R J A TaylorNew DVD compiled & on-sale at East Kirkby – titled “NX611 The Flying Years’. Plenty of original colour 8mm footage of this Lancaster. Highly recommend. Good book also – ‘Story of a Lanc’ – last published in 2010, but in process of being reprinted & extended – hopefully by 2020 – NX611’s 70th Birthday.
R J A TaylorAs stated by Beermat – I too can’t activate ‘EDIT’ OR ‘Post Photo attachment’ !!! What’s the problem please???
R J A TaylorCasualties listed on this link – https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=172915
Extract from the Northern Echo – “MEMORIES 125 and 129 reported on the crash of a Stirling bomber at 5.15pm on Wednesday, May 31, 1944, onto the Co-operative farm at West Thickley, Shildon.
All seven members of crew – led by a Newcastle pilot – were killed.
Valerie Johnson was only five at the time but her mother told her how they were among a group of mothers and children returning from the pictures in Bishop Auckland.
“We were walking along the old railway line which leads from the King William to Shildon station,” she says. “Before the Jubilee Estate was built, there was a completely open view towards the Store Farm.
“My mother and most of the other ladies gazed in fascination at the plane.
“Then they realised that one lady who had lived in London for part of the war had pushed her son onto the ground and was lying on top of him to protect him.”
Den Ewbank, who was taken to see the wreckage by his father, says: “The inquiry put the crash down to pilot error, but the crash report states that there was something stuck in the scavenge pump of one of the engines.
“These aircraft were notoriously underpowered and so the height from wheels to cockpit was huge to give it extra lift at take-off.”
The Short Stirling bomber was on a training flight from RAF Wigsley in Lincolnshire.
The men who perished, all members of the RAF Volunteer Reserve, were: Pilot Officer Stanley Wilson, 27, of Newcastle; Flight Engineer Sergeant Donald Curtis, 23, of Ebbw Vale, Wales; Navigator Sergeant Nathaniel Crawford, 30, from Larne, County Antrim; Bomb Aimer Flying Officer John Brooks, 36, of Salford; Wireless Operator Sergeant Fred Bates, 21, of Blackpool; Air Gunner Sergeant Thomas Parr, 27, of Droylsden, Manchester; and Air Gunner Sergeant Walter Lawton, of Liverpool. “
R J A TaylorThank you for all your help on this 🙂
This is the photo of Vampire ‘WW461’ (A.2370) that I took at Goudhurst on 13th June 1961. The caption that I wrote at the time reads “Vampire WW461 standing in a garden adjacent to a public house – on 13/6/1961 “
I’ve now registered with that ‘Sussex History Forum’ site and I’m grateful for the chance to view the photos on there, as mentioned earlier by ‘Webpilot’ – Very sad ending for an historic airframe …..
R J A TaylorThat’s brilliant – thank you. That ties in perfectly with my caption on the back of a photo I took on the day in question – “13th June 1961 – WW461 in garden at Goudhurst, Kent – In Royal Navy markings & roundel & displaying a circle on side of its nose, forward of the front cockpit canopy – with ‘2’ above ‘A.2370’ in the centre circle”. I had it as being in a garden next to a public house – that’d be the only difference.
Would you, or anyone else, have later editions of ‘W&R’ to see if any further info appears, especially as to its move from that site or its ultimate demise (unless of course the airframe still survives – I suspect that’s a rather vain hope though !) ?
R J A Taylor[ATTACH=CONFIG]244858[/ATTACH]Having finally obtaining an enhanced version of one of the series of Lancaster ‘formation’ photos taken on 6th May 1965, I have definitely managed to confirm the serial of the RAF Victor (57 Sqn) as indeed being ‘XH591‘ (and not ‘XH621’ as has been muted in a number of articles elsewhere on the web. Thanks to all those who responded to this request.
R J A TaylorAlan – unfortunately your photo attachment hasn’t been successfully posted. Can you try once again – would love to see it
Meanwhile, do you remember the Sabre being dismantled at Lavenham Airfield on 29th June 1969 & being transported by road to Long Melford, a few miles south, for the ‘Sudbury Old Tyme Rallye’ in the grounds of Melford Hall (We also displayed an old Dakota tailfin with a collection box for public to contribute towards the local ‘Cheshire Home’ at nearby Cavendish). I had been ‘commissioned’ by the Rallye organisers (via JR) to take 8mm colour cine film of the event, but once handed over to the committee I never saw the final film again – real shame, but wouldn’t it be great if someone out there knows of what happened to it. If you recall – we also entered the White Half-track vehicle into the ‘Most Unusual Commercial Vehicle’ class and won the silver cup. Fabulous memories……..
