GOKONEF.A.B. SCOTT
Scott, your display was great! lots of interesting helmets on it again!
The important thing is participation! no matter how small or simple the display, just get set up in Hangar 2 and get the enthusiasm flowing!
Even if you have the bare bones of a newly started cockpit, an empty panel, or some well worn Flight clothing, just show it, it’s real nice to see a project in progress.
In the time you had this year you did a great job Scotty, last year would be hard to top anyway and we’ll look forward to seeing your tree grow into a forest with time – I’ll have to consider starting to pack up sooner after the prize-giving however, it seems to take me longer and longer to pack up after events like this and V Reunion – surely its not because I’m getting older?
GOKONEC-FEST COMPETITIONALASPECTATIONALAEROSOL
[QUOTE=Ritch & Max;1763908]Hi Guys
Am I the only one who worries that the competition aspect of Cockpitfest can get both blown a bit out of proportion and also can be a little unhealthy for the event?
Well they say a little competition can be a healthy thing Rich, but I know what you mean as I published as such some time ago that while the prizes are appreciated its all about the meeting of minds along with seeing the cockpits and displays and having a good time.
I would like to say also that rumours that I am bringing my budgie and a Squawk box next year along with my displays are completely inaccurate.
GOKONEHAPPY 60th ANNIVERSARY TO THE WEYBRIDGE WONDER
Gokone, many thanks for your well thought out Valiant update, sadly the 60th anniversary of the type on the 18th of last month seems to have passed the forum by.
Is XD826 at Rayleigh viewable?
Thx, I was too tied up doing the Victor Assoc newsletter as usual although I’ve made a suitable salute to it with a photo in the June issue. Its always good to pay homage to this under rated aircraft though it was always appreciated by those who were associated with it, and I have featured it on many occasions besides having some good ref on it, including original notes on the 2nd prototype.
I just wish the magnificent mean and menacing B.2 low-level beast had gone into quantity production. Author Barry Jones rated the B.1 and derivatives the best of the three V’s and though I love all three designs I certaibly couldn’t argue against that opinion.
No idea about ‘826 I’m afraid though I remember seeing her many years ago (’92?) when I first started getting back into planes in a big way, and she was then at the Wales Aviation Museum after which I met a talented Welsh chap nearby who was a car restorer by trade, and who had done some restoration work on her coaming area.
I remember sitting in the Brooklands (‘816) example many years ago before they went silly and stopped visits to this sadly under-used example and I could kick myself still for not having a camera at the time, though I took some very detailed front shots many years later of ‘875 when she was at Newark. That only leaves the complete Cosford example ‘818 and maybe one day I can check her out too.
Here’s a lovely illustration of this very capable aircraft anyway, which was scrapped some years before she should have gone from us which didn’t help to keep her in the public consciousness for as long as she deserved to be, especially after so much epic work in the 50’s. Certainly the type will always be appreciated for its looks while its considerable service career is there for all to see as any V researcher will always discover.
GOKONEAIRFRAMES – HUNTER COCKPIT & TRAILER
It would appear that the North Nottinghamshire College at Gamston, Worksop, Notts, is selling off some of its airframes:
Vendor wants £3,000 upwards for the Jetstream, and £14,000 (sic) upwards for the Jet Provost. Presumably, because the JP has a civil reg (G-RAFI) and is potentially restorable to flight, it commands a five-figure price tag
As fate would have it I’m selling my Hunter cockpit and trailer too – I’ve been told £5k is a fair price for its condition (lovely inside) and its on a strong roadworthy 2-bogie trailer which cost £1,500 including ply boarding, mounting and formers. The tyres and spare are all brand new and have done less than 500 miles and I wondered if anyone agrees with the valuation I have been given to date.
GOKONEVULCAN CDT HARD LIFE
True, but how could that be attributed to a hard life when that was how it was built? 🙂
Jon
You’re quite right Jon, that’s how she ended her days and when those external shots were taken she had been left out in the cold and wet at LAHC for a good number of years. She will ‘scrub up’ reasonably well and at least has only collected dust over the last 18 years, and will only need a mopping to get the worst of that off. Let’s hope she goes to another dry home and perhaps a repaint if a new owner has plans for her and it will be great if a radome can be found to make her a full nose section once more.
GOKONEVULCAN CDT UPDATE
Tell you what, I would love that Vulcan Cockpit! It is so unique!
Apparently it is the only one of it’s type in existance, all I need is a bit of space, it has all 5 seats too, and it is a really worthy restoration project!
RAF USAGE
The CDT cockpit is not a production cockpit section but a special CDT (Crew Drill Trainer) cockpit for the Vulcan aircraft, which rendered valuable ground training experience to generations of V crews during the service life of this famous delta winged aircraft. With time and research it would make a great interactive display for a museum, private collector, sim fans or even a TV prop. As far as is known, it is the only surviving example. I believe other CDT’s were used at RAF Scampton and RAF Finningley, and some ex-servicemen may recall these.
