In the mid 90's I visited the Sandringham in an empty, weekday, Southampton museum (UK). Here I was so fortunate to spend 20 min with an elderly volunteer, he sitting in "his" left hand seat and I comfortably absorbing the story and surroundings from the first officer or co pilot seat. In this twenty minutes I was so lucky to have a stage by stage account of operation and flight procedure with this wartime Sunderland pilot. As a young, newly qualified Jodel D120 pilot so full of enthusiasm, my reward was this gentleman openly reliving every minute. Following this chance meeting, we promised to meet up again in the same place and go to Part II, sadly when I returned not too long after, he was no longer with us... I feel so privileged to have been witness to a complete reliving of something so important in the gentleman's wartime adventures. I wish I could have recorded it as my memories of the words of that day are now fading. Thank you for posting this..

@johndavey72

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Eric. I too had a similar experience. An elderly gentleman popped into my body shop for a quote and we started chatting . It turned out he was an ex RFC pilot and fought in WW1 and in 1918 became an RAF pilot !! We must have talked for well over an hour . I still wish l 'd taken his address and written a diary. I moved house in the early 1980's and my then neighbour did 3 tours in bombers in WW2. He started off in Whitley's , then Halifax and finally Lancasters. He loved them all and said on one occasion he managed to limp home in the Lancaster on one engine ! He explained that with no bomb load and when the engines quit he was high enough to virtually glide the last few miles ! Vic ' wasn't the kind of guy to exaggerate! Typically these hero's were very humble ! Again l regret never writing a diary. I think these gentlemen would have been embarrassed!

@ericohara2582

3 жыл бұрын

John Davey John these are brilliant occasions. I grew up reading Bob Tuck, Bader, Duke and all to have these real life encounters has been very fortunate. They say you should never meet your Heroes..... in my case this has been far from true 👍

@CrusaderSports250

3 жыл бұрын

Our engineering tutor at college (77-80) was a flight engineer on Sunderlands, and a year after I left I went back for the diploma show of some friends and met up with Bob Wollet (I apologize if I have spelt his name incorrectly), our engineering tutor, in conversation he said there was a Sunderland to Sandringham spec down at the old dockyard, and would I be interested in seeing it, I refused of course!!, he showed me over the aircraft and I took various pictures, including "his" seat in front of a myriad of dials and switches, a little later Bob said he had to go but I could stay and look over the plane on my own, it was wonderful!, in the toilet downstairs some of the panelling had been removed showing the wartime stenciling "303 ammunition kept below". The aircraft unfortunately was damaged in a storm and I am unsure as to Its fate, the name on the side was Sir Arthur Gouge, and was white with a blue livery.

I was fortunate enough to work on these flying boats at Trans Oceanic Airways at Rose Bay in the 1950's as a engine fitter. The Sunderlands we had were fitted with 9 cylinder Pegasus engines with feathering propellers. As I remember the Sandringhams as used by Qantas had 18 cylinder Pratt & Whitney engines as they were a later model than ours. The "new Solents"'. of which we had 4, were fitted with the Hercules 14 cylinder engines and the had feathering propellers. I worked there before the company was taken over by Ansett Airways. As a point of interest the Sunderlands were to only large flying boat capable of landing on Lord Howe Island as the had a shawoller draft than the Sanderhams or the Solents. It was an interesting time and I remember the artificial horizion wire across the lower section of the windscreen.

@liamhickey901

3 жыл бұрын

Carl, do you know if they operated Catalina's out of Rosebay in the late 40s/ early 50s? M

@carlbliim4456

3 жыл бұрын

@@liamhickey901 They did under Brian Moncton but before my time. One Catalina ,I believe, caught fire in Rose Bay in the early days. For your interest there is the wreckage of a Catalina still laying on Lord Howe Island. Carl. The Solents had a 4 blade propeller the Sunderlands had a 3 blade poop.

Neat story about the large globe.

Nice to learn that the Sunderland came from my home country. I live in Napier which has an Art Deco Festival every year. (It got devastated in 1931 by an earthquake and fire and was rebuilt in the Art Deco style) So it was really nice to see the Pan Am Clipper Base Deco style interior. Also, all the 'vintage' cars in the picture, which is also a highlight of the Festival here, with enthusiasts showing their cars from all over the world. Thank you.

Kermit ..you should be nominated for the Historical, Nobel Peace Prize,Saving the world's Aircraft for Generations to come.

Kermit , you always make me happy , thanks so much and cheers from URUGUAY.

Last military Sunderland flight was April 1967 Fiji to RNZAF Hobsonville Auckland.

And I can remember your Sunderland operating out of Rose Bay in Sydney. A lot of the parts removed from the aircraft when converted to a civilian model were still in the back of the Hangar in Lyon Park at Rose Bay along with all the spare parts when the base was closed. I can remember crawling through the racks of spares after school in the 1970's before they cleared the site. My father flew Boeing clippers to the USA in the late 40's and 50's, I still have his certificate from King Neptune when he crossed the equator on board one.

