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| PLACE |
DATE |
TIME |
SUMMARY OF EVENTS COMPILING OFFICER __Flying Officer I. Madelin.___ |
Refs |
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| R.A.F. JEVER |
1.8.56 |
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A full day's flying and a very good start to the month. Seven high level battle
fours were airborne during the day, as well as six cine pairs and three solo exercises.
The airfield closed at 1700 hours and will re-open on Tuesday 7th August after the
Bank Holiday week-end.
sorties 42 hours 30.55 |
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7.8.56 |
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Weather placed a judicious restriction on the start of the day's flying, and for
the second half of the morning the airfield was red, when we were bombarded by
a spectacular thunderstorm and the tower was struck by lightning. The weather
cleared during the afternoon and the day's exercises consisted mainly of cine
pairs.
sorties 21 hours 16.55 |
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8.8.56 |
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A good morning's flying took place today. Four aircraft were serviceable and
were used mainly for cine training sorties. One high level battle
sortie was flown, and towards the end of the morning individual sorties of aerobatics
and air tests were also carried out. The afternoon was devoted to sporting activities.
sorties 14 hours 10.45 |
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9.8.56 |
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The weather was quite good today. High level battle formation was, as usual
the main training carried out; with single aircraft doing practice flame-out
and aerobatic sorties. Night flying also took place ; three local sorties and
three cross countries being flown.
sorties 40 hours 31.05 |
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10.8.56 |
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The C.O. with five other pilots and nine groundcrew went on a ten day detachment
to Aalborg , Denmark with four Hunters. A similar complement of Danes are spending
ten days at Jever. This is merely a mobility exercise, and the aircraft will be
carrying on with normal Squadron flying from the different bases. The rest of the
Squadron flew cross-country with two aircraft.
sorties 9 hours 10.05 |
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11.8.56 |
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The weather was bad to start with today and after the first sortie of the evening
had taken place, it became worse, preventing further flying.
sorties 2 hours 1.30 |
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13.8.56 |
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Cloudy weather did not restrict the flying programme for today. An uneventful day
with the training consisting of four cine pairs, five high level cross countries and
six aerobatic and practice flame out landings sorties.
sorties 19 hours 16.50 |
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14.8.56 |
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At Jever a full and varied day's flying with three aircraft. We made our first sortie
with the Danes when one pair made a rendezvous and P.I.s. The honours were even until
the Danes were decoyed away by four Venoms which they thought were Vampire T.11s.
For the rest, three cine pairs were flown , one simulated six, five solo aerobatics
and two pairs of High Level Battle Formation - an introduction to this formation
for two of the new Squadron pilots.
sorties 19 hours 15.00 |
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15.8.56 |
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Three aircraft only were serviceable today and they were used for simulated six
aircraft battle formation and tailchases. An additional two sorties were devoted
to aerobatic and practice flame-out landings, and a new Pilot Officer
Ferguson carried out his first sector recce.
sorties 8 hours 6.15 |
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16.8.56 |
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Bad weather curtailed flying severely today, permitting flying between 10.30 hours
and 15.00 hours only. G.C.A.s at Ahlhorn was the main training carried out.
sorties 7 hours 9.20 |
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17.8.56 |
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Low cloud and poor visibility again restricted flying, the first take-off being
delayed until 14.10 hours. The training carried out consisted of cine quarter
attack, G.C.A. and practice Q.G.H. sorties.
sorties 4 hours 2.25 |
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18.8.56 |
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Once more bad weather allowed only one sortie from the Squadron and this was a
weather recce. The pilots devoted the morning to their Squadron duties.
sorties 1 hours 1.00 |
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20.8.56 |
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A full day's flying at last. Training was devoted to cine quarter attack sorties
but a number of formation sorties were flown, mainly for the benefit of the newer pilots
to the Squadron.
sorties 13 hours 9.20 |
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21.8.56 |
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Another good flying day of which full use was made. Cine sorties and battle formation
was again high on its agenda and night flying was carried out as well.
sorties 30 hours 21.40 |
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22.8.56 |
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The weather was more settled today allowing a full morning's flying to take place.