HISTORY OF OLDEST VULCAN COCKPIT
After its long use at RAF Waddington during the ‘V’ era the CDT was retired to Lincoln Aviation Heritage Centre for external display over many years. Since its removal from there in the early 1990’s it has been under safe cover in Surrey for around 18 years. Vulcan CDT cockpits were used for practicing basic evacuation techniques for air crew and I was told some years ago by ex-RAF Vulcan man Barry Masefield at RAF Waddington Air Show that this example was wanted as the only surviving trainer example for the “Vulcan to the Sky” campaign, but it could not be traced in time for campaign use.
The CDT was originally said to be XA909 and later, thought to be either XA889 or XA890. After this it was believed more likely that this crew section had been taken from an early Vulcan production line as a basic shell before any internals or wiring were fitted and after being used for test work, it was then adapted for its later use as a basic crew drill trainer.
It is is a real Vulcan cockpit however with correct dimensions and it is up to the successful bidder as to how far they wish to restore the section with original instrumentation again, or possibly even adapt as a sim using modern computer programmes and flat-screens etc.
Its relative lightness may also appeal in terms of overall weight for moving, and future storage considerations. As Flying Saucer mentioned, the CDT is acknowledged as the only example extant in survivor listings.
SOME SERVICE COMMENT
A former user commented that “The rear crew had Air Ventilated Suit (AVS) supply at their crew positions. The CDT was not pressurized and I recall going into it twice (although I must have gone through it on the OCU), once shortly after joining my first squadron and once when I had to go out to Goose Bay on the 7th seat.
All the connections were there and, hoses and pipes, but nothing worked as there was no need. There was an intercom and an “Abandon” light, but I cannot recall whether the “crew gone” lights worked”. A number grey oxygen hoses are still in position at the rear desk and I believe there is one near the observation blister area below the flight deck also.
Dick Richardson of Popham Airfield also kindly commented recently: ”I spent 8 years in 4 hangar at Waddington between 1963 and 1971 and somewhere in between those dates I remember it parked at the side of the hangar – it was always in the way of our day to day activities. Interesting to hear it survived!”
GOKONEVALIANT COCKPIT SURVIVORS-AND LONG LIVE HARRIERS
There is a sectioned one at Flixton, and the owner is going to post a special designed update on all Valiant cockpit survivors soon.
And Lo, it came to pass that the speshul Valiant Update arrived. This is correct to the best of my knowledge and its very sad seeing old pics of these white beauties being scrapped without any thought for the future. The first of the V’s trail-blazed many firsts for the V-Force and tested many systems and other advances that were later applied to her V sisters, including flight refuelling or ‘AAR’.
XD857 was sadly sectioned after being used for spares and I have pics of her before this sad fate befell her. At least her flight deck survives and unfortunately though no room is available to keep her under cover it is planned to make her proof in time and seal her underside somehow to stop insect/animal ingress etc, while building an entranceway at her rear to make her lockable.
A better environment is pressing as her deck is quite corroded along with her inner windows and I’d like to duck her in WD just to say sorry sorry for the last 35 years – she spent 30 out in the open at Shoeburyness and it is a testament to Vickers that despite her control area which has suffered a lot of holes in her canopy and sides, she says regardless “I’m a Valiant from Weybridge and I’m still here”.
She is on a special stand that elevates her to a better height and which allows access to her underside for further work to be carried out. The friends of 138 Sqn who are trying to get a Valiant Museum together have benefited from some various kit items and were thrilled to get some trimmed-off remnants that I have mounted and presented to them to get their museum off to a good start and I gave them various large ‘lumps’ at the V-Reunion last year. They have made a number of smaller souvenir pieces from excess skin too that I have given them too, to spread as much original Valiant tokens around as possible.
The Valiant had its 60th B’Day in May, and the Victor has hers next year, so long live the proud V’s – they served us well and were exceptional value for money – how much would they cost now? We’d better keep some Nimrod’s and get them modded up with bomb bays for some long range strategic work in future the way things are changing in the world – how Cameron has been proved wrong in scrapping those superb and still cutting-edge Harriers, and the carriers – how expensive to operate from Italy all the time.
WHY are we ever replacing Harriers anyway with Boeing’s drivel? We had a supersonic one in the 60’s that idiots scrapped and the new Boeing wobbler is too complex – multiple engines were tried over 50 years ago – and the best conclusion was the Vectored Thrust concept – which proved superior against F-15 Eagles in exercises before we even went to the Falklands, as proven by Cdr Sharkey Ward. I’d love to vector all at Whitehall and Cam’s so-called ‘advisers’…
GOKONEVALIANT XD857 COCKPIT Q
Thanks for update and excellent info on the Vulcan and Valiant cockpits.
If you don’t mind me asking, how complete is the Valiant inside and how do you gain entry to it?
