Hi Chris - not sure when the takeover took place, I was there 1956-7. Couple of years later I was in the RAF and was posted to the unit where we fixed up the pilots who'd walked (or crawled) away from the 'heavy landings'! We also fixed injured personnel from the other services, so we had a really mixed bag of uniforms there (but at least we never did parades or other 'bull' stuff!)
John Coyle Brisbane, Australia -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Mitchell Sent: Monday, 10 September 2012 4:22 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: PESOs: Duxford Airshow Thanks John. I guess you'd have been at Kingston just prior to the Hawker Siddeley takeover? I was at Hamble, near Southampton, just after so it was no longer called Follands. Gnat production had finished, but it was still the RAF's jet trainer and the Red Arrows were still using Gnats. The only time we had whole aircraft in the factory was for refurbishment or to repair "heavy landing" (i.e. a crash that someone walked away from) issues. I'll never forget the last season of the Red Arrows using the Gnat before they moved onto Hawks - they did a special "thank you" display for the Hamble factory right over Southampton Water, so they were able to go really low. Stunning and unforgettable. Cheers, Chris On 10 September 2012 05:24, John Coyle <[email protected]> wrote: > Great shots Chris - I was once at Farnborough when both the Vulcan and > the Victor were > performing: beautiful to watch but the sound of the engines on full > throttle got you right in the guts! > Interested in your working at the Gnat factory: couple of months ago I > went to our local aircraft museum, and saw a Hawker Hunter on static > display which was built while I was working at the factory in > Kingston, Surrey where the Hunter was in production. Eerie to think > that some of the parts I worked on (mainly cockpit latch hooks and other small electroplated pieces, or first coat paint panels) are probably still in it... > > > John Coyle > Brisbane, Australia > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Chris Mitchell > Sent: Sunday, 9 September 2012 7:22 PM > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: PESOs: Duxford Airshow > > We went yesterday and the undoubted star of the show was the only Vulcan > still flying: > http://www.mitch.myzen.co.uk/Airshows1/Duxford2012/slides/_IMG3159.htm > l > > The Aerostars Yak-50 display team did a pretty good job too: > http://www.mitch.myzen.co.uk/Airshows1/Duxford2012/slides/_IMG3277.htm > l > > And, for the WW2 aficionados, here's B17 Flying Fortress, Sally B: > http://www.mitch.myzen.co.uk/Airshows1/Duxford2012/slides/_IMG3249.htm > l > > Chris > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
