Tony has gone on a mission to find what he needs to mend the car; something called Steel Seal, and some oil to replace what we have lost in draining the engine. Ground Control, it seems, has his work cut out.
Before the head gasket went
Here’s the idyllic scene on the way home, before the head gasket went. Thankfully, I got home first.
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Uh-oh!
After a brilliant drive out through the local villages on Saturday – scent of the hedgerows, sound of birdsong overhead, sound of me changing gear with relative ease – the water had again drained almost out by the time I got back. Now this morning there’s water in the oil. It’s a head gasket. So I won’t be driving it out for a little while, that’s for certain.
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That’s not a Spitfire, it’s a Defiant.
I have been asked why I pictured my father with a Spitfire when he flew Mosquitos during the war. There are two answers to that. The first is that Dad flew 14 different aircraft altogether (not including different marks of aircraft). The second is that it’s not a Spitfire, it’s a Defiant. Boulton Paul Defiants flew in the Battle of Britain, but were better designed for attacking slower bombers than interception in fighter combat. Yes, there is a similarity of outline to the Spitfire, and this meant that they could masquerade as Hurricanes or Spitfires in a crowded sky but were marked out when German fighters found them on their own, and shot down easily. The tell-tale giveaway is the perspex blister behind the cockpit on top of the fuselage: a gun turret housing the gunner, which means that is therefore a two-man plane not a solo job like the Spit and Hurricane. Defiants suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Britain, see http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/boultonpauldefiant.cfm , but the time Dad flew them in July 1941 in 456 Squadron at RAF Valley in Anglesey, and then 256 Squadron at Squires Gate, Blackpool, they were being used as night-fighter planes, defending cities in the North West from German bombing, for which they were better suited. There were still problems with them, however, and they were not universally popular.
The photo shows pilot Bryan Wild and his gunner, Stanley (Ack) Greenwood, preparing for take-off in a Defiant at Squires Gate, December 1941.
Dad also flew Hurricanes and a few Spitfires in his time, as well as the aforementioned Mosquito. ©Elizabeth Halls 2014
Filed under Aviation, Aviation history
Chattie Chu Chu
Let me introduce you to Chattie Chu Chu, my Singer Le Mans 9 special, which is a similar model to the one my father, Bryan Wild, bought towards the end of the second world war, when he was a night-fighter pilot with 25 Squadron, based at Castle Camps in Cambridgeshire.
This is the car in which I will be visiting all of the airfields he landed at during the war – nearly 60 of them, raising money for the RAF Benevolent Fund as I go, together with a couple of other charities. This commemorative project will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, and I am writing a book which will use the airfields to tell the story of how the RAF developed into a force that was crucial in winning the war.
I do hope you will follow me.
I’m too short!
The car is small, almost petite; so you would think I would fit it beautifully. I have no problem getting in, unlike some of the men who’ve tried recently, for whom it’s a bit of a squeeze. But Tony had to move the seat forward until I’m almost right up to the steering wheel, and I still have problem reaching the pedals comfortably enough to sustain a longer journey. My right knee is twinging a bit, because it’s nearly straight while I’m driving. I’m not that tiny – about 5′ 6″, and I never thought of myself as being short. I can only assume that everyone who’s driven it before doesn’t mind having their legs almost straight to reach the pedals. So Jon at our garage is working on extending the pedals. He’s managed to add another 1.5 inches to the clutch and brake but the accelerator pedal is more difficult. Having driven the car over there yesterday, it’s in for the weekend now while he has a look at it. I wonder if there’s anyone else out there with a vintage car that has the same problem?
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A CHU
Someone has just pointed out that the number plate ‘CHU’ could equally be an illustration of the sound I will make, sneezing, after I’ve driven the car in the pouring rain for any distance. They could be right!
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Renovating a Singer Le Mans?
No, is the answer to this question, posed by a couple of people, my cousin Janet for one. The car, now nicknamed Chattie Chu Chu, has been extensively and lovingly worked upon over recent years and came to us in very good working order when we bought it in March. Very good working order, that is, for an 80-year-old vehicle. At the moment the rear brake lights don’t work – being fixed, hopefully, this Friday. We’ve just had to replace the battery. Other than that, she runs very sweetly. It’s my driving that has to have a little bit more of an overhaul. That double-dee-clutching! Oh dear! All I can say is, it’s getting better.
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I have just put a fundraising page online for the RAF Benevolent Fund, with a link in the sidebar here.
Fundraising for the RAFBF is a way of paying back the wonderful help and support they gave my family in my father’s last years. He had become increasingly immobile through Parkinson’s disease, and cognitively was not able any more to manage the household finances – my mother had to take over everything as well as look after him. The RAF Benevolent Fund put in a stairlift for Dad so he could stay at home, helped my mother sort out paperwork, bills and benefits and put her in touch with other ways of getting help and valuable advice. It really was a lifeline in difficult times. My brother was in America and I lived 3 hours away, and it was difficult to support our parents as much as we wanted, but the RAF Benevolent Fund proved to be Dad’s extended RAF ‘family’ when he really needed it.
The ‘Where They Served’ tour has many roots and one is the extended RAF family that meant so much to Dad during the war, and continued in the background throughout his life. Having written up his memoirs for publication in August this year (‘Flying Blind: the story of a night-fighter pilot’, Fonthill Media), I now feel in myself that sense of connection with the RAF. It has come home to nest – very unexpectedly and to my surprised delight – in me. Strange how connections are made in life without us seeking them, and bear such unlooked-for fruits!
06/05/2014 · 9:17 pm
RAF Benevolent Fund
My commemorative tour of RAF airfields will (hopefully) raise money for the RAF Benevolent fund – see my RAF Benevolent Fund page or go direct to the RAF Benevolent Fund website to find out more.
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Where They Served 