Only just noticed this query after coming back to the thread, sorry for the delay to date. The Valiant is a sectioned flight deck and was unfortunately not kept whole before I acquired it. I have main panels and some other equipment while access is simply by stepping onto the deck from behind. Currently this is not possible as she has been raised to a height that will allow some deking to be built immediately behind her flight level crossbeam.
In time the rear will be given an entrance way and boarded off at back, the main problem is making her a sealed unit once more to prevent insect and animal/bird ingress. She really needs to be inside if only to remove her from the vagaries of the English weather and there is corrosion in many areas including her floor and inner windows, but I can’t see this happening and so she will be looked at as soon as time and money allow.
GOKONE‘WAR & PEE’ AT BELTRING-FEEDBACK ON FEEDBACK
Aaah yes, the heady aroma of a W&P portaloo after it’s stood out in the July sunshine for a week…and the anticipation of what you will be presented with when you open the door.
As one aerojumbler said to me “I’d rather **** in a Tesco bag” Actually, the loos were so diabolical one year, I did!
Few visitors realise that the loos are deliberately allowed to get into such a state so as to re-enact the typical latrine found in a Japanese POW camp with an outbreak of dysentry.
They did eventually do something about the problem – they removed most of them, forcing you to either hire one of your own at £100 per week or queue even longer to use the overstrained (no pun intended) facilities of the Hop Farm.
That said, the Hop Farm did actually improve their own cleaning standards a few years back. I well recall how strange it was to be straddling the bog at 8.30 a.m., contemplating the day ahead like us men do, knowing that there was a dazzling 20 yr old Polish blonde the other side of the cubicle’s door, waiting to clean it out as soon as you’d finished.
“Sank you very much, haff a nice day!”
I made the decision not to go this year as it does not coincide with Brookland’s aerojumble. It wasn’t a hard decision.
I’d had enough of it last year, after spending a full week eating the dust blown up by traffic and visitors. Everything was covered in a thick layer of it by sunday evening when I started to pack up. In fact, about 9.30, just as it went dark, a jeep drove towards me with its headlights on and I realised I was working in a 30′ layer of dust which was slowly settling over everything – it had been churned up by the final tank displays in the arena that afternoon. I managed a (cold) shower about 11 p.m. which washed some of the dust off but the state of the shower cubicle meant it was only for those with a strong stomach.
The dust (or mud depending upon the week’s weather), the ever escalating costs, the dire state of the toilets etc and the fact that my stuff is a minority interest and I really don’t sell that much finally pursuaded me to jack it in. Plus, there’s no longer as much stuff to buy as there was a few years back and the whole show just feels like deja-vu every year – the same lorries and tanks are parked exactly where they were twelve months previously.
There was a weak attempt to improve the attractions last year. They hired a clown to drive around on a battery powered cart of some description while doing an impression of a drunk in RAF pilot’s uniform. I assume he was playing at being drunk anyway.
And the “bureaucracy” and hassle at W&P is worse than any other show I’ve been to, as your stall holder pal concluded too.
Like you, I won’t miss it.
Ironically, I will be doing Brooklands, having said I wouldn’t if I didn’t have the advantage of doing W&P in the same week. I accidentally paid twice last year so they are giving me a “free” pitch this year. Even so, I doubt it will be worth the effort!
——————————————————————–
Thanks for that update, Polish blondes aside I’m very disappointed to read of your descriptions of the toilets in particular as when I last mailed an organizer 7-8 years ago he admitted to the problem and said they were going to tighten up on it as I mentioned.
REMOVAL
your revelation about management actually removing most of the toilets is simply astounding, it will surely drive people away even more than it did ourselves – who wants an event like that and which due to withdrawal of facilities, forces you to shell out even more on top? I hope that foreign sellers/enthusiasts and particularly visitors, register their disgust which seems to have seen management washing their hands (no pun intended) of ensuring that adequate facilities are on-site to accommodate the crowds attending.
I remember well the smell in the evening when you sat outside your pitch with a beer or some food in hand while enjoying the fading heat at last and orange sunset, only to be downwind of the portaloos which had not been emptied regularly enough – it was just rank and many felt, typical rank British festival treatment towards paying customers. One classic was waiting till my mate went to sleep in his tent one night, then sneaking out in the car back to London, having a bath and shave, a few hours kip then driving back again in the early morning – when he looked out next day there he remarked on how fresh I was looking – I couldn’t help but laugh and he guessed where I’d been – a good grin.
PRECAUTIONS & BEING PREPARED
Towards the end of going there we chipped in with some mates and shared their own loo which though much better, didn’t stop the smell from the other ‘regular’ loos that were so poorly maintained though. Taking your own paper was the order of the day when using regular loos in case none was available, or it might be on a surface that could have picked up germs instead of being suspended.
Lack of running water in ‘plastic’ toilets due to poor maintenance again was also a big prob when it occurred as this was not in the days of convenient personal anti-germ dispensers that you can buy at ASDA and Tesco etc now, I always have one with me if I go to a show these days for extra protection. I haven’t found the article I did on Beltring yet on a stuffed external drive, but I have a hard copy somewhere so will try and dig it out sometime.
