RAF Swanton Morley in the late 1960s (Revived thread)

Just to say welcome.

You’ll find an eager audience here for any recollections, the ‘unglamorous’ end of service life is just as interesting as the years draw on as the better publicised bits. Feel free to post anything here.

Moggy

What about the fourth image in #1 ??

Martin

Thanks for the “heads-up” Propstrike, just my cup of tea.

I f you like this sort of thread, go to the Vintage & Classic Light Aircraft group on Facebook, which is stuffed with this sort of content, and plenty of the old lags from here 🙂

I was lucky enough to get Swanton Morley in my logbook back in June 1982. I flew up from Denham in our group owned Cessna 172 G-AZJV and was surprised at the reaction from the Norwich and Norfolk Aero Club members who hadn’t expected flyers from “so far away”. It was all of 1.2 hours flying but we were made very welcome all the same. Thank you to the original poster for the nostalgic photos.

It is ironic, but I was at Swanton as a lad, having returned from Seletar in ’62 my dad having run 390 MU out there.
Notable visitors during our time there were 3 Mosquitos one summer afternoon (’63?) after filming 633 Squadron, Bill Bedford in Hawker’s Hurricane one evening (engine wouldn’t fire up, so was hand swung!) and a Beverley one evening (not sure why).
I seem to recall Spitfire MH434 being there in its civil guise (G-ASJV).
I began a childhood interest in aeromodelling there (having previously watched the Sunday afternoon activities on the airfield at Seletar). There was an aeromodelling club at Swanton in a building near the MT section.

Just to say welcome.

You’ll find an eager audience here for any recollections, the ‘unglamorous’ end of service life is just as interesting as the years draw on as the better publicised bits. Feel free to post anything here.

Moggy

Thanks for the memories, I was posted to Swanton Morley early in 1966 until June 1967 when I was posted to Singapore, I had just completed basic and trade training as an airframe mechanic and was very disappointed to receive my posting to No. 1 Gliding Centre, the gliders were for training ATC Cadets and instructors, I was in the repair section of the main hangar where the gliders were kept, there were 4 carpenters and the Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt. Marsh) in charge.
There was a Javelin in the corner of the hangar where what we knew as the NDT (non destructive testing) training unit was they trained operators on x-ray equipment for aircraft checking.
At one stage during my time there they did some “practice” testing on Donald Campbell’s Bluebird boat before his final fatal world speed record attempt, not sure if the x-rays were official but the Chief Technician trainer told me he wouldn’t ride in it on a trailer at 30 mph!
During my time there were no active aircraft based there but several visitors the first I remember was an Avro Anson, outdated even at this time, occasionally there were visiting tow aircraft for the gliders, they were usually winch towed. one very famous person to undertake a glider course was Douglas Bader, I remember him as a bombastic dominating character.
My work there was unexciting, and the carpenters fiercely guarded their trade which I believe was Aircraft Carpenter, two of the tradesmen had worked on Mosquito’s, I did spend as much time as I could assisting the delivery and transfer of the gliders to different bases throughout UK but my posting to Singapore was much welcomed, the fishing on the local coast and in the local rivers was good, probably not so these days, I haven’t visited the base since those times and I have been in Australia for the last 35 years

QP

Javelin XA549 left Swanton Morley and ended up at Swinderby, where it was eventually scrapped some time later (in the 1980s, IIRC). It was still around in 1976-77, part of the RAF Queens Jubliee Static Dispay at Finningley. XA549 was at Finningley in September 1976.

I am pretty sure the Javelin was broken up at Finningley, along with the Beverley, before the Jubilee Review. It was shame as it had not long been repainted.

I seem to remember Newark Air Museum trying to secure it, but wasn’t to be.

