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But what of the interned aircrew? Well, many of them ended up staying as "guests" in beautiful Wauwilermoos Penal Camp, a place pretty much awful in most regards. A former internee recollected...

...the beds were wooden planks or some of them were only straw on the floor ... American prisoners were subjected to physical and ###ual abuse, starvation, freezing, disease-ridden conditions and virtually no hygiene facilities ... [the camp] was exactly like, if not worse than, any POW camp in Germany, it was horrible.
Nice.

I guess by "Neutral' they meant they hate everyone equally.
 
Switzerland was officially neutral in WWII. So was Sweden and so was Spain. But, for various and somewhat different reasons, they were actually all very pro-German.
 
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Looks like Egypt has operated a ton of stuff from the English, Chinese, Yanks, Soviets, Italians, Brazilians, Czechs, Hungarians, Poles, us (several DH products and a Norseman) and the French, but no 109s on the roster.

Several Spits, though, and the Israelis had those as well. Could that be what you were thinking of?

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Thanks for that DAD. I don't remember where I got the Me109 fights from.

The Israelis used Czech built Me109 airframes with bomber engines that were adapted to them. These engines caused terrific "torque" issues. Is it possible these were similar aircraft??

During the late fifties, I remember watching an interview on a CBC special (There was only one channel in our area back then and the CBC was a credible source of information, with very little bias)

The host was interviewing the Israeli Defense Minister, who was in Canada looking for combat aircraft.

He went to great lengths describing their air force at the time and how it was now so expensive to purchase combat aircraft.

He mentioned aircraft such as surplus Me109s, newly manufactured similar types, Spitfires, P51s and several other types being available in ready-to-fly/fight condition, with spare parts for less than $50K but jets, which were the preferred types costing millions each.

He went to great lengths describing the roles of these aircraft and their suitability, often being better for the intended purposes, such as ground attack than the jets that were available at the time.

This is likely where my memory comes from.
 
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Got poking around looking for pics of the one Lockheed Hudson operated by the IAC and was pleased to bump into this:

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Some of us will remember the highly creative and very exciting (to those of us under the age of 14) box art commissioned by Airfix. The artist was Roy Cross, and he was pretty damned good. It was hairy-chested stuff for a kid:

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In every military Roy Cross painting, everyone aboard the aircraft is very busy indeed. Gunners blazing away, bomb aimer just finished pickling the load, pilot sawing away at the controls...

There are several editions of a book on the topic.
 
I was 16 years old when I saw one of those on display, where we could walk around it, touch it, and admire it, at the Abbotsford Air Show.

I remember thinking it was small in comparison to other planes around it at the time. It was parked beside a Vulcan Bomber.

I was surprised at how sharp the leading edge of the extremely thin and short wings were.

I was in love. That plane was a flying dream. Almost as ###y as my first girlfriend, whom I would have dropped in a heartbeat if it meant I could get a ride on that sleek, lovely powerful sky sleigh.

As luck would have it, I never had the opportunity to take a ride on either of them or didn't know it was being offered, at least by one of them who asked me how I missed all the signals, just over 20 years later, when we were both single again.
 
bearhunter said:
I was 16 years old when I saw one of those on display, where we could walk around it, touch it, and admire it, at the Abbotsford Air Show.

I remember thinking it was small in comparison to other planes around it at the time. It was parked beside a Vulcan Bomber.

I was surprised at how sharp the leading edge of the extremely thin and short wings were.

I was in love. That plane was a flying dream. Almost as ###y as my first girlfriend, whom I would have dropped in a heartbeat if it meant I could get a ride on that sleek, lovely powerful sky sleigh.

As luck would have it, I never had the opportunity to take a ride on either of them or didn't know it was being offered, at least by one of them who asked me how I missed all the signals, just over 20 years later, when we were both single again.
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A friend was a Starfighter driver in Baden Soellingen in the early 70’s and both him and his close friend gave me rides in the “zipper” as it was often referred to by the pilots that flew it. And yes, many people were cut by accidentally running into the leading edge of the wing. Guards were placed on the leading edge to prevent injuries. One could lay on the wing with feet resting on the tip tank and the head on the fuselage so about 6’ of wing on each side. Those flights were something I’ll fondly remember forever.