I’ll also do something when I can of the final time I went there and the bad experience I had due to a lack of loos being available nearby, which sent me on a long excruciating yomp to the top of the oast houses where the main / nearest toilets were, as the shower block near the dealers parking area was actually being renovated at the time (I never used them anyway, but especially so after a mate told me he found a ‘Captain’s Log’ floating in one shower cubicle and nothing else was available).
My final emergency yomp to get relief proved an unforgettable and lower clenching experience to get there in time anyway, and it finally told me enough was enough for coming to the event, which for daytime attendees was getting expensive too – I think it was £14-£15 when someone came to visit us on our stall for the day and if you didn’t bring food with you it could be an expensive day out, while pick-pockets were warned against though the police seemed to have a reasonable presence there.
LOCAL OUTLETS
When we were newcomers to selling there it seemed hard going driving around to find local places that did breakfast off the farm or a local pub which did meals and though we soon found a Tesco that got us some fare we eventually found ourselves going into town some evenings to have a decent pizza or sit-down. At the very last show we found to our delight that as at Popham, a Red Fort curry house was in fact nearby, a place we would have made more use of at previous shows had we known about it then.
WATER TAP
Another minus at Beltring was seeing a water tap on display that had a sign ‘not for drinking’ – while someone told me that someone did actually drink it after the sign went missing – we always had fresh drinking water on caravan hols when we were kids, yet this major and regular event couldn’t supply one lousy drinking water tap for visitors so it seemed – almost certainly to do with maximizing beer and soft drink sales I would suggest, which made the event something of a third-world offering, and an inconvenience for visitors and sellers alike.
BAR TOILETS-ALSO UNFORGETTABLE
I felt sick one evening when I went into the loos at the evening bar area – no maintenance yet again. The floor was awash with urine, it stank, and I looked back to the toilet entrance after to see people walking out straight into the carpeted bar area which was damp nearest the toilet entrance, with pee. Not far away, some kids were sitting on the floor with their parents as they do playing and I felt even more sick thinking about what they could be getting on their hands and clothing, the thought made me shudder and left me feeling disgusted in equal measure.
I’d better go, I feel dirty just on recounting all this and feel like I should go wash my hands just at the hot, sweaty, reeking, inadequate, offensive thought of it all.
GOKONESALMSON AD.9 ENGINE, POPHAM 2010
Thanks to the two contributors on this engine previously, I had a look at some info on and it looks like it could well be this item as quoted by Pogno. It was a nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aero engine and French designed by Salmson., other variants being the AD.9R and AD.9NG.
It was also reportedly manufactured under license by British Salmson in the late 1920s. Though it had relatively low power (divided among nine cylinders) this in fact made the running of the engine notably smooth, while the torque was said to be very even too.
It was fitted to 12 different aircraft of various nationalities and actually went into the Comper Swift which was a real surprise to me, along with the BA Swallow, General Aircraft Monospar and Boulton Paul P.41 Phoenix. Apparently it cost £175 in 1929 so given its condition at Popham last year it must have been regarded (by the seller anyway) as somewhat rare, given the price that was posted up here previously.
Beers
GOKONEMcSplurgle in Super Injunction Gagging Order?
I wonder if McSplurgle will ever be aware of the amusement and interest that his recent accident has stirred up on the blog, and I was actually considering publishing pictures next year (unless he gives me some better prices) besides wishing to blow his rumoured super injunction via the web, as with other high-profile cases recently. It is always possible of course that we might witness his eventual uncloaking, along with other media ‘personalities’ and footballers in due course.
I recently mused that if ever unmasked, then media invitations to appear on ‘Brown Peter’, ‘Block the Week’ or ‘Have I got Booze for You’ along with other mass-audience panel shows would surely follow in the light of his new-found celebrity. This would inevitably lead to the attentions of the Paparazzi, with McSplurgle being pictured leaving establishments like ‘Nobu’ after having enjoyed one rosé too many while supporting an equally listing Jordan on one arm, and nursing a precautionary toilet roll under the other.
His luxury Mayfair flat would eventually be burgled by improperly-cleared legals/illegals/cheats/criminals from abroad whom Labour welcomed so readily to the trough of our much-fleeced benefits system in their unwanted ‘social experiment’, which saw officialdom happy to let our local council services and schools be over-run from abroad without any proper planning or thought for the future.
If indigenous citizens could see this problem occurring way before all the unrestricted EU invasions flooded the UK however, then why didn’t a supposed ‘government’ also possess such basic foresight, but who are now telling us from their unhappy opposition benches how much better they are, so soon after sending us all additionally, into generations of penury by their profligate overspending?
