Born in 1882, Geoffrey de Havilland was the second son of a village pastor. At an early age, he displayed a mechanical interest and pursued a career as an automotive engineer, building cars and motorcycles. Frustrated at work, in 1909 he received a gift of 1,000 pounds from his grandfather to build his first airplane, just a few years after the Wright brothers had made their first flight.

By World War I, de Havilland was working for Airco, where he designed a number of early warplanes, which enjoyed varying success, and flew as his own test pilot. In 1920, with the support of his former boss, de Havilland set up his own independent company and embarked on a series of aircraft named after moths, inspired by his love of lepidopterology, or the study of butterflies and moths.

• READ MORE: Reaching Uncharted Corners of the Globe in a Fokker F.VII

In 1932, he introduced the DH.82 Tiger Moth, a variant of earlier aircraft designed specifically as a military trainer for the Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as other air forces. Like many aircraft at the time, the Tiger Moth’s fuselage is constructed of fabric-covered steel tubing, while its wings are made of fabric-covered wooden frames. I’ve seen a single person lift a Tiger Moth by the tail to take it out of its hangar. The Tiger Moth was powered by a de Havilland Gypsy air-cooled, 4-cylinder in-line engine which produced 120-130 hp, depending on the version.

Like most trainers, the Tiger Moth had two seats, each with its own set of controls, with the student in front and the instructor or solo pilot in back. One of the major changes introduced to the Tiger Moth, at RAF insistence, was folding door panels that made it easier to enter and exit both cockpits. The feature was absolutely essential when a student or instructor needed to quickly bail out wearing  heavy parachutes.

The silver knobs on the left control throttle, fuel mixture, and aileron trim. The knob on the right enables “auto slots,” slats on the wings that automatically deploy like flaps to provide additional lift at low speeds and high angles of attack. Notice that there is no artificial horizon. However, there is a turn indicator (in the center) as well as a red column that indicates the aircraft’s pitch. It is currently showing nose-up because the plane is resting on its tailwheel.

The compass, situated just in front of the stick, is a bit tricky. You can either keep it pointed toward north and look to where the line is pointing, or you can rotate the compass ring to show the current heading at the top and follow that by keeping it centered.

• READ MORE: Reenacting Bombing Missions in an F-117 Nighthawk

In addition to the cockpit gauge, there’s also a mechanical airspeed indicator on the left wing. Red shows typical stall speed range (below 45 mph).

I’m at England’s Upavon Airfield, a few miles north of Stonehenge, which was home to the RAF’s Central Flying School, founded in 1912, and where the first Tiger Moths were delivered. It is now a small army base (hence the vehicles) and is also used as a glider field. With no electrical starter, the Tiger Moth is hand-propped to get it started. The turning of the propeller, by hand, engages the magnetos that send charges to the spark plugs, starting the engine.

This particular Tiger Moth, N-6635, is based on the one on display at the Imperial War Museum at RAF Duxford, near Cambridge. It’s actually a composite that was put together with parts from different Tiger Moths.

The engine is modeled realistically. If you overstress it on full throttle for more than a few minutes, it will overheat and conk out. If you let it idle for too long, the spark plugs will foul up. With a small engine like this, the left-turning tendencies are not pronounced. However, the trickiest part of takeoff for most tailwheel airplanes is still when the tail comes up. The descent of the rotating propeller causes a gyroscopic precession to the left.

The Tiger Moth gained immediate popularity as the RAF’s primary trainer—the first airplane a would-be pilot learned to fly after ground school before moving on to more advanced fighters or bombers. It gained a reputation for being “easy to fly, but difficult to master.” In normal flight, it was forgiving of mistakes. On the other hand, the Tiger Moth required great precision from a pilot to learn aerobatic combat maneuvers, without going into a spin. However, it recovers easily from spins, which meant it highlighted a student’s shortcomings without (usually) putting them at fatal risk. Though I did notice that when flying upside down (or going through a roll), the engine sputters, probably because gravity messes with the fuel flow.

During the 1930s, between world wars, students selected by the RAF took about nine to 12 months to earn their pilot wings, building up about 150 hours of flight time, about 55 with an instructor and the rest solo. Their instruction included night, formation, and instrument flying, along with gunnery and aerobatics (for combat).

The Tiger Moth was sold to 25 air forces from different countries and proved popular to private buyers as well. It was a big commercial success for the company. A total of 1,424 Tiger Moths were produced prior to the outbreak of WWII, most of which were manufactured at the de Havilland factory in Hatfield, north of London.

Slowing down while descending to land can be difficult. I found I usually needed to cut the power to idle and glide in. Power-off landings were a very typical method in that era. It’s nearly impossible to see forward in the Tiger Moth, especially when landing. It’s best to lean your head out the side, while keeping one eye on controlling the airspeed at around 60 mph (about 15-20 mph above stalling).

• READ MORE: Exploring the Checkered History of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

There are also no wheel brakes. So once you do land, you just have to let friction slow you down. It’s easier in a grassy field like this.

The success of the Tiger Moth led to Geoffrey de Havilland being awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1934. But its story was only just beginning.

Welcome to Goderich Airport (CYGD) in Ontario, Canada, about 2.5 hours north of Detroit on the eastern shore of Lake Huron. In 1928, de Havilland set up a subsidiary in Canada to produce Tiger Moths to train Canadian airmen. This Tiger Moth, #8922 (registration C-GCWT), is based on a real plane that belongs to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Ontario, and is in airworthy condition.