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There's a civvie outfit in the States called "Starfighters". Dunno if they offer rides, but throw enough cash at 'em and they might play along. Their website says they do work for "academia". Tell 'em you're Doctor Bearhunter, Ph.D and you're conducting research on acceleration of mature bodies through atmosphere... :)
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
There's a civvie outfit in the States called "Starfighters". Dunno if they offer rides, but throw enough cash at 'em and they might play along. Their website says they do work for "academia". Tell 'em you're Doctor Bearhunter, Ph.D and you're conducting research on acceleration of mature bodies through atmosphere... :)
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There was a law in the UK that prevented the owners of warbirds from offering paid flights / tours in their aircraft. Not sure if that still exists. Anyway, if there is a law, nobody is gonna break it for the amount of money any of us could offer for a ride.
 
At the price of fuel for those birds, I would have to remortgage the house to pay for a seat. I don't even want to think about how much it costs to fill the tanks on one of those.
 
Red Flyer said:
This has changed in Canada and the UK. You can now buy rides in Spitfires, Hurricane and various jets.

RF
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Appx 20 years ago, a Lancaster was being given the final finish touches and inspections at Flightways in Kelowna, BC.

I knew a fellow, who was the father-in-law of a personal friend, Brian Oldfield, long since deceased. The fellow had managed to hold onto a complete set of tools that were used to maintain and repair these aircraft while he was a mechanic in the Royal Air Force.

He wasn't in any shape to work on the plane but he was a wheelchair jockey with an extremely good memory for just about everything related mechanically to Lancaster bombers.

He had a couple of large, green-painted, metal chests full of go-no gauges, special wrenches and screwdrivers, and all of the paraphernalia that was mostly forgotten or just no longer existed. He had another chest full of manuals on everything Lancaster a mechanic would need, including electrical specs and drawings. Different frame and skin drawings with full detail and the list goes on.

I used to drop by and take him to the building they were doing the work in about once a week until his asthma (chain smoker) did him in.

He was a great fellow. Loved the "Lanc" and loved to go see this "last one" and get to talk with the mechanics working on the restoration and qualification for flight.

They would all gather around him and much to his delight, not fuss over him, other than to take him where he could get coffee and a smoke, then ply him for information they couldn't find in the manuals and drawings he had given them or how to use some of the tools which were made for one single job.

There were several modifications done to these aircraft over the years and no two were the same when parked side by side.

He was like a living encyclopedia and they wanted to glean everything they could. It was obvious his days were numbered.

They recorded everything he could tell them before he started wheezing. He gave them everything he could.

The plane was considered to be airworthy and ready for flight tests by Sid's last Fall. When it went for its initial taxi tests he was invited and given a front row view, with a glass of champagne. A few weeks later, they did the test flights, qualified the aircraft, and invited Sid to go on a flight if he was up to it.

To my surprise, I was invited as well but I didn't get to ride in the cockpit, that seat was for Sid.

I was back, appx mid-way down, where I could look through the observer bubble on the top. That was great until the fumes from the engines started to come in.

I found out later that crews wore masks, which supplied them air, or so I was told.

Anyway, that was an amazing flight. LOUD, RATTLY, MOANING, GROANING, BANGING and SQUEAKING. It as all normal and all was well. I had a great time.

I often wonder if Sid was waiting for that last flight in a "Lanc" before departing to hopefully better places. He passed a week after.
 
Old airplanes are soulful things.

I worked with a guy who had a theory:
- all matter is energy.
- work is the application of energy to a task, and so
- by working on an object, one might transfer something of themselves to the object upon which the work is being performed.

This would account for some objects we encounter - old guns, motorcycles, airplanes, cars, etc. - having a "feeling" about them. Lancasters (along with Halifaxes, Wellingtons, Libs, Stirlings, etc.) witnessed the end of the lives of 55,000+ young men. I can't sit in one and not feel something of that. Maybe I'm an overly sensitive and perhaps oversensitive guy, but Lancs have a "feel" about them more even than some other old birds.

I'm glad Sid had the opportunity to pass on his knowledge to guys who could use it, and I'm very glad they had the good hearts to pay attention without fawning over him. My Grandpa was an electrician with 1659 HCU during the war, working on Lancs and Halifaxes mostly. He might well have known Sid.
 
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