Any looting of McSplurgle’s new main residence would undoubtedly see ‘The Sun’ duly enjoying a field day in such circumstances. The unforgettable headline ‘McSPLURGLE BURGLED!’, would surely rank amongst its finest front-page reportage, along with ‘GOTCHA!’ as published during the Falklands campaign.
In the light of my first Popham update an anonymous sender has sent me an anonymous photo showing a pair of anonymous boxers (anonymously reinforced) purporting to belong to the man himself. No location was given but their general condition as seen, does lend some weight (though they weighed more at Popham) to the claim that they could indeed belong to the unfortunate man in question.
Time might inevitably tell on this (as the rosé wine and curry did so disastrously in Hampshire) and besides the other mounting expectation of ‘CockpitFest’ once again, some people are also looking ahead to July and Beltring, this being well after the more immediate aviation attractions of the glorious annual Newark pilgrimage.
I mistakenly thought ‘War & Pee’ as we soon came to refer to Beltring after some unpleasant sanitary experiences there, was in June also for some reason, and I’m ‘relieved’ I don’t have to use the facilities there anymore or risk getting ‘caught short’, whereas the excellent toilets and their maintenance at Popham and Newark are to be applauded, besides the very inviting additions of the cafe and well-stocked shop at the latter Notts location.
Interaction with staff at events is important to smooth running, and at all times the staff at both the aforementioned events are always friendly and helpful, with Newark notably always coming up with initiatives or ways in which to assist or improve the experience for sellers/cockpiters and collectors with their displays, as well as that of the general public. You get the definite feeling that your efforts to put on a display are really appreciated, whereas at Beltring it was just pure business and increasing rules and regs/H&S requirements, which the stall holder I used to assist was notably fed up with towards the end.
At ‘War & Pee’ I found it too large an event to have the same level of inter-action and assistance from organisers, while unfavourable TV coverage of certain antics as also heard of by some fellow attendees re a small contingent of ‘re-enactors’ getting a bit the worse for wear and aggressive at night, didn’t help the overall experience either.
I haven’t been to ‘W&Pee’ for 5-6 years and I don’t miss the smells and other disadvantages at all from those times, with one toilet-telling experience in particular that I may recount at a later date proving to be the final straw. Hopefully things have improved since then as when I e-mailed one of the organisers shortly after writing of my experiences in the newsletter years ago, he did admit that it was something they were aware of and were trying to redress – including more prompt emptying of portaloos, which were sometimes not being emptied for up to three days if I remember correctly.
God knows what any American and Canadian visitors in particular would have thought of this. I did however have some good times with colleagues regardless, where plenty of pics were taken, and again I may post some of these at a later date for our readers as we revisit some events from past aviation and military events.
GOKONEPOPHAM TRIBUTE / PROMO POSTERS
I thoroughly enjoyed my first aerojumble venture to Newark. I’ve just got to source the instruments to fill the Vulcan instrument panel I bought off you now! 😮
I may have a suitable rear fuel guage Blue-2 but finding it in one of many plastic containers will take time, its similar to the one on the Bucc and same shape with raised semi-circular glass profile.
Re Mark, if you thought the previous was epic here’s the latest, had to dash in tonight as not sure when I’m back in next so just in case here’s the latest trib, after which I must hightail it back to the East End.
Haven’t had time to upload it to the blog previously, but you nevva know, maybe this Popham Airfield Recreational Promotional or ‘P.A.R.P.'(!)* exercise will be well received or the Local Council Marketing Board of Royal Basingstoke and Popham (if it exists) or someone might be pleased to discuss these with me – six linear posters that convey something of the flavour and atmosphere of the public event days at the airfield – I’ve put them three-up to save on uploaded images and reduced their file size too, I’ll have to look at something for Newark in the future after all my event shots there over the years.
The pics are compiled from (I think) 2003 onwards, and feature some of my best photography from both aeromart/fly-in events plus the Annual Motorcycle Mega Meet & Vintage Aircraft Fly-in. There is also an aeromart event existing from 2003 that I did a special on in the Victor Association newsletter from that period, which will also be converted later to a digital version and uploaded when I can sort it – its great to time-travel back to kit we once knew isn’t it?
Unfortunately the size and format used on the V.A. website means that we can’t show stories and articles in their original page layout to a comfortable viewing size format via PDF or jpeg files, but I’ll see if I can reproduce the 2003 two-page article I mentioned on the Popham blog soon – I think this was the one and only time that an intrepid pair of modern Otto Lilienthal flyers made everyone look to the skies as they zoomed about while powered by small (but noisy) jet hair dryer engines strapped to their backs from what I remember.
I recall one chap not going with the wind for too long at any time as he was clearly speeding up quite quickly, and he seemed to keep turning back into it before he got a good head of steam up and over-exceeded his Mk.1 Body design limitations.
The major thing I miss about Popham in the ‘noughties’ is the September aeromart they used to have, and quite why it was stopped I don’t know, but it tied in beautifully with the end of Season Shoreham 2, whereby we would drive from there on a Saturday afternoon after the aeromart there, and arrive at Popham in leisurely early evening time for a good laugh and curry before awakening to the airfield’s aeromart in the morning.
