My RAF Background

Number 1 School of Technical Training

RAF Halton 68-70  1STTXCOL.gif (48292 bytes)            wizardhat.gif (2980 bytes)
The Aircraft Electrician was responsible for all electrical services and most electrical 'loads' on the aircraft from the Generators through power control and regulation to all the electrical equipment on board, with the exception of Weapons, Radar, Radio and Avionics, which were separate trades.

In 1969 the trade of Instrument Mechanic was discontinued and incorporated into the Aircraft Electrician trade. Consequently we 'inherited' the responsibility for the pitot-static systems and the standard  flight instruments too so we were also trained to overhaul and calibrate: VSIs, ASIs, Mach Meters, Altimeters, Turn and Banks, Directional Gyros, Artificial Horizons and some others.

For two years every day consisted of academic studies in the morning and practical work, usually on Hunter F4's or Jet Provosts in the afternoon.  Great fun indeed!

After Halton I went to RAF Marham for the Victor course and later Waddington for a Vulcan course and Vulcan line experience.

 

 

A day at the office 1: Major servicing of Victor Mk1's
This was my home for 3 years.
The aircraft were flown in and stripped and inspected. Then all major mods and upgrades were installed. Most of the Victors we saw were K1's  (in-flight refuellers) so their bomb bays were completely filled by huge fuel tanks.  There were 3 refueling points ("HooDoo's" - 'HDU's [Hose Drum Units]), each trailing out a long hose with what looks like a badminton shuttlecock on the end, into which a receiving aircraft's pilot would aim the refueling probe.victork1s.jpg (14002 bytes)
The Victor was, let's just say "challenging", to work on!!  Everything was very hard to get at and it really helped if you were skinny!  Like the Vulcan, this was a totally electric aircraft and its four alternators could literally supply a small town with power!

The aircraft were completely repainted afterwards and looked brand-new throughout when they left. Sometimes a Victor and a Vulcan would be ready to leave on the same day and there would be a 'fly-off' where they would each pull some G's for the benefit of we poor 'groundlubbers' before going back to base.
Document1   Document2
You didn't get much in the way of documentation of your service in those days so it was hard to impress an employer afterwards! A single sentence would sum up several years of valuable experience! However I found that I was always quickly hired, wherever I went after leaving the RAF.

 

 A day at the office 2: Line servicing of Vulcans
You can't tell, unfortunately, which Vulcans these are but I took this photo at Goose Bay in 1974. I was there for a year from 1973 to '74. It was a terrific posting for the RAF personnel because we had only a small contingent there so everything was much more relaxed after hours than at almost any RAF station and there was (surprisingly, considering the amazingly harsh climate) lots to do after hours. The crews and servicing teams enjoyed a closer team relationship than at other stations.

goosebadge.jpg (15232 bytes)We were divided into 4 servicing teams, each receiving a Victor or a Vulcan for about a week each time. There were times during the year when we'd only receive an aircraft every 3 or 4 weeks, which would stay for about a week.  So in between there was plenty of time for hiking or boating in the summer and snowmobile riding and ice fishing (yep!) in the winter. (We soon discovered that for best results and to eliminate hours of fruitless fishing it was better if your hole went right through the ice! :-) Incidentally,it was very common for the temperature to be minus 50 degrees, not counting the wind-chill factor!!   Winter was officially acknowledged the day the Fahrenheit and Centigrade scales met at minus 40 and we'd then switch our activities (not to mention our clothing) to suit the season!!

 
After leaving the RAF I worked as an aircraft electrician for Pacific Western Airlines, later to became Canadian Airlines and now about to be part of Air Canada. After the noise and action (and danger) around the Vulcan and Victor I'm afraid I found it considerably less exciting to work on 707's, 727's and 737's.  I switched to digital electronics and the computer business in 1977 and worked for Sperry Univac, Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) and Texas Instruments and others before starting a hardware and software design company in 1981. I remember fondly my active V-Bomber days and remain involved with one or two of them today.  

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