Here’s another of G-AVEG this time at Booker C1971

Oh, by the way – the other Javelin at Swanton Morely was XH986 (and NOT XH896)

XH986 was based at Swanton Morely as Ground Instructional Airframe 7842M from 7/4/1964 until it was scrapped on site in 1972

XH896 was written off in a fatal collision with another Javelin (XH708) on 30th May 1967 over Tengah, Singapore (see here: http://97th.org.uk/rip.html and here http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/Gloster_Javelin.htm). Both crew of XH708 were killed, the crew of XH896 survived (they both ejected) but the aircraft was destroyed when it crashed 10 miles NW of Tengah

RAF Swanton Morley in the late 1960s

QP

Cessna 150 G-AVTO was owned by the Norwich & Norfolk Aero Club, and was based at Swanton Morley from 14/5/1969 to 29/4/1981, see here: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AVTO.pdf

The next owner (from 29/4/1981 to 27/6/1983) was based in Norwich, so it may have stayed in Norfolk (if not Swanton Morley) until 11/10/1983 when it left for Monaco

Fournier RF-3 G-ATBP was registered to an owner in Beccles, Suffolk, from 20/11/1968 to 23/12/1969, see http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ATBP-1.pdf

The “Currie Wot” (if that is what it is) was probably G-ASBA, which was registered to an owner based in Kings Lynn from 22/11/1968 to 5/1/1969 see here: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ASBA-1.pdf

Javelin XA549 left Swanton Morley and ended up at Swinderby, where it was eventually scrapped some time later (in the 1980s, IIRC). It was still around in 1976-77, part of the RAF Queens Jubliee Static Dispay at Finningley. XA549 was at Finningley in September 1976, see here:

From the above, I think that most of the pics would seem to date from Spring/Summer 1969

Yes that is a Stampe. Picture 9 in your latest batch is interesting as it shows Currie Wot G-ASBA which was based there and was unusual in having a canopy fitted. Lovely.

Tim

Before I post the last set of photos I thought I would just add a little about the AIS and CSDE to whom it belonged. My father was there from 1964 till he retired from the Air Force in 1970 (he then went to 4 SoTT at RAF St Athan as a civvi instructor)
During his time at CSDE and AIS his team were responsible for writing the maintenance schedules for the Sioux HT2 and the Phantom FGR2. The eventual outcome of this work were the APs that we all know and love.

One more point, The Canberra was there when I was in the area as I saw it many times. Not sure when it arrived but when I saw it for the first time it was a dusty derelict fuselage lying in one corner of the AIS hangar.

Onto the last of the photos.

I do not have exact dates for most of these pictures although I do know that the first two were June 1969.

The Beaver was just stopping off one afternoon for fuel and lunch for the crew in the mess.

I know that this is an RF 3 cos it says so on the tail.

Quite some time before the RAF left the airfield in the hands of the Army, they moved the gate guard Javelin. These few shots show it sitting on a Queen Mary (or Elizabeth) awaiting transport to???

I have this next one listed as a Stampe SV4C, can anyone confirm?

This one is definitely a Beagle Pup, unless someone wants to correct me.

Another strange one to me. I have it recorded as a Currie Wot?

A colour view of the guardian Javelin XA549, obviously before it was dismantled.

Here is the colour shot of NMV I mentioned earlier.

Final three coming up. This must have marked the start of me trying to be artistic and taking photos from unusual angles.

Taken by clambering up on top of the fuselage and hanging onto the fin

Not too sure but I seem to remember climbing up a nearby tree in order to get this one.

That’s it from Swanton Morley. Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane, I did.

QP

PS, Scranton is not one of my favourite places!!!!!!!!!

Its a shame the Army moved in and destroyed one of the finest original WWII airfields in the country.

Yes but, they are still putting out good pics. :D:dev2:

http://www.edp24.co.uk/polopoly_fs/front_1_1_1727710!image/736843399.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_630/736843399.jpg

It’s a miserable wet Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania so I thought I would post some of my photos from those days in case anyone is interested.

Starting off with an Aero 145, this seemed to spend much of its time here so it may have been based.

Aero 145 G-ASWS was registered to Aqua-Fibre Ltd with a Norwich address from 20 Sept 68 until 01 May 1969 so that stacks up.

Great photos QP.

Planemike.

PS Used to be regular a visitor to Scranton PA.

Never realised the units there had such significance – thanks!