This lovely 2-day weekend arrangement of pursuing aero kit while having a great time socially ended probably 5-6 years ago (or possibly even more as time flies as ever) but they were great days to remember in the 90’s and for some time afterwards.
I’m going to blub a bit now so time to upload and yes TwinOtter is right, its off to Newark soon for the Fest and more aerojumbles later, so support this museum’s events as much as you all can cockpiters and collectors.
Beers and goodnight
(* I’m sure Tim McSplurgle would approve..)
GOKONEPOPHAM – I CAN’T WAIT!
I can’t wait!!
Me neither. I’ll try and do it by Friday latest, basically all done but I don’t want to labour too long on the words as all-in editorial, design and photography of the type I’ve been posting are major exercises and very time-consuming, its been interesting though to show how an ‘ordinary’ blog can be enlivened and hopefully made interesting with some considered words and suitable images – and not a little humour too I hope*, I’m glad that its been well received and appreciated to date.
Unfortunately its like supplying a major design job gratis and I must get back to the business side of things though the domestic and getting ready for Cockpit Fest is just as challenging as ever, have to try and sort a boiler today also (no not that kind of boiler missus) but I’ll try as I say to get it all posted in what is a very busy week ahead.
Beers
* And beer
GOKONEOF POPHAM & OTHERS
Great blog GOKONE, you must keep this up for the next event you attend, so good for us lot who were not there, would be interesting to know the prices of some of the stuff there though!
Some used helmets Mk4 and 1A £5 each, working Mk.4’s in green & white £60ea, F4 Horse Shoe pack £50, the two posters I’ve posted previously and the attached brochures herewith £10 the lot, and Tony D almost wet himself when I let him have some Harvard bits for £20 instead of £35. Cutting disks 11 for £5, 8 metre hauliers straps new, 3 for £20, iclonometers for guns & solid brass £30 ea from Mike Shaw, the orange Beaufort life preserver on previous mail £5 complete and unused, control yoke believed Privateer £75, lap strap as posted £10.
I think its right to post other opinion as not all visitors will obviously do as well as others, its the law of averages and all that, and its the usual case of paying your money and taking your choice. But for a townie its a welcome relief from the stresses and recent smog and a chance to let the hair down. If you have any left of course. Here’s one disgruntled comment anyway:
“A bit naff I thought! Not that many traders and some ebay prices. I came away with a JP horizon for a fiver, and a couple of 2 quid books but that was all. The rest of the stuff seemed to be rubbish, and mixed in with some right car boot crap too.”
CHANGING TIMES
In recent years its true that the aviation proportion of the boot has dwindled and yes there are fewer traders too – fuel considerations by some dealers perhaps and knowing that many attendees are only browsers and of a ‘certain age’ perhaps? As with Shoreham this year we saw some get-rich-quick prices at certain stalls which take their cue from E-Bay, as driven up in recent years by chancing traders out for a quick increase in their living standards.
M.A.S. EFFECT
Remember again though, that this is also the knock-on effect of over a decade of scrapping by the original disastrous M.A.S. (Military Aviation Spares – also dubbed ‘Military Aviation Sickness’ in our newsletter at the time) who scrapped so much of our aviation spares heritage thanks to a Tory -‘inspired’ scheme to try and get silly money back and if not, to frag valuable spares that dealers should have been allowed to purchase an sell on to us. They’re called something else now I believe.
One dealer told me at the time that they wouldn’t even let him bid for some paint that he formerly used to bid and get at reasonable cost – it was apparently more cost-effective to bin it, and one memorable occasion saw a well-known aviation concern preventing at the last minute three Hunter nose legs from being trashed – all boxed and fully certificated, and with obvious retail value to the civil sphere, while two were still in the RAF at the time.
LOOK HARD
So much however was destroyed and often because the set-up didn’t have the knowledge to know what it was scrapping. E-Bay prices at traditional events will not fool regular aero collectors who will simply ignore them – or the general public who aren’t interested, or don’t have the money if (possibly) interested, in a one-off buy. Yes there are browsers, but you get them at any kind of show, you just have to remind yourself that its even tougher now though, and especially for families, and the cheaper ‘tat’ or non-aviation stuff can still give value if you look hard enough.
Like I said I always find more than one thing to be pleased with, but Popham is more than that if you come for more than the day – if you’re married though or have other obligations like so many do, then this may not be possible, and the potential for a great weekend is missed, for we do need breaks like this besides having to pay the bills.
TAXED OUT
The disgusting price hike of our C-Tax – one of the biggest rip-offs ever perpetrated onto the British public, which more than doubled under the financially inept Labour Loadsamoney spenders in above inflation increases for over a decade, has helped in large part to destroy the opportunity for many people to spend in the way they used to, and is even a consideration for those moving to a different part of the country now.
