I have been looking at my father’s log books and noticed that on 25 November 1946 he overflew the Arc deTriomphe and Champs Elysee three times in a Lancaster. The pilot was Capt Prowse, OBE. I am puzzled by this entry as Dad was a FAA pilot and CO of 762 Squadron at the time. Anyone any idea what he was up to?:confused:
By: SADSACK - 6th January 2014 at 13:06
I am friends with Sid Beards family, he was involved with flight refueling in the late 1940s…
Was PA474 loaned to the collection as I am pretty sure he would have ferried her? 50 years later his Grandaughter unveiled the same a/c of course as Mickey The moocher…
By: Supermarine305 - 6th January 2014 at 12:52
That would be the post-war USAAF display of its aircraft in Paris. Some more pictures of it here: http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34271
I could look for the dates when it was held, but I really need to dash….
By: BobKat - 5th January 2014 at 23:30
This B-17 (I think) seems to have managed to get a bit lower! I have just posted the picture on the “Airfields photos – Then and Now” thread, but it seemed appropriate to add it here.
I have no idea what the occasion was – perhaps the parade mentioned earlier? The photo came to light recently amongst a small number found amongst the possessions of my son-in-law’s step-father. He was a rear gunner in a B-26.
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Answer now on the “Airfield photos – Then and Now” thread.
By: Lazy8 - 4th January 2014 at 20:23
I can’t find the story to get the full detail, but I doubt Flight Refuelling flew their Lancs over Paris on many occasions, so I wonder if this is the same flight.
The story I’ve seen in print somewhere is something like this:
FR were invited to join the flypast over a parade in Paris. Keen to show off their new refuelling technology they decided to send two Lancasters and have them linked during the flypast. However, on the day, the weather was awful, and the flypast was either severely curtailed or cancelled completely. Somehow (perhaps distracted by the process of connecting the tanker and receiver in bad weather) the FR team failed to notice the instruction to cancel. IIRC the two Lancs went thundering down the Champs Elysee just above treetop height, necessary because of the minimal cloudbase, and wondering where everyone else had got to. It was only later that it occurred to them that meant the hose between the two aircraft must have been dangling almost to ground level…
By: Arabella-Cox - 4th January 2014 at 20:08
An old thread now but my query has been solved. Father was at Ford with 762 and had been offered a job in civvy street with Sir Allen Cobham’s Flight Refuelling with whom the squadron shared a site. Flight Refuelling were using Lancasters as tankers and receiving aircraft for their trials . They also operated civilianised Lancasters there for British South American Airways. Father was offerred a flight with them as encouragement to join the team.
Thanks to you for your help.
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May 25, 2011 at 6:25 pm