Still Flying [antikvár]

Battle of Britain Memóriái Flight Sqn Ldr K. R. Jackson AFC THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN Memóriái Flight maintains in fully flying condition somé of the most famous Royal Air Force aircraft of World War II. To the many hundreds of thousands who yearly are able to see the gracefulness of these aircraft in flight and hear the rhythm of their Rolls-Royce Merlin and Griffon engines (surely the most beautiful sound in the world for aviation enthusiasts) they epitomise the spirit and traditions of the Royal Air Force and Allied Air Forces forged in the turmoil of war. The tasks of the BBMF today are to preserve and present the living history of the RAF's most memorable era in its 60-year history. In the following paragraphs it is hoped to give the reader an insight into the relatively short history of the Flight; the selection and training of the aircrew who are privileged to fly these revered and irreplaceable aircraft; the problems of keeping historic aircraft in flying condition and the efforts made by the small, but dedicated, team of technicians on the Flight and the support given them by the engineering organisation of the RAF, the British aviation industry and individual aviation enthusiasts nationwide. Finally, the problems of planning and executing up to 120 displays in an average season will be discussed with the particular problems of a typical display weekend as seen by the air and ground crews. The Battle of Britain Memóriái Flight was förmed at Biggin Hill on 11 July 1957, but, due to a rapid cutback in the number of operational RAF airfields around that time, the Flight was to move in quick succession to North Weald and Martlesham Heath in 1958, to Horsham St Faith in 1960 and to Coltishall in 1964. The Flight was destined to remain at that historic 1940 fighter base for a full 12 years until 1 March 1976, when it was moved to its present location at Royal Air Force Coningsby in Lincolnshire. This last move was found necessary due to the rapid build-up of the Jaguar force at Coltishall which put an unacceptable strain on the facilities available at that station. The types and numbers of aircraft have fluctuated over the years but the current complement consists of two GrifTon-powered Spitfires, two Merlin-powered Spitfires, two Hurricanes and one Lancaster. Most of the aircraft had historically interesting backgrounds before joining the Flight. The Royal Air Force Board decided in 1977 to change each aircraft's lettering at every major servicing, which is carried out every four years at RAF Kemble in Gloucestershire, to a different squadron number. The first two aircraft to appear in 'new' squadron markings will be Spitfire Mk Ha P7350, which will change from ZH-T (266 Sqn) to QV-B (19 Sqn), and Hurricane Mk IIc PZ865 which will change from DT-A (257 Sqn) to JU-Q (111 Sqn). The decision to rotate squadron markings was made so that as many as possible of the famous squadrons which fought in the Battle of Britain and the bomber offensive over Europe can be represented by an historic aircraft of the BBMF for a four-year period. Ali aircrew who fly BBMF aircraft take on the commitment as a secondary duty, that is to say it is not a full-time occupation but is fitted in around their primary task. It is often diffkult to convince somé spectators at weekend air displays that that is the case and that all aircrew will be expected to be back at their normál place of duty first thing on the following Monday morning. One question that is often asked is 'how do pilots manage to get selected to fly BBMF aircraft?' To start with, they are all volunteers, not that there has ever been any shortage of those for such a privilege. They are only approved to fly with the BBMF after a carefully controlled sequence of training which will be described later. Because of the type and amount of previous flying experience required all aircrew will almost certainly be over the age of 30. It is alsó highly likely that they will be on ground tours such as Simulator instructing, air traffic controlling or operations. The reason for this is that they are in a better position to arrange their work-load or shifts to