Having got on the wrong side of a GPS system over my Pre-War Prescott weekend, when it led me and my carrier up a very narrow, very steep road instead of the sensible way round, I wondered how one navigates when flying a pre-war plane like Paul Harvey’s Tiger Moth. Do you use pre-war navigation techniques, and if so, what are they (looking over the side, for example, to see where you are!); and if you use modern navigation techniques, what does that involve? Do you use a kind of ‘aviator’s Tom Tom’? Excuse me asking this daft question, but I’m not a pilot, not an aviation ‘buff’, so the only way I can find out is to ask…
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Prescott Tiger Moth disappointment
Tiger Moth G-AFWI, known in Dad’s log book as BB814. Photo courtesy of owner Paul Harvey. She is in her pre-war livery.
Of course the big disappointment for me and my cousins was the fact that the Tiger Moth, G-AFWI/BB814, in which my father learned to fly, was not able to be flown over from Norfolk by its owner Paul Harvey because of the bad weather. My brother Andrew, who lives in the States, was also unable to get over for Pre-War Prescott, though he would absolutely have loved to see the Tiger Moth. Also rained off from the event were my father’s two step-brothers, Derek and Chris, and their wives, and Harry Birkner, a relative on our Grandmother’s side, all of whom were aiming to join us for today. However, we’re hoping that we can meet up with Paul and the Tiger Moth sometime next year, and if Andrew can get over at the same time, that would be fantastic. I will now work on the schedule for next year and see what we can come up with. All heartfelt thanks to Ian Grace of Pre-War Prescott and for Paul Harvey for attempting to make this dream possible – we still hold out for next year!
Filed under Aviation, Aviation history, Uncategorized, vintage cars
Pre-War Prescott pictures
An Alvis doubles up as a useful washing line
My cousins Alan and Janet. Their father Frank, was also in the RAF as ground crew electrician, as was our Uncle Alan, an aircraft engine fitter, both my father’s elder brothers.
My cousin Janet and partner John with a line of Singers
Just to show you how wet it was on arrival – from the shelter of the tea tent
21/07/2014 · 8:21 pm
Newcomer’s guide to a wet hill climb
Pre-War Prescott exhibitd some measure of the spirit of the blitz on Saturday (19th July) as rain lashed down to the accompaniment of thunder and lightning. I arrived on site at around 9.00 with Chattie strapped onto the back of the carrier, thinking that pre-war cars would be a bit short on the ground with the monsoon conditions, but they came pouring in – literally – through the gate, many driven some miles without all-weather hoods. By the time I had unloaded Chattie, with the help of my cousin Alan, I was soaked through to my skin through my rain coat and trousers, and if he hadn’t lent me another one of his, the top half of me would have been drenched as well. Thank you so much, Alan!
We watched through the murk and downpour as the cars swished their way up the hill, their occupants obviously enjoying themselves. But by the afternoon, they were going up dry, and I have a picture etched in my mind of a couple zooming past, the lady passenger laughing in delight, and her white-blonde hair streaming out behind with the speed.
These cars have a special throaty sound, each one with its own voice. No car is just like another; they are individuals with modifications inside and out that have changed them subtly over the years, and each is a character on its own. Many of the owners have kept the same car lovingly over decades, and they have become part of the family, and connected indelibly with family memories. One couple wondered who would look after the car when they themselves were gone, and hoped that one of their children would take on the guardianship. This is a hobby with a lot of love.
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It doesn’t say it all!
Don’t forget your umbrella! Car at Pre-War Prescott waits for the sunshine.
Despite the atrocious weather in the morning, around 140 pre-war cars gathered at Pre-War Prescott, many of them going up the hill in the pouring rain. But by early afternoon the clouds lifted at by the evening, those who stayed on for the jazz barbecue were sitting outside overlooking the hill climb and the valley beyond it, in balmy evening sunshine.
More on Prescott to follow.
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Pre-Pre-war Prescott post
I’m just finishing off a cup of tea before setting out for Pre-War Prescott. Bad weather forecast means Dad’s Tiger Moth and Chattie will have to meet up another day, but there’s plenty I’m looking forward to at Prescott, quite apart from the huge number of pre-war cars on show and the evening jazz barbecue – including meeting other members of the Singer Sports Car Club, and getting together with my cousins and uncles tomorrow.
Ground Control has checked the rig and I’m ready to go.
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The Airfields List you’ve all been waiting for
My father’s second-world-war airfields which I will be visiting in my 1935 sports car next year are listed on my new AIRFIELDS page. Take a look and let me know if you have any stories to tell me about any of them.
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Transmobile transformation!
We are delighted and astounded at the fabulous job that Transmobile have done on our Mercedes Sprinter carrier in re-spraying it to a mid-blue to match the RAF Benevolent Fund heart roundel.
As you can see, it’s – literally – brilliant.
Our thanks to Bill Stokes of Transmobile for a great job with wonderful care and attention to detail, and for generous sponsorship of the Where They Served project.
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Night Fighter Navigator by Dennis Gosling DFC
Again, at Shobdon, I was talking to a lady whose relative had been a radio operator during the war, and this brought to mind a great book I have read recently: “Night Fighter Navigator: Beaufighters and Mosquitos in World War II” by Dennis Gosling DFC. I was particularly interested in his account because in many ways it mirrors that of my father, who also flew Beaufighters and Mosquitos as a night-fighter. His long-standing navigator was Flt Sgt Ralph Gibbons, and Dennis Gosling’s book gave me a rare glimpse of the story from the navigator’s point of view. My father’s experience of the RAF was almost universally positive and friendly; Dennis Gosling’s was not like this at the beginning of his wartime career but later he realised he had been unfortunate and his later squadrons were much more welcoming, with the social integration of rank and class more like that of my father’s remembrance. I found it a good page-turner, even though it’s not a traditional ‘action-packed’ account of war, and would recommend it for an interesting and touching read.
Filed under Aviation, Aviation history, Second World War, Uncategorized
RAF Old Sarum
At Shobdon show someone asked me about Old Sarum airfield, or RAF Old Sarum (which was also known as RAF Ford Farm). Today it is still a civil airfield ‘Old Sarum Airfield’ and claims to be the second-oldest operating airfield in the country’. Apparently there’s a new museum with an aviation collection http://www.oldsarumairfield.co.uk/site/full-news/298-aviation-collection-at-old-sarum.html – I would be interested to hear comments on this from anyone who works there or has visited.
There are some photographs of the old buildings on http://www.controltowers.co.uk/O/Old_Sarum.htm and a good history of it on http://www.laverstock-ford.co.uk/old-sarum-airfield—a-history.html . Briefly it was started in 1917 (that’s the year before the RAF itself was established as such) and became a centre for training in co-operation activities with the army for reconnaissance and tactical purposes – this often involved low flying in unarmed light aircraft over enemy territory, which was extremely hazardous. They were later formed into the Army Air Corps. It’s another little quirky corner of the RAF that people tend not to have heard about. These links should give you a start in any case, if you are interested to find out more.
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Where They Served 