Early in the New Year Ken Knott and I were airborne when a "Sixpence Combine, General Recall" message was heard on the R/T.17 This meant a rapid return to base to land as soon as possible and was only used when bad weather was known to be closing in. In this instance it was a severe snowstorm and we were lucky to get on the ground and clear the main runway before it hit us. We had just completed our after-landing checks when the weather closed in. The snow started very heavily and visibility dropped to the point when taxying became hazardous. We called Air Traffic Control and told them we couldn't see the edges of the taxiway and were, in response, told to proceed with extreme caution. We couldn't, without risking getting our aircraft bogged down. There was no alternative but to set the engines to 1000 rpm, the accepted idling speed, and wait for things to improve. We heard other aircraft telling the Tower that they, too, were staying where they were. Snow built up on the windscreen effectively blinding all forward vision. Any attempt to open the side clear vision panels resulted in snow falling in on us in large lumps, so that idea was temporarily abandoned. It was a full 20 minutes before the storm abated and we were still a long way from our flight dispersal area. The airfield now appeared totally flat; taxiways, runways, french drains, and 'bad ground' boards had been replaced by a white featureless desert. There were five or six aircraft in the same predicament - engines running and no way to move. Those aircraft which hadn't made it back to base and had stood off away from the storm were now arriving overhead seeking permission to land. No chance. They were diverted to RAF Pershore which wasn't affected. Eventually, after what seemed like ages, vehicles began to appear and, their drivers being able to see features more clearly, lead us back to our dispersal areas. We taxied by sticking our heads out of the clear vision panels on each side of the cockpit and shouted directions to each other as we carefully weaved our way back at a snail's pace. It was the end of flying for that day. The Station Met Officer said later that over two inches of snow had fallen during that one vicious squall.
During routine training flights some extraordinary things happened. There was one sad occasion when flying dual that my instructor and I were keeping an eye on a Percival Prentice doing aerobatics in case it strayed into our flight path. To our horror we watched one of its wings break off as it pulled out of a loop. My instructor put out a Pan call to inform the emergency services of what we had seen.18 I heard no more about it, but my instructor had to attend as a witness at the ensuing Board of Inquiry held at another airfield. There was an occasion when I could hardly believe what I was seeing. There, off to one side, was a four-engined bomber gaining altitude with all four engines feathered - about the least probable situation one could expect. On reporting this at the end of the sortie I discovered that it was an experimental airframe (probably an old Lincoln or Lancaster bomber) which was used as a flying test bed for a new type of jet engine which was fitted into its bomb bay, and this unseen (by me) engine was providing the power. Another oddity which I saw more than once was an aircraft fitted with a large cage built on to its fin and rudder. It was being used for icing tests and, in the right conditions, sprayed water mist in the hope that it would freeze on the fin and lessons could be learned from it.
There was an instance witnessed by several of us from just outside our Flight hut. We were watching a routine take-off, during the later part of which an engine was throttled right back to simulate engine failure so that the student could take necessary corrective action and institute forced landing procedures. A moment or two later there was a puff of smoke and a loud bang as the 'good' engine failed. It
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17 "Sixpence Combine" was our Station general call-sign at that time. My own call-sign then was "Sixpence 216".
18 A Pan call was the second highest emergency call, used in this case on behalf of another aircraft. A Mayday call was inappropriate because we ourselves were not in an emergency situation.
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