Visit: RAF Linton On Ouse

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

According to the Wing Commander linton was the only UK located airbase the RAF flew them out of....the rest being abroad.

There were USAF variants based at RAF Shepherds Grove for example.

Nice, I didn't know that. I'd completely forgotten we had Sabres, I always think of them as Yank, Canuck and German birds.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Nice, I didn't know that. I'd completely forgotten we had Sabres, I always think of them as Yank, Canuck and German birds.

As far as I'm aware they were a stop-gap measure supplied to us by the US because of the disparity in the NATO capability to combat the Russian Migs of the day....the Meteor was hopelessly outclassed and the Hunter was still a few years of mass production...hence the US paid for the Sabres sent to the UK.

[Stealhead]

It was claimed that the F-86 was a very easy aircraft to fly and it was true few people know that a lowly USAF Airman(Air Force private) George Johnson once "borrowed" an F-86 and flew it for a little over an hour until he was guided
in for a landing.

Anyway he did get a courts marshal but did not get kicked out of the USAF bit surprising that they did not send him to flight school as he only had previous experience in a Piper Cub and not much at that.

http://www.airspacemag.com/military-...tml?c=y&page=1

Bit of a side story but interesting surely some UK Royal Air Force members have had similar
misadventures.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Bit of a side story but interesting surely some UK Royal Air Force have had similar
misadventures.

Well...there was the one time that a pilot got a bit annoyed that the government wasn't going to do a celebration marking the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the RAF...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_...ridge_incident

Would have loved to have been on the banks of the river by Tower Bridge on that day...

[Herr-Berbunch]

There is always Sqn Ldr Crosby, the Herc pilot that jumped with SF.

[HunterICX]

You lucky bastard Jim getting to see all this good stuff up close

thanks for sharing

HunterICX

[TarJak]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Nice, I didn't know that. I'd completely forgotten we had Sabres, I always think of them as Yank, Canuck and German birds.

And Aussie. We built our own licensed variant using RR Avon engines and different armament. The whole airframe had to be remodelled to cater for the Avon engine.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by HunterICX

You lucky bastard Jim getting to see all this good stuff up close

thanks for sharing

HunterICX

Cheers Wim, I was actually suprised at how much there was to see in just the one room.

[Stealhead]

Thinking about it those Soviets where a clever bunch they asked and received from the Brits the Rolls Royce Nene engine but of course wisely did not provide the UK with any of the information they had about swept wing technology.

Supposedly Stalin when he heard the suggestion to ask permission to buy Nene engines from the Brits said "What fool will sell us his secrets?" Rolls Royce it seems.

[Jimbuna]

[Stealhead]

I found this interesting page about RAF Saber crew ejections.

http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/A...RAF-Sabres.htm

[Jimbuna]

First I knew of this...cheers

[Jimbuna]

In 1975 the Canadians attempted to bring a stuffed goose to Linton but lost it somehow on a platform at Kings Cross Station....here is the result of their second attempt in 1977

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

In 1975 the Canadians attempted to bring a stuffed goose to Linton but lost it somehow on a platform at Kings Cross Station....here is the result of their second attempt in 1977

An American C-141 crew tried to nick a grand piano from the Officers' Mess at Coltishall. It was loaded, stropped down, and engines started before anyone realised (really? A grand piano?). They nearly got away with it, their next destination was Greece.

The best my unit ever managed was a 707 model from Legoland in Denmark, last seen hanging in our crew room at Brize. (Not me, before I joined) Petty pilfering between units seems to be a staple of military life, I think the unwritten rules is as long as it's safe to do so (i.e., flight safety), and not for personal gain. I don't recall ever seeing a stuffed goose though.

[Jimbuna]

That probably answers the questions around some of the odd looking memorabilia I've come across on my travels to military establishments