The other day I blogged about my visit to the Shuttleworth Collection and how good it was for vintage plane/truck/car buffs. I also asked you the following questions regarding this Gloster Gladiator namely a) What was the name given to the three Sea Gladiators that provided the early air defence at Malta? and b) Look behind the right-hand undercarriage strut and you'll see a curved metal casting resting against the wall by the door...what is it from? Well most people got the first one (Faith, Hope and Charity) but only one person got question b) right.
So step forward Robert Winkelmann (AKA 'The Winkster') who had trouble posting his answer all the way from San Franciso in California (so I've done it for him). He tells Biglorryblog; "I claim a pie for the curved object leaning against the wall. It's the main suspension element for the Westland Lysander [correctamundo!]. As a 15 year old Sea Cadet in 1943 I spent 2 weeks at Yeovilton working in the hangar assisting the Fleet Air Arm Mechanics do retraction tests on Wildcats. This involved winding up the gear 28 turns with a hand crank in the cockpit, something I find hard to imagine pilots doing after taking off from a carrier in the heat of battle.As a treat I was given a ride in a Lysander, my first flight in a military plane, an experience which led to stint, ('45 - '48) in the Navy as an Airframes Mechanic.."
Well done Robert and if you click through here you'll find a fascinating resume of what happened to him when he emigrated to the USA..and a picture of a Firefly too!
Those wings were certainly strong! Robert sent me a supplementary e-mail when we got to chatting back and forth (as I do with many BLB contributors) not least as it's no secret I'm a bit of an old plane buff....
"Hullo again Brian, I was crew chief on this particular plane, a Fairey Firefly in which I spent many flying hours in the back seat. The picture taken in 1947 in a period when my Squadron was flying Advanced Navigation Training for senior officers. The 736 was known as the 'gash kite' squadron, meaning all the oddball spare planes wound up in our care. Over a 2-year period we maintained 27 Seafire 17s, about the same number of Fireflys, a Mk 13 Mosquito, a TBM Grumman Avenger in which I also spent many hours flying over the Bay of Biscay. We also had a contra-propped Seafire Mk 37 flying out of a different squadron also based at St Merryn. But the most fun of all was a month of special duties flying an Air/Sea Rescue amphibious Supermarine Sea Otter.
With a crew of two, myself and a Petty officer pilot, we were on 'standby' in the control tower, ready to go at a moment's notice. Fortunately our services were not called upon to pick up any 'ditched' pilots but we spent 3 or 4 hours a day doing 'circuits and splashes'in the Channel off Padstow Harbour..
The 736 also spent a month servicing a Squadron of 'Sea Hornets' out of Fareham Airfield at Littlehampton. These were wild planes, very fast but too late for wartime service and soon to be rendered obsolete by the jet age. I was demobbed in July 1948 and spent the next couple of years working for BOAC at Heathrow until emigrating to America in 1950. In 1951 my brother Roy and I enlisted in the US Air Force where I again found myself on the flight line, this time in the 191st Fighter Bomber Squadron of P-51 Mustangs. But that's another story and since it's the Fourth of July I am going to celebrate my adopted county's Fireworks Day.
Finally, the 2nd picture shows how I earned my pie. As a machinist/mechanic for most of my life I was and still am intrigued by the design of the Lysander strut and took this picture on a visit to the Shuttleworth Collection a couple of years ago. Best wishes, Bob (The Winkster) Winkelmann."
Thanks Bob a great story and a fantastic CV of all the planes you worked on/our flew in. And an interesting round-robin in more ways than one---because if my memory serves me correctly,the Fairy Firefly and the P51 shared the same engine---namely the Rolls-Royce Merlin, albeit a licence-built 'Packard Merlin' in the case of the Mustang.
Comments (1)
What a great story, Bob, and thanks for sharing it with us. It's quite amazing the things that come up on BLB sometimes, and not always about "big lorries" either. Aircraft on this post and we even had motorcycles (my other main interest) the other day when Biglorryblog went to visit Captain Mainwaring's mates at the Home Guard!
Sure we want it to be mainly about commercial vehicles but the very occasional bit on other vaguely related topics adds a bit of something.
Posted by Vic Hungerford | July 7, 2008 8:55 AM
Posted on July 7, 2008 08:55