"Spirit of Surfers Paradise" Lancaster??

As best I can recall, the only people on board apart from the crew during the final flight was John Roast and myself.

I have the names of everyone on board filed away somewhere, I’ll see if I can dig them out.

The best authority to answer any question about the aircraft is Richard Taylor.

Thanks for that nice vote of confidence Geoff – I certainly don’t pretend to know the answer to every question raised about NX611 (G-ASXX / ‘WU15’) but, as you know, I did work with HAPS / Reflectaire during the 60s/early 70s and have many photos / diary entries / records from those ‘heady, never-to-be-forgotten’ days. If I can be of help to anyone genuinly wanting more ‘insider’ information (at least that which won’t attract possible litigation !!!:D ) I would be very happy to try to come up with historic factual
data.

Getting on to the subject of people on board NX611 on her last (to date) flight (RAF Hullavington, Wiltshire to Blackpool – Squires Gate Airport on Friday 26th June 1970) – My own records (transcribed from the original Log Book for NX611 a very short time after the flight) show :

2 x CREW :
Neil Williams (Pilot) and Flt/Lt Eric Hughes (Navigator) (Serving RAF Officer)

7 ‘PASSENGERS’:
John Roast (Reflectaire); Geoff Linge (RAF Hullavington); Brian Goulding (Co-author of ‘Lancaster at War’ publications, etc); Ron Valentine (ex 617 Sqdn. Bomb Aimer); Colin Brash (Reflectaire Preservation Group volunteer) AND 2 (as yet) ‘un-named’ RAF Radio Engineers (stationed at the time at Lyneham).
(I do know one was known as “MAC”, but if anyone else can shed light on their names I’d appreciate being able to complete the record ).

I would be interested Geoff if you could dig out your own record which, you say, lists the people on board with you on that flight, especially if they should differ from the above.

As you also know, I was on board the chase-plane (Piper Cherokee ‘G-AWCY’) with press photographers and (if my memory serves me right) BBC camera crew who were there to record the flight of NX611 to Blackpool. Whether the program was ‘Nationwide’ or not I don’t remember – we were too busy to watch TV – all our energy went into trying to ensure the security of Reflectaire’s various aircraft and exhibits during the evening to prevent any damage / theft by the less scrupulous (minority) amongst the public who flocked to the airfield.

Hope this helps 😉

Richard

As best I can recall, the only people on board apart from the crew during the final flight was John Roast and myself.

I have the names of everyone on board filed away somewhere, I’ll see if I can dig them out.

The best authority to answer any question about the aircraft is Richard Taylor.

The pilot on that final flight was the great Neil Williams, who having clocked up some Shakleton hours at Farnborough, was deemed qualified to do the trip.

Hi All,
I seem to have some recollection of this flight being a featured on the BBC tea-time show Nationwide.
The reporter in the piece was a chap called Bob Wellings and I thought he might have actually been on board the aircraft for the last flight.
Can anyone shed any light on this?

Andy

Yes I am the very same Gary Brindle but was part of 2459 Poulton Le Fylde ATC. I was helping until Aug 72 when I joined the RAF.And I do take aerial pics(www.scotaviaimages.co.uk)
I will scan the pics asap, got a backlog of airpics to sort out first.

I recall all the women in skirts looking inside the Lanc, they struggled over the main spar climbing the slope to the cockpit but then refused to use the nose ladder and caused chaos by going down slope again to the rear entrance.

Your pics from the ferry flight were welcome and nice to have my memory of the exhaust stubs confirmed.

Thanks for that Gary – the sight of those female visitors navigating their way through the narrow fuselage, trying to find the most demure approach to tackling the main spar etc certainly helped to attract volunteers to help man the museum’s exhibits didn’t it !! I’m sure there’s many a tale to tell.

Here’s a shot which shows the wooden stairs / ladder that was positioned under the aircraft’s nose hatch to allow visitors to exit the cockpit without the need to double back on themselves.

Back to the missing exhaust stubs – I’ve found one more shot which clearly shows at least one stub missing as NX611 stood outside the airport terminal area after taxying to a halt at Squires Gate following her flight from Hullavington on 26-6-1970.

I’ve also got a couple of shots of her as she taxied in on that memorable day – enjoy !!

Can’t wait to see your scanned pics Gary.

Yes I am the very same Gary Brindle but was part of 2459 Poulton Le Fylde ATC. I was helping until Aug 72 when I joined the RAF.And I do take aerial pics(www.scotaviaimages.co.uk)
I will scan the pics asap, got a backlog of airpics to sort out first.

I recall all the women in skirts looking inside the Lanc, they struggled over the main spar climbing the slope to the cockpit but then refused to use the nose ladder and caused chaos by going down slope again to the rear entrance.

Your pics from the ferry flight were welcome and nice to have my memory of the exhaust stubs confirmed.

Certainly Squires Gate , I used to be a volunteer air cadet showing people around NX611 at the time. On the final flight some of the exhaust stubs fell off during a low pass over a Welsh reservoir.

Am I right in thinking I’m “speaking” to Gary Brindle of Aerial Photography renown ?

We must have met at some point in 1970-72 whilst I was working for Reflectaire at Squires Gate Airport. Any photos of that time you could share with us?

Were you with the 2486 Sqdn. ATC (Lytham St. Annes) when you helped out with the visitors at the Reflectaire Museum site at Squires Gate?

