I’m relatively new to this forum so have only recently come across this topic which is of great personal interest to me.
Both my later father and I briefly worked for Airwork. However, whilst my association was fairly mundane – an admin job in the Supplies Division at Ferndown in 1983/84, my father was a pilot with the Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) at Hurn in 1968/69. This primarily involved flying the Meteor T7 and Meteor TT20 on target towing and radar calibration sorties. Tragically he was killed in February 1969 when the Meteor T7 (WL350) he was receiving a competency check in to extend his QFI status developed a flat spin and crashed near Blandford in Dorset. His examiner that day, an RAF Flight Lieutenant, was also killed. No ejector seats in the T7 of course…..
Mark,
This is most interesting as I photographed WL350 at Hurn in 1968 and wondered where it had gone to? I was very priviledged to fly in one of the FRU Meteor TT.20s flown by, I think a Mr. Mullen, in formation with two Scimitars and one of the last two black Sea Hawks for an air-to-air photo sortie on 5th June 1968. I met all the Airwork pilots in the crewroom there and possibly your father was amongst them. In and around the hangars at Hurn during 1967-68, the Beavers, Bell 47G and C-47s of the South Arabian(later South Yemen) Air Force were there being fitted out with radios and other kit. There were a line of Royal Saudi Air Force Cessna 172s that were there for similar attention by Airwork, but whose delivery got delayed until late 1968. Later, many of the BAC Strikemasters for Oman, South Yemen, Sudan, Singapore were all at Hurn for Airwork’s attention, although what they had to have done that BAC couldn’t do, I have no idea!
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