Douglas Boston & Searchlight

Don’t know if this is of interest to anybody but if you go here, http://www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk/archive/files_index.htm you can download (for free) the manual SD.0165,AI Mk.IV and Ancillary Equipment, which includes diagrams of the AI equipment layout in Havocs with and without Turbinlite. It’s item number 258. There are also lots other interesting bits of radio/radar kit on that site as well.

Anne

Hello Longshot,
Further to my posting above, I surmise that the dinner is a Heston Aircraft function, perhaps in celebration of a successful flight of the Heston JC.6 that is displayed on the “table menu”. The title on the document is “Experimental Department” but I can not make out the lower line.

Paul,

Sent you a private message; please check and come back. Thanks

RJC

http://warandgame.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/

All drawings and most of the text copied from the Boston Warpaint book that I wrote and illustrated… uncredited, of course.

Richard J. Caruana

Brook Creek…do you have any info on the reason for the dinner…a Heston Aircraft function perhaps? I wonder if anybody on the Key forum has info on the Helmover project? As I said elsewhere , very interesting material

Mosquito Turbinlite document

Further to my earlier post today, I had a problem uploading the Mosquito Turbinlite document; it was too large.

I have re-scanned using OCR and have converted it to a Word document. Part of the document mentions the Mosquito Turbinlite.

There is a brief mention of a Very Large Searchlight developed by G.E.C. Wembley with the remainder an outline of the “Helmover” 39 inch torpedo.

I attempted to retain a format similar to the original document. There is no date nor is a document source identified.

Further to the dinner photo in my earlier post, the photographer’s stamp on the back of the photo identifies the photographer as Cecil Walden Ltd. at 45 Gerrard Street, Shaftesbury Ave., London W1.

Douglas Boston & Searchlight

Mick West of the HestonAirport Yahoo Group told me of this forum and suggested that I upload information that I may have.

Further to my comments on Photobucket, the Photobucket photo of the Turbinlite Havoc was in my father’s files, which my mother retained after his death and subsequently passed to me.

The photo was on display in our home when I grew up but I never knew who the other gentlemen were until I asked my Mum a couple of years ago. She had a great memory right up until her death in August 2009 and she rattled the names off without hesitation. I expect that Mum had met some or all them as she and Dad got married in 1942. From other web info regarding the Turbinlite Havoc, the photo may have been taken in 1941.

The “boffins” are, from left to right: R.W. “Dick” Becker (my father), David Roberts, “Baron” Baynes (the real boffin) and Bruce Benson.

The Mosquito Turbinlite overview that I have appears to be part of a larger document. Coincidently the Mosquito was built by DH in Canada where my father ended up working after emigrating and finding employment initially with AVRO Canada. When I have time, I will review my father’s papers and look for other items of potential historical relevance.

I have a program on a post war exhibition of German Aircraft, etc. See attached cover page. If anyone is interested in the entire document, I will scan and post upon request.

In the dinner photo, my father is 5th from the left in the back table looking over his left shoulder. I had sent the dinner photo to a member of another forum whose father knew my father from wartime. He responded that “the aircraft pictured on the ‘table menu’ is: Heston JC.6 which first flew in 1947 – two prototypes built”.

I hope these are of interest.

Paul Becker

Heh heh:)

Good God – if I had had to remember all that I could not have kept flying!

Thank you Tim.

For anyone else who is interested in the turbinlite flights, 1451 flight were at Hunsdon and operated with 3(F) Squadron at times.
530 squadron then formed from 1451 flight and was commanded by Sqd Ldr Miller DFC.

Some of the special code used between the Turbinlite and the attending Hurricanes when flying together.

Turbilite to Satellite.

Are you in formation,
ARE YOU SNUGGLING.
Close formation,
CONTRACT.
Open formation,
EXPAND.
We are at 5000 ft Range,
WARM.
We are dropping back,
COOLER.

We are at 3000 ft range,
HOT(Get Ready).

Satellite aircraft must reply to this e.g,
“UNDERSTAND HOT

I am about to expose(in ten seconds)
BOILING.
We have lost contact,
LOST CONTACT.

Sattelite to turbinlite.

I need Navigation lights to pick you up
SHOW UP

Request brighter station keeping lights,
OPEN WINDOWS.
Station keeping lights too bright,
CLOSE WINDOWS.

I have lost you,
I AM DESOLATE.
I am above you,
I AM SKYLARK.
I am below you,
I AM SNAKE.
I am obliged to return to base,
PANCAKING.

IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT ONLY A MINIMUM NUMBER OF THESE MESSAGES SHOULD BE USED.

there was a turbinlite Havoc sqn joined with 87 Sqn at Charmy down during 1941 i think .. there was a couple of losses in the area of these machines.and i think at least one was a turbinlite

Acklington – moved across from the 1 Squadron dispersal.

Wish I could hide my drogue score!!

= Tim

I have a copy of a secret wartime document of about 20 odd pages on the Turbinlite fitment. Its too big to scan in so I took photos of a couple of pages to show whats in it. As documents of this nature were systematically destroyed during the war as they became out of date etc. There is a possibility this may be the only one left.
It is a fascinating item.

That looks extremely interesting Baz, I would like to see more!

Might I ask where you were operating from when this incident took place Tim?

BSG – & rob us of all that fun? The worst bit was when he had contact & you had to drop down under him, accelerate & wait for him to illuminate.

page – Hurricane, what was left of it. And only now, seeing the photo, do I recall that they were IIcs. Sgt Herbert was not a happy chappy!

As said – tyre burst on take-off.

I love your idea of fun Tim !

Except when coerced.

But it took ai bit of effort clambering in a couple of weeks ago. Times have changed from the vaulting days!!

= Tim

Sorry meant Hurri, wouldn’t insult you by suggesting you were in a Spit!

BSG – & rob us of all that fun? The worst bit was when he had contact & you had to drop down under him, accelerate & wait for him to illuminate.

page – Hurricane, what was left of it. And only now, seeing the photo, do I recall that they were IIcs. Sgt Herbert was not a happy chappy!

As said – tyre burst on take-off.

Crumbs Tim, were you in the Spitfire formating with the Havoc on take-off then, what happened?

and staying in formation, at night, and seeing whatever the Havoc pilot illuminates….

with 20/20 hind sight, and from the comfort of my arm chair, I can’t be the first to ask that if the Havoc pilot could focus a beam of light onto a target, couldn’t he also get it into a gunsight ?