Those of you that went to the BAPC meeting at NELSAM last weekend will have heard from the horse’s mouth why 558 is to be grounded and news of a special event. I’ll not steal their thunder by revealing either but the reason for the grounding was completely out of VTTS’s control and the event if it comes off will be very special.

I think we understand the reason for the grounding: the insurmountable issue of EA withdrawal. My point was simply that any mention of ‘people being brought out of retirmement’ is spurious and I hope it wouldn’t prevent other like-minded individuals from attempting the seemingly impossible!

I see your point, but the Vulcan is a much more complex aircraft than a WWII type. The fact that there is only one airworthy example (plus a few ground running aircraft) means there isn’t a market to keep a spares industry viable…to say nothing of the people with relevant experience to keep the things running.
Imagine the difficulty if there were only one Merlin-equipped aircraft flying.
As a rule, despite their age, older motors (whether car or aeroplane) are easier to restore and maintain than newer aircraft.
Because it doesn’t rely on computers and exotic materials, I’m sure a 7 litre Edwardian race car will still be running at Goodwood long after a 2015 F1 car is retired to a museum.

What I should have added I guess was that we are still able to support modern aircraft (or modern F1 if you like that analogy): it seems (from the VTTS statement) to be the bit in between that can ‘only’ be supported by people with lost skills.

All nonsense of course – it’s money and spares, not skills, but why not just say it?

Did you have any luck with the RAF Museum?

R2486 RAE, to Yatesbury 03Oct39, to ATA, White Waltham 12Mar43
R5923 DH, to Yatesbury 13Oct39, w/o after swung on take-off and hit fence at Yatesbury 22Apr41
R5925 DH, to Yatesbury 06Oct39, to DH for repairs 07Oct42

These aircraft have longer histories in an Air Britain DH89 Monograph, which sadly I don’t have to hand.

Air instruction on the DH.89A began at Yatesbury on 5th December 1939, the difference between the delivery date above and start of operations largely being because of a lack of radio equipment.

I’d very much like to get scans of the ‘Yatesbury’ pages on the log book – can you PM me?

Piper’s interview is very interesting: shot down 17th January 1916 as an observer. Some of the references to him being deliberately made POW are a bit far-fetched, since he was ‘just’ an observer. However it also begs the question of why he was an NCO at this time since he claims to have learnt to fly pre-war and was also supposedly involved with the RAF at Farnborough pre-war.

Still an interesting interview, but it does make me wonder if this chap’s life story was ever documented in depth?

Hi Dave, Thanks for the link, some useful info on there that I had not seen before – while WD377 was with Home Command Exam Unit, any idea where this was stationed at that time?

Sabrejet – no I have not tried that yet, to be honest I did not think a Chippie movement card would be archived but may be I am completely wrong – I know Ross on here often comes up with movement cards but mainly on WW2 types.

Definitely the place!

Have you tried the RAF Museum?