I joined 1950 and never, to the best of my recollection, had such an animal. If I did I certainly never wore them.

Excellent shots. Particularly like the building site that was Heathrow in that era. I worked there late ’49 to July ’50.

So there is still life on Whatashame. What has happened to the Meatbox they were doing up?

There was no dual version of the Beaufighter and ISTR that a pilot being converted to type would have a trip with an experienced pilot and stand behind the pilots seat to gain experience. The situation could be reversed prior to the U/T pilot going solo.

Brings back some memories, many thanks. Superb.

Re Mosquito flight characteristics. Perfectly safe on one provided the rules were obeyed otherwise it could bite back strongly. The attached is extracted from a piece I wrote for the mossie.org website here http://www.mossie.org/stories/Peter_Verney_2.htm
Please note that this refers to the NF36 which was heavier than alightly loaded T3. Also recommended safety speed on take off was 180 knots. the undercart had to be raised before 125 knots, it was a tremendous drag inducer anyway and the a/c would not accelerate very well with it lowered

“Carrying out all the usual exercises, amongst which pilots were required to undertake two practice single engine overshoots, and one single engine landing per month, so that they could cope when it really mattered. When on one engine the decision to land had to be made at 800′ at night, and 300′ by day, as the aircraft had to be dived while the undercarriage and flaps were retracting, to enable a safe climbing speed to be attained. While the Mosquito could be safely flown on one engine, it would not maintain height above 5,000′, and full power was required which could soon lead to the live engine overheating. It was an endurance test for the pilot as he had to keep the rudder held against the live engine. At the maximum speed under those conditions of about 155 knots it was fairly heavy, even with full rudder trim wound on, but the load increased as speed was reduced until at about 137 knots the pilot could no longer keep the aircraft straight and level. This so called safety speed had to be determined whenever an engine was shut down, as losing control under these circumstances was one of the leading causes of Mosquito accidents. Incidentally, the advice if an engine failed on take off and safety speed had not been attained was: put the aircraft down straight ahead. To attempt to turn led to the aircraft rolling over and diving in and many crews crashed in this way”

That is an interesting site giving a wealth of information on a little known subjest.
As an aside about a third the way down the index my fathers service is given (Frank Verney)
And as another aside, on passing the scholarship, I went to school in 1943 to the Simon Langton school in Canterbury, there we had a barrage balloon stationed in the playground.