My Grandfather's Logbook

We were at my Parent’s place the other weekend and my Daughter was asking my Mother for information on her Father’s wartime service in North Africa (Senussi Troop, SAS, RSR, Paras), after we had been through that, my son asked to see my Paternal Grandfather’s logbook as I had told him that there were many strange and interesting aircraft in it…

As some of you may know my Grandfather was Technical Director of Channel Airways, based out of Southend in the ’50s thru to their demise in the early ’70s (Oil Crisis, too diverse fleet, the short Runway at SEN forcing a move of Jet ops to Stansted, etc, were some of the reasons)

Channel were the original Lo-co with some of the tightest seat pitches in Europe (no one else could get 88 into a DC4!) and removing Toilets from their 111s, watched eagerly by one Freddie Laker from the Tradair hangar opposite…(when he wasn’t building Carvairs!)

Whilst My Grandfather was in a senior position, he still kept himself current as a propulsion engineer and was signed off on all of the fleet including the 111 and Trident. In fact one of my abiding memories as a nipper is being driven up to the Channel Hangars at the back end of SEN and there he was, coverall over the suit and tie with his head deep in a Rolls Royce Spey.

That is all fine, but it is only when you look into his logbook that you get the context of Aviation Progression over his 50 year career, how can anyone start on an Avro 504N and finish up on a Trident? I am really struggling to get my head around it!

He joined the RAF at 16 in 1925 as an Apprentice (A ‘Trenchard Brat’) and once he qualified, got enough experience and seniority was then flying on air tests, etc.

This is Tommy Atkins at 21 in 1930:

I photographed a few pages of the logbook, starting with 1928:

10,000 feet in one of these?! A Fairey Fawn:

The Avro Lynx is a 504N powered by an Armstrong Siddely Lynx engine

Here is 1930, he had obviously progressed onto a Bomber Squadron at Waddington, using the wondrous Handley Page Hyderabads, note the flight on the 23rd of May was rather eventful, flying over the R100 and then crash-landing at Hendon

A Hyderabad:

Not so much flying in 1931:

A Hawker Horsley is one of these:

A few flights in 1932, with the first Seaplane flight (He did a stint with the Fleet Air Arm):

The Osprey is the Naval Hawker Hart

The Fairey IIIF is a floatplane:

After a few years on Carriers in the Med and beyond he returned to the RAF at Duxford on 19 Sqn as they received their Spitfires, unfortunately no 2 seat ones in those days, but managed to blag a few rides in 1938 and ’39:

The Fairey Battle must have felt like a rocketship after all the biplanes!!!

He finished his 18 years in the RAF in 1939 and got a Job with Marshalls in Cambridge managing the Tiger Moth maintenance centre, when War broke out he tried to re-join the RAF (one of the few people with Spitfire/Merlin experience) but as Marshalls Maintained the CFS Tiger Moths he was classified as in areserve Occupation – this did not sit well with him

Following the war he had a stint with Airwork, and got some Anson flights:

and then joined East Anglian Flying Services to run the Cardiff Rhoose maint operation:

Mainly Rapides, Proctors and Doves

There followed a move to Ipswich to set up maint there, with a lot of commuting to head office!

And finally his Aircraft Type Summary Page, what a selection!

Tommy Atkins at Channel Airways:

Signing over their first Brand New Aircraft, an Avro/HS 748, Tommy is on the Left: