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Post by baronbeeza on Sept 3, 2021 16:17:13 GMT 12
I think the pic is taken a few years earlier than 141 Flight. I was in Singapore in 1982 and the SUS guys were wearing the blue uniform then. Ohakea were the first to change to blue and that was the summer of 1980.
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Post by baronbeeza on Aug 20, 2021 18:45:01 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on Aug 16, 2021 22:37:31 GMT 12
Dave will know but I understand that there were a few episodes of Dad's Army that have been lost. I think some may have had sound tracks, or possibly just the script, that survived. I have just discovered three of the episodes have been remade. www.imdb.com/title/tt10181132/episodes?ref_=tt_eps_smI have just watched one episode and it does the job, better than reading a book. It is all very theatrical and slapstick however.
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Post by baronbeeza on Aug 12, 2021 21:09:04 GMT 12
No, it was just like Wigram in many ways. The big difference was that all the training on the Base was for the Officer's only. For the ground crew and support trades it would have been similar to a Support Group base back here. Not so exciting at all.
There were three Officers' Messes and then the normal SNCO's and I presume Corporals and Airmans etc.
The Three Officers messes I touched upon but they were different. CHOM, THOM and YHOM. Sounds like something out of the Great Escape. CHOM was the College Hall Officers Mess and was for the cadets. The one we see all the pics of.
THOM was Trenchard Hall Officers Mess and was for Junior Officers undergoing training. This would be for those doing aircrew training at Cranwell, other Bases were also being used. I think some pilots were up at Linton-on-Ouse. THOM was for all the students attending DSGT. Well, once again, junior Officer ranks.
The Instructors, Base Officers and senior rank students were at the third mess. I say that in that DSGT had senior courses as well and the Aussies did Masters courses there. YHOM. York House Officer's Mess.
There must have been large numbers of members for each of those messes. It would be difficult to envisage a Base any more top heavy.
The funny thing is that we rarely saw an airman. Not in our routine anyway. We just marched in small groups to and from THOM to DSGT. The only traffic was others doing the same thing. Actually student 'walked in step', not marching at all. I never did any marching for over 15 months.
I was invited to a few parties from the other ranks, mainly the mess staff. They were quite chuffed that they had a chance to mix socially. It didn't happen with the RAF Officers. We had all sorts there but there was little interaction. The Americans had a July 4th celebration and invited everyone. Once again the only outsiders to front were the Kiwis. We would drink anyone's beer.
I would imagine that Sir Kenneth and the other aircrew in the RAF would have done their IOT over in CHOM and then moved to something like our THOM for the pilot training.
I can only remember a few Kiwi pilots there during my time but that may be another story. John Watson was RAF and had been on Jaguars. He had previously served in the RNZAF for a few months as a Cadet, about 7 years earlier, but he said he was just too young then. John did much better in the RAF, he may have even got the sword. Colin Rippey (Gribbles) was doing some advanced military training, post a stint on 75 Sqdn. Bill Sommer did a similar course a few months earlier. They were all YHOM but John and Helen did attend our winter ball.
I don't recall meeting any Officer Cadet Kiwis' over at CHOM.
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Post by baronbeeza on Aug 12, 2021 19:01:22 GMT 12
When you see pics of Cranwell it will generally be the orange circled area. That is referred to as the College and as can be seen is on the other side of the road to the Base, or Station. That is a public road running across the middle of the pic. The College was the Initial Officer Training centre for most, if not all, the cadets for many decades. That is the prestigious and traditional home of the RAF I guess. Once commissioned, the Officers (continuing training) moved to the mess in the middle green circle. Aircrew used the Base facilities but the other trades continued their training at the facility in the right circle. This is where the RNZAF guys were based, the DSGT, Department of Specialist Ground Training. All changed now but it was the College and the flight line area that gets featured in the movies. I would say 95% of anything you would see about Cranwell would be over in the Western part of Base.