Wow, what a story. Love it. I use to have my hands full flying a C150 on floats. Good job

What a great machine. Good you leave that part of its history in place.

You have an ex member of 230 squadron Pembroke Dock and 205/209 squadron Seletar, Singapore, now 84 years old, interested. The Sunderland was my first operational posting. I was so lucky to fly in them.

My father was a WOP/AG on Sunderlands during Korea and flying anti-insurgency patrols over Borneo. He said crewing the Sunderland was the best time he had in the RAF.

I just realised that at Motat in the 90's I probably met a former radio operator of this aircraft. Hilarious story about buzzing Perth with it and pulling a welcoming banner off a ship in the harbour with the radio wire. Then buzzing the main street with it and a fellow falling off his bicycle in a panic as it zoomed over. After the trouble they decided it was probably not a good idea to land and just kept going further on up the coast.

I flew many times as a passenger in Blair's seaplanes from Puerto Rico to the US Virgin Islands. My experiences as a passenger were all in the Grumman (Goose) single deck flying boats at that time so I never had the honor of flying in the Sunderland or Sandringham . It was quite an experience to fly on these planes as everything was very informal. The pilots wore shorts and they read the San Juan Star (local newspaper) during the flight. When Blair started to go bankrupt, people in St. Thomas used to sit in bars by the city docks and make bets on the plane taking off or crashing into the waters. As a matter of fact, Blair got killed in one of his airboats. He was married to Hollywood actress Maureen O'Hara. I understand that Blair also had a Sikorsky VS-44A and he owned, as Kermit pointed out, a Sandringham Flying boat VP-LVE named "Southern Cross" . Great story by Kermit.

Thanks Kermit for sharing what is a unique experience . And l tell people the cheapest part of a car is buying it ! This is on another monumental scale !! 😨😨😨

What an amazing story. Thanks

Your a treasure thank you Sir.

That was a brilliant interview, very interesting and it was great having the sequences of old pictures and film too to go along with the questions and answers. I've been on board the Sandringham in the museum at Southampton and I guess Short named the Sandringham after the Queen's country house in Norfolk. I'm really looking forward to seeing part 3 and your channel is the best on KZread!

@KermitWeeks444

3 жыл бұрын

Many thanks!

I love the details you share with us Kermit.

What a History this....Plane has WOW....l have in the past looked some of the History of it,it is amazing.....Thanks Kermit...IFR...! PS waiting on part 2...!

Just love these videos!

My grandfather flew those in WWII out of Changi. Interestingly my family are now in Australia.

Wonderful flying machine!

Short Sunderland was a military development of the Short Empire flying boat, developed pre war, as brifly seen in the cut away drawing.

Great video Mr. Kermit.

Very Very Cool 😎

The military version is much more interesting. If a huge old Pan Am Clipper remained that would be interesting.

Great clip and interview

Thanks Kermit. We have a couple of photos of the Dinner Key Seaplanes back in the pre-war 40's I think (?). I remember scanning them, and there are some of the upper deck of the Pan Am building. Bless.

@KermitWeeks444

3 жыл бұрын

Great! Have you posted them anywhere? Would love to see them.

@jeffersonspace

3 жыл бұрын

@@KermitWeeks444 Negative on anyone except family seeing them. I would like to share them with you. It looks like I'll have to dig thru the (digitized) albums to find them. Will reach out to you shortly.

@KermitWeeks444

3 жыл бұрын

Great! Contact Philmer at pzizza@fantasyofflight.com

@jeffersonspace

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Kermit. Tried these addresses: pzizza@fantasyofflight.com, then tried philziza@fantasyofflight.com and both came back - Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: I left a brief message on the contacts page for phil zizza on the website, and now am waiting for a responce. Regards, and thanks.

@KermitWeeks444

3 жыл бұрын

Seems we've been having an issue with outside emails being rejected. Thought it was remedied. You can try again, or we'll just wait for the web message to make it through the channels. Thanks for following through.

my mother would have loved this.. she flew back from Japan in a Flying Tiger, at the outbreak of the Korean conflict, with my brother and sister in tow.. she said she didn't sleep the whole way.. probably a bit unnerving.. they were right above the waves she said

I think that is the aircraft my father in law piloted in the war for the RCAF.

Hi Mr Weeks, Brilliant as expected from you, what a story. I'm very sorry I do have a very small grumble, only a little one, Please, please get rid of the constant adverts, don't mind at the beginning and at the end, in this video they are getting a little irritating. Thanks for putting it up, now onto part 3. Regards.

This whole project sounds amazing. I've gotta plan a visit down to Miami one day to see it once it's finished!

@KermitWeeks444

3 жыл бұрын

If you're talking about the Clipper base recreation I'm going to build, that will be at my Polk City, Florida attraction, not Miami.

