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The Sky’s The Limit (2)

My first challenge came without delay. It was very simple; I would be given some 10 hours of instruction on flying a Tiger Moth. After 10 hours, I had to fly solo. If I succeeded, I would be sent to an RAF Base for further training. There was no question of failure in my mind. After exactly 10 hours and 45 minutes, the instructor walked me to the Tiger Moth on the landing strip, helped me into the cockpit and very quietly said “see you in 15 minutes” He then turned and walked away!


I was on my own. I went over everything I had been taught and took off. 15 short minutes later I landed safely. I had flown solo and completed each manoeuvre successfully. I had proved I was going to be a pilot!


I was sent to a Royal Air Force station in South Cerney near Cirencester in Gloucestershire where the serious part of the training kicked in for me. The airfield had been built earlier in the century and rebuilt during the 1930’s. It had been in constant use, especially during WWll when it was used to conduct training for the RAF.


I was instructed to fly on Harvard training aircraft and given an intensive course on airmanship, with special attention to all practical aspects of flying and navigation. As part of the normal training, I was taught how to take off, land, climb and dive, get out of a spin and generally maintain control of the aircraft. In addition, without notice, I was handed control of the aircraft from so called “unusual positions”, which included flying blind after the instructor had covered the cockpit with a canvas and uttered the words: “You’re in control”.


My cousin Gordon Rowan Robinson would often visit me during my training and when I was stationed in various places. Gordon was a well-respected Wing Commander, and his visits were a great help to my morale, as I had no family around. During the war Gordon was awarded the DSO and DFC. One year after joining the RAF, my dream came true, at a ceremony attended by Gordon and the world-famous war hero, Nobby Knobloch, wings were pinned onto my chest. He and Gordon attended the champagne celebration with me to “wet the wings”! Nobby had been one of my heroes, since his participation in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.


Soon after gaining my wings, I was assigned to 208 Squadron, which had been stationed in Egypt during the war and in Palestine for several years after the war until it returned to the Suez Canal Zone, in Egypt in 1948. During my service it operated in the Middle East Airforce under the insignia, “Wings in the Air”.

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