Here’s a few shots from that Rallye to refresh your memories, but sad to say I haven’t got a photo of Sabre on display there, although I know I had a very small amount of 8mm footage that didn’t get included in the main film – will have to try to trace & see if I can ‘pull off’ a print at some time. (1st & 2nd photos are of the Half Track, complete with cup; 3rd shot is of a group of HAPS / Reflectaire preservationists – top row (You, Martin Collins & Anna, plus young ‘Nick’ and, top left, Tom, [I can’t recall surnames] – both Air Training Corps cadets with Chelmsford Sqn.; with 2 members of the crew of the Swordfish LS326, which we had arranged to overfly the Rallye, in the 3rd & 4th row from top [man with dark sunglasses & young chap below on left] )
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R J A TaylorSome great photos there Dick; I see me, Clive Leach and Ken Rand (among others) scrabbling around under a poorly supported, very heavy airframe doing what aircraft preservation enthusiasts in the 1960s did best when required, i.e. make it happen. The risks we took were incredible but we managed to strip, transport and re-build the Sabre without damaging it using the most basic of tools and equipment. Happy days.
Good to hear from you Alan – glad you like Sabre photos. I have to agree with your remarks about the fledgling Aircraft Preservation scene in the UK in the 1960s / 1970s. There was nothing like the fantastic support services and facilities available to current day restoration groups & organisations, throughout the world. Aircraft preservation enthusiasts of that era were largely reliant upon the volunteer sector and the goodwill of certain benefactors, both private (public) and corporate – hence the number of ‘credit bombs’ painted on the port nose section of Lancaster NX611 throughout its time with HAPS & Reflectaire Ltd – each with the name of ‘sponsors’. As you point out – the Health & Safety ‘police’ would have had a field day if they had observed the conditions that had to be endured by the many conscientious members (young & not-so young) of those preservation societies. Working most of the time in the open air, often in extreme weather conditions, with basic tools and maintenance equipment, it was almost a miracle that many of the historic aircraft currently surviving in the UK (& abroad), in ‘museums’ and other collections, were effectively saved from the potential clutches of the scrapman. That band of ‘early preservationists’ are due the recognition that they deserve – their efforts often attract somewhat negative comments from the ‘uninitiated’ because of the perceived ‘unprofessional’ practices sometimes adopted, largely out of necessity. Most will admit that the word ‘impossible’ was often bandied about, but that only served to spur on the more dedicated – and, although the air often turned blue (to match the colour of fingers and other extremities !), much was achieved in the long run. Hard & arduous times maybe, but as you say Alan – “Happy days”. You mention that you can identify a number of HAPS stalwarts, you, Clive & Ken – also in the shots are Martin Collins and, of course John R.
To bring back a few more memories – here’s some more shots from Lavenham, RAF Hullavington & Blackpool (Squires Gate) – The first 7 were taken between February & October 1969 (Lavenham); Photo 8 shows Sabre G-ATBF (still part painted as ‘FU617’ ) resting on trestles in the hangar at RAF Hullavington on 11th April 1970, and the last shot(No.9), taken at Blackpool Airport on 26th June 1970, shows the nasty damage done to the tail fairing on delivery by road from Hullavington, when the contractor apparently unloaded the fuselage off the low-loader using unprotected chains – he didn’t wait for the Reflectaire team to arrive by air to supervise!!! Very sad sight to witness when the celebrations surrounding the successful arrival of Lancaster NX611 by air that day had subsided. Returning to preservationists visible in some shots, Alan – you will see a couple of others that you should remember – Brian Arbery (on port wing of Sabre in photos 3, 4 & 5 of this latest batch) and Dave Thomas (standing on top of Sabre in the ‘crane’ shot(s)). Here’s to a good dose of nostalgia !!
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R J A Taylor[QUOTE=Bruggen 130;2288652]This is a pic of the Sabre at Blackpool 71 QUOTE]
Very sad to see the damage to the nose / engine intake & front landing gear fairing in that photo!!! Things at Squires Gate were seriously worrying to me at that time – my having left the employ of Reflectaire Ltd (John Roast) in late 1970 – mainly because I dared to voice my discontent at how the fledgling ‘museum’ and its important aircraft & vehicle collection were being (almost) abandoned to the increasing ravages of the uncontrolled public access to the site, and more worryingly, exposed to ‘the sticky finger brigade’!!
