COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

COMBAT AND COMPETITION
the river Maas. A natural defensive position. Stalemate seemed likely
until the spring.
In the cramped cottages we were preparing to dig in as well. The
tiny kitchen cum living room, which I shared with Jimmy Simpson,
contained our camp beds, a couple of chairs, and a cupboard.
Otherwise it was completely bare, down to the stone floor. In cold
weather, even with the old stove going full blast, it chilled to the
marrow. At night, huddled for warmth in our blankets, we slept
fitfully as the flying bombs thundered across the sky. Occasionally,
when one cut out too close for comfort, the moment of silence would
be broken by Jimmy or myself with a hopeful:
"Missed again!"
There was an Me 109 production unit at Deurne with sub assembly
and stores dispersed around the Napoleonic forts close to the airfield.
The instrument bay was a treasure trove - its beautiful AC horizons
and DC turn and slip indicators, in their sealed packs, a generation
ahead of the ungainly suction driven devices on our blind flying
panels. And the gyro compass, known to us only in principle, was
fitted as standard to the Gustav 2 .
First to acquire a selection of instruments, some of which might be
useful right away, and others - well just to keep for the moment - and
then to explain myself to Charlie Hall who had been watching with
interest:
"Those miniature ball type skid indicators. Might improve our dive
bombing if we mounted them on the gunsights. And a gyro compass
would be super for navigation."
Charlie was rather offended by the thought of my gunsight
modification. Until he recalled how easy it was to build up a
significant sideslip angle in a steep dive. Then he saw the point. But
he remained less than enthusiastic about the gyro compass. It needed
power and the master unit had to be mounted in the rear fuselage
which could be difficult. And then - as if reading my thoughts:
"There's enough material in those forts to assemble several brand
new 109s, what about one for the squadron?"
The CO and Jimmy supported the idea. Stan Carr, without whom
it would have been impossible, was delighted to take charge. A team
of volunteers was soon recruited to help collect all the parts. Operation
Gustav was on.
Once we strapped a complete fuselage to the back of an open truck
and towed it tail first, on its undercarriage, through a maze of greasy
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