John,
Are those Royal Ceylon Air Force Herons, in the background to your 1959 Hastings pic.
Would they be these guys?
They called a few times and it was always nice to compare them with the Royal Malayan Air Force Doves that also called.
David.
Pete:
I would have loved to have seen that one..Comets are just so beautiful and the ‘long pointy nose’ on that one is very ‘Pinnochio’!
This is another research Comet from RAE XN453, which I believe is a Mk2…confirmation sort from experts there.
It’s parked on the ‘far side’ at Paya Lebar, Singapore in late 1963 whilst work was being done on Changi’s runway. The Comet 4 of BOAC is G-APDK.
216 Sqn at Lyneham flew C2s and C4s into Changi.The RAF Comets looked even ‘snappier’ than the BOAC planes, in their silver and white.
Like this.
Most of the C2’s had ‘day-glo’ on them, implying some ‘training’ role?
The most fascinating use of the Comets was with Watton’s 51 Sqn as detailed in this report , which a friend in Oz John Feltam has just reminded me about:
http://www.spyflight.co.uk/51sqn.htm
John joined 51 sqn in after serving at Changi and Butterworth.
David
“Did I take pictures anywhere else?”
Well in Singapore I went to the civil airport, then at Paya Lebar very regularly and there I had to suffer ‘being on the other side of the wire’.
So getting up above the equipment littering a parked aircraft could help.
I sneaked up the admin block to get this one of Brit 102 chartered to Malayan Airways being turned around. The Dak taxying out helps as well.
I also favoured night shots, luckily it got dark pretty usually at around 7pm in Singapore.
A great period as the new jets took over from the ‘big props’.
Cathay’s 880M VR-HFS with various passing lights. People in night shots were prone to become ‘ghostly’ if they moved during the time exposure. All guess work for exposure at night of course.
One of my favourite pics was a grab shot at RAAF Butterworth-‘up country’ in Malaya. My parents took us for a week’s break to Panang and although we trained up, we flew back when a 52 Sqn Valetta had some spaces.
As we exited the bus to walk to the Valetta – a magical moment (well I thought so!) as 3 Sycamores did a ‘run and break’, obviously frustrated that they weren’t flying the Sabres that were based there!
I returned to the UK and fell into the trap of getting a 300mm telephoto on an SLR and then my pics became, I think, lacking in any real feeling of ‘being there’. I lost the little story element that I love.
I did work for Anglia TV and we covered the B of B at Coltishall I remember so I look forward to starting to scan some of the UK pictures soon.
David
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