Tim

The RAF NDT centre + school was based there (non destructive testing).
Also the CSDE (central servicing development unit)

from flight global

A
IRCRAFT of the RAF and Royal Navy sustain defects
i at the rate of one a minute, 1,400 a day, half a million
a year. This is the rate at which the Maintenance
Data Centre (MDC) at RAF Swanton Morley receives aircraft defect job cards, the famous Form 720s. The MDC
also collects some 500,000 supplementary job cards and
another 16,000 Form 760 defect reports.
“Clearly, we don’t just stash this lot away in a filing
cabinet,” says Lt Cdr Mike Kinch, officer in charge of the
Royal Naval Data Squadron attached to the Maintenance
Data Centre. “This is why we need a computer. Ours rather
lacks glamour—not a Hashing light or See-Threepio voice
in the place—but it sorts, files and selects the contents of
its two-million-strong record store to present output in
any way we choose.”
Thus MDC has a computer topped up with two million
aircraft hard-luck stories on magnetic tape which is held
for two years, with more in the archival files. Who uses
it, and how? Kinch replies: “At the risk of disappointing
the Doctor Who enthusiasts who imagine we have here
/—,1″‘* I
something between a Crypton Analyser and an I Speak
Your Weight machine, all this computer has to do is sort
and retain what we put into it and release it under whatever headings we choose: defect, symptom, how found,
man-hours, operational effect, and the rest. It does not
make any decisions, nor does it even hint at any. All it
does is to provide engineering and operational management with data upon which to base their own decisions.”
Primarily MDC provides an answering service. An
engineer may want to know whether a certain loom has
ever been changed in a Nimrod and, if so, when? How big
is the corrosion problem on a certain bulkhead in the
Wessex? Are there grounds for the suspicion that a
particular squadron has far more than its fair share of
engine problems and, if so, why?
The Maintenance Data Centre employs 200 staff, of
which 130 are civilians. It is co-located with the Central
Servicing Development Establishment (CSDE) and the
total RAF Swanton Morley manpower is about 1,000.
Assigned to Swanton Morley are officers of the USAF,
RAAF and French Air Force, and there is always a
Canadian Armed Forces major on the staff of MDC.
MDC believes that it differs from similar Allied facilities
in the emphasis placed on its answering service rather than
on regular routine outputs of data. Typical questions
recently answered by the MDC computer: What is the
probability of a double generator failure in a Sea King?
Has a Buccaneer arrester hook ever been prevented from
lowering by corrosion causing a seizure of the up-lock?
(No). What stores backing is necessary to support 16 Sea
Kings embarked for six weeks?
Forward studies of how many Lynx helicopters to
deploy in order to maintain a given probability of cover
for a given time have been helped by MDC analysis of
Sea King and Wasp defect rates and down-times. “Only by
knowing the actual defect rates of current aircraft and
equipment,” says Kinch, “can we hope to be realistic in
specifying the acceptable reliability of their successors.”
MDC staff claim that intelligent use of data is helping to
avoid unnecessary modifications. With a full defect history
now available, “singleton” defects which appear to call for
drastic action are put into proper perspective. An example
is the Gipsy Major engine (see Flight, February 26, 1977,
page 458, and March 19, page 728). This is a minor
operational area, but an MDC exercise has shown that
modern analysis techniques can be used to improve an
engine’s economics after 40 years of job-card maintenance.
The two main Chipmunk Gipsy Major failure modes
are misfiring (magneto drop) and oil pressure. There was
in the period analysed by MDC no record of total oilpressure failure, and no evidence of misfiring adversely

Thanks for a fascinating set of images – brings back memories of a visit I made there in 1969. Both Javalins were still there then.

Intrigued to know what the Aeronautical Inspection Service was responsible for there, if anyone knows.

There was also a Canberra (WF887 I think) gathering dust in the hangar – though some reports suggest that didn’t appear there until about 1966?

Tim

That Tiger ended up at Booker with Tigerfly for many years.

After it crash landed near Henley-on-Thames it went Meier Motors in Germany, and can be seen on the long-running forum thread.

Yes QP lovely to see these pics 🙂