With the outbreak of WWII in 1939, the British government realized that Britain itself was an unsuitable location for training large numbers of new pilots. Not only is the weather often poor, the airspace over Britain was quickly becoming a battleground between the beleaguered RAF and the German Luftwaffe—the last place you’d want a student pilot to learn how to fly.

Canada, in contrast, offered vast areas far from enemy activity, where pilot training could be conducted. To take advantage of this, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) was created to instruct thousands of airmen from Britain and across the Empire in safer locations like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, and South Africa. The yellow “training” livery was typical of the BCATP, though the real-life airplane was also equipped with a plexiglass-enclosed cockpit to permit winter training.

Many of the small airports dotted across Canada from east to west—as well as some large ones—got their start as part of BCATP, commonly referred to as “the Plan.” I selected Goderich to fly from because after it was built in Canada in 1942, this plane, #8922, was used to train pilots here at the No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS), as part of the BCATP. The same airplane later went to No. 4 EFTS at Windsor Mills, Quebec, an airfield that no longer exists.

Eventually, there were 36 elementary flight schools across Canada, in addition to dozens more devoted to training bombardiers, navigators, and gunners. At least 131,533 Allied pilots and aircrew were trained in Canada under BCATP—the largest of any country participating in the Plan—of which 72,835 were Canadian. The program cost Canada $1.6 billion but employed 104,000 Canadians in air bases across the land. De Havilland produced 1,548 Tiger Moths in Canada, by war’s end, to help stock these flight schools with aircraft.

While training pilots in Canada was safer than in Britain, lives were still lost. From 1942 to 1944, a total of 831 fatal accidents took place, an average of five per week.

• READ MORE: The Story of the Schneider Trophy and the Supermarine S.5

BCATP training was by no means limited to Canada. I’m here at Parafield Airport in Adelaide, Australia, which was home to that country’s No. 1 Elementary Flight Training School and received its first Tiger Moths in April 1940. This particular Tiger Moth, A17-58, was built by de Havilland in Australia in 1940 and apparently still continues to fly. Australia eventually had 12 elementary flight schools (plus a host of other schools) as part of BCATP, which was known there as the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS).

Prior to BCATP, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) only trained about 50 pilots per year. By 1945, more than 37,500 Australian aircrew had been trained in Australia, though many then went to Canada to complete their more advanced training before going into combat. Most Australians in the RAAF went on to fight in the Pacific Theater, though some joined the RAF to fight over Europe. De Havilland built a total of 1,070 Tiger Moths in Australia and even exported a few batches to the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Royal Indian Air Force.

The BCATP was one of the largest aviation training programs in history, providing about half of the airmen who flew for Britain and its dependencies in WWII. The ability to train in safety, away from the combat zone, gave Allied pilots a crucial advantage over the Germans, who typically went into combat with roughly half the training hours of their  counterparts. The program was so important that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who called the U.S. “the arsenal of democracy,” dubbed Canada “the aerodrome of democracy” as a result of its contribution to training Allied airmen—many of them in the Tiger Moth.

Tiger Moths were not only used to train pilots during WWII. Some were deployed for coastal patrols. I’m here at Farnborough, Britain’s former center for experimental aircraft development (southwest of London), to investigate another interesting purpose they served.

No, it’s not a mistake—there’s a reason why there are no pilots visible in either cockpit. This aircraft, LF858, was what was known as a “Queen Bee.” British anti-aircraft gun crews needed practice firing at real targets. But flying an airplane with people shooting at you is, well, rather dangerous. So de Havilland figured out a way to put radio equipment in the rear cockpit that could receive messages for an operator on the ground and work the aircraft’s controls accordingly. In other words, it was the world’s first “drone” aircraft.

Besides being able to fly by remote control, the main difference between a regular Tiger Moth and a Queen Bee is that instead of metal tubing for the fuselage frame, the latter used wood (like for its wings) to save money. The objective wasn’t to shoot down the Tiger Moth—that would be wasteful. Gunners used an offset to hopefully miss, so the airplane could land and be used again. But if they did hit, no pilots were at risk.

About 470 Tiger Moth “Queen Bees” were built during WWII. The term “drone” for a pilotless airplane derives directly from the Queen Bee program and refers to a male bee who flies just once to mate with a queen then dies.

By the end of WWII, nearly 8,700 Tiger Moths had been built, 4,200 of them for the RAF alone. It continued to be used by the RAF for training until it was replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in the 1950s.

The fact that so many people across the British Empire had learned to fly in a Tiger Moth made them immensely popular after the war, among private pilots and enthusiasts. An estimated 250 Tiger Moths are still flying, including this one based out of the small airstrip near Ranfurly on the southern island of New Zealand.

A number of Tiger Moth clubs exist around the world. The late Christopher Reeve, of Superman fame, once joined one of these clubs and learned how to fly the Tiger Moth. Reeve even made a movie about it, which you can find on YouTube. He said it took some time getting used to how slow they approach and land.

Tiger Moths have appeared in several films, often disguised as other biplanes. For instance, the plane in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) was a Tiger Moth, decked out to look like a German Fokker. The silver biplane in The English Patient (1993) was a Tiger Moth (the other, yellow biplane in that movie was a Stearman). It’s worth mentioning that the biplane in Out of Africa (1985) was not a Tiger Moth, but the earlier and very similar Gypsy Moth, also built by de Havilland. Apparently there was even a movie in 1974 called The Sergeant and the Tiger Moth (1974) about a guy and his girlfriend who aren’t even pilots but build and fly one anyway. I have no idea if it’s any good, so please find and watch it for me.