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Post by baronbeeza on Aug 12, 2021 12:01:57 GMT 12
Oh right, of course, like what was happening in the 1930's too. Thanks Paul. I did not realise that the Short Service Commission scheme continued postwar. I can recall the adverts of the early 1970's. I was under the impression some of the screening and selection may have been carried out by the RNZAF. I was also thinking some of the early Officer training may have been as well but I don't remember seeing IOT group photos including RAF trainees. Didn't Tommy Thompson get awarded the sword at Cranwell, how did that work ? There are several forum members here that spent time at Cranwell as part of their RNZAF Eng Officer training, but that was at another college on the Station. 1970's and 1980's. The RNZAF guys were the only foreigners that did the same course as the RAF students. Normally two Kiwis in a class of 20.
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Post by baronbeeza on Jun 10, 2021 23:44:31 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on May 12, 2021 21:47:13 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on May 1, 2021 9:59:11 GMT 12
The pilot did the right thing though. Don't try to stretch the glide and make the runway (which was close) in order to save the plane. Even some of the best and most experienced pilots have failed in this respect, and paid for it with their lives Indeed one case I am familiar with there was another Sea Fury. I saw it take off from Humberside Airport and shortly afterwards I left in the car. As we were driving, passing Waddington Air Base there was a burnt out wreckage on the other-side of the road, very near the bomb dump. It turned out it was G-FURY that we had seen less than an hour earlier. It was a Sunday afternoon, August 1981, but Waddington was a QRA base with Vulcan's at that time. Fortunately for Spencer Flack the emergency services were at the site within a few minutes. I think I have written here before about the incident but he must have crashed just 300 or 400 metres short of the runway. I am sure the aircraft would have been a total loss, there was little to be seen of it after the fire. It was only the RAF crash crews that saved his life that day. ***EDIT*** This is the previous thread from here and I see I wrote near identical comments then. rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/21780/rnhf-fury-undercarriage-collapse-culdrose
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Post by baronbeeza on Apr 28, 2021 22:24:46 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on Apr 2, 2021 23:01:46 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on Mar 17, 2021 13:46:02 GMT 12
Joe wore a green jersey.
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Post by baronbeeza on Mar 17, 2021 10:22:03 GMT 12
Knew many of them. That is Joe Burns and they would have been GSH.
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Post by baronbeeza on Mar 8, 2021 15:41:16 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on Feb 27, 2021 23:17:56 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on Feb 24, 2021 19:16:16 GMT 12
For several years the GA aircraft owners have been required to use manufacturers' maintenance schedules. For about 10 years or so, prior to about 2008, we had a generic schedule that could be used. One of the issues I found with the generic was that it soon became a lowest denominator system whereby the most basic, and cheapest, found favour. We had the aircraft getting older but the maintenance was probably being wound back. I would hate to think we got anywhere this US example where they still use a generic, FAA Annual. There is no requirement for a Part 91 (private owner) to do such things as 50 or 100 hr inspections. This Annual has to standout as being too expedient. www.kathrynsreport.com/2018/09/piper-pa-28-140-cherokee-n4329t-fatal.html?fbclid=IwAR33A698wONUiPNCp-wd0HIM2UxG3nCendowQA-1n0GlMo_wfDm83-V0ZMc
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Post by baronbeeza on Feb 22, 2021 19:40:44 GMT 12
On 23 April 1946, Finance Minister Walter Nash attended the Conference of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers in London
23 April 1946– 25 May 1946
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Post by baronbeeza on Feb 22, 2021 13:42:19 GMT 12
I learnt to ignore the subtitles long ago. I have a very good site I use that has about 99% of any movie I have asked to see. I guess a small percentage, mainly the newer ones, would have a subtitle of some kind. The website itself is Russian.
As for the movie, I managed about halfway in the first sitting. Intermission time. I may go back in.
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Post by baronbeeza on Feb 22, 2021 10:03:57 GMT 12
Available on the internet already on some of the shady movie sharing sites. Watching it now in 1080 on the 52" screen. The first 2 minutes seems ok. Yes, them's Vietnamese subtitles.
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Post by baronbeeza on Feb 20, 2021 13:06:33 GMT 12
The name is slightly different, as are the dates.
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