Happy Landings

265 Pages·2012·6.73 MB·English

HAPPY LANDINGS
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Happy Landings
Born three years after the Wright brothers
made their first historic flight, Edward Mole
has lived through and taken an active part in
aviation from the early pioneering days. His
career as a pilot spans some 50 years, during
which time he has flown 148 different types of
aircraft from World War I vintage, through
World War II and into the jet age.
The author was one of the pioneers of the
British gliding movement, holding Certificate
No. 6, and the story describes the efforts of
early enthusiasts with their primitive
equipment and limited knowledge who,
although they made no outstanding flights,
did contribute towards the present
development of the sport. He was also a
founder member and former chairman of the
Popular Flying Association and gives an
interesting history of the first few years of the
P.P.A. which led up to its rapid growth and
present success.
During World War II the author was closely
connected with the technical development of
military gliders which were used so
successfully by our Airborne Forces. After D-
Day he was seconded to B.O.A.C. as manager
of their Development Flight, newly
established to test the planned range of post­
war civil airliners on their routes. He later
joined the National Gas Turbine
Establishment at Farnborough as R.A.F.
representative responsible for liaison between
technical staff and R.A.F. Squadrons then
becoming equipped with jet engined aircraft.
After retirement from the R.A.F., he was
appointed Director of Civil Aviation in the
Bahamas in charge of Nassau International
Airport, and he relates various interesting and
amusing incidents of life in that 'tourist
paradise'. Subsequently he started his own
aviation consultancy business in London.
The author vividly describes the carefree life
in the pre-war R.A.F., the traumatic war
years and the post-war era of great
development in aviation. It is a nostalgic story
enriched with many amusing anecdotes of
incidents and personalities encountered.
HAPPY LANDINGS is a cheerful book
which should appeal to everyone interested in
the sport of flying and the development of
aviation since the early days.
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HAPPY LANDINGS
Happy
Landings
The recollections of a light-hearted Airman
Group Captain Edward Mole,
B.Sc., F.R.Ae.S.
Airlife
England
Copyright © Group Captain Edward Mole, 1984.
ISBN 0 906393 43 9
First published 1984
by Airlife Publishing Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
from the Publisher in writing.
Printed in England by Livesey Ltd., Shrewsbury.
Airlife Publishing Ltd.
7 St. John's Hill, Shrewsbury, England.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 My Early Years ................ 1
2 Farnborough .................. 12
3 Digby ...................... 17
4 Manston ..................... 25
5 Henlow ..................... 39
6 The Birth of British Gliding ........ 47
7 Halton ...................... 57
8 The Sudan ................... 66
9 Aboukir ..................... 74
10 Abu Sueir .................... 79
11 Gliding and Soaring Flight in Egypt ... 84
12 Andover ..................... 90
13 France ...................... 97
14 Wartime London ............... 104
15 U.S.A. ...................... 115
16 London Again and the Military Gliders . 123
17 BOAC ...................... 138
18 Transport Command ............. 145
19 Farnborough Again ............. 157
20 Jamaican Interlude .............. 164
21 The Bahamas ................. 169
22 On Final Approach .............. 184
Epilogue ........................ 203
Appendix I Gliders at War ................... 205
Appendix II The Birth of the Popular Flying Association 211
Index ................................ 218
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to the following:
— Air Commodore 'Rod1 Banks and 'Bunny' Bramson for their
encouragement which enabled this book to be published.
— Peggy & Phyllis for their loyal support in editing the script.
— 'Mick' in the hope he will forgive me for taking the mickey out
of him.
— and finally to my dear wife Liz for her tolerance in accepting the
awful reminiscences of my wayward past.
Preface
I was born three years after the Wright Brothers in America made
their first historic flights in a powered aeroplane, and two years
before Colonel Cody made the first sustained aeroplane flight in
Britain. Consequently, I am fortunate to have lived throughout the
whole era of powered flight and to have witnessed the development
of the aeroplane from its very earliest days. As an active pilot for
some fifty years, I have flown 148 different types of aircraft starting
with the Avro 504 and Bristol Fighter of World War I vintage, right
through the Golden Age of Flying in the 1930's, to Spitfires,
Hurricanes and other aircraft of the World War II period, and
thence into the jet age.
My earlier reminiscences as a young man as described in this
story, may be thought to be rather too light-hearted — especially
some of the flying incidents. I do hope, however, that I have been
able to convey some idea of the cheerful life in the pre-war RAF
when flying was fun and we did not seem to have a care in the world.
With the advent of years and the weight of responsibilities, the
story naturally becomes more serious. Before starting on the flying
experiences, I would crave my reader's patience to allow me to start
these reminiscences from the beginning, from early boyhood
through the stage of a wild and rather wayward youth, until events
steered me into aviation as a career.
E.M.
Chapter 1
My Early Years
My father was a manufacturing jeweller in Birmingham, of rigid
Victorian upbringing and a strict Protestant. My mother's
conversion to the Catholic faith caused violent disagreements
between them, after one of which she walked out of the house,
never to return; 'Without even her hat,' as a shocked neighbour
exclaimed. With her, she took me, then a small baby, and my sister
Barbara, some three years old. She stayed with friends for a while
and then settled in London where, in a large house in Hampstead,
she founded an institution called St. Mary's Nursery College.
The College was organised to train some thirty resident 'nice
young Catholic girls' as children's nannies. They were trained to
care for children who were largely the offspring of British officials
based abroad in the Empire, and who were boarded at the College
until old enough to join their parents. The College was highly
successful and in due course was honoured by an official visit from
Queen Mary herself. My mother must have been a remarkably
resourceful woman to have been able to establish such an
organisation while lumbered with two small children and without
any previous business experience, at a time when it was not the done
thing for ladies to work.
I was brought up at the College until my seventh birthday when,
according to the terms of the legal separation, I was duly delivered
to my father. In a state of complete bewilderment, I arrived by cab
at a large and rather gloomy-looking house in Meadow Road,
Edgbaston — a residential suburb of Birmingham. Here my father
lived with my elder brother and other sister, both ten or more years
older than myself and grown up. The house was run with rigid
efficiency by an elderly lady housekeeper aided by a cook and
housemaid, who must have resented the upheaval caused by the
arrival of a small child. I felt completely lost for a while and badly
missed my mother's affection.
Twelve months later World War I was declared, at the outset of
which my brother, Kenneth, joined the army with a commission in
the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. For years he underwent all the
miseries and horrors of trench warfare in France, until severely
wounded and repatriated. My elder sister had taken up a teaching