Guest Gary Davidson Posted 1 April , 2005 Share Posted 1 April , 2005 I happened upon this log book recently. It belonged to Lt. C. A. McConville, RFC. It details his training in Canada and Texas January 1918, further entries include No. 2 school of Aerial Fighting, Driffield Yorkshire in June followed by operational patrols from HM station, Prawle Point, South Devon and 254 Squadron RAF until 13th October 1919 with general flying duties. Entries include a number of notations of crashes and forced landings, one noted as Dawlish, coastal anti submarine patrols. On the back of the photograph is written: 10.11.17 Hendon NW9 RFC. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 1 April , 2005 Share Posted 1 April , 2005 Another photo from the log book... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 1 April , 2005 Share Posted 1 April , 2005 Another... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 1 April , 2005 Share Posted 1 April , 2005 A photograph of Lt. C.A. McConville... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 1 April , 2005 Share Posted 1 April , 2005 Gary Thanks for the log book extract - very interesting. No 254 Sqn was formed in May 1918 at Prawle Point, South Devon, from Nos 492, 516, 517 and 518 Flights and was equipped with DH 6 and DH 9 aircraft. It was employed in short range coastal patrols over the approaches to Plymouth. A photograph of one of No 254 Sqn's DH 6s is below (it was also used by No 255 Sqn). The DH 6 wasn't one of the best looking products of the Aircraft Manufacturing Company! Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 1 April , 2005 Share Posted 1 April , 2005 Gareth -- Thanks for the photo of the DH-6 from the 254 Sqn. You're right, it is an ungainly-looking aircraft. I was searching through the log book to determine if Lt. McConville flew the exact airplane you have pictured, B2903. Alas I couldn't find that plane listed. However he did fly B2905, another DH-6 twice on 10/11/1918. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 1 April , 2005 Share Posted 1 April , 2005 Gary I suppose that we shouldn't be too hard on the poor old DH 6. It might not be terribly good looking, but it was designed to be a simple training machine that could be easily repaired after damage. Hence the straight lines everywhere and the interchangeable upper and lower wings - which accounts for the roundels on the uppersurfaces of the lower wings of B2903. There's a quotation about the DH 6 in De Havilland Aircraft of World War I: "God's gift to the trainee . . . the dearest, kindest, most sedate old lady in a first solo. You could stagger 'off the deck' with her, do the flattest of turns, and then just fall back on the ground, and she would still allow you to remain in one piece." Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 1 April , 2005 Share Posted 1 April , 2005 Can I ask .... do we know where McConville was from? It is a very common name in County Armagh! Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 2 April , 2005 Share Posted 2 April , 2005 Des -- I would love to know where Lt. McConville originally came from myself, but the only info I have right now is this log book. He could very well have come from County Armagh. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 2 April , 2005 Share Posted 2 April , 2005 Gareth -- Your comment about the roundels on the top surface of the bottom wing of the DH-6 peaked my interest, so I dug out my venerable BRITISH AEROPLANES 1914-18 by J.M. Bruce, and found this comment about the airplane: “Structural simplicity was achieved almost to an extreme, and popular legend of the day had it that the square-cut wings were made by the mile and cut off by the yard.” I am assuming the airplane’s low speed while in the air made it perfect for submarine hunting for the 254 sqn. According to Bruce the maximum air speed with a 90 h.p. Curtis engine at 2,000 ft. was 75 mph! But Bruce goes on to say, "At best, the use of DH-6's as anti-submarine aircraft was mere bluff, based on the fact that submarine commanders would not surface nor use their periscopes in area known to be patrolled by areoplanes." As far as longevity, Bruce also notes that, "A DH-6 was reported to be still in existence at Geelong West, Victoria, as late as 1937." Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 2 April , 2005 Share Posted 2 April , 2005 Gary I still refer to my copy of Bruce's British Aeroplanes 1914-1918, which set me back the [then] Princely sum of $(A)26.90 in 1969! Money well spent. I was curious about the aircraft mentioned in the extract from Lt McConville’s logbook, especially the Camels, and I thought that I’d try to identify them, but without success. It was a common habit by fliers of the time to ignore the letter prefix to an aeroplane’s serial number (perhaps they were just set on confusing amateur historians!) so Lt Mc Conville’s use of just the numbers is not unusual. However, I’m at a loss to determine just what the numbers "2243, 2446, 4444, 7748, 8880 and 9764" signify as, with one (or perhaps two) exception(s), they don’t seem to have been Camels [given that the first Camel serials are in the ‘B’ range, I didn't look at unprefixed or 'A' range serials]. B2243 was a Sopwith Pup, C2243 was an RE 8, D2243 and E2243 were Bristol Fighters, while F2243 and H2243 were Avro 504s; B2446 was a Camel, but it was written off with No 65 Sqn in December 1917, C2446 was an RE 8, D2446 and E2446 were Bristol Fighters, F2446 was a Snipe, and H2446 was an Avro 504; B4444 was a BE 2e, C4444 and D4444 were Avro 504s, E4444 was Dolphin, F4444 was a Bristol Fighter, and H4444 was an AW FK 8; B7748 was an aircraft rebuilt by No 1 (Southern) Aircraft Repair Depot - it may have been a Camel but it probably wasn't, C7748 was a DH 6, D7748 was an Avro 504, E7748 was a Snipe, F7748 wasn’t allocated, and H7748 was a Martinsyde Buzzard; B8880 was an Avro 504, C8880 was an SE 5a, D8880 was an Avro 504, E8880 was a DH 9, F8880 was an Avro 504, and H8880 was a Martinsyde Buzzard; B9764 was an AW FK 8, C9764 was a Handley-Page O/400, D9764 and E9764 weren’t allocated, F9764 and H9764 were Avro 504s. Any ideas? Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 3 April , 2005 Share Posted 3 April , 2005 Gareth -- This is a puzzle indeed. I thumbed through Lt. McConville’s log book (40 pages or so) looking for aircraft numbers with a prefix letter, and this is what I came up with. Only the DH-6 and DH-9 aircraft have prefix letters noted. The Avro, Camel, only have the four numerals noted in the log book, while the JN-4 only has three numerals noted (for example, “JN4-463”). DH-6: C2655 C6652 C6834 C5204 C6514 C5203 C5201 C5210 C5203 C6521 C5203 C6514 C5209 C6521 C6666 DH-9: B7666 Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Roberts Posted 6 April , 2005 Share Posted 6 April , 2005 I notice some of his flights just after the war he has listed as "joyrides". Those were the days! I wonder if anyone dared list wartime flights as joyrides, or whether it was a case of enjoying a prolonged party after the armistice? Of course it was only a couple of months ago that a AAC helicopter pilot got a ticking-off for delivering a pizza: landed slap in the middle if an inspection by top brass I believe. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TrevorH Posted 12 April , 2005 Share Posted 12 April , 2005 Prefix could be N? I'll get back to you when I've checked a book or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 12 April , 2005 Share Posted 12 April , 2005 Prefix could be N? I'll get back to you when I've checked a book or two. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Trevor/Gary I should have covered the N series as well: N2243 was a Fairey IIIB; N2446 was an AD Flying Boat; N4444 was a Felixstowe F.2A; N7748 was a cancelled order for a Parnall Panther; N8880 wasn't used, and N9764 was a Fairey IIID. Cheers Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 14 September , 2005 Share Posted 14 September , 2005 Cecil Arthur Mc Conville lived in Ontario Canada and possibly transferred to the Canadian RAF at the end of the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFF Posted 22 September , 2005 Share Posted 22 September , 2005 Why not write article for Over the Front Magazine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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