Flying On Rotation
Heroes Remember
Flying On Rotation
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Well I did over 700 hours during my tour
there and I did 230 operations in that period,
that would be around 11 months,
something like that.
What would happen is, you would have the
air craft one day and you'd fly your three
flights or four, sometimes with weather
you couldn't get them all in and the next
day another crew would take the same one
and fly it from dawn til dusk and the next
day you would do it so it was a rotation deal.
In the different books that Mountbatten
wrote that he had never ever had a group
who carried so much in so short a time ever,
they surpassed all records on two squadrons,
I'm saying 435 and 436,
both had similar records.
And the ground crew in particular,
the aircraft were maintained,
we had 25 aircraft and they were
maintained at 90% serviceability which
was rated very, very high in wartime and
often higher than that and an engine
change would be done overnight using
tripods with pulleys to pull the engine in
and out but I think of nowadays and my
postwar experience, you know, aircraft
would be gone for ten days having an
engine change and all the good things
and so generally someone would have it
air tested for you and you'd be ready to
go first thing again in the morning.
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