throttles, instead of being more or less in the same side-by-side position were some two inches apart. Making small changes of power needed to carry out the actions demanded of me, and at the same time maintaining engine synchronisation, was a major distraction in itself. After 55 minutes under two stage amber of a one hour and ten minutes flight I climbed out with my examiner to be told that I was satisfactory but the aircraft was to be placed unserviceable! This particular flight was also recorded as 'Other Flying' and not regarded as a part of the course.
I had always suffered from hay fever and, since joining the RAF had undergone several medical tests to try to establish the cause of my allergy. I have to say that it never bothered me in the air because most flying was done above the dust and pollen layer which usually clung fairly close to the ground. There was a Royal Air Force hospital at Cosford at which I was due to attend so, rather than take time off the course, I was scheduled to fly there with Flt.Lt. Len Higgens. This return flight would not be a part of any particular exercise but obviously had a cross-country, land away from base, content. Len let me fly to Cosford and land there. Now Cosford has a railway line on a low embankment which might cause some turbulence just at a critical stage on the approach to the main runway. I was aware of this and came in a knot or two faster than normal to compensate. What took me by complete surprise was to suddenly find myself flying through 'cloud' at that crucial stage. I had not seen the train approaching and flew through the steam being let off by the locomotive's safety valves. All Len said was that it was always wise to be prepared for the unexpected!
With the medical tests carried out it was time for the return flight. Over lunch in the Mess we had discussed the possibility of flying over my grandmother's home in Shropshire, not far away. Len said he knew the area from his wartime days but I would do the navigation. That was OK by me so we set off for this minor diversion on our journey back to base. We found the house, but there was no sign of life after circling twice at as low a level as we dared. Sod's Law worked against us. Len then said "I have control" and set off in the direction of Tilstock airfield, now derelict. He said he had flown from there and knew it well. At this stage I was only there for the ride. Len, mistaking the main A49 road for the old main runway, set up a straight-in approach for a roller landing and rapid take-off. So far so good. On the last stage of the approach, wheels down, he realised his error, opened up the engines, pushing the throttles 'through the gate' and raised the undercarriage to climb away smartly as a car was approaching along the road from the opposite direction.13 Just before we were over the car the driver swerved off the road and baled out to lie flat on the grass alongside. We must have missed him by about 25 feet. With engines nearly bursting we climbed away straight ahead as rapidly as the old kite could take us. Len's only comment to me when turning for base was "Ken, if ever you get into a situation like that make sure you climb away straight ahead because from that angle they can't see your number. Never ever bank to have a look at what you've done".
Formation flying is not easy for a beginner. The tendency to think that the other (leader's) aircraft is the one that is moving up and down in relationship to you is almost overwhelming to begin with. Slowly I learned to steady down and make constant variations of throttle settings to maintain position, then with added practice to tuck in tight and hold close formation. After this there were the different formation positions to practise, and then to fly in multi-aircraft formations, with changes of position during the flights. At first the strain of close formation flying for any length of time was such that the sweat soaked my clothes. An hour of that was like a day's work doing almost any other job. Eventually I grew more used to it but all of us found it very tiring. In fact we became sufficiently proficient, as was
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13 Through the gate: This was a wide open throttle position only to be used in emergency and for very short periods because of potential engine damage. It was not normal practice to do this. 30