Seeing the Malaysian Brigands in the the ‘Scrapyard’ thread, got me thinking. I had seen and photographed a couple of Brigands at International Alloys circa 1958 but there had also been one flying in September 1957…50 years ago to the week.
At that time I lived in Wembley, close to RAF Hendon, and had cycled over to see the arrivals for the BoB day. My friend and I had opted to cycle to Biggin Hill for the BoB display but briefed a schoolfriend, going to Hendon, to capture anything of mutual interest.
Here are his three shots. A flying Brigand, a Hunter with a maintenance serial, and a training short nose Firefly.
Who can add to our information, in particular what is that hanging beneath the Brigand?
Mark
Photos by Richard Reeve – a schoolfriend and latterly a work colleague – RIP.
By: donbuzz - 26th February 2015 at 08:54
Perhaps I am late in the day answering, “What is that hanging beneath the Brigand?”. It is the entrance behind the main spar: all crew members entered and left the aircraft this way. Elsewhere, there is reference to a Brigand crash at RAF Colerne on 8th March 1956: I can provide further info about crew and cause of crash.
donbuzz. 25/02/2015
Brigand RH 831crashed short of the runway on 8th March 1956. The pilot had exercised engine superchargers whilst returning to base as was usual practice. Investigation of crashed aircraft found that the fuel isolation controls had been switched off instead of the supercharge controls. These two sets were close to each other, to the left of, and behind the pilot. On approach to landing, cause of sudden loss of engines would not have been immediately obvious to the pilot. The a/c crashed short of the runway. Pilot and nav/rad instructor were both killed: two student naval officers, sitting behind the main spar, facing aft, were able to walk safely away. donbuzz. 26/02/2015
By: donbuzz - 25th February 2015 at 22:26
Perhaps I am late in the day answering, “What is that hanging beneath the Brigand?”. It is the entrance behind the main spar: all crew members entered and left the aircraft this way. Elsewhere, there is reference to a Brigand crash at RAF Colerne on 8th March 1956: I can provide further info about crew and cause of crash.
donbuzz. 25/02/2015
By: Nashio966 - 30th November 2007 at 08:43
Creaking door,the first message says there is a photo of a Brigand,Hunter and Firefly but I dont see anything at all.Not even an attachment thingy to click on,I have experienced this on other threads also,so what am I or my PC doing wrong!!!I believe the Brigands are actually over Tengah.
generally, if your connection isn’t that fast, the forum loads all of the text replies and backgrouds etc first, ie it loads the least data intensive parts of the thread, if you wait maybe 30 secs to a minute, the photos should load, they are fairly large, that might possibly explain it.
ben
By: lauriebe - 30th November 2007 at 05:49
Lauriebe,
I poached this photo so thats as good as will get,sorry!Still do not see any photos on the original message or a link!You are probaly right about sembawang ,I only ever stopped one night in Changi back in 1963 before emplaning on a hastings for RAAF Butterworth.
Ok, thanks. I have seen a photo very similar to this not so long ago. Trying to remember where.
Could your firewall or cookie blocker be stopping you from seeing the photos in the first post? I still have no problem viewing them every time I open this thread.
By: wl745 - 30th November 2007 at 02:36
Lauriebe,
I poached this photo so thats as good as will get,sorry!Still do not see any photos on the original message or a link!You are probaly right about sembawang ,I only ever stopped one night in Changi back in 1963 before emplaning on a hastings for RAAF Butterworth.
By: slicer - 29th November 2007 at 22:22
Ah, Brigands. I’ve got a soft spot for them. In 1957/8 I and my pals used to sit on the stone wall under the final approach to Culdrose’s active runway and just over our heads would pass Brigands, Sea Balliols, Skyraiders of 849, Sea Venoms and Avengers of 831 (my father’s squadron),Gannets, Vixens, Neptunes, Shackeltons and all manner of visiting stuff.
Cue wistful sigh.
By: Mark12 - 29th November 2007 at 12:58
It is hosted by Photobucket, as all my posted shots.
Try clicking on this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Mark12/Album%203/HendonBoBSept1957001.jpg
Mark
By: Loose-Head - 29th November 2007 at 11:36
wl745
Same things happening to me…….never had a problem viewing pics before ???:confused: :confused:
By: Creaking Door - 29th November 2007 at 10:40
Creaking door,the first message says there is a photo of a Brigand,Hunter and Firefly but I dont see anything at all.Not even an attachment thingy to click on,I have experienced this on other threads also,so what am I or my PC doing wrong!!!
I see…in that case I have no idea…sorry. Anybody else know?
By: lauriebe - 29th November 2007 at 07:03
WL745, the photos are certainly there. They appear every time I open the thread.
Tengah is not that close to the water. I think the photo of the Brigands is more likely to be around the RN Base at Sembawang. There is what appears to be the a large floating dock and another ship on the surface below the two aircraft. Both possibly RN.
The aircraft are both from 45 Sqn. Are the serials visible on the original by any chance?
By: wl745 - 29th November 2007 at 06:04
Creaking door,the first message says there is a photo of a Brigand,Hunter and Firefly but I dont see anything at all.Not even an attachment thingy to click on,I have experienced this on other threads also,so what am I or my PC doing wrong!!!I believe the Brigands are actually over Tengah.
By: low'n'slow - 28th November 2007 at 14:08
Lovely photo WL745.
Are those two Brigands overhead Changi, Singapore?
By: Creaking Door - 28th November 2007 at 00:47
I am fairly new to these forums and have noticed that there are some thread replys that contain photos but I am not seeing them?Can someone tell me if I am going wrong somewhere!!
There is a limit to the space each member has to store photos. It is possible that members may have deleted photos from older threads to free-up space. If you tell me the title of the thread and post number I’ll see if I can see the photos.
That’s a nice photo you’ve posted by the way. 🙂
By: Lee Howard - 27th November 2007 at 22:01
Just seen this thread.
RH749 was an ATDU (Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit) aircraft from Gosport – the last users of the type (beyond 238 OCU at North Luffenham). What you can see strapped to the underside is a torpedo with MAT (Mono Air Tail) stabilising tailplane.
The Firefly is indeed an AS.7 variant. One such machine narrowly avoided being preserved when it, together with TT.4 VH127, was in storage at RNAS Lossiemouth. Sadly someone decreed that only one of them deserved to be saved……. 🙁 Not seen this particular photograph before with what I presume is a Lion on the tail?
By: wl745 - 27th November 2007 at 21:33
I am fairly new to these forums and have noticed that there are some thread replys that contain photos but I am not seeing them?Can someone tell me if I am going wrong somewhere!!
By: Maple 01 - 27th November 2007 at 20:43
Just in case any one wants a bit of Brigand memorabilia…
By: XN923 - 20th September 2007 at 21:12
Lovely pics, looks like a dummy bomb on the Brigand.
Isnt that Firefly one of the last anti-sub variants, AS.7?
I thought it looked like a torpedo with an air tail under the Brigand, was originally designated Torpedo Fighter I suppose.
The Firefly ASMk7s were not too much of a success in the AS role, so were used for Observer training as they could carry two Observers unlike the other marks which could only carry one.
By: pagen01 - 20th September 2007 at 12:46
Lovely pics, looks like a dummy bomb on the Brigand.
Isnt that Firefly one of the last anti-sub variants, AS.7?
By: dhfan - 20th September 2007 at 10:16
According to Putnam, the last user was 238 OCU until they disbanded at North Luffenham in March 1958.
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September 20, 2007 at 10:08 am