You may recall I introduced you to my arrival at my first posting after Halton,
R.A.F. College Cranwell. I Continue!

After my arrival at my allocated Barrack Block, huge things, roughly the same layout as Halton but much larger; the rooms held about 35-40 bods. I duly arrived at my designated place of work, A.S.F.30. A large hanger containing Vampire Mk 5's & 9's plus lots of Mk. T.11's, real aircraft at last, but not exactly the latest technology.

I felt as though I was really getting somewhere as I walked across the Hanger to the Office in the corner suitably labeled 'N.C.O. i/c'. I knocked on the door and walked in. The Flight Sergeant behind the desk said "Name?" and I replied

"681170 J/T. A.M. Binks Flight Sergeant t"

"Ah! ex brat; right I have just the place for you! Report to the right hand comer of the hanger, there you will see lots of Hydraulic Jacks, Test Rigs, Chocks, and Generators etc. You will report to Sergeant Knowles, who is in charge. Tell him I sent you!"

I spent almost 6 Months in Ground Equipment; painting delivering and servicing equipment, aided and abetted by Sergeant Knowles. He was in his late 40's and in his youth he had been the Middle East Welter Weight Boxing Champion. I and almost everybody else called him `Knocker' and he lived up to his name. On more than one occasion I had to stop him painting the Jack on a Hydraulic Jack in his enthusiasm for painting the equipment.

Eventually I was assigned to the Primary and Primary Star Servicing Team on Vampire T 11's. The' Bull' was pretty intense; every month the whole hanger was cleared of aircraft and equipment and the floor washed with aircraft fuel from a bowser, no one paid much attention to Health & Safety then!

It was the same in the Barrack Rooms as well, with regular kit inspections. This continued the whole time I was there.

After about 2 years I was selected to go to Bristol for a fortnight to learn all about the Viper Engine, as we were to Re-Equip with the new Jet Provost. In typical R.A.F. fashion I was drafted Overseas to Malta so I never worked on a Jet Provost!

But that's another story