Following last issue’s ‘Frozen in time’ feature, Colin Rider digs out some old paperwork!
I am always drawn to anything to do with the Royal Flying Corps, no more so than when I read your ‘Frozen in time’ article, especially the workshop photo – I could picture my Grandad Joe working in a workshop like that!
As you can see from his demob papers under Specialist Military Qualifications, he was a Fitter General.
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I was lucky enough to have known him till 1973, when he died. He was a man who progressed through his life to become a brilliant engineer (a bit like Fred Dibnah) in which his RFC training inspired him.
He would talk to me about aircraft engines, like the poppet valve Gnome Monosoupape radial engine (which came in seven and nine cylinder versions, and had a poppet inlet valve and a pushrod-operated exhaust valve), and the Spanish Hispano-Suiza 8 single overhead cam V8, of an impressive 11.76 litres, as being among the best engines.
Read more and view more images in the December 2018 issue of OBM – on sale now!
