May 2018 FLYPAST 77RAF SCHOOL OF TECHNICAL TRAINING 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
May 2018 May 2018 May 2018The Valor paraffi n heaters in the foreground testify to the coldness of the hangar as armourers practise
loading a combination of 500 and 1,000lb bombs into a Vickers Wellington using a hand-cranked bomb winch.
The geodetic construction of the type is apparent in the heavy bomb bay framing.
Below
Following active service, an Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bomber’s Tiger IX radial engines are used as a
training aid by mechanics. Sending outmoded aircraft like this to SoTTs guaranteed their continued existence
for a few more years as they provided further service in ways unforeseen by their designers.
Fire training also took place at SoTTs. In this
dramatic view, staged for the benefi t of the
photographer, a Hawker Fury is rapidly consumed
by the fl ames as attempts are made to put it out.
Compared with today’s Health and Safety conscious
world, it seems minimal precautions have been
taken to protect the fi refi ghter spraying the burning
wreck. Unlike modern fi re-training aids which can be
reused, the highly-fl ammable Fury was very much a
‘one shot’ effort.New in December 1938, Supermarine Spitfi re I K9829 was a veteran of the Battle of Britain, serving
with 616 Squadron until August 1, 1940, when it was damaged by a Junkers Ju 88. It eventually
ended up at Blackpool, arriving there in March 1941 and becoming 3200M. Still with black and white
undersides, it was struck off charge in September 1944. Note the empty exhaust ports and – more
curiously – the painted-on eyeballs of the young apprentices underneath the w ing.