@diabeticalien3584

3 жыл бұрын

@@KermitWeeks444 noted

Yo Kermit ! My parents and I were scheduled on the last Lord Howe flight from Rose Bay. My mother & I both in aviation-media. At last moment, I couldn't get time off from employer, so parents went ahead. On the flight, approx half way, the captain aborted due growing thunderstorms @ Howe (Met was still primitive back then with huge errors in forecasting nearly costing loss of aircraft), returning to Sydney where pax were overnighted. Following day flight carried out with no problems. My mother recorded stories of locals who had worked with (Sir) Francis Chichester during his float - equipped DH60 trans-Tasman pioneering effort, utilising the same offset sunline technique as Fred Noonan used with the 1937 Howland Island sector on the Earhart world flight. One absolute regret...that I could not get on this last flying boat epic flight. Due to our long & close association with Reg Ansett, my mother's stories & photos appeared in Ansett material & national magazines. Kernit, full marks for all your efforts. Having been in a/c engineering from age 15 & rebuilding crashed DH82a & owned 1934 C34, DH80, Cassutt IIIM, etc...I KNOW the work that goes into maintenance, rebuild & research - your ME108 project being but one example. OUDACHI ! (Russian for good "Luck"...... and please learn how to pronounce Polikarpov 😀). Capt'n Chris (presently in Oz) ✈ BTW: worked with Tony Biacnchi & borrowed ships from Panama Jacks ...Small world.

@KermitWeeks444

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Just one thing..."leavery?" 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

OK!

There is a WW2 propaganda film on KZread called ' Coastal Command' about the Sunderlands use in the Atlantic as a Submarine hunter. Using the original RAF crew....(not professional actors) ...great bit of history.

They ran chase boats to clear the Bouy marked flying boat area on Rose Bay to shark island.

Interesting stuff

it sure would be cool to see it reconverted back to milspec someday.

You could fly in the UK and Australia, possibly even Canada as a converted to Sunderland, all those countries converted military aircraft as civilian aircraft after WW2. Dakota's, DC2 and DC3's as well as others. Not an expert on it but I have travelled in 3 converted WW2 aircraft used as civilian passenger aircraft for Ansett, TAA and Qantas.

Would give anything to be able to see and tour a Boeing Clipper.

👍👍👍

Look after it Kermit...sadly we could not. England, aka the UK is going down the toilet...best wishes!!

Great webinar! So how is it that old warbirds like the B-25, B-29 or B-17 weren't passenger aircraft either, yet they fly passengers for profit? I realy hope you are able to convert it to where you can take passengers. It would also be cool if you made the nose out of clear plexiglass.

Take a shot everytime you here "ok" Unless you're an alcoholic, goodluck!

@erichhartmann1

3 жыл бұрын

I pulled it off! Amazingly I didn't "here" the word "ok" even once throughout this entire video. I heard it though...

👁💚 IT 👊🛩️✈️

I hope this plane is restored to its former WW2 apearance someday. Its a shame it was ruined and made into a civilian transport. If only the original nose turret could be installed.

Okay, it's a good job, okay, getting your multi-engine rating okay. And okay, getting it to Australia, okay, was a real feat of piloting, okay So well done, okay.

Hi Kermit.....we have a lot in common ...I'll Email tomorrow. IE: ref Howard & the Sikorskii....I understand 100%. ...I fly many Realms.

Yah, but a Boeing 314 Clipper would be the ultimate...Moses

@archiescriven6178

3 жыл бұрын

The ultimate for me would be a latecoere 631,if you get the structural issues sorted out.

@Tadrjbs

3 жыл бұрын

@@archiescriven6178 Don't care for French designs of aircraft, even today.

@archiescriven6178

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tadrjbs The french are weird with planes, they make loads crap looking planes, but then occasionally they make things like the 631 and the Bugatti 100p.

@Tadrjbs

3 жыл бұрын

@@archiescriven6178 They are good cut and fit and try craftsmen, but terrible engineers.

Ok....

Ok...ok

Who left the thumbs down and why?

Why don’t Boeing and Airbus build some flying boats?

SECOND

Okay * 2349248348372546238

Sorry to say this but as much as I like your channel your plan for the Sunderland which technically it still is has as much chance of flying again as the Titanic has of finishing it's sailing to New York. All we ever see is it parked up. I mean to say when was the last time you fired the engine's up. Reminds me of the Lancaster you brought, why you ever brought it I'll never know, it still in the same packing case's it came in with the fuselage rotting away out side. By the way you have the wrong cockpit section. The cockpit that you got was a short cockpit the the lanc was built with a long cockpit section and that's still in England. Sorry for the rant but if your going to talk the talk then follow it by walking the walk and prove that your not just a rich American who buys planes because you can and then does sweet FA with them. Sorry but someone had to say it at some time. Gary...... England 🇬🇧

blabla!!!

@KermitWeeks444

3 жыл бұрын

You're missing one bla!