G-BZLK – T31

Have a complete vw 1600 for sale if needed (approx 300hrs) and just done 9 hrs ferry trip to its new home (Luton Minor). (PM me)

I think the average 12-13 year old nowadays would find the first winch launch in the front of a MK3 better than anything that Alton Towers can offer !!

“Flaring”

The T31 is provided with a simple solution for “Heavy Solo Work”, the iron brick that is “Pinned” onto the tailplane slot.
400 ft and 40 knots as i recall ready for the turn onto base leg and then granny can take over !! its that difficult.
For finals i think 1/3 w/speed was added.(for extra penetration)
It is then possible to arrive accurately “on the wheel” and t/skid with the nose only dropping onto the skid as it stops.

G-BIIF “repair”

I seem to recall an RF4 “looping” into the ground at an airshow in the s/east many years back.
If it was stored at Biggin then that would indicate it may have been one of the Sportair machines at some time.
Apart from the “not unknown” wheels’s up incidents there was a slightly more spectacular arrival during this airshow (poss Rochester)
We had one at Redhill for some time (G-AYHY) which i was sensible enough to book for our “very cold” new years day breakfast patrol in the 70’s.
I saw somewhere that this machine has migrated to Japan !!!
I can think of no better combination of a low power VW engine married to a sleek sculptured form (that also flies well).
There was an alternative version of the fuel filler / gauge that prevented a screen wash during rolls !!!

Kenley-Biggin raids 18 08 40

I think the confusion started with the “Leaves Green Dornier” that attacked Kenley but crashed next to Biggin.
As far as i can make out the Kenley raid was the only “low level” (100ft) one on that day and all explained in A Price’s “The Hardest Day”.

Brooklands experienced a low level raid by BF110’s in September which also did a great deal of damage (and loss of life) as it appears no warning was given.

The difficulty in spotting low level aircraft and for airfield defences to try and draw a bead on them was no doubt brought home by these attacks as both airfields eventually got their own “Flack Towers”.Brooklands on a high spot near the “banking” at the “test hill” and Kenley about 1/2 mile s/e of the airfield towards a gap in the chalk downs.
The Kenley one is still there and so was the Brooklands one when i visited a few years back.
The Kenley raid was “plotted” by the O/Corps and the Dorniers did not achieve complete surprise and although “Kenleys” squadrons were already busy, 111 from Croydon were scrambled by local orders just in time to intercept.
The Brooklands raid seems to have slipped through but this may have been because they were fighters carrying bombs therefore faster than normal bombers and giving less warning of their approach.

G-BIIF

Well done FB,sounds like a LOT of work but at least the fuel bill will be lower than most people.
What had happened to her that meant so much to do (especially the wing)
Never mind it will be well worth it and good luck
PP
It was the sight of an RF3 taxying in at Biggin in the mid Sixties that made me realise that this could be “affordable” fun flying.I thought it looked beautiful then and it still does.
It is perhaps a shame that Slingsbys or Rollasons with all their expertise in that type of construction did not licence build it for the UK market.
Does yours have the ex valve mod for “air starts” or will you fit the R4 system with the handle.

Inn of the sixth happiness

Made in 1958, “North Wales” substitutes for China.
The local Town is bombed by the Japanese and there are some shots of (three i think) twin engined “Bombers” flying through the Snowdonia mountains near the Aberglaslyn Pass.
In fact they look like Airspeed Consuls (i am not a spotter) and even have civil regs so could poss be Oxfords/Consuls.
If indeed they were, what company was operating them about that time !!!

Gun Butts (Prob Biggin)

I believe Biggin had A/C machine gun butts and a small arms range alongside each other.So this would fit in with the picture.
At the post war “At Home” days (the nearest Sat to the 15th Sept) they used to set up guns for the public to fire on the small arms side.
These were on mountings and for a shilling (to the RAFA fund) one could blast off a full mag from a bren gun.The airman who lay alongside would change the “setting” so you had some single shots and then finished off in a burst.
No ear defenders of course so your ears rang for a while and if you could pick up a spent .303 case they did not mind.
Mind you in those days you could also fire a .22 short “pump” winchester at fair grounds with no real restriction.
79 (AL) formed at Biggin pre war and went to France from there.

Mk 12 14.59 post

Mk 12/Bazv
On the 1963 os map it shows a structure (similar size to the one alongside Calmont RD) in approx your pos B (just below it) near the river. NOW If you look at the cricketers image then look behind 574’s rudder there is “something there” with a symetrical shape (but not clear enough on my screen). The map of course does not indicate structure height only approx plan area.
Bazv Your friend Bill’s evidence seems pretty clear and that means that what appears to be a hedge/fence behind the cricketers could be the line of the river before 51 years of growth.
Looking at the shadow detail again if the “cricketers” image was taken at say 3-4 pm allowing for a delay in the match restarting the shadow of what may be a f/ex is pointing approx East n east which puts the “skid” mark on approx a North- n/east line.
I was impressed with the comment that the “engine was still hot” that seems pretty cogent evidence to me and if he drove “Cents” it gets my vote.
One other thing Maguire states that he “banked around a tree” after seeing children in the first field (could that be the tree in the middle of the Warren Ave Field)