Volume 2 Number 55 March, 2020 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Ted Prestidge 1931 - 2020 Ted joined the Museum volunteers around 1997 and became involved with the reconstruction of the M25 Martinet, working with Ian Simmons and Dennis Harvey. Later Ted was involved with development of the "Mini Delta" childrens’ simulator. Being an engineer Ted was able to approach many of the more intricate tasks with an engineer's logic and advise others. Later when some projects were approaching completion Ted along with the late Dennis Harvey were instructed by Alan Jerome and Tom Jones in sheet metal work for the reconstruction of the crash damaged M100 "Student", which included fabricating a section of the starboard wing mainspar which had been cut in two along with the port flap which was lost by the people who didn't recover the aircraft with any sympathy. the M100 is now a complete display standard aircraft. And the "Mini-Delta is still very much enjoyed by children. Ted's funeral, on the 5th February, at Slough Crematorium, was attended by about120 people, including eight from the Museum. Ted's cheerfulness will be sadly missed by all of us who knew him at the Museum. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Engineering (Geoff Etridge) Fairey Gannet: The wing fold support beam has been repaired and refitted, also the main wheels have been removed and cleaned. Wind Tunnel: The model has been completed and is now in operation. Instructional Models: Mike Aldridge is restoring the two instructional models, the Magister is ready for painting and the Master model is being worked on. Wandelust: The Wing flaps and trim tabs are now being fitted to the wings. The controls are fitted with new pins made by Keith Searle and runs are being built for the cables– though with no plans to follow this will take some time. Skyvan Model and Mini Delta are both operating well, Spitfire model: The problem with the compressor has been overcome. New Model A diorama has been made with a model aircraft that takes off, flies (around a pole) and lands. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Shop (Keith Freeman Museum Annual Christmas Dinner Many thanks to Peter Andrews who organised the Christmas Dinner at the Heron on the Ford (formerly Lands End). Good food was served and good conversation ensued. A few photos may help... though they don’t show all 43 attendees! ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ December Meeting (Keith Freeman) Adam Spink, who was in the hot seat in the Heathrow control tower (top right of picture→) on the 17th of Jan, 2008. He took us through the terrifying 35 secs from when BA Flight 38, flying in from Beijing, declared an emergency and the aftermath. The B777, narrowly avoiding crashing on the A30, hit the (muddy) ground just over 1000 feet from the runway and skidding, to eventually come to rest on the tarmac just to the right of the end of the runway. Well illustrated by the (recorded) ground surveillance there were no fatalities. Of the 152 people on board, 47 sustained injuries, one serious. The pilot and copilot between them made an excellent job of handling the emergency. The captain made two errors – referring to the flight as Speedbird 95 (actually the call sign used for emergency training purposes obviously he was recalling this training) and not notifying the passengers of the situation. The errors were completely understandable – the first having no effect as the tower knew which aircraft was in trouble and the second, possibly helping as the passengers were relaxed and slightly less liable to suffer injuries. The ground being muddy also contributed to the “safe” outcome. A further error was caused by the recipient at NATS West Drayton (a trainee) miss-hearing “crashed” as “flashed” - her trainer had to call back to confirm a crash had occurred. The recording of the conversations between aircraft and controllers was, unfortunately, somewhat difficult to make out (being the mix of both telephone and radio conversations in the control tower - a much clearer re - cording is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCK62U6Fob0). Many thanks to Adam who kept the audience spellbound with his extremely lucid talk. A (simulated) video of the accident is also on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls2exYefvsg ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ January Meeting (Keith Freeman) Tonight we enjoyed the second DVD on the Black Arrows of Treble One Squadron – their story in their words (both flying and ground crew). It might be thought that having two DVDs on the same subject with the same format would make the second superfluous but I, certainly, did not find this so. One very memor - able quote was from one of the pilots: “We had very few accidents, in fact we had far more accidents in the [officers’] mess than flying. I ended up in hospital one night and was asked how I’d come by my injuries... I said ‘I was standing on the mantelpiece when I tripped over an ashtray and fell into the fireplace where I was run over by a motorbike’”. He didn’t record the reply he got from the nurse (or doctor)! ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ February Meeting (Keith Freeman) Steve Slater, who has been the Director and CEO of the Light Aircraft Association since September 2015, took us fairly quickly through the light aircraft he has owned and flown up to the eponymous Airymouse – the aircraft flown and written about by Harald Penrose. Steve explained that it was reading this book that got him interested in flying (a not too uncommon occurrence!). Having a successful career in PR and marketing communications enabled him to pursue this interest. Unfortunately my list of the aircraft he’s had (written in the darkened hall!) is completely unreadable (at least two being written over each other! Despite my lack of notes (or, at least, readable ones!) it was a very enjoyable talk with anecdotes interspersed with the pictures of David’s past aircraft. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Historic (and other) Aviation News Dec 2: Following a controversial runway resurfacing project costing £23m, RAF Northolt has reopened to military aircraft and also to civil operators. The Regional and Business Airports Group is campaigning to suspend commercial flights at Northolt until the proper planning process has been followed. This follows reports that indicate the MoD is allowing private jets to fly into the aerodrome, which is not licensed by the CAA. It would appear Northolt does not have an CAA/EASA aerodrome licence, does not have a civil airport planning consent (there were 9,000 civil flights and fewer than 2,000 military ones in 2018), and has hundreds of obstacles on and around the airfield that would prevent it qualifying. Vice-president and former director and CEO of Brooklands Museum and former Flight International editor Allan Winn has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Royal Automobile Club’s inaugural Historic Awards. Dec 5: After four months Silver Spitfire G-IRTY touched down from whence it had started - Goodwood Aerodrome. The two pilots, Steve Brooks and Matt Jones stopped off in 100 locations, across 30 countries. Amongst many stand-out moments the pilots recalled flying over the Pyramids in Egypt and past the Statue of Liberty at 1000 feet – neither being normally allowed. Dec 6: After almost 14 years of construction and delays, the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport was reported to be on track to open (10 years late) at the end of October next year, the start of airlines' winter season. Flight Lieutenant Maurice Mounsdon, one of the last surviving pilots to have fought during the Battle of Bri- tain, has died at the age of 101. He flew with 56 Sqn and had several victories (some confirmed, some prob- ables) before being shot down himself. He was able to bail out but was seriously burned in the process and spent nine months recovering in hospital before returning to serve with the RAF Headquarters and later as a flight instructor and flight commander. Returning to civilian life in 1946, he resumed his engineering career with the General Electric Company. [Graham Bedwell] Dec 9: The Belgian Aviation Preservation Association are asking for financial help to buy a Bendix Turret (costing $5,400) for their B-25 restoration project. It’s in Australia and incomplete but can serve as the basis for a full restoration. Their stated goal is to honour he Belgian crews that flew the Mitchell with the RAF. Dec 10: Giles Abrey, who runs a farm on the Norfolk- Suffolk border, was so fascinated to read about pilot Alex Henshaw's 1939 record-breaking journey from London to Cape Town and back that he felt inspired to recreate the journey. In 2007 he started building his own plane in order to recreate the journey. Having built his plane he se off from Illington, near Thetford, on Nov 3rd. He has crossed France, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. Despite thunderstorms delaying his arrival he has now reached Cape Town. The time he has had to be away from his farm means, however, he is returning via a commercial flight... [Graham Bedwell] Dec 16: NASA announced the QueSST aircraft, the X-59, has been cleared for final assembly and integration of systems. They say the piloted experimental aircraft will be capable of breaking the sound barrier without producing sonic booms. Dec 20: As reported earlier American Airlines retired their MD-80 fleet in September. They did, however, keep a few for donation to schools. Thus the final ever American Airlines MD-80 flight is bound (today) for Lewis University, Illinois. Dec 30: The aircraft designer for the Tupolev Design Bureau Valentin Bliznyuk has died, aged 92, “after a serious and prolonged illness”.