The Manchester Guardian took this rather sad looking photo of G-ATBF in May 1971 (Photo No.1 below) as it lay on its belly with wings propped up alongside, with no apparent restoration work in progress. The official Liquidator for the company had by then been appointed, and I had been asked by him to visit the airfield to photograph the exhibits for that purpose. I can only say that my heart sank at what I saw in person on that visit. I can see that the photo of the Sabre that was taken on that day in May 1971 already shows some damage to the front engine cowling so it seems that this wasn’t done during the subsequent task of refitting the wings and raising the aircraft on to its undercarriage once again.
The 1971 photo by Philip Elcock that is posted above must have been taken some months later and it appears that efforts had, by then, been made to strip the Sabre of its remaining colour-scheme – appearing in January of the next year painted in the spurious German markings, as ‘JA-120’ (which was worn originally by Sabre Mk.6 of 2nd Staffel – JG 72, Luftwaffe, Leck, Germany) as in my 2nd photo (below), taken on my visit to Squires Gate in January 1972 – just 3 months before all the Reflectaire property went under the hammer at the 29th April 1972 public auction. Of interest – You can just see Seafire FR47 ‘VP441’ positioned behind the Sabre.
R J A TaylorGreat pictures thanks, I always thought of this jet as very exotic when at Squires Gate.Oddly I did not cop it there, first seen by me when displayed next to NX611 at a Biggin Hill air Fair. It had a connection to Kinloss which I served at. Kinloss was the UK landfall for the Operation Beechers Brook formation ferry flights and it transitted there. One of the Sabres was lost in fatal accident locally near Forres but i have not been to the crash location.
Gary – interesting to hear about Kinloss connection. How soon did you get posted there after your time as Blackpool Air Cadet in early 1970s?
Here’s extract from http://www.aircrew-saltire.org/lib181.htm
The RAF version of the Sabre was the F-86E (US designation) or Mk 4 (Canadian /UK designation) built under licence by Canadair in Montreal, Canada under the US Mutual Defence Aid Programme and remained under American ownership throughout their service with the RAF. Some 430 aircraft were built for the RAF and were ferried across the Atlantic to the UK under Operation “Beechers Brook” between December 1952 and May 1953. The flights were undertaken by RAF pilots of No: 1 Overseas Ferry Unit usually in groups of 30 aircraft and covered the 3100 mile to the first UK landfall at RAF Kinloss staging through Goose Bay, Labrador, Greenland and Iceland. The aircraft were then flown to No: 5 Maintenance Unit (MU) at RAF Kemble where they were camouflaged before being delivered to units: 370 of them went to RAF Germany and 60 to RAF Fighter Command.
R J A TaylorReminds me of the final fate of the ex HAPS Sabre which was sold twice at auctions in the UK and despite being ex RAF never got back on display.It was scrapped.
Looks like I need to find a copy of Michael O’Leary’s Osprey ‘Sabre’ book (was this the publication? http://www.amazon.com/Jet-Warbirds-Michael-OLeary/dp/0854298894/ref=la_B00287O05O_1_21?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453650669&sr=1-21&refinements=p_82%3AB00287O05O
Hi Gary (Scotavia) (Memories of Blackpool surfacing again eh.!! – Hi again)
Whatever her ultimate fate – it was a real shame that this Sabre airframe couldn’t have been purchased at the Blackpool auction by someone capable of properly restoring, rather than to become a “children’s plaything”, or worse so it seems. The ironic thing is, that Tom Bracewell had connections to The Rt.Hon. Lord Lilford of Nateby, in that he was the latter’s ‘Estate Manager’ (or so I was told at the time). What a great pity the fate of G-ATBF (XB733) proved to be so different to that of the Lancaster NX611, which Lord Lilford bought at the 1972 auction, and which has survived and still thrills the public at East Kirkby, Lincs, thanks to the wonderful work of the Panton family and all those concerned at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.
If of interest, here are some (B&W) photos that I took at Biggin Hill and Lavenham (they’ve never been published before – copyright retained R.J.A. Taylor). The first four shots show G-ATBF / MM19607 / XB733 at Biggin Hill on 14th February 1969 being dismantled for its road-trip to Lavenham Airfield, Suffolk. The second batch were taken at Lavenham Airfield on 15th February 1969, outside the original Control (‘Watch’) Tower, where the Sabre was unloaded by crane from the flatbed trailer unit (supplied by Messrs. G. A. Masters Ltd of Portslade, north west of Brighton, East Sussex). As can be seen, the weather wasn’t too great !!!
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R J A TaylorA very complete but damaged/corroded airframe. Sadly when it went to FSI, it was among Sabre 5s which were in far better condition. Being J47-engined, it would have never made it into FSI’s fleet, or even for conversion as a drone. I did wonder why FSI bought it in the first place, but I strongly suspect it was purely as a source of airframe/systems spares, and so scrapping was inevitable.
