ACA Woking News by Paul Holden, PRO

16 December 2001

WOKING AIRCREW ASSOCIATION
CELEBRATES 2001

John Huntley
John Huntley
The local branch of the Aircrew Association finished the year on a high note. At their November meeting at Fairoaks, they were privileged to have John Huntley in person present extracts from his unique archive of aviation films, which are much in demand world-wide whenever rare footage of historic aircraft is needed.

Prudence was the Flight Safety byword for the york crew in the film
Prudence
He started with a professionally made flight safety film "Flying with Prudence" dealing with a passenger flight to India in a York, and drawing on the legendary wartime "Tee Emm" series of semi-humourous safety briefings to aircrew in the form of the stupid activities of "Pilot Officer Prune". Next came a German briefing film produced at the time of the Battle of Britain to show potential invasion forces how to recognise vital features of Southeast
An animated German film showed routes to UK
German UK
England. Much of this film, which was rescued from an abandoned landing craft in Belgium, was produced by animating pre-war holiday postcards. Following films included a 1944 German Newsreel sequence of their fighter pilots scrambling to attack allied bombers; some historical film of Croydon Airport; Jim Mollinson arriving in one of his Moth aircraft, and explaining to an admiring crowd how its controls worked; and a film of the 1952 SBAC show produced by Shell, in which many contemporary front line aircraft were demonstrated.

Air Cdre Broughton, Chairman ACA, gave an inspiring speech
Air Cdre Broughton
The social highlight of their year was the Christmas Ladies' Dinner held in the splendid Chobham Golf Course clubhouse, where the guests of honour were Air Commodore Jack Broughton DL, the very distinguished National Chairman of the Aircrew Association, and Captain "Winkle" Brown RN, a World Record holding Test Pilot, specialising in carrier landings and flying captured German aircraft, who also holds the rare distinction of being a Master Pilot of Russia (see report for 18 August 2001) .

Mrs Pam Easey presents the RAF crest to Woking ACA Chairman Jimmy James
Mrs Pam Easey
Other guests included Mrs Pam Easey, formerly of Chobham, who presented to the Branch a beautiful-framed RAF Crest which had been executed in real gold leaf by expert calligrapher Mrs Ida Henstock, MVO as a tribute to Pam's brother Flt Lt Dick Hinxman, who had been tragically killed flying a Meteor in 1953; and Mr Alan Milton of Alan Mann Aviation, who graciously undertook to put the plaque on permanent display in the Fairoaks Flight Centre where the branch meets on the third Tuesday of every month.

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