If you’d like to see a version of this story with more historical photos and screenshots, you can check out my original post here. This story was told utilizing Ant’s Airplanes Tiger Moth add-on to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, along with liveries and scenery downloaded for free from the flightsim.to community.

The post Recreating the de Havilland Tiger Moth appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The aviators graduated from elementary flight training Friday and were recognized in a ceremony marking the milestone. 

• READ MORE: First Ukrainian Pilots Expected to Finish U.S. F-16 Training By Summer

“RAF flying instructors have taught the pilots general handling, instrument flying, low-level navigation, and advanced formation flying to prepare the pilots for advanced fast jet flying training prior to F-16 conversion with coalition partners,” the RAF said. “On the ground they completed an aviation medicine course and high G-force centrifuge training. Babcock provided the Grob Tutor aircraft along with technical and operational support. Together with the RAF team they completed the training ahead of time with 100 percent aircraft availability.”

The pilots will now progress to advanced fast jet training and conversion to the F-16 with partner nations from the Air Force Capability Coalition, the RAF said.

At least a dozen Ukrainian pilots continue to train with the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard (ANG) at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, with the first four expected to finish by May.

“I would like to congratulate these brave pilots on completing their initial training here in the U.K.,” British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said during Friday’s event. “Thanks to the world-renowned skills of the RAF, they have received some of the best training available and are now a step closer to joining the fight against [Russia President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion.”

• READ MORE: First Ukrainian F-16 Pilots Finish Training in UK

On Wednesday, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the Netherlands will be supplying Ukraine with advanced reconnaissance drones, as well as 350 million euros for F-16 ammunition, Reuters reported. The country, along with Denmark and the U.S., are planning to deliver the first of dozens of the fighters to Ukraine this summer.

Ukrainian defense officials have long sought access to the aircraft following Russia’s invasion in 2022.

“The conflict in Ukraine highlights the importance of air and space power, and the need to gain and maintain control of the air to defeat an enemy,” Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, RAF’s chief of the air staff, said during the ceremony. “I salute the courage and determination of these Ukrainian pilots.”

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The aircraft and crew are in the U.S. participating in the large-scale  “Red Flag-Nellis 24-1” intensive fighter training underway in Nevada. The realistic combat training exercise has nearly 2,000 participants, about 100 aircraft, and personnel from 30 U.S. and allied units, including the RAF and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). 

The Voyager air-to-air refueler is participating in the Red Flag exercise to support British and U.S. fighter jets. 

• READ MORE: ‘Red Flag-Nellis’ Intensive Fighter Training Underway in Nevada

“[While] hurtling along the runway in Nevada with a takeoff speed of around 160 mph, the tire of the 204-ton jet, laden with 80 tons of fuel, failed,” RAF said in a statement Saturday.

The aircraft, which is capable of carrying nearly 300 passengers, also had a small number of British and allied passengers on board.

“The crew felt some minor vibrations early on, as per a routine takeoff, but were unaware of the seriousness of the incident and the take-off continued safely,” RAF said.

Video footage of the incident (posted below) shows the moment the tire failed.

Once airborne, the aircraft’s tire pressure sensors indicated there were faults with two tires, RAF said. The crew confirmed the damage using the Voyager’s external cameras and also contacted a U.S. Air Force F-16 in the exercise to conduct a visual inspection.

• READ MORE: Royal Air Force Tests Expeditionary Fueling System in Arctic Circle 

“This was my first flight in charge of the cabin with passengers onboard,” said RAF Corporal Jaz Lawton, cabin supervisor on the aircraft. “It was a shock to learn that the tire had burst, but my training kicked in, and I worked with the pilots and other crew to keep the passengers updated and reassure them.”

The crew then devised a plan for returning the aircraft to the ground.

“To minimize the risks of landing with damaged wheels, the crew extended their sortie to reduce the amount of fuel and, therefore, weight on board,” RAF said. “This also provided time for all the fighter jets to return to base before the Voyager, as it was possible that it might damage the runway when it landed.”

• READ MORE: Downed WWII Lancaster Bomber Raised from Sea Floor

Tanker pilots landed the aircraft safely and—after an inspection by U.S. Air Force firefighters— were able to slowly taxi to their parking space, where they replaced the wheel. The aircraft and crew rejoined the exercise the next day.

Red Flag 24-1 is set to conclude Friday.

RAF Voyager Tire Blows Out During Takeoff

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The large-scale exercise—dubbed “Red Flag 24-1″—will focus on overcoming pacing challenges with allies in the Indo-Pacific theater, the Air Force said. The realistic combat training exercise has nearly 2,000 participants, about 100 aircraft, and personnel from 30 U.S. and allied units, including the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). 

• READ MORE: Royal Australian Air Force Refuels USAF Aircraft in Trials

During the event, Red Flag participants will undergo a range of combat environment scenarios, including defensive counter air, offensive counter air suppression of enemy air defenses, as well as offensive counter air-to-air interdiction, the service said.

