Category: Volunteering

I was born in North West London near Hendon shortly after the end of the Second World War. I grew up in Herga Court, Harrow-on-the Hill, a secluded estate of flats set in gardens and woods off Sudbury Hill, which leads up to Harrow Village. Many of the owners were young families, with babies in prams and children all growing up together. It was an idyllic place where mums would park the kids in their prams and children could play outside in the gardens without fear of danger.

Our neighbours were of mixed backgrounds and professions, and many were employed in military or civil aviation, including RAF, USAF, Polish aircrew, and new airlines. On the third floor above our flat lived Air Vice Marshal Sir Maurice Heath, who was Commanding Officer of British Forces Arabian Peninsular and later Chief of Staff Allied Air Forces Europe. In the next building were, among others, a Jordanian family relative of King Hussein who was at Harrow School, the actor Edward Fox, and Captain Willie (Rooftop) Johnson.

Captain Johnson became famous for landing a DC-3 immediately after take-off on the roof of a family house at the end of Northolt’s Runway 07 with no injuries to passengers, crew or the people in the house who were eating dinner. It was later established that snow was responsible.

St Mary’s Church is at the top of Harrow on the Hill and is the highest point in London, 440 feet above sea level. It is a landmark about 4 miles North East on the final approach to Runway 25 at Northolt Airfield, which was the busiest London Airport just after the War.

Hendon Aerodrome was located 5 miles North East of Harrow on the Hill, on the same runway axis as Northolt (And later, almost the same axis as Runway 23 at Heathrow – more later!)

There was a continuous flow of piston-engine airplanes passing overhead our flat, from Avro Ansons, DC-3s, Vikings to Lockheed Constellations, Douglas DC-6s, all of which would have been about 1,000 feet above my pram in the garden. At some point, I suppose, I started speaking; my mother swears that my first words were ‘Mummy Plane!’

Soon I started to recognise the different types both by their shapes and the sound of the engines – I was hooked! As I grew up, I found two perfect places to watch the aircraft passing by. The flats had 4 floors and a flat terraced roof which gave me a view from East to Southwest; perfect to watch Northolt and Heathrow arrivals when the wind was from the Southwest. The other place was at the top of a 60ft Beech tree, which was perfect to watch Hendon activity, although there was a lot less traffic there in 1955. It was a bit precarious in a stiff breeze, but that was more of a challenge.

They were there until 1957 and the last large aircraft to land in 1968 was a Blackburn Beverley Transport, intended as an exhibit at the new RAF Museum. No. 617 Volunteer Gliding School of the RAF Air Training Corps was established at Hendon and continued to fly there until the airfield was sold for housing.

We had training in the T21 Sedbergh and Kirby Cadet Mk3 aircraft until we were ready to go solo. On the day of our first solo flight there was a stiff breeze blowing. I was No.2, strapped in ready to take off and watching as No.1 launched, turned downwind and then disappeared behind the hangars. There was a general panic as the too low glider tried to get over the hangar, and then stalled onto the apron behind me. Fortunately, the poor guy was only shocked, shaken and stirred. Now it was my turn and realising that the wind had carried him too far away from the airfield, I turned in early and made a reasonable landing.

In 1961 we had moved to a new house in Hampstead, London NW3. I used to see gliders flying at Hendon Aerodrome, and as soon as I had my A and B Certificate I borrowed my Mother’s car and drove to the Aerodrome where I had to pass through the security sentry to get to the launch point.

The Commanding Officer of 617 Gliding School, Flt Lt Adams did not appear too welcoming since I was on Government Property without permission.

However, when I introduced myself as ‘Flight Sergeant Bruh, Merchant Taylors CCF ‘ and asked him if I could do the next Qualification, Soaring and Silver C Certificates, he was dumbfounded. ‘You can’t just drive into an RAF Airfield and ask to do a flying course!’ I could only answer the obvious – ‘But I just did, Sir’. At this point he must have seen a way to get some free labour, so he relented and agreed on the basis that I had to work as a Staff Cadet, moving the gliders, helping the students into the aircraft, helping the launches, signalling the winch drivers etc.

Anyway, I worked hard, enjoying every minute, was able to fly aerobatics over the A41 at Hendon and got my Soaring C Certificate. One Saturday afternoon I was in the orange and white Signalling caravan, looking down the runway to the winch driver ready to launch a glider. Behind me I heard a deep aircraft noise and turned around in time to see a huge 4-engine Douglas DC-4 just over the railway line about 100 yards from the caravan, and about to land on top of me and the gliders on the runway in front of me.

Fortunately, Flt Lt Adams saw it and ran to the caravan, grabbed a red flare pistol which he fired just in time. The aircraft belonged to the Spanish Air Force and, apart from ending my flying career, it would have ended up in Colindale Hospital at the end of the runway. At the last moment, the pilot realised the mistake and climbed away, leaving a trail of shaken cadets and instructors.

He had mistaken Hendon for Northolt, and it was not the first time that this had happened. Incidentally, because Hendon, Northolt and Heathrow are more or less in a straight line, there were several mistaken landings at Northolt when they meant to land at Heathrow. This included a PanAm Boeing 707 in 1960.

As a result, the Gasometer in Harrow was painted with a large ‘NO’ to identify Northolt, and the Gasometer at Southall was painted with ‘LH’ for Heathrow. The Southwest runway at Heathrow no longer exists, and nor do the Gasometers.

On my last day at Hendon, my mother came to collect me with the car. I introduced her to ‘The Boss’, Flight Lieutenant Adams, who, to my astonishment, invited her for a flight in the Sedbergh T21 glider. And to my even greater surprise, she agreed, and they flew for 20 minutes. I asked her recently if she remembers the flight; at 97, she just smiles!

