Warbird Information Exchange

Yep you read that right. Not cable... not sat TV... but radio. Of course for those of you that are hopeless tech junkies there is an internet streaming option available (also helps if you are not in Canada), so read on.

CBC Radio 1 broadcasts a show every weekday evening called "As It Happens". It really a show of interviews on current subjects of world interest and lighthearted subjects. The show has been going on forever, or at least as long as I can remember. A former CBC broadcaster who died a number of years ago, Alan Maitland, was also a fantastic story teller. Anyway, every Christmas eve the CBC program "As It Happens" broadcasts Fireside Al's (as Mr. Maitland was more affectionately known) reading the story "The Shepherd".

You are are of course asking "Why the heck is that Henniger guy telling me all of this???". Well... It is a story about an RAF officer ferrying a deHavilland Vampire back to England from France on Christmas eve. The story is set in a time not long after the last of the deHavilland Mosquitos were retired. Of course not all goes well with the flight and the officer discovers that his radio is out and other guidance systems fail. He is someplace over England, but with heavy over cast and fog he is in real trouble. He flies a distress pattern hoping someone is watching the radar. Not long after a plane of a type he is surprised to see comes up to meet him and guide him back to a runway on mother earth. Trust me I have not told the whole story here.

"The Shepherd" is a fantastic story and is well told by Fireside Al. I am sure everyone on this forum would enjoy it.

So if you are interested go to...

http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html

Where you will find the various streaming sites for CBC Radio 1. "As It Happens" is broadcast at 6:30 PM, and on the 24th they usually start with "The Shepherd". So at 6:30 PM Eastern Standard Time you can click on "2" for Ottawa or "3" for Toronto (which has more bandwidth and is likely a better bet). Of course if you would like to try and get it sooner you can try "11" for Halifax or up to three hourse later with "23" for Vancouver.

Anway... I expect this week to be very busy. I doubt I will be able to check in here much. I will be traveling during the holidays, then off to Seattle for a week or two starting January 3rd. Considering this may be my last chance to post before the hollidays I thought I would wish everyone here a happy holidays. All the best to you.

Regards,

Mike Henniger

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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
http://www.facebook.com/AerialVisuals

Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

As it happens is also broadcast on National Public Radio here in the states.
In Minnesota it starts each week night at 10:00pm...

Yeap Mike, it's a splendid story!!

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

Hi Mike--

Thanx for the vector. Didn't know there had been a CBC broadcast reading of that marvelous little Forsyth novella. There was, back in the 80s, an audio-cassette version read by English actor Robert Powell (of Franco Zeffirelli's "Jesus Of Nazareth" fame...Mr Powell seems to gravitate to projects with partially-Christmas themes!). I first remember reading the book about the time I was in college...it gave me the shivers. Terrific.

Funny part is, some of the details are a bit wonky. Single-seat Vampires weren't still in frontline RAF use in 1957 (even Venoms were largely out of service by then); and there was "one last Mosquito unit", but it wasn't a weather flight at Gloucester, it was #3 CAACU at Exeter, and they were still going circa 1960! (And the bit about "aviation museums" is a hoot: there really weren't any, anywhere, until circa 1959...) But none of these "niggles" in any way compromises the effect of a magical story so well-told.

Cheers...and Merry Christmas all,

Steve

Actually that is the point... how could a weather recon Mossie have come up to guide him home??? Hmmmmm.....

As I said it is an excellant story as it seems everyone agrees. It is good for the whole family and not just us aviation nuts.

Mike

_________________
Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
http://www.facebook.com/AerialVisuals

Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

I just wanted to bump this one back to the top. Dave OMalley of Vintage Wings has written a story on the subject. You can find it here...

http://www.vintagewings.ca/page?a=202&lang=en-CA

For those who have not heard the story you can listen to a broadcast on the internet via...

http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html

...Just go to a station in your time zone at 6:30 PM local time on December 24th for the program "As it Happens". The story usually begins shortly after.

It is a unique christmas story that will especially appeal to the warbird enthusiasts.

Mike

_________________
Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
http://www.facebook.com/AerialVisuals

Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

Thanks for the heads-up Mike. Great story, I read it a LONG time ago...

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"They can teach MONKEYS to fly better than that"

http://www.heritageflight.org
http://www.bravo369.org