“Training prioritizes first timer’s combat missions, mission commander upgrades, integration, and flag unique experiences that contribute most to readiness and partnering,” said Colonel Eric Winterbottom, commander of the 414th Combat Training Squadron based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

• READ MORE: Royal Air Force Tests Expeditionary Fueling System in Arctic Circle

The Royal Air Force’s presence in the exercise includes eight Typhoon fighters, a Voyager air-to-air refueling aircraft, a rivet joint aircrew, and air operation controllers.

RAAF said it has deployed about 150 of its personnel, along with six F-35A Lightning II fighters, marking the first time the country’s fighter jets have participated in the exercises.

• READ MORE: Downed WWII Lancaster Bomber Raised from Sea Floor

“Generations of RAAF aviators have come to this exercise since 1980, and it continues to evolve and reflect the threats and challenges faced on modern operations,” said RAAF Wing Commander Adrian Kiely, commanding officer of 3 Squadron Wing. “Exercise ‘Red Flag Nellis’ will test every facet of our F-35A capability, allow us to integrate with our American and British allies, and practice how we project force on combat operations.”

One of the world’s toughest air combat training environments, Exercise Red Flag Nellis 24-1, has now begun.#AusAirForce aviators have joined counterparts from @usairforce and @RoyalAirForce to hone their war-fighting skills.#RFNAFB #OurPartners @NellisAFB pic.twitter.com/T6dXe72LEk

— Royal Australian Air Force (@AusAirForce) January 16, 2024

Red Flag exercises began at Nellis AFB in 1975, deploying lessons learned from Vietnam in order to expose military pilots to combat missions and increase their effectiveness and confidence. Exercises typically include a variety of attack, fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and aerial refueling aircraft.

Red Flag 24-1 is set to conclude February 2.

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The expeditionary refueling of the Atlas A400M occurred during Exercise Arctic Phoenix at Bardufoss Air Station (ENDU), RAF said Monday. The extreme cold weather exercise began earlier this month to train RAF personnel and test a range of service capabilities, including aeromedical evacuations and cold weather survival skills amid extreme arctic conditions with temperatures reaching minus-20 degrees Celsius (minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit) and with limited daylight.

• READ MORE: Downed WWII Lancaster Bomber Raised from Sea Floor

“The ability to maintain flying operations from remote and austere locations is vital to the RAF being ready to survive or evade attack and outmaneuver an adversary, known as Agile Combat Employment,” the service said.

During the expeditionary refueling test, an RAF team built the temporary fuel system for remote aircraft operations—known as Air Landed Aircraft Refuelling System—with a fabric tank that was supported by snow-filled sandbags.

• READ MORE: RAF Protector RG Mk1 Takes First Flight

“They then proved its functionality by firstly defueling and then refueling the Atlas heavy lift transporter,” RAF said.

During the extreme cold weather exercise, a team of RAF aeromedical evacuation specialists also tested equipment on the ground, as well as in air while on board an A400M.

“More than 20 individual pieces of medical equipment, including patient monitoring and testing devices, blood storage containers, and communications systems have been pushed to their limits to understand how the arctic conditions could impact medical operations,” the service said.

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Last month, the RAF said that it was preparing its first delivered Protector for ground and air testing. Initial trials were to include ground testing of satellite links and taxi procedures, as well as takeoff and landing procedures.

The uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) flew a series of circuits around Royal Air Force Station Waddington (EGXW) and successfully taxied while under the control of a pilot on the ground, the service announced Friday.

The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) combat drone is based on GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SkyGuardian variant, which is deployed by the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command. The 16 Protectors headed to the RAF will have sovereign capabilities fully owned by the U.K., according to reports.

• READ MORE: Royal Air Force Prepares Protector RG Mk1 UAV for Testing

Step Change in Capability

According to RAF, the long-endurance Protector UAV features a suite of surveillance equipment that “will bring a critical global surveillance capability” —all while piloted from an air base in the U.K. 

The aircraft will provide a “step change” in capability when it enters into service next year, the RAF said. The next 15 Protector UAVs will be phased in during the coming years, with all expected to be delivered and in service by July 2025.

• READ MORE: Royal Air Force Receives First Protector RG Mk1 Combat Drone

“Capable of operating across the world with a minimal deployed footprint and remotely piloted from RAF Waddington, it can operate at heights up to 40,000 feet with an endurance of over 30 hours,” the RAF said.

The Protector features a wingspan of nearly 80 feet and maximum takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds. It is capable of carrying 500 pounds of Paveway IV laser-guided bombs and Brimstone 3 missiles.

Next-Gen Naval Air Power

The Protector’s first flight came as the Royal Navy conducted its own trial launch of a “Mojave” UAV, which is a variant of GA-ASI’s MQ1C Gray Eagle in the same family of the Protector. The event has “paved the way for the next generation of U.K. naval air power,” according to the service.

“HMS Prince of Wales is not conducting intense training and trials activity with the [U.S. Marine Corps] before returning home to Portsmouth,” NATO Air Command said Monday via X, formerly Twitter.

The largest uncrewed aircraft ever launched from a @RoyalNavy aircraft carrier has paved the way for the next generation of UK naval air power. HMS Prince of Wales is now conducting intense training and trials activity with the @USMC before returning home to Portsmouth pic.twitter.com/Tx6ThZgCWp

— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) November 20, 2023

While the Royal Navy deploys short-range UAVs for surveillance, the Mojave launch from the HMS Prince of Wales represented the largest from a British aircraft carrier, according to the service.