I started a Motor Rally Club at School, and used to practise skidding, handbrake turns etc on the runway once flying had stopped and the gliders were in the hangar. My brother and several friends who I grew up with were all just 17, and I offered to teach them to drive since I had access to the Airfield. We could go through the gears up to 60mph, emergency stop, skid, reverse, park, and everything before they went onto the roads. Once they had confidence, it was a doddle to have them drive up to London and back, negotiating Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner.

One fine evening we were practising high speed cornering when six motorbike policemen came the opposite way up the runway. I gave them a wave, and they gave me a wave, but it was not very friendly, and we had to abandon training there.

I married Karin, a lovely Austrian girl in 1975 and we moved to Mill Hill, ever closer to Hendon. She did not seem to mind being taken to the RAF Museum with the kids every wet weekend once they were old enough.

In 1996 I had a big birthday, which began as a small group of friends going out for dinner. Unfortunately, people in our Company heard that it was a ‘Big One’ and wanted to join, as did all our customers – we were a well-known ladies fashion brand. Suddenly we were looking at around 200 people. Karin and I asked the Museum for the use of the Battle of Britain building to put on a period costume party, together with Jazz and Charleston bands, as well as a Disco. We asked guests to make a gift contribution to Macmillan Cancer Support.

The party was around the Sunderland flying boat, swathed in purple light, the tables were long trestle tables with green camouflage tablecloths. The plates and drinks were served on tin NAAFI –style tin plates and mugs. The food was served at stalls, fish and chips, bangers and mash, and chicken pot pie.

We created ‘Ration Books’ which guests had to buy for one guinea (£1.10) These were numbered and were the entry for a Draw for which friends and colleagues had offered generous prizes. The uniforms and costumes were fantastic; I was hard to spot, even though I stood at the door as guests entered – I was wearing a 40s policeman uniform! The result was a marvellous party and £8000 gift to Macmillans.

My career changed in 2001, when I moved into full time aviation, flying business jet aircraft. This was a new life for me, being ‘On call’ most of the time. As a result, I found that there were periods when I wasn’t flying or being away, and I felt that I had plenty of enthusiasm and ability to talk to people about aviation, so I went to the RAF Museum with the intention to volunteer.

As a result, I was inducted into the Vulcan and Cold War Team, where I met the very knowledgeable members and had my first encounter with the Phantom, ably supported by Dave Parkins. In order to talk meaningfully about the various aircraft in the ‘Tour’ we need to have a reasonable basic history and purpose of each. Then, to make it interesting we need ‘Insider’ information about what they could or could not do, how well they performed, what their competition was etc. In addition to volunteer Roger Wilkins, who only recently passed away and was the ‘Master’ of the Hawker Hunter, I am fortunate in having a number of colleague friends who flew these aircraft in their careers in the RAF who are very willing to tell us about the aircraft and their experiences.

An interesting occasion was the RAF Open Day; I had a guest in the Phantom cockpit; he asked how to raise and lower the seat, and I had not come across that one before. A voice from one of the people waiting said ‘I can show you’. It was Flt Lt Edward Smith, ex-RAF and now Airbus Captain. Edward was a Phantom pilot and happens to be the pilot photographed on the image standing in front of the aircraft. The RAF Museum has invited him to be interviewed and the result can be seen in this lovely video.

I am also fortunate to have flown some of the aircraft in the Museum, including the Grasshopper at the entrance of Hangar 4, the Kirby Cadet Mk3 Glider and the Chipmunk.

It is particularly important to get to know the guest you are talking to before launching into the ‘Patter’. Many of these people may have much more knowledge, so I usually ask them about their interest etc. One guest I asked – ‘What is your interest in Aviation? ’His answer – ‘None! My wife bought me the ticket for my Birthday!’

Although my wife would like to move nearer to London, I think we will be tied to Hendon for a lot longer.

My work with the Large Object Conservation Volunteer Team involves cleaning and inspecting the aircraft exhibited in the RAF Museum London. Whilst checking underneath a number of aircraft I found hidden away some ‘zaps’. These are slogans, badges, stickers etc that other air forces, or RAF Squadrons, place on other units’ aircraft, in the spirit of rivalry and humour. The use of zaps and similar antics is an aid to keep up morale and it typifies the humour that RAF squadrons are famous for.

Rivalry between units of the armed forces has been in existence for as long as armies have been around. The RAF in particular, with its units organised into squadrons, has had this competitive focus from its inception in 1918. Squadrons have always tried to outdo each other, prove that they are the best, playing tricks on each other and generally finding ways to outsmart their fellow units. By doing so they push each other to greater performance.

A good example of this was in the Second World War and the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz during Operation Catechism on 12 November 1944. The two units involved, No. 617 and No. IX (9) Squadron both claim – to this day! – to have sunk this giant ship. A bulkhead from the ship was presented to No. IX Squadron after the war and from then until 2001 the two units took turns in capturing the bulkhead and displaying it in their Squadron crew room. The competition was close to getting out of hand, so the RAF decided in 2002 that the bulkhead was to be presented to the RAF Museum London, where it is now on display in Hangar 5.

An example of this rivalry is some graffiti on the No. 617 Squadron Tornado that is on display in the Museum’s Hangar 6. Hidden in the main undercarriage bay, the words highlight No. IX Squadron’s claim to have sunk the Tirpitz.

In some cases, zaps were quite large. A good example is this Kiwi bird which replaced the red part of the RAF roundel of an No. 101 Squadron Vulcan after a visit to New Zealand.

Possibly one of the biggest pranks took place when an RAF Harrier was painted pink by a French Air Force unit.

Most squadrons produced their own design of zap and they would be spread liberally around other units. They are usually in undercarriage bays, on doors and other out-of-the-way places. In some cases, there is also graffiti, added by ground, or flight crew. Here is a further selection of some of the Museum’s aircraft exhibits that I found:

Panavia Tornado GR1

Two American units, one of the US Air Force and one of the US Navy, left their zap in the main undercarriage bays of our Tornado:

The Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit put up their sticker in the Tornado’s front undercarriage bay.

The Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Flight left their sticker in the under-nose laser designator.

Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer

The Buccaneer was a bomber which was used during the First Gulf War. One of its main roles was to assist the Tornado by laser designating the target. Operating side by side, it meant that a Tornado squadron had the chance to leave their zap in the main undercarriage bay of our Buccaneer. RAF 17 (F) Squadron flew Tornados during the First Gulf War.

McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR2

AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin helicopter

Eurofighter Typhoon

Lockheed Hercules (at RAF Museum Midlands)

A very unusual zap on the unique urinal in the Lockheed Hercules. This photo is a still taken from the Under the Radar video on the Museum YouTube channel

David Herriot, a Buccaneer navigator, told me that when he was with No. 12 Squadron, the ground crew placed what must have been an eight foot dayglo orange fox’s mask on the front wall of the airmen’s mess during a detachment to Lossiemouth in the mid 1970s (a fox is on the Squadron crest). It could be seen from the main gate. The Commanding Office of the Lossiemouth base was not impressed, nor was their Office Commanding of the Police Flight, who they then baited with No. 12 Squadron zaps on notices that he placed in the officers’ mess demanding detachment commanders get their troops to desist. This story is also in David’s book ‘Adventures of a Cold War Fast-Jet Navigator, The Buccaneer Years’.

Zaps appear in all sorts of odd places – marquee roofs, ski-lift pylons, night club ceilings, pub walls, toilets, as well as usually on aircraft. The tradition of zapping things other than aircraft is less common these days, perhaps because we are less tolerant to what some members of the public might see as ‘litter’. Also the public may well see such antics as being somewhat frivolous and the perception could be that the members of our Armed Forces should be more serious and providing more value for the taxpayers money.

I have always been fascinated with the 1950s era, when aviation test pilots were in their element, testing the large number of new aircraft developed by the many British aircraft manufacturing companies. They were household names, akin to the football stars of today, appearing at the annual Farnborough Air Show, demonstrating the performance of their company’s products. Their exploits were played out in the newspapers and at cinemas with the enthusiastic reporting by Pathé News. The vast majority had served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and the flying skills they learnt during that period, led them onto testing the high-performance military and commercial aircraft that made Britain a world leader at the time. Into the 1960s and onto the 1990s, test pilots continued to make maiden flights, be a key part of new technological developments and fly aircraft to the boundaries of their performance.

One day I decided to find out what aircraft at both the RAF Museum London and Cosford sites, had been flown by the most well-known test pilots in the 1950s to 1990s period. By checking the aircraft history documents that are available on the Museum website (see the end of this blog post for details on how to access these), I was surprised by the large number:

London
Messerschmitt Me 110 Eric “Winkle” Brown
BAC Lightning F6 Roland Beamont
Eurofighter Typhoon Chris Yeo

Cosford
Gloster Prone Meteor Bill Else and Eric Franklin
Handley Page Victor John Allam
Fieseler Storch Eric “Winkle” Brown
Hawker Kestrel Duncan Simpson
Junkers Ju 88 Roly Falk
British Aerospace EAP Dave Eagles and Chris Yeo
English Electric P1A Roland Beamont
Fairey Delta 2 Peter Twiss
Hawker Hunter David Lockspeiser
SEPECAT Jaguar ACT Chris Yeo
Shorts SB5 Roland Beamont
Bristol 188 Godfrey Auty

What does a test pilot do? There are two main types – the production test pilot and the experimental test pilot. The former takes each aircraft, which has been manufactured by the company they work for, and makes a first test flight to check that it does all the things that it should do – the aircraft starts, takes off, manoeuvres, reaches the design speeds at different stages of the flight and lands, all according to the agreed specifications.

The experimental test pilot would in some cases be involved with the aircraft design, they would make the first flight and then go onto evaluating the aircraft in all of its ground and in-flight performance. The test pilot will need to be able to understand and record everything which takes place during the entire flight and feedback that information to the company engineers. Flight Test Reports are one method of recording the results of a flight – see an example written by Roland Beamont below. In essence, the test pilot is a vital cog in the fine tuning of the aircraft so that it is safe to fly by everyday pilots and meet all of its design requirements. In addition, the experimental test pilot will take the aircraft into extreme situations, evaluating how the aircraft reacts. This might be diving the aircraft to very high speed, making unorthodox manoeuvres, stalling the aircraft and then recovering to normal flight. Test pilots in more recent times will have an aeronautical engineering background and/or qualification.

In some cases, the experimental test pilot will be flying a purely experimental type of aircraft (for example the Fairey Delta 2, British Aerospace EAP, Bristol 188 and Saunders-Roe SR53). These aircraft are designed to ascertain how flight happens at high speed, how different materials perform at speed and height, how to manoeuvre in certain ways and how to use new technology. A good example of this work is detailed in the aircraft history document for the SEPECAT Jaguar ACT Demonstrator.

There is no doubt that test flying can be very dangerous. In the 1950s test pilots were being killed at a rate of about one a week. Therefore, being brave was a key attribute, but having a cool and methodical approach was also very important. There was no computer aided design and the use of wind tunnels was rare, so finding out if and how a new aircraft flew, was all down to the test pilot. Jet engines, flying faster than sound, swept wings, rocket power and ejection seats were all new in the late 1940s and 1950s, so it was not surprising that there were many accidents. The coming of the Cold War also brought an urgency to bring into service higher performance and better equipped aircraft, in the technological race with the Soviet Union.

There are many examples of test pilots experiencing a major problem whilst test flying (an engine failure for example) and being able to land the aircraft, so that the reason for the issue could be investigated and the test flight data be saved. Peter Twiss was flying a Fairey Delta 2 in 1954, when he suffered engine failure on its 14th flight whilst heading away from the airfield at 30,000 feet, 30 miles after take-off from RAF Boscombe Down. Twiss managed to glide to a dead-stick landing at high speed on the airfield. Only the nose gear had deployed, and the aircraft sustained damage that side-lined it for eight months. Twiss, who was shaken up by the experience but otherwise uninjured, received the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.

