The Stirling Aircraft Project Update

[Dave_Richardson]

Great work John. Who do we contact about the magazine and where do we send the cheques to?

Cheers

Dave

[Stirling Project]

Hi Dave

Much appreciated.

I'll email you a copy and you can send a cheque made out to the Stirling Aircraft Project to me at the address in the heading to the Newsletter.

cheers

John

[GuyMassey]

Thought I'd send you a picture of my father enjoying a visit to RAF Harrowbeer to celebrate their 70th anniversary. Although this was a fighter airfield it is right by where he now lives. Dad was an air gunner on Stirlings right through to 1945. I hope to visit your very worthwhile project in September.
regards
Guy

[K4KittyCrew]

Fantastic stuff, Guy. Please, on behalf of all members, thank your father for his efforts. We continue to remember them, now and forever.
By the way, you may have mentioned these details on another post but thought I'd ask anyway .......... was your father a 'mid upper' or 'tail gunner' and how many ops did he fly on?
Cheers,
John

[Stirling Project]

Hi Guy

Drop me a line when you want to come over. I'm on holiday from the 10th to 17th, but any other time should probably be ok

[GuyMassey]

Fantastic stuff, Guy. Please, on behalf of all members, thank your father for his efforts. We continue to remember them, now and forever.
By the way, you may have mentioned these details on another post but thought I'd ask anyway .......... was your father a 'mid upper' or 'tail gunner' and how many ops did he fly on?
Cheers,
John

Father joined up in late 1942 and attended No.7 Air Gunnery School, Stormy Down, No. 103. AB Initio Gunnery Course, 12hrs 55min flying time. Flying in Boulton & Paul Defiants & Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys. Exam marks 79.8%. Recommended for commission. At the time he was just 19. He was told at the time he was the youngest ever air gunner to be commissioned. He flew ops with 199 and 620 sdns but did not complete a full tour as Stirlings were withdrawn to other duties. He joined 299 sdn and participated in Tonga, Mallard and Arnhem as well as many SOE drops, mostly in France but also Norway. His 1945 logs were lost but he says he also took part in Mana. He was a rear gunner throughout.
Regards
Guy

[Stirling Project]

And some more progress...

1st pilots aileron control chain and pushrods temporarily assembled to the column. The chain was bought in but the rods were made by ourselves whereas the fork ends, links and special bolts were kindly made for us foc by Marshall Aerospace. Pilots seat rail has also been installed ready for the Bomber Command Veterans day this Saturday (details on other thread)

John

Picture 147.jpg

IMAG0044.jpg

[Stirling Project]

Some pictures from the Bomber Command Veterans event held last weekend which we attended, pictured is the P1 column and seat beams in relation to the instrument panel/throttle box and the last photo is of Flt Lt Harry Howe who was a Rear Gunner on Stirlings

[wayne]

Hi John,

The progress on the control column/seat/throttle box ect is stunning to see.
Seeing all this together is awesome.
Thanks for the update.

Regards,
Wayne.

[Stirling Project]

Thanks Wayne

When you see it all slaved together it really starts to look like a flight deck. Hopefully within this month the P2 column will also be mounted and work will commence on the seat mounts proper.