Royal Air Force Station HALTON (1959)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- The training of RAF apprentice technicians at RAF Halton.The film includes unusual footage of Vulcan serivicing,three ship formations and Swifts bieing loaded with air-to-air missiles..I hope that this film interests you..Thanks for liking and Subscribing!#planespotting #britisharmedforces #aviation #aviationhistory #britishmilitary #royalairforceuk #history #classicaircraft #royalairforce
I was a Halton Apprentice 1970-72 the beufighter engine rig was not in use but still in existence. I saw it on a cross country run, stopping and climbing inside. Today 17th July 2024 my grandson passed out on the same parade square as I did in 1972, he carried my apprentice wheel in his best blue pocket. i wore it on my best blue in 1972.
Nice touch, Dave 👍🏻 best wishes to your grandson, an excellent choice of career, I think.
Wonderful story; thanks for sharing.
It was there when I was gliding with ATC in 1963 and there was a burnt patch on the 'field which had been a Mosquito.
@@johnjephcote7636 After leaving Halton I worked on BBMF my chief an ex apprentice told me the Mosquito Merlins were removed whilst he was there and sold off the aircraft were taken out on the airfield and burnt.
@@davegoldsmith4020 thanks pity it’s two Hercules engines were not rescued and donated to the rebuilt airframe at Duxford , long gone I suppose
But seems to symbolise the reduction in standards in these comments, tragic …
I did my time at Halton best days of my life I arrived an inexperienced boy entrant and left a skilled engineer! Im still an engineer 45 years later. The workshop time was the best bulling stuff up was the worst! Oh yes if you work on any aircraft you have to treat it as if YOU are flying in it! PERFECTION is not a word used lightly in the RAF. Crikey i wish that Beaufighter rig had been there in the 70's thats something else! I will never forget watching a QRA - 4 Vulcan scramble at Waddington - 16 Olympus engines roaring into life and then howling into the sky - I thank them for never being out of work my entire working life - I retire soon! I served my Queen and country - would I do it again? IN A HEARTBEAT.
Thanks for your comment and for following!
The best technical training I ever received, marching up and down the hill every day. It’s a pity the young people of today don’t have that experience or opportunity.
I was an instructor down the airfield at Halton. 1989 to 1991. I helped recruit for the last two entries. Although not an apprentice myself, it was a privilege to teach them. I wonder where they are now.
Glad that you enjoyed it!
Dad would have loved this. Halton Brat (electrical) 1944. Did another 30 years.
God bless Dad, from your three sons.
All those Swifts!
Sadly the RAF a is no longer the place to find a leading skill anymore. Hampered by savage cuts and constant watering down of the skills and still they claim it’s the finest training… absolute hogswash… having been an instructor on and off for over 20 years towards the tail end of my career in the RAF it’s went from excellence to sheer futility… with students passing out with no real skill level and a job with no real challenges…. All thanks to placing the pound before the quality of training.
Thanks for your comment.
I agree I was a rigger, my trade now twinned with Engines. I spoke to a guy on 617 squadron at a show he admitted he had not worked in the rigger part of the trade since training , he was about to be promoted to be a SNCO, he told me he was dreading being asked airframe type questions.
A triumph of accountancy over economics.
It’s literally everywhere in the public and private sector.
@@davegoldsmith4020 As an ex-Victor and Tonka rigger/sooty split-brain and having been on 617 and at TTTE back in the day when proper apprentices were still being trained and single skilled mechanics were going back to Halton for fitters courses, once that all stopped together with privatising everything beyond first line, it was the death of proper technical expertise in the RAF.
We were utilised in both skill-sets and periodically swapped trade desks depending on the situation to help out wherever and whenever needed. It was up to us to show some flexibility and noted for assessments.
@@125brat I worked with a couple of good split brains on 31, used to share a car with one. have to agree with you about the watering down of the skills. I was a line NCO at lossie, lots of my FLM's became excellent tradesmen.
Nice piece of aviation history. I just love the 1950's! 😊 UK
Glad you enjoyed it
Had the dubious pleasure of Halton 82-85. The Beaufighter engine rig and aircraft gun firing had stopped by then. Never saw any of those. Piston engine training had also stopped by my time as well.
125 Entry were the last to do Piston Engine training and gain the Piston Engine "Q".
I was a Halton apprentice, 73 - 76, so this brought back many memories for me thanks for putting it up
Glad that you enjoyed it!
My mate's dad, the late John Strange, was a Halton apprentice probably at about the time this film was made.
No mention of women in that film. My mother trained there as an Engine Fitter (Merlins) in 1942.
Beards and pony tails now!
Heard it’s due to close in December of 2027. Not much time left.
Nevermind eh. Now the best you'll get is diversity, equality and inclusion training
Yep , it's so depressing . Don't forget you pronoun badge .