There may be a misconception that test pilots are devil-may-care “flyboys”, perhaps rather reckless. That is not the case, in the 1950s and 1960s the majority had been in the Second World War which had giving them the experience of dangerous situations, helping them to stay calm and use their considerable flying skills and knowledge, to get them out of challenging situations. Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, probably the greatest ever test pilot, said about fear ‘I react almost the opposite. If things are really difficult, I go ice cold and my brain seems to up a gear’. He also highlighted that his survival was due to his meticulous preparation for a test flight.

I have selected five of these test pilots for further research, which you can read about below:

Roland Beamont

Roland Beamont joined the RAF in 1939 and after training joined No. 87 Squadron in France, which was equipped with Hawker Hurricane aircraft and shot down his first aircraft, a Dornier Do 17, in May 1940. Beaumont took part in the Battle of Britain and claimed five enemy bombers and fighters in the period. In May 1941, he transferred to No. 79 Squadron and in June was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). When his tour of duty finished in December 1941, he joined Hawker as a production test pilot, initially handling new Hurricane aircraft and later early versions of the Typhoon. Beamont was keen to resume operational flying and joined No. 56 Squadron in July 1942 and later No. 609 Squadron, both flying Typhoons. Early Typhoons had problems with the engine and tail units and many crashed. Beamont had faith that Hawker would solve the problems and lobbied Group Captain Leigh Mallory, amongst others, to keep the Typhoons operational. No. 609 Squadron flew from Manston in Kent to combat the Luftwaffe’s Focke-Wulf Fw 190s and later with Beamont as its leader, the Typhoon developed as both a day and night fighter-bomber.

In May 1943 Beamont returned to test flying with Hawker, helping to further develop the Typhoon and its successor, the Tempest. In early 1944, he returned to operations, forming the first Tempest wing, which took part in D-Day, with Beamont claiming the first Tempest victory, with a Messerschmitt Me 109 being shot down on 8 June. Soon he and his Squadrons witnessed the first V1 Flying Bombs and the Tempest became one of the best at shooting them down. On at least one occasion Beamont defeated a V1 by carefully sliding his wingtip under that of the V1, thereby disrupting the airflow over the drone’s wing, and flipping it. By the end of the V1 campaign, Beamont’s Wing had shot down 638, with himself accounting for 32.

On 12 October, on Beamont’s 492nd operational mission, while attacking a heavily defended troop-train, his Tempest’s radiator was hit by flak. He crash landed without injury and became a prisoner of war until the end of the war in Europe.

After the war, Beamont spent short periods with the RAF Air Fighting Development Unit and then with the de Havilland company, before joining English Electric as Chief Test Pilot. He took the Canberra bomber on its maiden flight in May 1949 and demonstrated the aircraft at the Farnborough air show, where Flight magazine described Beamont’s display as “exhilarating”, stating that “a new aircraft has never been more convincingly demonstrated”.

Beamont’s next challenge was the English Electric P1A, effectively the prototype Lightning fighter. He took P1A WG760 on its first flight on 4 August 1954. The P1A was preserved and is now on display at the RAF Museum Midlands.

From the RAF Museum aircraft history document “11 Aug 54 On its third flight, lasting 50 minutes, the aircraft, flown by Beaumont, became the first British aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in level flight – Mach 1.02 – at an altitude of 30,000 feet”.

Beamont continued to develop the Lightning and in fact made the first flight of the Lightning F6 exhibited in the RAF Museum London, as recorded in the aircraft history document “26 Jan 67 First flight – pilot R.P.Beamont from Salmesbury to Warton”.

In September 1964 Beamont took the TSR2 strike aircraft on its maiden flight and he continued to test this unique aircraft until it was cancelled by the Government in April 1965. Later Beamont became the Flight Operations Director for Panavia – the company that developed the Tornado. He retired in 1979 and died in 2001.

Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown

Captain Eric Brown, holder of the World Record for the number of different types of aircraft flown (487), is best known as a Royal Navy pilot and test pilot, but he was a member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve before the Second World War. He also was very involved in testing many of the aircraft operated by the RAF, in particular the Handley Page Halifax and the Hawker Tempest.

In 1944 the RAF started to lose an abnormal number of Halifax bombers, so Brown, who had joined the Farnborough Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) as a test pilot, was asked to help the investigation. He put one of the bombers into a violent corkscrew manoeuvre and cut one engine, all with Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire VC, one of the RAF’s most famous bomber pilots, standing behind him. After the flight Brown asked Cheshire if he had any concerns, with a deadpan expression, he replied “Yes, being flown in a Bomber Command heavy by a pilot in naval uniform”. One of the improvements these tests helped pinpoint was the fitting of larger fins to the Halifax tail.
Brown also took part in tests on a number of aircraft to boost their top speed using higher octane fuel, so that they could catch the V1 flying bombs that were hitting Southern England. Whilst flying a Hawker Tempest, Brown experienced an engine failure and had to bail out, landing in a duck pond and faced by an angry bull!

Brown was very involved in the testing of captured German and Italian aircraft at the end of the War, flying a rocket powered Messerschmitt Me 163, jet powered Messerschmitt Me 262 and Arado Ar 234 and many other German fighters and bombers. It was dangerous work, with very often no record of the number of hours the particularly unreliable jet engines had flown (they had “lives” of around 35 hours before an overhaul was required). Brown’s ability to speak fluent German was a great help and he gained the trust of many ex-Luftwaffe ground crew, who assisted in the preparation of captured aircraft for their flights in Germany and to the U.K.

Later Brown flew a number of German aircraft from Farnborough and other airfields. This is when he flew the RAF Museum London based Messerschmitt Me 110 night fighter and the Cosford based Fieseler Storch. Here is an extract from the Museum Fieseler Storch aircraft history document:
“15-17 Sep 45 Flown to RAF Hendon to appear at the Battle of Britain Open Day there, where Lt Cdr E M `Winkle’ Brown demonstrated its slow-flying capabilities”.