“No crewless machine its size—9 meters [29.5 feet] long, with a wingspan of 17 meters [56 feet—6 meters, [20 feet], wider than an F-35B Lightning stealth fighter] and weighing more than 1½ tons fully loaded—has ever flown from an aircraft carrier outside the US Navy before,” the Royal Navy said Friday.

The largest ever uncrewed aircraft launched from @RoyalNavy aircraft carrier @HMSPWLS

This technology offers a look to the future of the next generation of UK naval air power.

Read more here https://t.co/FQsUsb53RF pic.twitter.com/zMMilWGxFD

— Defence Operations (@DefenceOps) November 20, 2023

“The Mojave trial is a European first—the first time that a remotely piloted air system of this size has operated to and from an aircraft carrier outside of the United States,” said Rear Admiral James Parkin, Royal Navy director develop, whose team planned the trial. “The success of this trial heralds a new dawn in how we conduct maritime aviation and is another exciting step in the evolution of the Royal Navy’s carrier strike group into a mixed crewed and uncrewed fighting force.”

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The recovery mission was conducted by the RAF’s Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transport Squadron (JARTS) and Dutch Air Force counterparts. It is part of a 15 million euros ($16.026 million) Dutch aircraft recovery project to locate aircraft and crew downed across Holland.

• READ MORE: A Recovery Mission Continues—Nearly Seven Decades Later

Weeks after the British bomber was shot down over Lake IJsselmeer, an inland bay in northern Netherlands, on June 13, 1943, the bodies of  Flight Lieutenant Eric Tilbury (pilot), Pilot Officer Harold E. Howsam (navigator), Pilot Officer Gordon Fletcher (bomb aimer), and Flying Officer Gordon R. Sugar (air gunner) washed up on shore. 

Three crewmembers, however, remained unaccounted for: Pilot Officer Arthur Smart (flight engineer), Pilot Officer Charles Sprack (mid-upper gunner), and Flight Sergeant Raymond Moore (wireless operator).

“The aim of the recovery was to find the missing crewmembers and to provide closure for their families,” the RAF said Thursday. “Human remains were found, and painstaking work is ongoing to confirm the details and identities of those recovered.”

At the onset of the five-week salvage operation, the recovery team built a cofferdam around the aircraft, allowing for water to be pumped out. The delicate recovery also entailed leaving the remains of the bomber exposed on the sea floor while aircraft parts were located, washed, and sorted.

By September, the first skeletal remains were located, according to Captain Geert Jonker, the commanding officer of the recovery and identification unit in the Royal Netherlands Army, The Guardian reported. “It’s [in the] early days…but there is no doubt that the remains we have found come from one of the missing airmen.”

• READ MORE: The Connection Military Aircraft Give to Families

Participating in the recovery mission was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a privilege and honor of all involved, according to JARTS. 

“The site was an impressive feat of engineering and the hospitality from all of our Dutch friends and colleagues was unequivocal,” JARTS said. “It was important to recover the aircraft and remains of the aircrew so that closure could be provided to their respective families. It was a sobering and tasteful reminder of those that fought and lost for our futures in the war and provided an opportunity to pay our respects.”

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The long-endurance uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and based on GA-ASI’s MQ-9B UAV variant, can be flown anywhere in the world while operated from RAF Waddington in England.

“In addition to accepting the operational roles currently undertaken by Reaper, which has provided exceptional service on operations around the clock for over 15 years, Protector will be certified to stringent NATO safety and certification standards, allowing it to operate in the U.K. and European civilian airspace,” the RAF said in a statement.

• READ MORE: Royal Air Force Receives First Protector RG Mk1 Combat Drone

Trials will include ground testing of satellite links and taxi procedures, as well as takeoff and landing procedures, RAF said.

Earlier this month, the RAF took delivery of the first of 16 ordered Protectors and said receiving the remaining combat drones will come in phases. It is expected to be in service in 2024.

“The [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] capability team will be working with 56 Squadron, our test and evaluation experts, [which] will put the aircraft through its paces to ensure it is ready for operational service next year, whilst the newly reformed 31 Squadron will focus on preparing to operate the aircraft in service,” said Air Commodore Alex Hicks, who is the senior officer responsible for the Protector program. “This is an important milestone for the program, Air Force, and wider defense, and I am delighted to see Protector at RAF Waddington.”

The Protector boasts a wingspan of nearly 80 feet, a maximum takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds, and is capable of carrying 500 pounds of Paveway IV laser-guided bombs and Brimstone 3 missiles.

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The long-endurance uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), which is based on GA-ASI’s MQ-9B UAV variant, is expected to enter into service next year, bringing with it “a step change” in service capability, according to the RAF. The UAV can be flown anywhere in the world while operated from RAF Waddington in England.

The Protector boasts a wingspan of nearly 80 feet, a maximum takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds, and is capable of carrying 500 pounds of Paveway IV laser-guided bombs and Brimstone 3 missiles.

• READ MORE: Air Force, Marines Train To Make MQ-9 Reaper Expeditionary

“Equipped with a suite of advanced equipment and precision strike weapons, Protector will provide critical armed surveillance capability and will be able to deploy against potential adversaries around the globe,” the RAF said. “The aircraft will also be able to fly in busy unsegregated airspace thanks to ‘detect and avoid’ technology with a potential endurance of over 40 hours.” 