MORE TAXED OUT-JEEZ, ITS DISGUSTING DAVE!
Then there is fuel tax, road tax, VAT and the rest of it which are so much more than in the days when more kit of both WW2 and the Jet-Age was available. I let my passport expire this year because I refuse to pay any more airport duty for sod-all, its £40 I believe foe Europe, for places like Oz its a disgusting £240 – for what? Sod all, that’s what. I’m busy anyway over here but I hate seeing the British public, who still give so generously to natural disasters, get so shafted by toffs or middle-class inadequates who only care for themselves as seen in the expenses scandal, and who can’t be trusted to spend our money wisely.
STILL MORE TAX, MY BACK’S HURTIN’ NOW
And we must keep in with Pakistan because of its nuclear capability (proof positive of the danger of letting the genie out of the bottle) so Dave finds out of nowhere another £650m for their kids education – while generations of ours couldn’t learn the three R’s while we give to a country who have more millionaires then we do. And this happened before and after the disastrous ‘direction’ of ‘The Lying Scot’, aka ‘Golden Brown’ who was unelected, and who wouldn’t allow us, like Mr bLiar, to vote on Europe while it shafted us on so-called ‘Human Rights’ and foisted ridiculous unwanted legislation onto us as accepted by our ‘governments’.
The EU is now demanding a 17% for the next financial years and STILL produce no set of audited accounts of where it all goes – bring in Alan Sugar please, the Royal Mint must be working overtime!!! So much of our taxes are wasted and always have been, so I’m not shelling out for a passport that has more than doubled from when I last got one, only to see it lose its value while I stay over here to write pieces like this.
ANYWAY BACK TO THE KIT
Every so often a cache will be found, or someone will see something in their loft, or will sell up, so bits will always come along, it just won’t be quite so bountiful as in the past, but support aeroboots whenever you can – look out for Newark and others like Shoreham 2 later this year, as without support the heritage side will dwindle – and you won’t get to meet so many good people.
E-BAY v AEROBOOT GUAGE PRICES
If you also want to pay £20-£25 or more for a basic exhaust or oil guage that you can get for a fiver at a boot without the hassle of postage and PayPal fees etc then you need to get about – it will save you around four-fifths the cost on an engine panel fit-out alone. But like I say, I know its harder now all-round, and we all know that fuel is just too expensive – like insurance too, which is also ripping us off with lame excuses – kids can afford a 2nd hand car but not the insurance – absolutely crazy, and on the safest roads in Europe apparently – so why all these whiplash claims???
I’ve done some comps of some pics of previous visits over the years to Popham, so watch out next week – I’m waiting to hear from Flypast as to what the maximum pixel width is so that they are all optimum when uploaded. If you know of this then tell me if poss plz anyway. I’m going home to lie down now, a good weekend to you all, aerobooters everywhere.
GOKONEPOPHAM 2010 REVISITED & 9 SQN UPDATE
Hey GOKONE! Fabulous Popham insight here! although I could not attend, I feel as if I had what with all those photos and reports!
All that beer? Talk about “Famous Five go mad at Popham” Nice one.
Like the photo of the German Air Force Secumar Pilot Lifejacket, looks like and early 80’s model? (I do own one of these and after closer inspection it does prove a wonderfully designed and engineered LSJ.)
Nice to see some good stuff on sale, here’s to the next one! Cheers mate.
NB:THE DATE ON DICK’S PICTURE SHOULD BE 2010-NOT 2011 – SORRY ALL!!!
Additionally, I have remembered since this was first uploaded that I must record that most of the Whittle comment below was from an excellent article by Robert Altman of the Daily Mail.
POPHAM 2010 REVISITED & 9 SQN UPDATE
AT LAST! SOMEONE I CAN PING BACK TO INSTEAD OF REPLYING TO MYSELF! AND A FLYING SAUCER TOO! HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD? IS EVERYONE ASLEEP? AT LEAST SOMEONE’S RESPONDING ANYWAY, ‘KEEP IT GOING’ THEY SAY AND THEN THEY DESERT YOU AND GO ORF ON ANOTHER THREAD OF THOUGHT – YOU IGNORE POPHAM AT YOUR PERIL EARTHMEN!
POPHAM 2010 REVISITED (THE NON-BEER/SATURDAY NITE BITS)
Still having to do this as a reply to one of my replies, hope you’re not as confused as I am. Anyway here we go for last year – and what a lovely time again for kit it was, with a number of new dealers coming along and making their mark on collectors and browsers alike.
9 SQN UPDATE
RG called me back just after I’d mailed off the 2nd batch of 2011 Popham pics, to say that it was just a flypast to celebrate their b’day – actually its No.13 who are to go next month. Now onto the kit etc of last year.