Brown got his “Winkle” nickname because of his small stature, a feature that helped him on some occasions, either escape from an aircraft, or avoid injury. He served in the Royal Navy until 1970 and died in 2016.

Roly Falk

Roland “Roly” Falk studied at the de Havilland Technical School, Hatfield and learn to fly there in 1932. He worked for Air Dispatch on a freelance basis and flew in both the Abyssinian (present day Ethiopia) War and the Spanish Civil War for the press. In 1937 he flew a newspaper service from London to Paris and then joined the Air Registration Board as a test pilot. Falk had been a member of the Reserve of Air Force Officers since 1935 and at the start of the Second World War he joined the RAF. By 1943 he was Chief Test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough. During this period, he flew some 300 different aircraft and around 2,000 hours during his time with the RAE. This included a number of German captured aircraft, one of which was the Junkers Ju 88 night fighter exhibited at the RAF Museum Midlands.

An extract from the Museum aircraft history document:
“20 Jun/13 Jul 43 Made 7 night flights during which combat trials were carried out against a Halifax and the results reported in Fighter Interception Unit report no.211, 23 Jul 43 (PRO Ref.Air 40/184) to test radar and aircraft effectiveness. The report commented favourably on the Ju88s handling qualities but criticized poor pilot visibility; Flown by several RAE pilots including Sqn Ldr R J Falk and Sqn Ldr Martindale”.

In 1950 Falk joined Avro, where one of his early tasks was to test fly the experimental Avro 707 delta-wing aircraft, which was produced to test the characteristics of the delta wing for the Vulcan bomber. He performed the Avro Vulcan’ first flight on 30 August 1952. In subsequent years Falk demonstrated the Vulcan at the annual Farnborough air show, where in 1955 he amazed the crowd by barrel-rolling the Vulcan across the airfield. He was rebuked by the organisers for this manoeuvre, but only because performing aerobatics in an aircraft weighing 69 tons and with a 99-foot wingspan was “not the done thing”.

Falk was famous for flying in a pin-striped lounge suit, tie, pocket handkerchief and often sunglasses. He retired from Avro in 1958, joined Hawker Siddeley as a sales representative and then set up his own aircraft business in Jersey, where he died in 1985.

Dave Eagles

Dave Eagles joined the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in 1953 as a National Service recruit and learn to fly in the USA with the US Navy and returned to the UK to fly the Hawker Sea Hawk and de Havilland Vampire. He was then seconded to the Royal Australian Navy, where he from an aircraft carrier flew the Fairey Firefly and Hawker Sea Fury – one of the last and most powerful piston engine fighters. On his return to the UK in 1958 he carried on flying for the FAA and in 1963 Eagles entered the Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS). After graduation he joined the Naval Test Squadron at Boscombe Down and was the project pilot for the Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft. Whilst testing this aircraft on a catapult launch from HMS Victorious off Hong Kong, he had to make use of his Martin Baker ejector seat.

In 1968 Eagles joined the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) as a test pilot and flew the Lightning, Jaguar, Canberra and Strikemaster. He became the Project Test Pilot for the PANAVIA Tornado – an international project with Germany and Italy – and made a number of the aircraft’s early flights. When British Aerospace was formed in 1977, he was made Chief Test Pilot. In January 1983 he became Director of Flight Operations. On 27 October 1979 he flew the first Air Defence variant of the Tornado, unusually going supersonic on its first flight. The Tornado brought a number of key technological advances into an operational RAF aircraft – fly-by-wire controls, variable sweep wings and reverse thrust engines.

The second Tornado prototype, the UK’s first, P02, was used to extend the aircraft flight envelope. Dave Eagles flew this aircraft on many occasions. It was equipped with small explosive charges on the wings which were fired during a flight to create an oscillation in the control surfaces. The damping of the oscillation could then be assessed to ensure that the Tornado was well clear of any potential flutter problems. The act of firing the explosive charges, which could be undertaken for some tests at high speed (800+mph), is known as “bonking”.

On one such test, with Paul Millett in the front seat (he was the Chief Test Pilot at the time) and Eagles in the rear cockpit, after firing the “bonkers”, the engine oil temperature and pressure warning lights came on. Then as the Tornado was flying near the airfield, a seagull was ingested by the port engine. The crew prepared to eject, but luckily the other engine picked-up thrust and a safe landing was possible.

From 1983 British Aerospace developed their Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP), producing a single aircraft to test the key features of future aircraft for the RAF, particularly the Eurofighter Typhoon. Eagles piloted the EAP on its first flight on 8 August 1986, exceeding Mach 1. He said the EAP “is just what a fighter pilot wants. It is a shame we are only building one and not 800”. This aircraft is now exhibited at the RAF Museum Midlands.

Dave Eagles retired from test flying in 1987, having flown over 6,000 hours, with his experience ranging from the piston engine Hawker Sea Fury right through to the computer controlled EAP. On the way he also flew the Supermarine Spitfire – one of the perks of the job while working for BAC.
Dave Eagles visited the RAF Museum London in 2019 when this video was produced.

Chris Yeo

Chris Yeo joined the RAF in 1965 and after pilot training he joined No. 54(F) Squadron flying the McDonnell Douglas Phantom. Later he served with the Phantom Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) and in 1975 he went to the Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS) and trained as a test pilot. Yeo graduated with the prize for the best pilot and sharing the prize for the best preview. Staying in the RAF, Yeo was promoted to Squadron Leader and spent his last three years of service involved in the early development of the Tornado, Jaguar and Hawk.

Yeo joined British Aerospace in 1978 as an experimental test pilot, where he became Chief Test Pilot and finally Director of Flight Operations. He flew all variants of the Tornado, Jaguar and Hawk, expanding the flight envelope of each aircraft type, helping to develop the systems and procedures that the RAF would go onto use when the aircraft were in service.