Earlier this year, the first wave of RAF pilots, sensor operators, and mission intelligence coordinators began training on Protector operations at GA-ASI’s Flight Test & Training Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last month, RAF instructors began training with RAF-specific material and mission scenarios at the facility.

The Protector drone is the successor to the Reaper MQ-9A variant of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, which is also deployed by the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command.

Sovereign Capabilities

Unlike the largely U.S.-controlled MQ-9A Reaper variant the RAF deployed more than a decade ago as an urgent operational requirement in Afghanistan, the planned purchase of 16 MQ-9B Protector drones will include sovereign capabilities fully owned by the U.K., Janes reported. 

• READ MORE: India to Make Massive Purchase of US Reaper Drones

Earlier this year, the U.K. signed an international cooperation program agreement with Belgium, which has also purchased a MQ-9B variant in an arrangement that allows the two countries to work together on issues including certification, airworthiness, and training.

“This agreement further cements the close relationship between the U.K. and Belgium and affirms our joint commitment to the strategic unity and defense of Europe and NATO,” Air Commodore Alex Hicks, assistant chief of staff for RAF Capability Delivery Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.

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Lucky for me there is a Facebook group, “Bomb Group at Ridgewell During WW2,” that provides a wealth of information. The page is loaded with requests for information from people trying to learn about their family members who served there, and posts from people who have come across military records, personal items that belonged to a serviceman, newspaper clippings, battle reports, letters home, and photographs of daily base life.

While looking through photos on the social media site, I spotted a black and white photo identified as Lt. Colonel William J. Reed, who was stationed at Ridgewell. He looked familiar. I grew up with a family named Reed. Mr. and Mrs. Reed were friends of my parents. I went to school with the Reed kids. Dad said Mr. Reed’s father had served in World War II in the Army Air Corps. I never met Grandpa Reed, but in the photograph I saw his son and grandchildren, who all have a distinctive smile. 

Pulling further on the loose thread, I located his granddaughter on social media, and emailed her the image. She confirmed that was her “Pop” and he had been the executive officer of the 381st Bomb Group. Small world, eh?

Runways and Bombers

Ridgewell, where the 381st was based during the war, is located 7.5 miles northwest of Halstead, Essex, in England. The airfield and base was opened in 1942 with three intersecting runways of 6,500 feet each, 36 hardstands, hangars, barracks, and outbuildings. It was designed for heavy bombers flown by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command.

In June of 1943, the USAAF’s 381st Bombardment Group, which was assigned to the 8th Air Force, arrived from Pueblo, Colorado. The group flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, with tails sporting the Triangle-L insignia. The 381st was made up of several squadrons, each with its distinctive fuselage code: the 532nd (VE), the 533rd (VP), 534th (GD), and 535th (MS).

For a time, the RAF and USAAF shared the base, and the facilities were expanded to accommodate the influx of aircraft and men. During the expansion, the number of hardstands was increased to 50 and more barracks and other buildings were added.

When the war in Europe ended in 1945, the 381st returned to the U.S. Ridgewell Airfield was closed and the land returned to private ownership as a farm. The only parts of the base that remain today are the roads and a Nissen hut that had been the hospital.

The hut has been converted into the Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum, which today, along with several memorials on the property, honor those who served there.

Because there is very little left of the airfield today—as most of the buildings and infrastructure, including the hangars, control tower, runways, and hardstands, are gone—the former base has been all but forgotten.

“Many of the people who drive or walk across the airfield have no idea of what went on under their feet,” said Sarah Allen, one of the volunteers at the museum. 

“I first became aware of Ridgewell Airfield as a teenager, over 40 years ago now. I used to spend a lot of time cycling around the lanes and around what was then the perimeter track for the airfield—now a public road,” she said. “Even before I learnt any of the history of the airfield, I knew that something significant had happened on and around that land. There is definitely an atmosphere to the place!”

A Museum Is Born

The Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum was created in 2000 as a means to protect and preserve the legacy of the men who lived, worked, and flew from Ridgewell.

According to Paul Bingley, the chairman of the museum, it was the life’s work of Tony Ince, who had been a local schoolboy during the war.

“He befriended some of the 381st’s ground crews and built up a collection of wartime memorabilia, which he exhibited around Essex,” Bingley said. “Finally, he got permission to display his collection in a small section of the current museum building. Sadly, he passed away before seeing the fruit of his labors. The museum continued on, thanks to his friends, including Jim and Jenny Tennet, together with Alan and Monica Steel, and several others.”

“Around 2014, Alan Steel obtained permission from the landowner to use the entirety of the Nissen hut,” Bingley said. “Over the next few years, significant renovation work was carried out, including the cladding of the ceiling; the addition of a timeline of events; and a large map/diorama of the airfield, which now greets visitors as they arrive through the door.”

There is no cost to enter the museum, which is funded by donations.

“In 2017, we were named ‘runners-up’ in the 2017 Museums + Heritage Awards’ ‘Project on a Limited Budget’ category,” Bingley said. “This has led to more individuals donating and loaning items for display. We are particularly keen on personal items, as the ethos of the museum is to tell their stories. We can see just how deeply these stories resonate with visitors.”

Bingley said he first learned about the 381st in 2003 when he read the book Combat Crew by John Comer, who had served as an engineer and top turret gunner with the 381st at Ridgewell. 

