RNAS Ford (HMS Peregrine) Air Day 1954

…No doubt still very young at heart though!!

I did a bit of digging on the web managed to track down the pilot of the B.17, John Gooch still very much alive..(or he was three years ago).
He recalls the incident very clearly, in his words…’I remember to this day gasoline from those engine prime lines spraying me in the face when I returned to the cockpit. Whew thanks be to God that we all got out’

An amazing guy!

Cheers, Chumpy.

Chumpy…

The B-17G was from 367BS/306BG – accident was on 15th July 1945 – my birthday!

Not often anyone mentions “young ” to me these days – I was 3 yrs old in July 45.

[QUOTE=daveg4otu;1320170]The mention above of Christchurch in 1954(Chumpy’s post above) brings back memories for me ….I lived a couple of hundred yards from the runway end there at the time (12 yrs old in 54)…and was a keen spotter in those days.

Hi Dave,
Interesting stuff on your Cristchurch pages, the attached shot taken by the same author as the Ford photos. His name was Peter Foote perhaps you knew him?

I guess you were a bit too young to be one of the scallywags playing on the B.17 hulk. This being 48866 that came to grief on landing at Christchurch in July 1945, the photo taken a couple of weeks after the incident.

Chumpy.

Regarding the Wyvern, Rob you are not alone. Nice canopy in your avatar pic – where did you come across it?

Steve

I bought it around 18 years ago from a collector near Brighton. When he acquired it it still had the remains of a brown wrapper around it, as it had come from Westlands stores and was unused.
To date it is one of only two that i know of in existence, both of which are the early S.4 versions without the metal fairing, which was added later to counter a problem they had with canopies collapsing and/or detaching in flight.!

Rob.

The mention above of Christchurch in 1954(Chumpy’s post above) brings back memories for me ….I lived a couple of hundred yards from the runway end there at the time (12 yrs old in 54)…and was a keen spotter in those days.

Xch was very active then with De Havilands in full production (Vampires/Venoms/Ambassadors etc)..the Gliding school operated several gliders and the flying club was active also.

For anyone interested there are a couple of pages about Christchurch on my website…

First one is all-time resident list….
http://daveg4otu.tripod.com/airfields/xchres.html

Airfield history….
http://daveg4otu.tripod.com/airfields/xch.html

The 405FG USAAF at Christchurch 1944….
http://daveg4otu.tripod.com/airfields/xch405.html

Lee-on-Solent – a school visit there in 1954 produced several Dutch Navy Avengers………those were the days……………!

Thanks for the update Brian, i personally have got three different articles that say it was VZ783 that had the underwater ejection (possibly all quoted from the same source), but either way i’m sure one of us is correct. Nice to know there are others out there who have an interest in the ‘dragon’.;)

cheers,
Rob.

What a cracking thread, I just came across it. I am very jealous of course of those that got to see the real, sorry I mean Royal Navy at it’s finest! Regarding the Wyvern, Rob you are not alone. Some friends of mine over in the virtual aviation world recently released a lovely Wyvern model for FSX. If you haven’t already downloaded it (assuming you are a simmer), you should treat yourself.

http:/www.nazcastudios.com/wyvern.html

Nice canopy in your avatar pic – where did you come across it?
I myself am a huge Sea Hawk fan, so to hear these stories of mass take-offs and gun-firing demos is quite something. I have some lovely colour footage from Farnborough ’57 with the Red Devils (or Red Hawks) display team that might come close to to this, but to have seen the real thing…ah, if only.

Thanks for sharing the memories, all.

Steve

Peregrine open day

Here is a Venom underway at Peregrine open day not sure what date, you can make out WW1 on the underside of the wing, apologies for the poor copy

TE477 – I located this via Google. We seem to have discussed this before.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/archive/index.php?t-22339.html

Many thanks Mark, you had me worried for a moment!!

Chumpy.

TE477 – I located this via Google. We seem to have discussed this before.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/archive/index.php?t-22339.html

Also listed is ‘RAF Titchfield’ a new one on me, (just googled it) so now I know!..To be seen here was Spitfire XVI ‘6820M’ (ex TE477), bet Mk12 will tell us what happened to it..and post a photo!!

Cheers, Chumpy.

I have nothing on this.

Looking through my files I see it came to my attention from Peter Marson back in 2002.

This is a real puzzle.