The development of the Fly-By-Wire system was a particular focus for Yeo. British Aerospace used Jaguar XX765 and extensively modified the aircraft from the traditional mechanical rod operation of the control surfaces to Dowty Boulton Paul’s electrically signalled digital Fly-By-Wire (FBW) standard. This system was envisaged as being necessary to stabilise control of the next generation of air superiority fighters which would be of unstable and of unconventional aerodynamic design. There was no mechanical reversion (standby) system. He made the demonstrator’s first flight on 21 October 1981.
This aircraft is now on display at the RAF Museum Midlands.

Yeo made the first flight of the Eurofighter Typhoon DA2 (British prototype), this aircraft is now exhibited in Hangar 6 RAF Museum London. The history document records it thus:
“6 Apr 94 First flight, at British Aerospace (now BAE Systems) Warton, near Preston, Lancs, flown by BAe AirOPs director Chris Yeo, for a 50-minute flight, during which it attained a gentle 287mph at 10,000ft. Escorted by a Tornado and a Hawk for a flight over the Irish Sea”.

On leaving BAE Systems, Yeo has worked for FR Aviation, instructed at the ETPS and worked with Airbus, testing the A340-500 and A340-600 airliners.

Every year we love to shout about the amazing work and difference our volunteers make to our Museum, storytelling and visitor experience and its always a difficult choose who to put forward for external awards recognition. This year we selected Steve Harris, Sandra Soer and our Vulcan and Cold War Experience volunteers.

For the West Midlands Volunteers Awards we nominated Steve Harris for Volunteer of the Year award for his outstanding work in inspiring our young visitors in all things STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). Steve’s volunteering is public facing and telling the stories of science and the RAF. He always considers his audience whether that is a group of 5-year olds or secondary school students and he differentiates his delivery as needed. He is always understanding of the needs of the teaches and how important our support of the visiting groups is to make their visit “the best visit ever”.

At this year’s London Heritage Volunteer Awards, we put forward Sandra Soer in the Going the Extra Mile and our Vulcan and Cold War Experience volunteers in the Best Team Category.

Sandra Soer joined the museum in January 2015 as a visitor engagement volunteer in what was then our newly opened First World War in the Air exhibition. Sandra trained to provide a tour of the exhibition, use our handling collection and provide interpretation of a recreated office. From here, whilst a little be tentative to step out of her comfort zone, she has joined other teams – Spitfire Experience, Vulcan and Cold War experience, the general tours team and off-site outreach activities.

She has worked hard to conquer her nerves and build up her knowledge and skills to get the new activity into her comfort zone. You can also see Sandra walking around with a folder of information, photographs and notes she has made – ready and waiting to answer her questions.

We love how easy Sandra makes it for us, to involve her in what we do. We love how easy Sandra makes it for us, to involve her in what we do.

Vulcan and Cold War Experience volunteers deliver this unique visitor experience and enable our visitors to experience a childhood dream, taking the rare opportunity to experience what it was like to fly these great aircraft; making a lasting memory for our visitors.

Every month, five out of our eight volunteers provide a 1-2-1 experience, where visitors gain special access to our collection, climbing in to and taking a seat in the cockpit of the Vulcan and the pilot’s seat of the Phantom. They are also given a full ground tour, with the chance to get up and close to other significant Cold War aircraft, including the BAC Lightning F.6, the Handley Page Victor K2, and the English Electric Canberra PR3, and hear fascinating real-life stories of the people who flew the aircraft.

They are an enthusiastic team, always seeking ways to improve the offer – pooling their notes and knowledge to devise the structure of the experience whilst giving themselves the flexibility to share their love of the subject matter with our visitors, to seeking out ex Vulcan, Lightening and Canberra pilots and arranging for them to come in to talk with all the volunteers, to boost their personal stories knowledge.

Ella Hewitt, Public Event Manager says:

‘They are delightful to work with, they are consistent, enthusiasm and drive to make it bigger and better. I’m astounded by how many questions they get ask and the knowledge they have built up but also their ability to let our visitors have the time and space to share their love and knowledge of these iconic aircraft.’

We are proud to share the news that Steve and Sandra were runners up in their categories and our Vulcan and Cold War Experience volunteers were Highly Commended. Congratulations to them and thank you to all our volunteers for the skills, knowledge, time and energy they give to us.

If you visit and our volunteers make a positive difference to your experience, please do let us know. We love sharing with them the impact and difference they make. If you would like to join us as a volunteer, please visit our volunteering pages to find out more about our volunteering offer and latest opportunities.

This September bore two very important annual occasions, the Cosford and London Volunteer Thank You Events. These events are vital to the Museum and its extended community. It is a time in which we can take a step back and reflect on the achievements of our 400+ volunteers across both sites and remote and give thanks to not only them but the staff members, friends, family and carers who support them along the way. These are events are hosted by the Volunteering Team and supported by our Senior Leadership Team, Trustees and key staff who work with our volunteers.

Our first thank you event at our Cosford site was held on the 10 September while our London Thank You Event was held on the 12 September. Upon arrival guests were greeted with two panels. One listed all the names of volunteers who hit milestones since the last year’s event and another with accumulated volunteering hours of all the teams at the Museum by site. Together this year Volunteers have achieved in total a whopping 21,736 hours!

Since our last thank you event we had an impressive number of volunteers reach a milestone with us:
• 49 volunteers reached one year
• 10 reached three years
• 11 reached five years
• 13 reached eight years
• 9 reached the years
• 1 reached fifteen years
• 3 reached twenty years!
A big congratulations to all of them!

Guests in Cosford were treated to afternoon tea with lots of pastries, sandwiches and enough cakes to feed a squadron, before taking a spin in a Spitfire as part of our Virtual Reality Zone. For this year’s group photo, we gathered in front of three very iconic aircraft of the Second World War (Hurricane, Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109) for group photo which can be seen down below.

