Tiger Moth G-ANFW

Hi Phil yes it was a K4 they also had Capstans ? I think they were called, I do recall that someone flew one straight into a hanger on my course and did a bit of damage, I know I had a cable break on my first solo which was interesting and on my second I met an airsea rescue Seaking coming straight towards me on my downwind leg and I spent so much time looking at him and hoping he had seen me that by the time I realised where I was I was very low which ended up with me doing some quick turns on to a very short final coming in quite fast and low and only popping the spoilers out as I came over the fence, everyone thought it was very good and I had done it on purpose, I didn’t enlighten them that was all apart from my instructor, who was a Seaking pilot,he had seen what had happened and just said “that was an interesting circuit for a second solo, frightens me to death now just thinking about it, if there had been a double decker bus going along the road I would have gone straight through his top deck

Rosevidney

Major Berry was indeed the ‘Ted’ that George refers to, a stalwart of the Cornish Gliding Club, but he had retired from flying and Club life before ‘my time’.

Gordon, your K14, might have been a K4 Rhonlerche, or possibly a K13, although the K13 was not ‘very old’ in 1976, and so I think perhaps K4. I remember the Chipmunks from visits to the Seahawk Club, and I did my ‘half-cat’ instructors course at Culdrose. I remember that course was conducted by a most unsympathetic individual, and the great deal of spinning and negative-g exercises made me very air-sick.

I was never quite the same again after that.

Phil

I did a gliding course at Culdrose in 1976 spent a lot of time riding around on the old green goddess fire engines putting out gorse fires during the hot summer, they were using a couple of Chipmunks for aero towing by then one of them being the all red one used by Prince Charles which was privately owned by someone on the base and a naval one, I used a K14 ?glider, I know it was very old and belonged to the RAF at St Mawgan

Unless my memory is playing tricks (not impossible at my age!) I remember as an ATC cadet attending the Gliding School at RNAS Culdrose in 1956, when a Major Berry used to fly G-ANFW. He also drove a magnificent Humber Super Snipe which on occasion would tow the gliders back to the launch point. Happy days!

Hi Phil, I think it must have come to Plymouth from Perranporth, funny I now live in Truro, of course the club at Plymouth had Tigers as did the Naval flight there until the Chipmunks arrived in about 1966? the navy used the club tigers when required but I don’t think the club used the navy tigers

Gordon

Gordon

I remember first seeing G-ANFW at Perranporth, where she was the glider tug in 1967. Bought by the Cornish Gliding Club’s then CFI, George Collins from the Air Ministry, as he confirms in his book “Sails in the Sky”:

“At St. Eval (ATC Gliding School) the gliding was both boring and monotonous for any
Instructor with the slightest ambition to escape from what is now
often termed ‘aerial tobogganing’ so I bought a Tiger Moth from the
Air Ministry and went to Aston Down to collect it (after organising
a brand new propeller and complete set of instruments) and then
flew it to Exeter where it was strengthened to take an approved towhook
system. That was Tiger G-ANFW which even today in 1986 is
still aero-towing; sadly not at Perranporth for inexplicable reasons!”

http://www.lakesgc.co.uk/mainwebpages/eBook%20Library/Batch%201/SAILS%20IN%20THE%20SKY.pdf

George’s ‘inexplicable reasons’ were not entirely inexplicable, but may have seemed so to him and other war-time trained pilots, very capable at landing light tail-draggers in gusty cross-winds on a cliff-top airfield with runways lined with barbed-wire fences. Post-war tricycle undercarriage pilots preferred that configuration and also the more modern engines, and so G-ANFW was sold, although replaced I think by a Workmaster, and eventually an Airedale?

To date the acquisition of G-ANFW at Perranporth, George said:

“On April 19th 1957 we aero-towed the Olympia with the Tiger Moth from
Culdrose, both belonging to Ted and myself and immediately put
them at the disposal of our new club, which had obtained a T31, a
Tutor and was anxiously awaiting delivery of the New T21.”

