My dad flying solo

Gordon, was your dad the photographer or was he in G-ADEI being photographed?

Roger Smith.

Dad was a passenger in the Avro, photo taken from a Blackburn B-2 IIRC. Dad can just be seen in his white overalls … not flying type but milkman type! He was working part-time on a milk round while waiting to start his apprenticeship at “The Rudge” 🙂

Gordon, was your dad the photographer or was he in G-ADEI being photographed?

Roger Smith.

ETFS

Any idea which of the Canadian EFTS he was at?

Moggy

23 he thinks

It’s an Avro 504N or ‘Lynx Avro’ as they were often known at the time.

They were the main RAF elementary trainer until 1933, then a number were sold to operators such as National Aviation Days.

Basically the airframe is a WW1 Avro 504K, updated by replacing the rotary engine with the Armstrong Siddeley Lynx radial. The rather strange-looking cantilever undercarriage was I believe devised to allow the same pick-up points to be used on the fuselage, as the earlier models.

You might also be interested in this thread which appeared recently on the Forum….

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=109553

Indeed it was an Avro 504N – thanks for the link to the other thread, fascinating stuff, the comment about the Short Scion being used for joyriding made me dig this shot out – taken at the same event at Westwood Heath.

It’s an Avro 504N or ‘Lynx Avro’ as they were often known at the time.

They were the main RAF elementary trainer until 1933, then a number were sold to operators such as National Aviation Days.

Basically the airframe is a WW1 Avro 504K, updated by replacing the rotary engine with the Armstrong Siddeley Lynx radial. The rather strange-looking cantilever undercarriage was I believe devised to allow the same pick-up points to be used on the fuselage, as the earlier models.

You might also be interested in this thread which appeared recently on the Forum….

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=109553

OK. Thanks for that guys. The main fuselage and tail looked a bit ‘504-ish but the undercarriage and engine confused me.

I bow to your superior knowledge. 🙂

Ian

An informed guess told me that it was an Avro 504N and G-INFO confirmed it.

Looks a bit Avro 504-ish to me.

Strange looking ‘plane. What is it?

Oh, and thanks for sharing the story. Very well written. You can imagine being there.

Ian

Not first solo – but first flight

This was my Dad’s first flight – National Aviation Day Displays, Westwood Heath, Coventry, I think it was 1937. He went on to fly Lancasters with No. 626 Sqdn.

Canada?

I’ll ask him when I see him

Any idea which of the Canadian EFTS he was at?

Moggy

…last bit

They have just dropped the bomb. Everyone is waiting to see if the boneheaded Japanese would give in. Eventually they decide they have had enough – ‘the war has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage’ said the mealy mouthed Emperor, unable to accept that they were defeated – well and truly defeated – so all training stopped within an hour. Everybody went wild with delight – cars driving round all night tooting their horns. We for our part festooned the whole camp with toilet paper – it was the only way we had for expressing our overwhelming relief, knowing only too well what the losses would be in storming the Japanese mainland (estimated at 3 million).

So we stopped flying for 2 weeks but then they decided we might as well finish our course so we continued. However, so highly keyed up had we been that even this short period was enough to take the edge off our performance. So much than in my final test, amongst other things like instrument blind flying I had to perform a roll off the top. This involves going up to 5000 feet, checking there is nothing below you and going into an ever tightening turn until, stick fully back, it stalled, and as it juddered you have to put on full top rudder – it flips over incredibly fast and goes into a spin from which you have to go into recovery mode. Only this time I operate the rudder too soon and it would not spin. I am convinced that was why I was categorised as average. So when they asked do you want to continue I thought I would take my chances in the outside world, I arrogantly thought I was better than that.

Anyway some 42 years later I was talking to Colin Rose on the Torquay seafront where we had gone for one of our counselling seminars. He told me he went on with 6 others and the other 5 were all dead, killed by poor maintenance on the Mosquitos as the demob happy erks took their eye off the ball. Even he is now dead from natural causes. It makes me reflect on the way apparently trivial decisions can influence what happens.

more

more 😀

Lovely bit of writing, thanks for posting.

low’n’slow, is that a cudgel in the instructor’s hand in case the pupil’s a bit hesitant in heading out? 🙂

next bit….

Later on I was talking to Pete Doe who said that was incredible – you just skimmed the grass with your wheels. Just as well because if I had touched the ground before I lost airspeed it would have bounced uncontrollably and running out of field I would have to go round again. An ignominious end to my first foray.

Much later, in fact over the years I have come to realise that in times of extreme stress your senses go into overdrive, you become hyper-aware and you become much more sensitive and capable of extraordinary things. You can’t keep it up of course – it is too exhausting but it is there to be called upon if needed.

“Just go and practise loops rolls and spins, both left and right – oh and don’t forget to practise forced landings” — “ How do I do that?” – “on an impulse just throttle back. Keep a constant look out for wind direction and suitable landing sites, select a site and go for it. DON’T CHANGE YOUR MIND!”

Just pootling along at 1500 feet I spotted a Canadian peasant on a tractor, presumably ploughing a field and thought – by the time I get there he’ll have turned and be heading away from me – he won’t hear me coming because of the noise of the tractor so I’ll just glide down and open up the throttle just over his head. Should give him something to talk about in the bar later on.

I never saw the effect – you can’t see anything behind you in a Cornell but I suspect there is now a very jumpy Canadian ploughing the prairies.

Further away in the low flying area was what is deemed to be the longest straight road in the world (87 miles) which also forms the main street of Yorkton Saskatchewan. Seeing a car in the distance coming in my direction, I though I would try to give the driver a memorable day and pointed my aircraft straight at it, hopping over it at the last minute. A dodgy thing to do because the telegraph poles although well set away from the road were a hazard if there were a sudden cross wind. In those day it was easy to become bored with the discipline of organise flying training and it seemed the only way to inject some interest into the whole business.

I suspect however there are a few neurotic Canadians who were happy to see those mad English *******s disappear.

[ATTACH]196431[/ATTACH]

good one!

yes I agree :D, what a great read, it had me wanting more 😮
thank’s for posting it mate

Wonderful! Says it all!

This picture unearthed from the de Havilland Moth Club archive (Fairoaks 1938) shows such an occasion from the instructor’s view!