The Thank You event in our London site this year was held on the Mezzanine level of Hanger 1, with a spectacular view over the Sunderland Flying Boat. London’s event was held in the evening, so a hot meal and drinks were provided. Their group photo was taken in front of the Sea King before our guests were given the opportunity to tour the helicopter after by two members of the Aircraft Access volunteer team with help from the Visitor Experience team staff.

Both events were great fun and a good chance to reflect all we have achieved. So once again a massive thank you to all our volunteers and all those who support them at the RAF Museum at home. Until next year!
Below are the accumulated hours of all the volunteer teams from both sites so you can see just how much work is put in by all our volunteer teams – enjoy.

Every year, the RAF Museum organises a reciprocal visit for our volunteers. Each visit gives volunteers the valuable opportunity to meet with each other, share their experiences, have a look round the other site’s collections and to have general chats with one another. The visit is also a great chance to celebrate volunteering at the Museum and all those who contribute to its continued success.

We have more than 400 volunteers working on both sites and such visits are important events that they look forward to. This year, on the 8 May, Cosford volunteers with colleagues and line managers travelled up to London for their visit. For many it was their first time seeing the site since its redevelopment for the RAF’s Centenary. Below were some of their first impressions.

This year the event also coincided with RAF Day where Veterans and current serving RAF personnel are invited by the Museum to celebrate the RAF and its history. This meant there was an even greater number of activities our volunteers could take part in; such as gaining access or a closer look at some of the aircraft on display and a live performance by swing band The Jive Aces. In the middle of the visit was our inter-site lunch, giving them time to have relaxed conversations with one another. These were some of the volunteers highlights from the day.

The first reciprocal visit took place 4 years ago in March 2015 which saw Cosford volunteers being guests at London, much like this year in 2019 . Since then both sites alternate each year between being guest or hosts To find out if the event has retained it’s popularity, we asked some Cosford volunteers what are their thoughts of the Reciprocal visit.

We would like to thank our volunteers for all their time and effort, it really is invaluable. We would also like to thank the staff, without their support events like the reciprocal visit would not be able to happen and the great relationship between Museum and volunteer would not be there. We are all looking forward to the next reciprocal visit in 2020, when London volunteers will be making the journey up to Cosford.

If you are interested in volunteering for the RAF Museum please refer to our opportunities page or join our mailing list.

The RAF Museum was proud to open its new volunteering hub on Thursday 4th April , as part of our Centenary Programme and Historic Hendon project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Located directly in the centre of the Museum’s site, the volunteering hub is a space in which volunteers from any team can relax, socialise, catch up on the latest Museum and volunteer news and access a computer. Visitors are welcome to view the interior and to learn more about the history of parachuting and its incorporation into the RAF, and to find out about our latest volunteering opportunities.

To celebrate this proud achievement, a small house-warming party was held in the refurbished building; a former parachute packing hut, known as ‘Building 69’, when the site was an active aerodrome up until 1968 (when the last aircraft landed on its runway).

Rachel Ball, Volunteering Manager at the RAF Museum for nearly 5 years, had this to say at the opening:

During the event, we also had a chance to catch up with some volunteers and ask them what it was about volunteering at the RAF Museum that has kept them coming back, Daniel, one of our Public Events volunteers had this response:

The house warming party held on the Thursday afternoon was not only a chance for people to get together and celebrate the new opening, but it was also for many their first glimpse inside the Hub since work began on Building 69 and for our volunteers, a glance into the future of what is now their own space.

We asked the volunteers what they thought about the volunteering hub and what they felt it meant for volunteering at the RAF Museum, this is what our volunteers Natasha and Jeremy had to say:

The team here has put enormous effort into refurbishing this building to make sure it is perfect for the volunteers. A key feature of the space is the meeting table, which has been constructed from original parachute packing tables.

Maggie Appleton, CEO of the RAF Museum, also came to the house-warming party and was kind enough to share a speech marking the occasion:

Across both our sites, as well as remotely, the Museum has over 400 volunteers, so it is paramount for the Museum to provide this type of facility, in order to incorporate the volunteers into the Museum’s community, but to also show its gratitude for all the hard work and time collectively put in by our volunteers.

If you are interested in volunteering at the RAF Museum and joining our community then please look at our Opportunities Page today or come down and apply via the tablet available in the Volunteering Hub, which is open most days.

Every year, the RAF Museum organises two reciprocal visits for our volunteers from both our sites, London and Cosford. Each visit gives volunteers the valuable opportunity to meet with each other, share their experiences, have a look round the other site’s collections and generally have a good chin wag with one another.

We have more than 400 volunteers working on both sites and such meetings are exciting events that they look forward to. This year, on 13 November, London’s volunteers travelled up to Cosford for their day-trip. For some of them it was their first visit!

Because the journey from London to Cosford is over 3 hours, it was an early start to the day – meeting for the coach at our London site at 7.30am. On arrival at Cosford London’s volunteers visited the Sir Michael Beetham Conservation Centre (MBCC) to see for themselves the key restoration work that takes place there.

Volunteers from across both sites met and discussed the exciting work being undertaken on aircraft such as the Vickers Wellington, Dornier and the Lysander, as well as the huge amount of progress that has already been made on these and other restoration projects in the MBCC. First timers to Cosford were amazed at the incredible size and shape of the National Cold War Exhibition Hangar that holds some of the largest and most advanced aircraft ever used by the RAF.

This visit was also the opportunity to bring everyone together and celebrate Cosford volunteer Les Cherrington’s 100th birthday with a toast, gifts and cake. Les gave a truly heart-warming speech, thanking the staff, volunteers and the RAF Museum for supporting him and his story.

Les began his military career in June 1938 at a Yeomanry camp at Patshull Park, Wolverhampton. He served in the Second World War in the North African campaign where he was nicknamed the ‘luckiest man in the desert’ because he was the only survivor after his tank had suffered a direct hit from an 88mm enemy gun, the shell pierced the tank and exploded. You can find out more about his story here.

