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Dave Phillips

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  1. Flt Lt Russell Rusty Waughman DFC AFC Lancaster Pilot Russell “Rusty†waughman 101 Special Squadron Having completed yet another sortie, the crew of 101 Sqn Special Operations Lancaster SR-W, piloted by Flt Lt Rusty Waughman, are about to commence the long and hazardous journey back to their base at Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire. Volunteered for the RAF in 1941. After training in Canada, he qualified as a heavy bomber pilot. In November 1943 he was posted to No.101 (Special Duties) Squadron at Ludford Magna. He completed a tour of operations, which began during the Battle of Berlin, where they did several operations. Surviving a mid-air collision, only to write the aircraft off on landing, Rusty and his crew on a subsequent flight had a miraculous escape when their aircraft was blown upside down, over the target, at Mailly-le-Camp; they also survived the Nuremberg raid on 30th March 1944, when 97 aircraft were lost - including about one quarter of 101 Sqn strength that night. By the spring of 1945, Germanys once all-conquering submarine fleet, driven by allied forces from its bases in estern France, had fled to the relative safety of the Norwegian fjords - territory still remaining under German occupation since 1940. In one of Hitlers last stands, more than 100 U-Boats, merchant freighters, flakships, and other military vessels were hathered in the narrow fjords, laying up by day and sailing undercover of darkness. They were a menace that had to be dealt with. Tasked with the difficult job of eliminating this force were the Beaufighters and Mosquitos of RAF Coastal Commands Strike Wings based in Scotland. - Our job was to go after this shipping and sink it - recalled Wing Commader Colin Milson, C.O. of No. 455s Beaufighters. - The fjords were often just 200 - 300 yards across with cliffs rising vertically up 2000 feet, the deep water allowing the German shipping to get in beneath these high overhanging cliffs. This made for difficult and dangerous flying, exacerbated by the heavy flak and machine gun fire that always welcomed us.
  2. Des Curtis DFC Flight Lieutenant (Brian Beattie NAVIGATOR) Battle of Brittan Pilot in Mosquito’s 248 squadron, HIS BOOK A Most Secret Squadron: The First Full Story of 618 Squadron and Its Special Detachment Anti-U-Boat Mosquitos Des Curtis was one of the founder members of 618 Squadron. Formed within days of the illustrious 617, 618's primary objective was to mount a daylight low-level attack by Mosquitos on the German battleship Tirpitz within hours of the attack on the Ruhr dams. The operation, codenamed Operation Servant, was given top security clification, to the point where the subject was excluded from the minutes of the meetings of the Chiefs of Staff of the air and naval forces. The author reveals the dilemmas and conflicting priorities existing to the highest levels, setting out in detail the technicalities of developing the bouncing bomb'. He also writes first hand about the tactical problems of getting to and from the target and the tensions and strains endured by the Mosquito crews themselves, as they took the war to the German U-Boats within the sight and safety of their bases. A Most Secret Squadron: The First Full Story of 618 Squadron and Its Special Detachment Anti-U-Boat Mosquitos by Flight Lieutenant Des Curtis DFC,
  3. Flight Lieutenant Brian Beattie Battle of Britain Pilot in Mosquito’s 248 squadron Used as a night fighter, fighter bomber, bomber and Photo-reconnaissance, with a crew of two, Maximum speed was 425 mph, at 30,300 feet, 380mph at 17,000ft. and a ceiling of 36,000feet, maximum range 3,500 miles. the Mosquito was armed with four 20mm Hospano cannon in belly and four .303 inch browning machine guns in nose. Coastal strike aircraft had eight 3-inch Rockets under the wings, and one 57mm shell gun in belly. The Mossie at it was known made its first flight on 25th November 1940, and the mosquito made its first operational flight for the Royal Air Force as a reconnaissance unit based at Benson. In early 1942, a modified version (mark II) operated as a night fighter with 157 and 23 squadron's. In April 1943 the first De Haviland Mosquito saw service in the Far east and in 1944 The Mosquito was used at Coastal Command in its strike wings. Bomber Commands offensive against Germany saw many Mosquitos, used as photo Reconnaissance aircraft, Fighter Escorts, and Path Finders. The Mosquito stayed in service with the Royal Air Force until 1955. and a total of 7781 mosquito's were built. A De Havilland Mosquito patrols high above the clouds. This versatile all-wooden aircraft first flew on the 25th of November 1940. This aircraft was used in a wide variety of roles, including as a fighter-bomber and as a Pathfinder for bombers. Also was involved in the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz
  4. Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown CBE Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC (born 21 January 1919) is a former Royal Navy officer and test pilot who has flown more types of aircraft than anyone else in history. He is also the Fleet Air Arm’s most decorated pilot, and holds the world record for aircraft carrier landings. During carrier compatibility trials, Brown crashlanded a Fairey Firefly Mk. I, Z1844, on the deck of HMS Pretoria Castle on 9 September 1943, when the arrestor hook indicator light falsely showed the hook was in the "down" position. The fighter hit the crash barrier, sheared off its undercarriage and shredded the propeller, but the pilot was unhurt.[3] On 2 May 1944 he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire "for outstanding enterprise and skill in piloting aircraft during hazardous aircraft trials. In 1945 he successfully, if raggedly, flew a Sikorsky R-4B helicopter with instruction solely from reading a manual. After World War II‚ Brown commanded the Enemy Aircraft Flight, an elite group of pilots who test-flew captured German aircraft. That experience makes Brown one of the few men qualified to compare both Allied and Axis "warbirds" as they actually flew during the war. He flight-tested 53 German aircraft, including the Me 163 rocket plane and the Messerschmitt Me 262, Arado Ar 234, and Heinkel He 162 jet planes. Fluent in German, he helped interview many Germans after World War II, including Wernher von Braun and Hermann Göring, Willy Messerschmitt and Dr. Ernst Heinkel. He was also able to renew acquaintances with German aviatrix Hanna Reitsch, whom he had met in Germany before the war. As an RAE test pilot he was involved in the wartime Miles M.52 supersonic project, test flying a Spitfire fitted with the M.52's all moving tail, diving from high altitude to achieve high subsonic speeds. He was due fly the M.52, but this fell through when the project was cancelled, allowing Chuck Yeager to become the first man to exceed Mach 1 in 1947. Brown is responsible for at least two important firsts in carrier aviation - the first carrier landing using an aircraft equipped with a tricycle undercarriage (Bell Airacobra Mk 1 AH574) on the trials carrier HMS Pretoria Castle on April 4, 1945, and the world's first landing of a jet aircraft on an aircraft carrier, landing the de Havilland Sea Vampire LZ551/G on the Royal Navy carrier HMS Ocean on 3 December 1945. He also holds the world's record for the most carrier landings, 2,407. In 1946 he test flew a modified strengthened and control-boosted de Havilland DH.108 after a fatal crash involving Geoffrey de Havilland, Jr. and discovered that in a Mach 0.88 dive it suffered from a high-g pitch oscillation at several hertz (Hz). He believed that he survived the test flight partly because he was a shorter man - Geoffrey's body had suffered a broken neck possibly due to the violent oscillation. In 1948 Brown was awarded the Boyd Trophy for his work with trials for the rubber deck landing system On 30 March 1949 he was granted a permanent Royal Navy commission as a lieutenant, with seniority backdated to his original wartime promotion to the rank. He was promoted lieutenant-commander on 1 April 1951. In the 1960s, due to his considerable experience of carrier aviation, Brown was consulted on the flight deck arrangement of the planned new UK class of aircraft carrier, the CVA-01, although the ship was subsequently cancelled while still on the stocks. He was appointed a Naval Aide de Camp to Queen Elizabeth II on 7 July 1969, and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1970 New Year Honours. He relinquished his appointment as Naval ADC on 27 January 1970 He flew aircraft from Britain, the United States, Germany, Italy and Japan, and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as holding the record for flying the greatest number of different aircraft. The official record is 487, but only includes basic types. For example Captain Brown flew several versions of the Spitfire and Seafire, and although these versions are very different they only appear once in the list. Due to the special circumstances involved, he doesn't think that this record will ever be beaten.
  5. Unfortunately we have lost the following pilots for this event. Wing Commander John Bell will attend in September Flt/Lt Terry Clarke will attend in September John Langston unable to attend We have however been able to obtain some last minute replacements please see guest announcements for details.