It didn’t see squadron service in the RAF and I can only hope that the Honduran examples (all of which did) will make it to safer pastures.
Having personally been a member of the HAPS/ Reflectaire team who owned Sabre G-ATBF ( MM19607 / XB733 ) in the years up to the Blackpool (Squires Gate) auction (29-4-1972), where it was acquired by Tom Bracewell (Much Hoole), I have been trying to find its definitive ‘fate’. There have been so many rumours and theories over the years as to whether the aircraft was eventually scrapped in the UK or really did find its way across the ‘Big Pond’ as part of the US Drone Programme. This was one of the previous Forum threads http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?37743-Blackpool-F86-(XB733)-on-Lancashire-farm-any-leads&highlight=HAPS+Sabre+Jet .
In one 2014 reply (‘Mike J’ – post #22) – (quote : “There is a picture of it in Michael O’Leary’s Osprey ‘Sabre’ book, taken in the US subsequent to the auction. It has been positively identified beyond any possible shadow of a doubt as the same aircraft.” he referred to a photo in that book – does anyone have a copy of that particular photo as I can’t view it currently on that Flypast Forum post. I’d love to have sight of it as I may possibly be in a position to confirm identity. This is an interesting link also : http://sabre-pilots.org/classics/v61nolo.htm
R J A Tayloras posted She appeared at the Biggin Hill Air Fair in 1965, and the commentator said she had flown all the way back from Australia, with the self destruct device fitted and armed,( don’t know if it was true?,)as the Vulcan at Blackpool had a note in the c/pit saying do not touch or you will hit the tower in so many seconds, as it was centre windscreen…
happy memories of touring her at Blackpool, regards,
jack…
Jack – the story of the ‘detonating unit’ incident has been enlarged upon in “Story of a Lanc” (5th Edition) on Page 11. Briefly, during G-ASXX / NX611’s flight from Australia she was due to fly the leg from Cyprus (Akrotiri) to Malta, but in order to keep to schedule this stop was changed to Istres, France (north of Marseille) – that would save a whole day, but inevitably involved a longer sea crossing, so a set of brand new ‘Mae Wests’ was donated by the RAF for the long flight over the Mediterranean. It was during that sea crossing that the Lancaster’s First Officer, Flt.Lt Douglas Smedley, DFC, spotted that the ‘detonating unit’ situated in the nose of the aircraft had “lost” its safety pin!! That unit was a left-over from WWII, intended to be used to destroy the aircraft in the event of a landing in enemy territory. Luckily for the Lancaster and her crew, Douglas eventually succeeded in locating the ‘missing’ red safety pin and managed to re-insert it – rendering the unit safe – much to the relief of everyone on-board. The Lanc safely landed at Istres after an otherwise uneventful non stop flight totalling some ten hours. England was her next stop………It is certainly not true that she arrived on UK soil with the ‘detonating unit’ still effectively ‘live’ – the Biggin Hill Show commentator would not, I suspect, have had the full story at the time she first arrived home from her epic transit flight from Australia.
R J A Taylorthanks for the credit, we all enjoyed out time volunteering at the museum.
I have a cunning plan to visit East Kirkby in September and will certainly buy a copy of that book.
Did you include reference to the filming of Family at War while the Lancaster was at Blackpool? oddly the cover poster for the series dvds shows a B17 however I am certain night filming took place around the Lancaster,or could this have been and intro to the series Airline which also filmed at squires Gate?
Gary – your memory of that TV filming is indeed correct.
Yes indeed, we did include this in “Story of a Lanc” (5th Edition) on Page 42, together with a photo of the film crew and some of the actors (credit: Lancashire Evening Gazette). In February 1971 NX611 was taxied and used for interior scenes for the ITV series ‘Family at War’. The taxying was undertaken by Mark Flatman DFC, a former 617 Sqn. pilot, who did two fast runs along Blackpool (Squires Gate) Airport’s main runway, almost at ‘tail up’ speed. This unfortunately turned out to be the last time that NX611 moved under her own power for a period of almost 25 years, when she began her long journey back to life at East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, under the expert hands of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre Team, who successfully brought the Merlin Engines back to ground taxying condition. The rest is now history, but special mention must be made of Ian Hickling and Roy Jarman who were taken on by Fred & Harold Panton at East Kirkby in 1994. Without their expertise and enthusiasm we may have had to wait for a much longer time to enjoy the exhilarating sound of those Merlins at full power again.[ATTACH=CONFIG]237468[/ATTACH]
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