Judith Karena, Cosford’s Volunteering Manager, shared the feedback that she received about the day:

‘Thanks to all for attending and to all staff who supported what was a very busy but happy day! It was wonderful for existing and new volunteers from London to enjoy the Open Week at MBCC and to meet staff and volunteers at Cosford site over lunch.’

Other comments received included:
‘It was very well organised and interesting. When there I got to meet up with some London colleagues I hadn’t seen for a while, and a 100th birthday party thrown in! What’s not to like?’

The Museum is proud to organise such events for our volunteers and to give them the precious opportunity to explore all of our amazing collection, to meet with other volunteers and to feel as part of an exciting team that they are.

If you’d be interested in volunteering at the RAF Museum then check out our available opportunities here.

Recognising and celebrating our volunteers has crucial importance to the RAF Museum. We currently have over 400 volunteers across our 2 sites. Between October 2017 to September 2018 they have given about 24,000 hours of their time, or 1,000 days if you prefer.

To express our support and gratitude, every year we hold two Thank You events to make sure that our volunteers’ hard work is honoured. It’s a great opportunity for our volunteers to celebrate together, with their line managers and other key volunteering champions from the Museum.

The RAF Museum Midlands held their event on 11 September. The event began with speeches from Cosford’s General Manager Alan Edwards, Public Events Manager Abi Betteridge, Conservation Centre Manager Darren Priday, Director of Finance and Resources Marguerite Jenkin and Access & Learning Officer Mary Kujawski. They wanted to take the opportunity to thank the volunteers for all they had done, and each speaker shared messages of gratitude and pride about how much was able to be achieved with the help of volunteers.

These speeches were then followed by a celebration with food, drink and activities, paper rocket making and firing, as well as a photo-booth. The whole event was organised by our Volunteering Manager at Cosford Judith Karena and was held within our award-winning ‘The National Cold War Exhibition’ at our Cosford site, which provided an epic backdrop for the evening. Here are some pictures from the event:

Below are a few comments from Cosford volunteers about their experience:

Leanne Mee: ‘The volunteers at the Museum are an integral part of the organisation and their work is very much appreciated by the staff at the Museum.’

Susan Bourtan: ‘I have gained priceless experience which will set me up for life. A volunteer here becomes a full member of the team with responsibility. The different teams are all so welcoming and knowledgeable that a new volunteer is made to feel at home straight away.’

Jim Griffiths: ‘Being a Volunteer brings you into face to face contact with people from all walks of life and they all have a story to tell, and that is what makes being an RAF Museum Volunteer so enjoyable.’

London held its event on 10 October, on the mezzanine level in the newly refurbished Hangar 6, ‘The RAF in the Age of Uncertainty: 1980 – Today’. The night acted as good chance for volunteers and staff from range of different teams to catch up and socialise.

Our London Volunteering Manager Rachel Ball welcomed everyone to the evening and started her thank you speech with the following: ‘I would also say a heartfelt thanks, on behalf of all the line managers, Senior Leadership Team and the Trustees for the 12,600 plus hours you have given to the Museum. … Thank you for giving us your time, without you all we wouldn’t have achieved so much.’

After the meal, staff were given the opportunity to introduce themselves and say a little bit about the difference volunteering has made to their work. The evening concluded with everyone being invited to have a look round the exhibition and to sit in the Blackburn Buccaneer, where they were shown by one of our volunteers Tim Bracey how the aircraft would have been operated while in service.

Some feedback received about the night included:
‘Meeting staff from various departments and sheer passion from them and meeting them, including the open cabin of the fighter jet – great’.

‘I just wanted to say thank you for a lovely evening, the time flew by and I’m so glad I came’.

All in all, a great success. Our London volunteers also shared their experience:

Guy Taylor: ‘The permanent staff in the Archive and Library Team are very friendly and helpful, and treat me and the other volunteers as integral members of the team. It is clear that our efforts are regarded as valued contributions to the department’s overall activities.’

Sandra Soer: ‘It has given me an opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience and this is on-going as every day I meet new people. I enjoy the variety and meeting people from many different backgrounds. I feel proud to be part of the continuing story of RAF Hendon.’

Tony Rutherford: ‘I’ve had a great time volunteering over the last 25 years and I can’t wait to see what the next 25 years will bring.’

‘Together we achieve so much’ was the primary message of the thank you events because simply without our volunteers we could not have achieved what we have, nor continue to achieve our full aims as a Museum.

If you have been inspired by our volunteers’ stories to discover more about volunteering at the RAF Museum please examine our current opportunities HERE.

Neither of our sites in London or Cosford would be able achieve as much as they do without the 400+ volunteers who generously donate their time and effort.

Volunteers help us in so many areas including preserving the collection and making it accessible to others, cleaning the large and small objects and helping to run our events to name but a few. We are enormously grateful to all these amazing people and always happy to express our appreciation.

On 26 September, the RAF Museum London was honoured to host the London Volunteers in Museums awards (LVMAs) on behalf of the London Heritage Volunteer Managers Network (LHVMN). Our Volunteering Manager Rachel Ball, has been a part of the organising committee for the last four years and was keen to take the opportunity to be the host, in a year of celebration for the Museum.

The evening was hosted amazingly by Rebecca Dalley, our Head of Centenary Programme. Marguerite Jenkin, Director of Finance and Resources at the RAF Museum, welcomed our guests and gave an overview of how our volunteers support the Museum.

Every year we can nominate one person/team for each category; we submitted nominations for four categories out of the seven available. Below is a synopsis of who and why they received their nominations.

Category: Best Team
Collections Care and Conservation team for helping us to clean, conserve, pack, move and install 600 small objects for our three new exhibitions as well as for getting stuck in and sharing their experience and information about what they were doing with our intrigued visitors.

We nominated our Collections Care and Conservation team, who were runners up in the category.
‘I felt very privileged to be there that evening among so many wonderful people’- Natasha Constantinou, a member of the team

Category: Bringing Innovation