Pagen:
Sorry you couldn’t get to the other pics…anyone else having trouble?
No, of all the Comets I photographed I can’t seem to find XK699.
Here’s XR399, a Comet 4c during take-off from runway 02 Changi in mid 1962, heading back to Lyneham.
This is looking across from the control tower towards the Shackleton’s of 205 Sqn on the other side and I can just see a Bristol Freighter from 41 Sqn RNZAF over there as well.
The stormy clouds and rain on the peri track show it was the ‘rainy season’.
David T.
I thought we could all enjoy some pictures these truly beautiful aircraft.
So firstly here’s a C2 XK697 ‘Cygnus’ taxing out at Changi on August 5th 1962.
To see quite a few more use this link:
David Taylor.
RPM:
Thanks for showing us more great photos. I was pleased to see such a detailed aerial of Seletar.
I don’t remember the layout as well as I do of Changi, so it was good to try and workout where some of my old photos were taken.
Like this one of RAF ‘Dakota KP277 ‘Faith’ (an ex ‘voice aircraft’) and Vampire XH358 with the ‘part eaten remains’ of Pioneer XK368 in 1962.
.
Laurie:
The Vampire here is almost certainly the one that you’ve noticed in the aerial photo of Seletar, XH358. It became an ‘instructional airframe’ at Seletar, after this photo was taken and I’ve seen a pic of it displayed on ‘a grassy bank’- as in RPM’s photo I think.
The Vampires history is given as :
“XH358, c/n 15710, Vampire T.11. 14 Sqn RNZAF aircraft hired from RAF and stationed in Tengah, Singapore until Venoms became available. Coded “Y”. In service with 14 Squadron …stayed at Seletar-became instructional airframe.”
The lower pic actually seems to have some ‘contrails’ in the sky. Rare that for the Far East in 1962. In all my 1000 odd Singapore aircraft pics I haven’t seen any others with what we now see in ‘almost every sky’-aircraft vapour trails. The ‘big civil jets’ (707’s, DC8’s and CV-880’s) still rarely got up high enough and the fighters didn’t tend to fly high over the island I guess.
David Taylor.
That’s interesting..years in Singapore in the 60’s and I can’t remember hearing of the ‘Singapore Auxiliary Air Force’ before!
Here’s Mk24 PK683 when she was the ‘gate guard’ outside the Far East Air Force HQ block at Changi for many years in the 60’s.
She was trotted out each year for Changi’s Battle-of Britain display and luckily has ended up preserved in the museum at Southampton.
David Taylor.
I’ve got a print of DP198 taken ‘on the ramp’ at Seletar.
Alas all traces of them had gone by mid-1961…I did prowl around Seletar looking.
My father had been there in 1932 flying as Navigator (well they were called ‘Observer’s’ weren’t they) on Hawker Horsley’s.
David Taylor.
Tim,
Regarding the silver Target Tug Mossies with the Day-Glo ….I found these two pictures in an article about 3CAACU in the February 1963 copy of ‘Air Pictorial’.
David Taylor.
Sycamore: I imagine, with your ‘avatar’ and obvious helicopter background that you were once at home in these fellows:
110 sqn Sycamore XG519 down from Butterworth at Changi late 1961. The Sycamores were painted yellow overall I remember.
That’s an intriging perspex tray which looks to be attached over the rear doors on these machines, presumably lowered for casualty evacuation?
The change over to Whirlwind HAR10’s must have been during mid 1963, with a move down to Seletar as well.
The points mentioned about Whirlwind HAR10 Gnome engines were probably nowhere near as bad as the Navy experienced when the exchanged their Sikorsky S-55 based machines for the Whirlwind 7’s with the Leonides engines…they were seriously under powered in the tropics.
On the subject of Army supply dropping, the 48 Sqn Hastings had to adopt some new techniques during the Confrontation.
Hence this practicing going on at Changi in mid 1963:
TG612 does a low drop’ onto markers beside the runway.
David
Ahh….KLM Constellation’s!
This is the beautiful sight of Super Connie PH-LKE departing from Singapore one morning in 1963, just after a tropical storm.
Surely the most perfect looking airliner of all times.
The storm behind it makes me think of what interesting times they were for the crews in ‘the big props’ ….as they still couldn’t fly “over the weather” as we do nowadays!
David
RPM FF TGT:
Thanks so much for the info on the 110 sqn Whirlwinds…it’s great to find out aircraft ‘histories’ after all these years.
Regarding the RAAF Sabres- they didn’t call into to Changi very often but I did manage one trip to Butterworth, their base in Malaya. We flew back from a week on Penang island (in a 52 sqn Valetta).
Here are two pics from out of the window.
First we taxied past the 2 Sqn RAAF Canberra Mk 20’s lined up at 90 deg to the runway.
And then the wonderful sight of the 77 Sqn Sabres lined up alongside the runway as we took off in the noisy old 52 Sqn Valetta. There was an RAF Britannia in as well.
This was August 1963.
Things got pretty tense during 1963 with the Indonesians and the Vietnamese wear developing.
My father was a Warrant Officer in Signals at Changi and he was sent with the ‘detachment’ that went to Cheng Mei in Thailand…I guess that was 1963.
He sneaked some photos for me:
Hunters of 20 sqn with some USAF Super Sabres.
I loved the F-100’s almost as much as the F-86’s, having spent a couple of years ‘hanging over the fence’ at Lakenheath in 1959/60!
I bet some of you remember those heavy RAF tents like the one just appearing in the last shot.
I also …remember my father came home once with a Sten Gun..his official ‘weapon of war’ if things ever got really serious!
David
I loved the Belvedere’s…anything ‘twin rotor’ is impressive I think.
Here’s a 66 Sqn machine leaving Changi to head back the short distance to Seletar. The crew decided to enjoy the view and cool air-hence the dangling legs!
In the later part of 1963 everything seemed to ‘put on the khaki’….. he’s a 209 Sqn Pioneer in the new camouflage.
XL703 outside 390 MU hangar at Seletar.
I suppose this reflected the seriousness of the times. Not just the ‘Indonesian Confrontation’ but the V-Bombers threw off the beautiful ‘white look’ because of the new low-level attack requirement and the American’s were really getting in deep in Vietnam, so all their jets went ‘camou’ as well.
Sometimes of course we got ‘mixed up’ colour schemes- typically camouflage with Day-glo like this 110 Sqn Whirlwind-also outside 390 MU at Seletar.
I think the Confrontation was handled pretty well by the Brits, but I suppose we were looking after ‘oil interests’ then…and there’s nothing new about that is there?
Eventually Singapore decided it didn’t want to give up it’s forthcoming independance and left the Federation with Malaya anyway.
David
Sign In