Battle formations were flown and individual aircraft were used for aerobatic sorties
and air tests. Flying ceased at 12.30 hours for the afternoon sports.
sorties 14 hours 9.55 |
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23.8.56 |
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Another full day's flying took place today, Battle formation as usual, was the
main training carried out, two of the formations doing practice interceptions with
the aid of the G.C.I. stations. These practice interceptions were of only limited
value to the Squadron pilots, due to the fact that the ground radar was partially
unserviceable.
sorties 23 hours 17.00 |
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24.8.56 |
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Bad weather caused the first take-off to be delayed until 12.30 hours today. As
flying was limited to one pair, the majority of sorties were used for cine training.
The weather improved during the afternoon, however, and individual sorties of
practice forced landings, and bad weather circuits were flown. At 17.00 hours
flying ceased.
sorties 18 hours 13.25 |
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27.8.56 |
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An excellent day's flying took place today. Ten aircraft remained serviceable and
full use was made of them. Two sections of four flew battle formation continuously
and two aircraft were used to attack them. Towards the end of the day F.S.
Ratcliffe, newly posted in from another Hunter Squadron, was airborne on his first
sector recce.
sorties 59 hours 45.10 |
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28.8.56 |
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The weather remained fair today. A number of cine sorties were flown and the remainder
of the training was mostly concerned with Practice G.C.A.s with the Wing's own
equipment. This equipment has only been operating for about a weak and still has
some teething troubles, but it promises to be of great use in the future.
sorties 20 hours 14.40 |
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29.8.56 |
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Today the Squadron reached its target, and the training was limited to one eight-
aircraft close formation sortie, which proved to be quite successful. The afternoon
was devoted to sporting activities, as is usual for Wednesday afternoons.
sorties 8 hours 5.20 |
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30.8.56 |
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Today saw the first of a series of monthly exercises between No.s 2 and 83 Groups
called Exercise Guest. The Squadron was used in a defensive role, but used sparingly,
only two sections of four aircraft and three pairs were scrambled. The results
were quite good, however, and a number of Canberras, Thunderstreaks, Hunters and
Meteors were intercepted. The exercise finished at 1600 hours and one additional
battle formation was flown.
sorties 17 hours 12.45 |
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31.8.56 |
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No flying took place today as the target has been reached with some hours to spare.
In the morning the pilots devoted themselves to their respective Squadron duties.
A cricket match between the pilots and the airmen was arranged for the afternoon,
which was won by the pilots team.
AALBORG - 10th to 15th
On the 10th of August, four aircraft and six pilots were detached to R.D.A.F. Station
at Aalborg. The weather throughout the period was not good, flying being delayed at
least twice by conditions of bad visibility and heavy rain.
Aircraft serviceability was poor, the main reason being that the Danish radio crystals
were slightly smaller than those of the R.A.F. , consequently making intermittent
contact and causing radio failure.
Normal flying was carried out as often as the weather and aircraft serviceability
would allow. Sector familiarisation was carried out to start with, and was followed
by high level battle formation sorties, some of which being controlled by Danish
G.C.I. Stations. Full use was made of the G.C.A. facilities at Aalborg, most of
the flights ending with a Q.G.H. and G.C.A., and in all cases these were 100%
successful.
15th - 21st
Six pilots flew to Aalborg this morning in T. 11s to relieve the six already there.
They stayed for six days and finished the second half of a successful detachment.
After area recces around North Jutland, the six settled in to a fairly full
programme concentrating mainly on high level battle formation, but making very good
use of the excellent G.C.A. facilities. A "quicky" G.C.A. was timed at four minutes
from the overshoot, and used less than 200 lbs of fuel. The last few sorties were
flown in conjunction with the Danish 724 Hunter Squadron who were the hosts.
Sorties and Hours for the whole detachment
sorties 94 hours 68.50 |
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R.Chapman
(J. R. CHAPMAN)
Squadron Leader,
Officer Commanding
Number 4 Squadron |
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