 17th March 2015 at 07:44
Yes I thought that Mike, the production date on the credits was 2007 I think but, that didn’t tally with the ages of the former aircrew; one thing stood out (apart from the $1000- per month wage for a pilot) was the conversion of the Liberator “commando” to a single fin A/C I wondered why that was done, was it supposedly better handling characteristics or an attempt to camouflage the A/C given the role it played.
By: Arabella-Cox - 17th March 2015 at 00:02
From what I watched of it it was quite good, with lots of relevant archive footage of the appropriate types of aircraft and eye-witness/survivor/I was there, accounts, too.
Judging by the (then) age of those interviewed (Pilots, Nav’s, Rad-Op’s and suchlike) the programme seems to have been largely made around 20-plus years ago.
Anon.
By: graham luxton - 16th March 2015 at 21:18
hi,
sorry its late but the above is on sky 534 PBS America at 1945, about RAF Ferry Command…regards,
jack…
That was a very interesting programme – missed the exact time but It’ll be repeated tonight at (2315?)
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March 16, 2015 at 7:36 pm