  6. Hi There Not confirmed 100% but looks like we will hold Tippi and leslie between 3.45-4.45. When i have confirmation i will post that info. Dave Phillips
  7. Hi Guys We are 3 weeks away yet and do not forsee any flight problems. Dave Phillips
  8. Hi Everyone Yes that is o.k so long as you used the same booking code. Dave Phillips
  9. Hello everyone Finally we have the booking form for rooms at the Hilton. Click on the link below and it will take you direct to our own room booking service. We will also be placing this on the website asap. http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/persona...507/index.jhtml Dave Phillips
  10. Hello everyone Just to clear this one up. At the Autographica office we have a 24 hour answerphone, 24 Hour email. You not only have that but we also have the showmasters office with the same facilities. Nobody from any newspaper attempted to phone or email us before that article was released. The press will pick up on any little detail they think contains a story. I remember back in 2001 another newspaper approached us and asked if they could write a story on the show. Being naive in those days i agreed and gave them access to the dinner and the show. A week later a 4 page spread appeared in their magazine entitled After they were famous. The paper had taken photos of the celebrities signing and then digitally removed all the people so it looked like they were sitting alone in a hall devoid of any signs or photos (Which the paper had also digitally removed) But i have to say some times this publicity works well for us. In 2002 The local Northampton paper ran the story that Richard Kiel would be coming to the town to make his first ever appearance in the U.K. Anyone who has stayed at the Old Moat House hotel knows that the beds and rooms will not accomodate a man who is 7foot 2 tall and weighs 350 lbs. A local bed company came to the rescue because they had seen the article and made him a giant bed. Mind you we had to take out all the furniture from his room !!!! So i think enough said on this subject, let,s move on and work on putting on the show. Dave Phillips
  11. Hello There You are more than welcome to attend as we do not have any rules about age limits. Children 15 and under are free if accompanied by an adult. It can get very busy though so please bear that in mind. If you come in unaccompanied you will need a ticket. Dave Phillips
  12. We have just announced our first guests for Autographica London on Sept 25th-26th. Edgar Mitchell Apollo 14 moonwalker Bruce Melnick Shuttle commander Glynn Lunney Apollo flight director
  13. Finally this evening. We are very pleased to announce the return to health of one of our most popular guests. Dave Prowse will be with us all weekend. Dave has supported our show since the very beginning and we hope you will all welcome him back.
  14. Another fantastic guest this evening. Susannah York will be with us for Friday evening and Saturday. Most famous for her Roles in Battle Of Britain and Superman she has also starred in many other movies and TV shows.
  15. Edward Hardwicke better known as Dr Watson from Sherlock Holmes will be joining us.
  16. Hi There My advice as always is if you want something specific to try and find that image and bring it to get signed. Although we will have lots of different poses we cannot guarantee to have the exact photo you want. Dave Phillips
  17. Hi There We will try and mail all the tickets this year. But yes as a back up always bring your receipts with you. Dave Phillips
  18. Thought i would give you all the heads up on how the logistics will work at the show. Firstly to obtain any signature from our guest signers you will need to show your entry ticket. Anyone who does not have a valid ticket will not be able to obtain any signatures. Secondly the same applies to anyone who has a ticket for a photoshoot or lecture will not get in to those areas without a valid entrance ticket. So if you have purchased any lecture or photoshoot tickets you will also need a valid entrance ticket. This policy will be strictly enforced so please make sure you have your entrance ticket before you enter the show. All sat and sun tickets will be sent out approx one week before the event. All VIP tickets and packs are picked up on friday night at the drinks reception. All dinner ticket holders are placed on the master dinner list held by myself and do not need a physical ticket. All photoshoot and lecture tickets are picked up at the entrance to the show. Dinner places are allocated in the following manner. VIP ticket holders first Standard dinner ticket holders allocated in date of booking order. So the earlier you book the better chance you have of a really good seat. Finally the tickets have all changed this year and you will not be issued with a wristband. So please keep your ticket with you at all times whilst in the show area. Dave Phillips
  19. We are please to announce another first time signer. Anne Lonnberg was Museum guide and Drax's girl in Moonraker. Anne is a first time signer.
  20. Hello Chris I will find that out for you. Dave Phillips
  21. Hello there People who appeared in the background of bond films ? Guess you missed Ursula Andress, George Lazenby, Richard Kiel, Lois Chiles and about 200 other bond stars. And then there is of course those well known supporting actors such as Joan Collins, Ernest Borgnine,George Kennedy,Sir John Mills, Mickey Rooney etc etc etc. Enough said i think. Dave Phillips
  22. As opposed to Dave Phillips, who should be IN an institution. Ba-dum ! Great guest mate - hope ur well ! I thought working for Autographica was the same thing !!!
  23. We are pleased to announce Kim Norton will be joining us. Kim was a Zorin party girl in AVTAK.
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