How many great Popham’s has this man Dick Richardson given us to date? And I say this regardless of some collectors voicing disappointment this year because there ‘wasn’t much WW2 stuff’ for some of them to buy. If you’re going to come along purely to get certain kit or to source and sell it on then it may prove to be a disappointment if you’re only coming for the main day. Long may Dick and trusty bike reign over lovely Popham anyway.
Many people though go for the crack and the full 3 days too, but regardless of any general enjoyment of the event I have to say that in every year I have been I have always come back with some kit or one item in particular that I have been very happy with – the tools are very good value in places too and offers like 11 cutting discs for a fiver are a very welcome offer for me with my various cutting exercises on the V’s at Flixton.
C1: Last year Dick duly obliged when Kai Choi bought a nice Hunter seat and had to get it to his car – you’ve heard of the James Bond ejector car and other gadgets, so here is Dick after letting Kai load said object into his side-car – now there’s some inspiration for the next James Bond film maybe. Kai was relieved to be able to get it back to his van OK as he rode on the back, after the dealers had helped us carry it in the hot May sun to near the entrance way out to the car parking area. Nice one Dick and hope he gets some royalties if they take that one up!
C2: A nice G4 helmet and a Jaguar throttle box from the event, no probs getting good kit for Fast Jet freaks anyway.
C3: Mike Shaw last year had a steady stream of people looking at his various instrumentation and kit in general. There was also an enterprising gentleman who had scanned in and printed out some great classic colour cutaways from ‘Eagle’ comics, including all three V’s which I took full advantage of.
C4: Who could resist some mini LP’s with 21 minutes of pre-CGI adventure starring Thunderbirds and with a trip to Marineville thrown in, to boot? I couldn’t anyway. Meantime a nice framed item had 5 original patches of Liberator Sqn’s who carried out the infamous Ploesti oil refinery raid in WW2 were arranged around a photo from the rid.
C5: Plenty of instrumentation, panels, radios etc and clothing from the Tangmere Aviation Museum brightened up the day further for many at the boot.
C6: A Lightning 56 Sqn ‘Firebirds’ panel and various Jet-Age kit including a Jaguar armaments selector box.
C7: Sensibly priced life jackets -and a partially-fitted Meteor panel from 1957. Which brings me temporarily onto –
WHITTLE’S GENIUS REMEMBERED HERE ON 70th ANNIVERSARY
The Meteor was a direct result of Frank Whittle’s brilliance in inventing the jet engine, as patented in 1929, with the British Government refusing to exercise its right to keep the thing secret a year later, on the grounds it wasn’t important enough… German Embassy staff in London therefore went straight to the Stationery Office and snapped up all the details; my how they must have laughed with glee. In the aftermath of World War II, copies of Whittle’s patents were found in research labs all over Germany.
Over subsequent years, Whittle’s story was one of constant ingenuity thwarted by sluggish bureaucrats and devious businessmen.
RAE & ESTABLISHMENT EMBARRASSMENT
Much of the British scientific establishment still treats Whittle as a contributor to the jet engine’s evolution rather than its exalted creator, saying it was a German who got off the ground first. This was because British aviation innovations were supposed to come from the old Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, not a junior RAF officer.
‘Whittle was an embarrassment because he left Farnborough standing,’
says Nicholas Jones.
These days he seems unfashionable too to our ruling elite, who they would rather commemorate the Brixton Riots 30th anniversary.
Lord Tebbit, a former Tory Trade Secretary and ex-pilot, put it another way: ‘Why expect the Government to be interested in Frank Whittle? He’s not modern. He’s just a dead white man, isn’t he?’
SHRINKING THE WORLD
The Science Museum has planned NOTHING for the 70th anniversary of the jet engine’s first flight, as invented by a British genius who shrank the world – but Gagarin events run there throughout the Easter holidays however, with a huge Gagarin exhibition at the the Royal Albert Hall to come.
Can you imagine the French or American’s ignoring this INCREDIBLE man’s achievements? He was a fantastic pilot too. No wonder he went to America – where they get things done. Astonishingly the South Ken crowd credit him with no more than an ‘imaginative leap’ in the development of the gas turbine – hey, they did hold a buffet at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire though…
C8: “Do you know the way to Billy Smart’s Circus?”, and a very good condition bombing computer, used on WW2 aircraft and the Valiant.
C9: Touring roadies stop off for a chat about the forthcoming tour. The ancient radial engine didn’t look in great nick, I think was priced at £2k or more, and didn’t sell.
C10: RAF badges and broaches, gunners insignia etc, always a popular collectors interest. Lastly, these drogue chutes go on for about 30 feet or so, amazing that they pack into the tight confines of the ejector seat headbox.
So that’s last year’s Popham though not all of the event of course though it does give an idea of kit as opposed to the other lovelies of cars and bikes etc, and with two-up pics in an overall image as a departure from the norm for this presentation – this allows me to show double the usual image total instead of doing a 2nd post, but what time it saves I’m not sure about due to P’Shopping, hope it looks good to you all anyway.
Beers,
A Tim McSplurgle survivor
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