In those days, there was enormous good-will, effort and generosity provided to start and keep things going in the Gliding movement. Today this continues as Gliding and Flying Clubs still rely so much on voluntary effort.

It’s good to know that G-ANFW brought pleasure to many after her Perranporth days, and some of her is again airborne on Malta.

Phil Hawkey

I supplied the fuselage frame of ‘DE998’ hanging in AirSpace. She was an anonymous fuse which formed the basis of the Tiger Moth replica that was built at Holme on Spalding Moor.

Hi just come across this thread, FW was based at Plymouth for quite a long time in the late 60’s to mid 70’s I had quite a few trips in her,with the then owner Keith Norman who was then the airport manager, Bill Lucas who was the CFI of the club who also did aero towing with her and with my father who was the CFI of the Naval flight based at Roborough then using Chipmunks, I must say I don’t recall it being based in Cornwall but it may have come to Plymouth from there, I did see her again many years later at Duxford in one of the hangers, as the resident hanger rat I was put to work doping the wings with red dope,lovely smell, during its rebuild at Plymouth

gordon pugh

Delighted to hear ‘FW is restored. I had time on her with Tony Smallwood when she was at North Hill in Devon, tugging for Competition Enterprise in June 1980.

And here is a link which shows some picture of getting the Tiger back home, making history at the same time 😀

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=113665&highlight=malta

WHOA there horse!! WHOA!!!
From perfectly serviceable to completely unseviceable in a coupla secs.
Steve, if you are at Belvoir I will explain. There is a reason I asked the question as it concerns a very rare (possibly 2) DH type and was the forunner of the 82a.

Best get a DH60G III Moth Major then:D

Or you could just do this:eek:

Hey everyone,former G-ANFW is now flying under new registration 9H-RAF. Here is the link to see her flying:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6Q2tiI3pE

WHOA there horse!! WHOA!!!
From perfectly serviceable to completely unseviceable in a coupla secs.
Steve, if you are at Belvoir I will explain. There is a reason I asked the question as it concerns a very rare (possibly 2) DH type and was the forunner of the 82a.

OK here’s something for the DH experts. If you want a folding wing Tiger (DH82a version) how do you do that? Criteria – Must be able to be unfolded/folded by one person in a max of Two minutes.

Folding wing Tiger Moth – no problem……

Unfolding I must admit, does take a little longer!

OK here’s something for the DH experts. If you want a folding wing Tiger (DH82a version) how do you do that? Criteria – Must be able to be unfolded/folded by one person in a max of Two minutes.

G-ANFW = Garage? – Awkward No Folding Wings

Happy memories!

I must confess to finding it hard to see fox whisky inher new guise but suppose it is great that she is flying again.

I have magical memories of that summer. I’d love to take you up on that offer sometime… Thanks!

Hi Sophia,

Great to hear from you, hope your flying is going well ! You did very well to solo in so few hours

I remember summer of 95 very well, perhaps the best of my life 🙂 Come back to White Waltham and have a go in the Cub !

here is FW flying again in Malta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6Q2tiI3pE

Oily rag, I confess some confusion as to what went where, and why, as it was all reported 3td hand. This piece suggests that bits of FW went into a DX Tiger. If you owned it, I suppose I have to concede you may know more than I do.

”Painted as ‘DE998’, the Moth is a composite rebuild from spares, including parts released during overhauls of G-ANFW, G-APAO and G-APAP (the latter two both ex-RAF R4922 & R5136 respectively). The serial number ‘DE998’ is false, albeit a genuine Tiger Moth one”

http://www.airsceneuk.org.uk/hangar/2002/marshall/marshall.htm

Andy Smith

Wrong, Propstrike.

ARCo bought the aeroplane, the wings went on their Tiger (Reg defeats me), and the fuse was sold to Malta.

I owned the wings…:)

G-anfw

In August 95 Mike taught his daughter (17) to fly on it and she soloed in 12 hours. Soon after, whilst taxiing with an instrument hood up, it struck a pile of fences left over from the previous day’s airshow.

That’s me! … Just came across this forum and thought I would say hello. Did we meet? You seem to know my flying history better than me…

Sophia