You mentioned the fact that we lost a few exhaust stubs on the way up from Hullavington to Blackpool on 26-6-1970 – yes indeed we did and the Welsh lake over which NX611 made its low pass was Bala Lake on the northeastern edge of the Snowdonia National Park.

I was aboard the chase-plane which followed the Lanc on its journey and I was trying to take some aerial cine film (8mm) as she flew alongside and below us. There was quite a bit of turbulance en route at various times and the pilot of the Cherokee (G-AWCY) had a bit of difficulty keeping a steady ‘platform’ for photography. I did manage to get a small amount of cine film of NX611 as she made her way across Wales and along the Fylde coastline but it’s not brilliant I’m afraid.

I’ve tried to extract a few frames from the film but haven’t got the equipment needed to enhance the images – still … it’s better than nothing I suppose !

Here’s a few shots of NX611 in flight on that trip, which sadly proved to be her last (as things currently stand anyway). The last shot was taken as we landed at Squires Gate in the Cherokee a few minutes after NX611 had taxied towards the airport terminal.

Enjoy, even if they’re not up to today’s standards they’re still part of the history of this beautiful aircraft.

Thanks Bruggen, thats the position I remember from when I was helping there. I recall the bren gun carrier and in the background you can see the tail of the Sabre GATBF and the nose of the Seafire VP441 with the over size prop.
Going to find my Old Brownie 127 pics and scan them asap.

Here’s a few from Blackpool, some people will have seen these on here before, the first one is of my late Father, his first time in a Lanc since 1945.:) Regards Phil.

Scans of a photo that I purchased at a postcard fair about 10 years ago of G-ASXX.
Clive.

Well done lads, some great info, heres the other pic I had, cheers Darrell

Hi Darrell
Was very pleasantly surprised to see old b&w shots of NX611 being posted from Canada.
As the others have already confirmed, they are indeed of Lancaster NX611 / G-ASXX and taken at Squires Gate Airport, Blackpool. She was painted up in markings GL-C in honour of (the now late) Leonard Cheshire and the “25 1945 – 1970 ” nose insignia was painted on her whilst under cover (for the 1st time since arriving back in the UK in April 1965) in the hangar at RAF Hullavington, Wiltshire in 1970 to commemorate her 25th Birthday.

Indeed NX611 last flew on 26th June 1970 from RAF Hullavington to Squires Gate Airport, Blackpool. She had previously flown from Lavenham to Hullavington on 7th February 1970 where she underwent a complete repaint and partial overhaul in order to get official Permit to Fly to Blackpool Airport.

Now, back to your photos – It’s interesting to find almost identical shots to those in my collection, 2 of which came from the collection of Brian Goulding (of “Lancaster at War” publication fame) – indeed I’m pretty sure the young lad leaning out of the cockpit in the first shot is Brian’s son. My notes indicate the shot was taken in August 1970 at Blackpool.

The other 2 shots were also taken at Blackpool and from the aircraft’s site positioning the second photo was taken in December 1970 and again almost identical to another of Brian’s photos in my collection.

The 3rd shot is almost identical to one I took myself on 15th July 1970, positioned with her back to the main airport hangars.

I will try to attach my photos as a matter of interest so you can see how very similar they are.

I’ve also added a shot of the ‘Credit Bombs’ painted on the port side as they were as at July 1970, again at Blackpool, and one which shows the full set of insignia/nose art attached to the Lanc. on its arrival from Australia (Pic taken at Biggin Hill in March 1966).

Good to hear again from Roger Smith and Tilleydog – haven’t been in contact since the 2005 HAPS / Reflectaire Reunion Flypast Forum Thread ended (http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39098&highlight=HAPS+Reunion).

Hope this has been useful

Cheers

Certainly Squires Gate , I used to be a volunteer air cadet showing people around NX611 at the time. On the final flight some of the exhaust stubs fell off during a low pass over a Welsh reservoir.

Definitly Squires gate, had a walk inside it when it was there.:)
Regards Phil.

Certainly Squires Gate , I used to be a volunteer air cadet showing people around NX611 at the time. On the final flight some of the exhaust stubs fell off during a low pass over a Welsh reservoir.

I note that the warbirds directory states that it’s last flight was from Lavenham to Squires Gate when in fact it was from Hullavington.

Hi Tillydog, if you e-mail Scott a correction (ideally with some evidence!) I’m sure he’ll tidy that up.

Well done lads, some great info, heres the other pic I had, cheers Darrell

I note that the warbirds directory states that it’s last flight was from Lavenham to Squires Gate when in fact it was from Hullavington.

Pretty sure the second photo was taken at Blackpool where she was part of the auction of Reflectaire aircraft/items.

Roger Smith.

Definitely NX611, as I said she now resides at East Kirkby in Lincolnshire, does a few taxi runs throughout the year and the night ones are really impressive.

If you search the forum there are a couple of posts with some brilliant pics taken last year.

It’s ex-Aeronavalle Lancaster NX611 G-ASXX in the UK, seen here after flying back from Australia to Biggin Hill.

Surfer’s Paradise were one of the sponsors of the flight, which had nothing to do with Roast who was involved with the aircraft much later.

A book by Patrick Kilvington ‘The Last Lanc’ tells the story of the flight from Australia to the UK, and is well worth searching out.

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/lancregistry/lanc-nx611.html

I just recently “found” these from an estate sale I believe is NX611, dont know how old pix are? cheers