Bingley was surprised. At the time, he was living just a few miles from Ridgewell, “Yet I knew nothing of the base or the 381st. It was the start of a long journey of discovery. The more I discovered, the more I wanted to know,” he said.

Bingley, who works in aviation cargo operations, said his day job has given him a greater appreciation of the logistical challenges of moving airplanes and people and cargo around Europe and operating such a large base.

“It could accommodate around 3,000 people at any one time—we don’t know exactly how many were based at Ridgewell throughout its entire existence,” he said. “It is stated in Roger Freeman’s Airfields of the Eighth; Then and Now that public roads use more old taxiways at Ridgewell than on any other Eighth airfield.”

Ridgewell is acknowledged as Essex’s only long-term heavy bomber base during World War II. While other Essex airfields hosted a variety of different aircraft types, Ridgewell was only home to Short Stirlings (the RAF’s first four-engine bomber) and the USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses.

The base was located in a rural area straddling the border of Essex and Suffolk counties. The airfield is in Essex.

“It is a little hard to find, as is the museum, which is tucked away from a main road,” Bingley said. “The museum building is a wartime Nissen hut that was once part of Ridgewell’s base hospital, so it is an exhibit in itself. However, it is also on private land and is the property of a local landowner, so we’re unable to use permanent signs to direct the general public.”

Bingley noted that the landlords, Robert and Vanda Root, “have been unstinting in their support for the museum.”

Because of the limited space, museum volunteers have learned to be creative with the donations they receive, as they recognize how important they are to the story of the 381st.

“In 2021, we were sent an entire collection of uniforms, medals, and personal items from the U.S. by the son of a 381st tailgunner,” he said. “His father survived 30 missions before being transferred to the Pacific, which he also survived. It’s an awesome collection, which includes his secret combat diary, sunglasses, and ‘short snorter.’” 

Short snorters were paper currency signed by people you flew with or people you met. If someone signed your short snorter and you couldn’t produce it upon request, you owed him a dollar or a drink, aka—a short snort. They were rolled up and depending on how many people you flew with or met, they could grow to be as thick as cigars.

If You Visit

The museum is open on the second Sunday of the month, between April and September, although sometimes it will open for group visits and for the relatives of those who served at Ridgewell. There are five volunteers who make up the core group of museum staff, and others are ready to assist as they have time.

“We have an in-house historian,” Bingley said, “although we all try to assist in research for those who request it. The stalwart staff for most of the time the museum has been in existence are husband and wife, Alan and Monica Steel. They’re the glue that keeps everything together.”

Ridgewell stopped being a military airfield when the 381st left in 1945. The RAF briefly used the facility for bomb storage and disposal, then decommissioned the base in 1957. The land was reverted back to farm land for the most part, Bingley said, with one notable exception.

“The Essex Gliding Club continues to use Ridgewell during the summer months, and has even painted one of its gliders in the markings of the 381st. It has also given pleasure flights over the base to veterans and their relatives,” he said.

Museum volunteers also organize guided walks for visitors, who are often the families of veterans.

“This really gives them a sense of the scale of the airfield, and they are able to see the remaining buildings and the stories connected to them. They really are walking in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers,” Allen said. “We are always very honored and privileged when we meet veterans’ families, it is always emotional for us and more so for them. They often go and stand alone in quiet reflection.”

One of those visitors was John Weston, who arrived at Ridgewell in June 2022. Weston had been connected to the 381st Facebook group, and when he was in the United Kingdom for work, he took the opportunity to visit.

“My father was John Wezowicz, a pilot/aircraft commander in the 533rd who flew 31 missions in early 1944 and was based at Ridgewell. My dad later changed his name to Weston and remained in the USAF [U.S. Air Force] until retiring in the 1970s. He passed away in 2016 at 99. It was a very emotional experience, both being able to walk in my father’s footsteps and also seeing the dedication that Paul, Alan, and others have in ensuring that the memory of the 381st and veterans stays alive.”

Most visitors—they get about 100 a day when they are open—do some research before they come to Ridgewell. Sometimes the visitors surprise the volunteers with what they bring.

“For example, we were recently handed a one-hour, 16 mm vintage movie of Ridgewell and its sites that was filmed by one of the 381st’s senior officers across his two years at Ridgewell,” Bingley said. “To say we were all overcome, is an understatement. It was almost like finding a lost Beatles’ song.”

Sometimes relationships are forged between visitors, such as the day when two American families came to visit.

“Neither knew the other was coming, or had any contact before,” Bingley said. “Yet, their veteran fathers and grandfathers, who had both passed away, were in the same squadron, and at exactly the same time. There is no doubt they would have known each other. The families also discovered another connection: one of them lived in the town where another from the other family had been born. Sometimes, strange forces [are] at work. I’m lucky to have made lifelong friends with several of those whose fathers were once based at Ridgewell. I find it endlessly fascinating that something that happened 80 years ago can still have such a profound effect on us today.”

• READ MORE: A Recovery Mission Continues—Nearly Seven Decades Later

Virtual Memorial Meets Virtual Library

If you have access to a computer and the internet, you can have access to Ridgewell. Alan Steel created the Bomb Group at Ridgewell During WW2 on Facebook in 2013. Today, it has more than 2,000 members. The page is “dedicated to all the Men and Women who served with the 381st Bomb Group based at Ridgewell Airfield, Essex, UK during WW2,” and on it you will find pages and pages of information, often in PDF form that make research fairly easy. Members are always adding items.

