The story of EW999 (Part 3)
Churchill’s Skymaster …continuing from Part 2 of this series A vigorous supporter of aid for Russia since October 1941, Mrs Clementine Churchill had been invited to tour Red Cross facilities across Russia in March 1944. The invitation was seen as a thank you for Clementine’s years of dedicated fundraising in support of the Russian Red Cross …and possibly as a propaganda assault by the Soviet … Continue reading The story of EW999 (Part 3)
The story of EW999 (Part 2)
Churchill’s Skymaster As we’ve seen in Part 1, the RAF’s first Douglas C-54 Skymaster, serial EW999 (C-54B 43-17126/0100), was luxuriously fitted out for the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The work was overseen by Armstrong-Whitworth Aviation at Whitley, Coventry and the new aircraft was ready for ‘The Owner’ in November 1944. A dedicated crew Apparently the PM disliked new faces or changes to his immediate … Continue reading The story of EW999 (Part 2)
Back in the saddle
Next step “Look at that!” ‘That’ was a Diamond DA-40 making a sharpish climbing turn about 50 metres in front of our windshield. It’s as close as I want to be to an oncoming aircraft in mid-air. I know the local Diamond fleet has TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) installed and we had our transponder on, so I imagine one future ATPL just got an … Continue reading Back in the saddle
Airtime
Flying with Dale Klapmeier I’m sure Dale Klapmeier needs no introduction here. However (or perhaps ‘And so’) the chance to spend 40 minutes with the co-founder and now ex-CEO of Cirrus Design Corporation is not to be missed. The treat comes to us courtesy of London-based management consultancy ELIXIRR Consulting Limited, whose own founder and CEO, Stephen Newton, is an enthusiastic pilot himself. That, by … Continue reading Airtime
Hot shots
RAF Photographic Competition Somewhat atypically, I’m rather confined to an official press release for this post. But the annual Royal Air Force Photographic Competition can be counted on for such glorious images that it’s well worth the constraint. So here goes… People’s choice Voting is now open in the crowning People’s Choice category of the Royal Air Force Photographic Competition 2019. Organised by the Royal … Continue reading Hot shots
Unconventional Airacobra
Pilot notes on the P-39 Despite rising indications to the contrary, the US Army Air Forces went into the 1940s convinced that the country’s air forces would be well-served by their trio of new pursuits – the P-83, P-39 and P-40. The twin, turbo-supercharged performance and concentrated fire-power of the P-38 would make it an outstanding weapon in all theatres of the spreading conflict. The … Continue reading Unconventional Airacobra
Concentrated learning
Flying in focus Right from childhood spelling lists and maths tables, we learn by rote that learning by rote is education’s equivalent to doing time. So there can’t be many interests or art forms where learning by rote is actually a source of real satisfaction and pleasure – to the point where you’d spend good money to indulge in more of it. And yet, last … Continue reading Concentrated learning
Raising the colours
Maelstrom Eighth Bomber Command launched 969 missions between August 1942 and May 1945 and, as the force built up, over 2,000 fully loaded four-engine bombers would be swirling upwards through the fog and cloud above their bases in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. That’s 2,000 unguided aircraft in an area about the size of Greater New York City or the Blue Mountains in NSW. A … Continue reading Raising the colours
And with us still
Mitch Peeke has kindly sent the following report from the unveiling of the memorial he organised, for the crew of USAAF B-17 Serial 44-6133, lost in collision overhead Allhallows, Kent on June 19th, 1944. If you haven’t yet read Still with us, you may like to start there. A Wing and A Prayer by Mitch Peeke So, the day finally arrived. Saturday June 22nd 2019 … Continue reading And with us still
Down in one pieces
This article first appeared in one of the few way-back-when iPad issues of airscape. (Which was a real joy, by the way, and which I’d start again tomorrow if your aviation business was prepared to sponsor it…) It remains an incredible story of skill, from the dedicated workers who built B-17s to the men who flew them in combat. Plus, given that the mythical versions … Continue reading Down in one pieces
