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Shortage of aircrew prompts RAF to recruit retired 578 sqn veterans for Maritime surveillance duties!
Not quite: But
Just a quick note to say thanks to the Nimrod crew at the Yorkshire Air Museum for giving an impromptu tour to three 578 squadron veterans on Saturday 18th May.
As part of the annual reunion a visit to the Yorkshire Air museum took place and after a good look at our splendid records (Which are held for safe keeping at YAM) the veterans expected their usual scramble about their wartime steed; but as there was a paid tour going on inside they couldn't clamber aboard. (Personally if I'd paid a lot to be inside the Halibag and genuine aircrew with well over 100 op's experience between them tuned up I'd have been happy to have them aboard, they would have never got away; the veterans like nothing better than spending hours shooting a line to interested folk).
578 Sqn aircrew try to blag their way onto the Halifax.
So the ground crew of the museums latest acquisition a maritime reconnaissance Nimrod offered a guided tour around the "Cold War jet". The youngest veteran is now in his late eighties but you wouldn't have thought so as they climbed up the steps. A very informative talk followed and thanks to the crew for that. Harry Dobson told me later that he didn't like the look of the flight engineers panel as it had too many dials, and Fred Winter explained to me that the Nimrod was lucky to have a heated bombay. Apparently it was no fun having a live 2000lb cookie hung up in a frozen Bombay! We had already spent a merry time in the company of Fred telling us his story of how they were stuck over Europe with a "hang-up" in the bombay. The ensuing story how they got rid of it over the North Sea, the emergency landing short of fuel at a fogbound airfield and his near Court-martial after sneaking off home kept us entertained for a good while.
Fred climbs aboard
Harry in the Drivers seat