One of the frequent contributors is Don Madar, an author and historian. Madar has written several books about military history, all of them with a family connection. His interest in the 381st is tied to his uncle Andy Piter Jr., a member of a ground crew at Ridgewell who did not make it home.

Piter arrived at Ridgewell on June 23, 1943. “That day, improperly loaded bombs on the B-17 #42-30024 Caroline exploded, killing 23 people including a civilian. I have my uncle’s notes on the accident,” Madar said. His uncle was not injured in the explosion—he would spend more than a year more at Ridgewell.

While flight crews were rotated home after a set number of missions—at first it was 25, then it was raised to 35 missions—there was no such rule for ground crews, Madar said, although as the war in Europe was starting to wind down, duty schedules relaxed a bit.

“My uncle was one of 31 men killed just 15 days before the end of the war in an airplane crash on the Isle of Man. They were heading to Northern Ireland for a week’s leave.”

Deadliest Crash on the Isle of Man

On April 23, 1945, a B-17G, 43-38856, flown by a two-pilot crew was transporting 29 servicemen. Many of the men had been at Ridgewell since the 381st arrived in June 1943. Keep in mind the usual crew complement of a B-17 was 10 men.

The aircraft took off at 8 a.m. and headed north. The flight was supposed to take about two hours. At approximately 10:15 a.m., the B-17 was on the northeast coast of the Isle of Man at an altitude of approximately 500 feet.

“The pilot was Charles Ackerman,” Madar said. “He had previously lost a friend in that location in a crash, and there are those who think he was flying low to get a better look of where his friend went in and misjudged the altitude. The airplane failed to clear the hill by about 300 feet. It was controlled flight into terrain. The airplane exploded in a fireball. It was—and still is—the deadliest airplane crash on the Isle of Man.”

The death of Andy Piter, especially so close to the end of the war, had a profound impact on the family, Madar said. 

“My uncle was the only son of six children. He’d been sending his money home and he bought his parents a house,” he said. “They had a room waiting for him.” 

The bodies of the servicemen were painstakingly recovered from the Isle of Man, returned to Ridgewell for identification, then buried at the military cemetery in Cambridge.

“They were later disinterred and brought back to the United States for burial at home,” Madar said.

Madar has made the trip to Ridgewell and roamed the places where his uncle spent his last hours. He said he was struck by the enormity of the facility, and noted that even though the runways were removed decades ago, they can still be discerned from the air as there is a faint imprint of them.

As part of the trip, he walked the parts of the base that had been the athletic fields, the hangars, and looked for the area where his uncle’s billet had been.

“When I was there, Paul Bingley and I found where Andy lived, and when I walked by there, I got goosebumps and started to cry,” Madar said. “It hit me. It was his last residence, where he would last have a smile. The other significant thing for me was the morgue, as morbid as that sounds, as that was the last place they were before their bodies were shipped to Cambridge.”

Madar said three of Andy’s sisters are still alive, and they and Madar have plans to return to Ridgewell to walk in the footsteps of Andy Piter Jr. and to remember him on the 80th anniversary of the crash.

“We wanted to go for the 75th anniversary, but the pandemic got in the way,” he said.

Remembering the Bomber Boys

According to Bingley, while Americans view all airmen as heroes, the men in the RAF Bomber Command were not seen in the same light, as the attention was more focused on the pilots who flew fighters.

“The men of RAF Bomber Command were only given their own memorial 10 years ago,” he said. “Winston Churchill didn’t help by failing to mention them in his victory speech, as he had done with ‘The Few.’ Museums like Ridgewell help to tell the story of those bomber boys who answered the call of duty—most of them volunteering, before serving thousands and thousands of miles away from their friends and families,” he said.

“Of course, many never returned home. We should never forget that,” he added.

While there are other veterans associations and organizations that provide educational support to the children of those who served with the 381st, there aren’t many places to visit where their family members once served. 

“That is why it’s so important that the Ridgewell museum is preserved and continues to be used as a focal point for the families,” Bingley said. “It is an honor to be a part of it.”

How To Locate Information About a Relative Who Served

• Use an internet search engine. The internet has greatly expedited the task of locating information about someone who served in the military. If you have the person’s name and the war they served in, often that’s all you need to begin your search. Commemorative associations often have their own webpages and the members can be very helpful.
• Facebook may be a resource. There are many groups dedicated to the preservation of information about military organizations. Often the persons involved have a familial interest in the organization and are open to sharing stories.
• Consult museum archives. Museums may have detailed information about military groups. For example, if the city has or had a large military component during the war, there is a pretty good chance the local museum will have photographs and records from that time.
• Consult university archives. Some universities have information as they have records of what the university did during the war. Others are repositories for select military groups, such as Texas Women’s University, which is the keeper of information about Women Airforce Service Pilots. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has information about the training of British pilots on American soil (No. 5 British Flying Training School).
• Don’t forget about memorabilia collectors. You may be lucky enough to find a collector of memorabilia, who are often historians because they research the items they find. They may be able to point you in the right direction—and may even help in your search.
• Veterans centers can also be helpful. They often keep written or recorded accounts of the experiences their members had. They also hold reunions, and if you’re really lucky, you may actually find someone who served with your family member and can tell you stories.

The post Remembering the Mighty Men of the 381st Bomb Group appeared first on FLYING Magazine.