Mark

I wish some of today’s enthusiasts would take such clear details at airfields…

Yes indeed a very detailed bit of work, fascinating to look back at the way it was 50+ years on. Must have been rather tricky to log all those details serials codes etc, in the heat of an airshow so to speak.

On the same day the ‘author’ had a bit of a ‘south coast bash’ enroute to Ford. Places visited included Christchurch..Thorney Island…Tangmere..Fleetlands..RNAS Gosport and Lee on Solent..oh what fun!!!

Also listed is ‘RAF Titchfield’ a new one on me, (just googled it) so now I know!..To be seen here was Spitfire XVI ‘6820M’ (ex TE477), bet Mk12 will tell us what happened to it..and post a photo!!

Cheers, Chumpy.

I always thought CU was quite active, things must have changed since the days when they boasted about having more moves than Heathrow!

Hmmm…lies, damn lies and statistics!

Hi Pagen, Alas no did not get any photos of this as I was not there..wish I had been!!

The Gannets indeed were from 703X sqn…scan of the notes that I have relating to the show. Alas just like yourself can but close my eyes and imagine what it must have been like.

Chumpy.

I wish some of today’s enthusiasts would take such clear details at airfields…

I always thought CU was quite active, things must have changed since the days when they boasted about having more moves than Heathrow!

Does anyone have any memories or records, especially photos, of the air day at RNAS Ford in June 1954 which is my first living memory? I believe that this was a follow-on to the Coronation fly past in 1953.

I once found a reference to this show in a book but have forgotten which. It would be nice if anyone could confirm or rubbish my memories. It is quite surprising that I have any at all as I was only two years and 3½ months old at the time. For instance:

1. A bed, with person in, was carried past slung under a helicopter, as a joke about the RR Flying Bedstead.
2. One of the parachutists came down on the hangars on the far (west?) side of the airfield
3. They did live firing (guns I think) with some jets (Sea Hawks?) into a target at the (southern?) end of the runway! I think one of them (the leader?) kept on missing and went round a few times.
4. A squadron of some jets (which I think were new) which taxied out with their wings folded.
5. There were some Westland Wyverns which made a very odd noise
6. We sat on wooden benches, and I got upset when everyone stood up at the end for the National Anthem, as I couldn’t see

Any suggestions welcomed.

My father grew up watching a/c at Culdrose from 1947 to present day, so would completely relate to all of the above, as Culdrose was once a very active Naval fighter station.

I can completely understand why he now find Culdrose quite depressing compared to the early 50’s when as he puts it, “the sky was alive with aircraft of all sorts”. Nowadays, its just the odd Merlin and Hawk and quite honestly, some times it would be hard to tell that Helston (his home town) is right next to an active air station!

Nice little thread this. Oh for a time machine and a decent DSLR camera with a box full of memory cards!!

Thanks to you all for the above, especially Chumpy; I think it’s great what people find from over 50 years ago.

However, has anyone any idea of a book where I could once have found a mention of this show? I don’t think it was by “Winkle” Brown but my poor memory says it might have been someone who became a test pilot for Westlands. I seem to recall that he (whoever he was) was noted for his air shows whilst in the RN.

Harald Penrose?

Thanks to you all for the above, especially Chumpy; I think it’s great what people find from over 50 years ago.

However, has anyone any idea of a book where I could once have found a mention of this show? I don’t think it was by “Winkle” Brown but my poor memory says it might have been someone who became a test pilot for Westlands. I seem to recall that he (whoever he was) was noted for his air shows whilst in the RN.

Cracking shot Mark12, wonder how the poor Ali was picked for his flying duties!

Thanks for the update Brian, i personally have got three different articles that say it was VZ783 that had the underwater ejection (possibly all quoted from the same source), but either way i’m sure one of us is correct. Nice to know there are others out there who have an interest in the ‘dragon’.;)

cheers,
Rob.

The ‘flying bicycle’ was a feature every year at the marvellous Naval Air Shows held at HMS Daedalus, Lee on Solent. A rating was carried under a helicopter on a bike fitted with a stabilising fin.

Something else they did was to air-drop a car onto the runway, and it ended up about one foot thick!

I have a collection of photos from those shows, but have never figured out how to include pics on this forum.

Bri 🙂

…but sometimes Ali Baba!

Hard to believe that I took this grainy shot at the Lee Navy Day in 1959.

I wonder if today’s 18 yearolds will be trawling through archaic digital ‘Legends 2008’ shots for their grandchildren in 2059. 🙂

Mark