I don't think aircraft tolerate the lowering of standards diversity and other woke nonsence bring. I wish the pilots good luck, they are going to need it.
Learnt to glide there in the 1960s with the air cadets. Popular thing to do was to install aircraft instruments in your car. Pitot tubes sticking out of the radiator grille was a give-away!
Yep, I did some gliding too in the "Barges" on Wednesday sports afternoons.
Ex-Brat myself; was on extended secondment to Halton in '64. Having been involved in the restoration of a Mk.1 Anson, it was nice to see what I think is a T.21 tucked away in the hanger at 13:21.
I went to my first air show at Halton in the 1980s. I remember seeing a Harrier do a rolling take-off on the grass and bouncing into the air! I think they had some old static Argosy transports there, too.
The missile-equipped Swift F.7 may have been operating from Valley, as most of this variant were operated by No 1 Guided Weapons Development Unit and were used primarily to develop and fire the Fireflash Missile (formerly Blue Sky) - a radar guided missile.
Thanks for the info!
I read Halton is to close, and there's very little left of the RAF as it is. Sad times.
I was there the day before yesterday my grandson passed out from basic training. I was there from 1970-72. The Barrack blocks are one hundred years old. They do show their age, but there is new build. recruit training squadron is based there and thriving . I would guess that about a third of the camp is in use. The old training workshops do not appear to be in use. I believe some money man wanted to close and sell of Halton, but the land actually still belongs to the Rothschild's. so if the RAF move out they get nothing. Hopefully the RAF is on the Up, an entry of about a hundred guys pass out every two weeks to go onto further training. the biggest problem is the time it takes for guys to get in, from walking into the recruiting office to starting training took my grandson thirteen months. I spoke to the training flight sergeant he told me two years is not uncommon. lets hope labour hit their promised target 2.5% of GDP
@@davegoldsmith4020 Another problem is that increasing the numbers in the armed forces isn't that simple, because successive goverments both Labour and Tory have sold off vast swathes of the defence estate, meaning there isn't room (or for that matter kit) for big numbers. I was at PMRAF Hospital Halton. Sadly long gone, as has every stand alone military hospital in UK.
@@timwingham8952 I had an operation in Ely most of the patients were civilians. I image that applied to most military hospitals. close all those hospitals and the NHS cannot cope, more civilians and now service people
When you think of the country now it’s almost unbearable to watch this and realise it’s all gone.
I remember that engine test bed on th airfield wot a racket !!!
Hey--Did I se "Herman-Gorengs"-name on that "notice-board"-1938 -??---
I did my PPL at the flying club at Halton
My Grandfather was a civilian drill instructor there during WW2.
Sadly the RAF does not value it's heritage and Halton is no longer the # 1 School of technical training. I remember the cross country races and sports facilities!
My elder brother, now living in Texas, was a member of the 85th Entry at around the time of this documentary. He was an engine fitter, but I looked for him in vain.....😂
Thanks for watching.
Yeah, I looked for myself. 86th 1957-1960.
Soon to be closed for housing and demolition more traffic.
My mate was a "cook' in the R.A.F-one day,the Gov.-sacked them all-after years of service,-& replaced the lot,-with a :"sandwich/carousel/-a coke machine/& catered "frozen-dinners-!!-come in late??-"tough-luck"-I'm not kidding !!
Thanks for your comment!
Was the aircraft that the swift shot down a Grumman F6F Hellcat?
- certainly had the profile of an F6F.
The frames before showed an way model Sidewinder launch. I think it was some American footage, same with the B17 being hit by what looks like an early Sparrow. Obsolete Firefly and early Meteor drones were used in the Girrflash trials.
Raf Luqa now full of wee shops 😢
0630 ish, the bell goes and all the trainees just jump out of the cockpits and stroll off??? Where are their tools? lol
Naffi wagon's arrived! 👍
@@chrisweeks6973 Blimey I remember that well lol
NAAFI break, if you wanted something from the wagon you needed to get there quickly, as soon as break time finished, the wagon serving hatch slammed shut no matter how many were still in the queue, that's while they were out quickly. After break you would return to work. At the end of the day, all tools returned to the tool boards, and you did not leave until all tools accounted for. Why did you want something from the NAAFI wagon, chances are you might have missed breakfast , getting the barrack room and your bedspace ready for inspection.
@@davegoldsmith4020 Yes, that's spot on the mark, Dave; I remember it well! 😉
@@davegoldsmith4020 I know, I was there lol
Does anybody know what happened to the Beaufighter engine rig?
I've seen reports that it went to Australia for use in the rebuild of one or more Beaufighters there. UK civil registration G-DINT was assigned to it at one stage .
I have never been a more smoke laden room than the other ranks mess at Halton
Utterly disgusting - walk in one door & out the otherside & you stank like an old ashtray