A few schoolboy 'snaps' from the 1950's, RAF Halton.....

[PeterA]

...home of the RAF's No 1 School of Technical Training.

Halton was just about within cycling radius from my home.

The following images, firstly the Mosquitoes, are in no particular order and show the degradation over three visits during the period 1958-1960.

PeterA



[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Mark12/Mark12193/Halton%20Scrap%20Peter%20Arnold_zpspfyipcvf.jpg[/img






















The Beaufighter Classroom




The Buckmaster




The Canberra




The Swifts






The Meteors




















The Javelin




The Comet




...and finally The Spitfire Mk XVI RW386.

Security was pretty lax in those times but as a schoolboy, as you do, you had to climb over the wire and fence to get to a photogenic position.

I was at last able to catch the Spitfire through the gap at the end of the locked hangar doors.

Last edited by PeterA on Mon Feb 23, 2015 9:24 am, edited 5 times in total.

[Sopwith]

Well you must have been like a schoolboy in a sweet shop, what a great time you must have had. Incidentally what sort of camera did you use? Thanks for putting them for us to see.

[PeterA]

Well you must have been like a schoolboy in a sweet shop, what a great time you must have had. Incidentally what sort of camera did you use? Thanks for putting them for us to see.

Sweet shop. Well the Spitfire was the cherry on the top for me.

Camera. The early ones were taken with an old Purma given to me by my Dad. 16 off square on a 127 film. The later ones were with my mother's plain and simple 120 Kodak.

They all work well if they are not moving, you are steady and the sun is shining.

Of course Photo-shop/PSP does wonders with these old negatives.

PeterA

http://camarasclassicas.blogspot.co.uk/ ... ecial.html

http://kodak.3106.net/index.php?p=206&cam=1124

ps...and to get that in to perspective to have two rolls of the 127 developed and printed small at 'Enprint' size, privately through a friend's father and cheaper than the chemist (drug store), was 10 shillings (50 new pence)...and that was my total pay for a seven day week paper round delivery job.

Last edited by PeterA on Mon Feb 23, 2015 1:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[DH82EH]

Peter,
I always appreciate when you share your knowledge and wonderful images.
I was too late to see them, when they were posted elsewhere.

Thank you

Andy Scott

[PropsRule]

Fantasic photos, thank you for taking the time to post them!

I knew what a Bristol Brigand was, but had never heard of the Buckmaster (or Buckingham, as it turns out). I read elsewhere online that neither type was considered particularly useful, but they built a batch of just over 100 to keep the boys at Bristol busy until they could get onto something else. If only the aviation industry worked that way today!

Also interesting is the Beaufighter with four bladed propellers. Was that a case of fitting what was available for a grounded training aircraft, or is it another one I didn't know about?

[quemerford]

I spy an APS Acklington F.8 among those Meteors!

Great to see these but sad to see you've had to pull the plug on the 'other' forum. Hope you find happier times here.

[DB2]

Very cool photos, thanks for posting. Does any example of a Buckingham/Buckmaster/Brigand survive today?

[PeterA]

Very cool photos, thanks for posting. Does any example of a Buckingham/Buckmaster/Brigand survive today?

No Buckingham or Buckmaster and just a pretty rough fuselage of a Brigand now with the RAF Museum in store.

http://www.airscene.co.uk/news/aviation ... af-museum/

http://www.aviationarchive.org.uk/Gpage ... G3820.html

PeterA

[quemerford]

I found this photo, dated from around the date that Filton's Brabazon hangar was completed, of up to 16 Buckingham/Buckmaster airframes. I suspect the RAF didn't want them and I guess Bristols didn't either.

They're parked along the road that runs (to the right) towards the Brab hangar.

[Sopwith]

Thanks Peter re the cameras, looked up the gen about the Purma, interesting shutter mech. Wonder what become of all the mosquitoes etc, do you know if anything survived except for the Spitfire which I know is now flying?

[Chris Brame]

Were any of these Mosquitos used for the crash scenes in 633 Squadron?

[PeterA]

Were any of these Mosquitos used for the crash scenes in 633 Squadron?

I think it unlikely.

The RAF were still operating Mosquitos with 3 CAACU up to 1962/3.

I think the ones used in 633 Squadron can all be accounted for.

Certainly several were cut up at the studio for cockpit shots and the engines and props were later used as wind machine rigs.

PeterA

[ianH]

The late Eddie Reynolds rescued one of the 633 Sqn cockpits from the Pinewood? studio, from a huge potential bonfire bedecked with model galleons and the like. He had it in his back garden and in times of marital stress would climb in, shut the the canopy and imagine more exciting things. The internet shrinks the planet Peter, thanks for your pictures!

[PeterA]

The late Eddie Reynolds rescued one of the 633 Sqn cockpits from the Pinewood? studio, from a huge potential bonfire bedecked with model galleons and the like. He had it in his back garden and in times of marital stress would climb in, shut the the canopy and imagine more exciting things. The internet shrinks the planet Peter, thanks for your pictures!

Ian

Both 633 Squadron in 1964 and Mosquito Squadron in 1969 are attributed to Borehamwood/Elstree Studios.

Back in April 1973 I was working for General Motors and they launched a new model with all the whizz-bang sound and lights on one of the Elstree film stages.

On arrival I was surprised to see these wind machines, which I immediately recognised as Mosquito powerplant assemblies.





After the show I decided a little quiet walk around the lot was in order and I came across a pile of aircraft junk including two Mosquito rear fuselages and tail fins, clearly the detritus from 'Mosquito Squadron'. I slapped a message on each one, 'do not scrap' etc, and immediately advised the Mosquito Museum at Salisbury hall. One was collected by Tony Agar and I believe formed the basis of what is now, his wonderful Mosquito at the Yorkshire Air Museum. It would be my assumption that the cockpit section that ended up with Eddie Reynolds was the front end of one of these fuselages.



...and behind the heli cockpit with my message on the tail fin.


PeterA