Yes, this is a tasteless thread. On a number occasions I had the honour to meet the late Sir Douglas. I also had the good fortune to be in the congregation at his Memorial Service at St Clement Danes, London. I have the very highest regard for Sir Douglas. And one other thing, and this I know from my own experience, he would never ask you to so something that he couldn’t do himself. A truly remarkable gentleman.

A 50’s smiley, perhaps 😀

Have you tried DORIS at the RAF Museum at Hendon?

Glad you enjoyed it FH
I had forgotten about the Chippie prang !
Did the glider go too high on tow or some other problem ?

Too high on tow, I would say so! I witnessed the entire event. From the start the glider went up as if it was on a winch launch. A group of at the launch point stood there open-mouthed – there was nothing you could do about it. The tail of the tug lifted and there was no sign of a rope release. Suddenly the rope dropped from both ends but far too late for the tug to pull out of its dive and we heard it hit the deck just out of sight over a ridge in the airfield. I was standing alongside a Landrover, I jumped, said to the driver “Go” as it was straight ahead of us. When we got to the chupmink the pilot was trying to get out of the emergency window as he could not slide the canopy back (as is when the rear fuselage is broken). The dive was so steep that the aircraft only skidded one length. The rest I have already said…….

I was one of Andy Gough’s RAFGSA team from the Gliding Centre at Bicester. I have many very fond memories of the event. Little things like a comment made to me one day about a certain ex-Polish Air Force Officer, then serving in the RAF, “L is a very good interpreter (of the eastern block languages), the only problem is he can’t speak English”. But certainly he would sort the problem for you!

Then there was the lady commissar with the Russian Team and her crushing handshake. Ouch!

Have you seen the full day-by-day report on the champs. in S&G (Aug / Sept ’65)? If not, drop me a PM and I will see what can be done.

Hi there Mr Editor,

I have just bought a copy of Vulcan farewell but am very disappointed that the poster in the middle is full of staple holes and creases – I wanted to either frame it of get it laminated!

Any chance of a rolled copy, laminated or not?

Feel sure that I ma not the only one.

Many thanks (in anticipation).

Fieldhawk

Rest in Peace, Sir. And a big thank you for all you did for us.

That’s the place to start, on the shop floor. Well done lad.

I wasn’t an apprentice but started my career in aviation in the Royal Air Force. There I gained 1st, 2nd and 3rd line maintenance experience before going onto the shop floor and then progressed into drafting, design and design engineering, all still in the aircraft industry. Then managed to get that very rare experience called prototype design before spending the last few years consulting. Never knew it all but the basic experience at the start held me in good stead right to the end.

The ‘day one experiences’ held good to the very end. Been there, done that and got the T shirt. Can’t beat that!

Good luck!

By the way, good sense of humour is a pre-requisite for the industry.