William de Riecroft

To whoever asked the question. 'what do I want a nice young lady for' simple answer ,Company. After all I am an old Geezer!!!!! William (fireproof)

No Planey,the name is Norman French,goes back a long way. The family has records that go back to the time of the first crusade. Myearly life was spent in Northern Italy and the South of France,however,I was born in London. Reg's, fireproof

Thanks Planey, re, your girl friend,thats just what I'm looking for.Having lost my lovely Wife early last year I'm finding life very lonely,We had been married for 58 years,she was a pom from Nottingham.West Bridgford to be exact. Funny how one tends to remember things like " old geezer" Grace my Wife used to use that phrase in a kindly way and I've only heard it used in a derogatory sense here in Australia. Anyway,if you can find me a 'sweet innocent' young lady just let me know!!!

Thanks Dazza that's great,I feel that I might be getting back now. It is unlikely that I will ever get my licence renewed as the old ticker still poses a problem,at least with the licencing folk. Although I have suffered no problems eg Angina for instance, since 2006 they are naturally very cautious. We will see. It is strange that I handed my licencing in after the incident during my landing way back in 1995 and three weeks later it was returned with a note "No problem, carry on flying"!!!!. I'm looking forward to meeting you. Safe Flying William (fireprood)

thank's Dazza for your kind remaks.I note that you mentioned Boonah as your airfield.I visited Boonah some years ago.I'm not sure if it was a'Fly-in or an air display on that day.Recently I sent some photos to them.taken on that day. Since then I have been in close contact with Dave Briffa,who has invited me down there to be re-introduced to flying ,in a Tecnam,sounds great and I'm looking forward to that. First I have to convince The orthpeadic chaps at PCH that they can now sign me off their books. I see them on Thursday the 30th of this month. Wish me luck!!. Regards,William (fireproof)

Thanks Neil S, for the kind remarks,very much appreciated. Regards William (fireproof)

Thanks Tomo,I'm always concerned that my offerings may be dismissed as the ramblings of some old'Geezer' with too much time on his hands. Well that maybe true to some extent. I am an old geezer and at the moment I do have far too much time on my hands. However I am trying to remedy that by getting immersed in the field of aviation once again. My flying was cut short when I landed an aircraft whilst in the middle of an heart attack.I had a passenger on board,The aircraft suffered no damage neither did my passenger or myself,That was 15 years ago,with any luck I might just get airborne again!! Regards William (fireproof)

William Hallo Sue, Although the 'incident occured in 1961 The RAF insist on refering to it as an 'incident' rather than an avoidable accident, however I did learn one thing, never,never volunteer for anything again!! I was a navigator. by the way not pilot but I did obtain my PL when I left the RAF. But as I said I have no regrets. (except for volunteering) Regards William

Hi First landing aborted some few months ago due to u/c problems. Frst attempt to fix, not a great success. Returned to hospital and now learning to walk again. Thinking of abandoning old RAF nickname of fireproof does not seem appropriate these days

Hi Sue.Your Post was just what I needed.I lost my Wife 20th April 2009. (anniversary coming up week after next ) I have really been floundering thinking of what I should do to try to get a life again,by the way,I'm 81 yoa. Just didn't think I stood a chance, and that's why I began to try to pick up on the rather tenuous connections that I might still have with aviation. I came to the right place,thanks maybe I can still enjoy life again after all.William.F de Riecroft.

Thanks for the photo and the reminder re the Zlin and Neil Williams. I spoke to my eldest son Tony who lives in Perth and he actually was more involved at Booker than I was and as a result knew more people. Did you meet Tony Geislink at (spelling!!) Booker,he was i/c the Airways flying club and i used to get some cheap air time through him.Also the Bianci family who ran the aircraft maintenance facility well rather Doug and his daughter did, while Tony the Son spent most of his time honing his show flying skills. My Son Tony used to fly with Airways usually in one of their little trainers.I used to hire the Cessna 152. You have really shaken up the old memory files and I had laid them to rest as 'NO LONGER REQUIRED' thanks for that.There were so many characters at Booker,such as the Hon Patrick Lindsay and his big black, high wing MS....? Finally I have been to the hospital twice this week for final checks to see if it is safe to proceed with at least the first op. knee reconstruction. The answer was yes and so we can go ahead with the first one on the 3rd of May.Will be great to be able to walk properly again. Must close as my Grand Daughter is here with me and I need to have a chat with her about the $806.00 mobile bill she has run up on my Telstra A/C. Regards William

Thanks for the message Bob.Must admit that although I was manager of both Civil and Aero and a Civil Eng,I spent more time with Aero.That was because more effort had been put into building up Civ Eng, and as a result they did not need so much attention.The other reason was that the plan to provide a flying facility at Benalla involved much negotiation with Council and Government and I became deeply involved in that. Not that I minded,never wanted to be a Civ Eng anyway, and the opportunities to get a bit of flying time in at Benalla was a welcome bonus. I took up the position/s at RMIT after a spell at Technisearch in 1974,as you may recall they were a sort of commercial arm of RMIT involved in testing,research and investigations, at that time almost all involved in Civil Eng and building construction. That spell was necessary because RMIT's funding had been effected by the Fraser-Whitlam stoush and they could not afford to pay my salary. That was solved eventually by paying me out of the Contingency Fund. I enjoyed my stay at RMIT but eventually had to take early retirement due to the worsening of spinal injuries sustained in the RAF.Regards and thanks for the message.

Yes of course,Rothmans became the Marlboro team after I had left the UK in 1974.The name Neil rings a bell, was he the fellow that flew the Yak ? By the way,I lived at Lane End and used to walk through the woods to the airfield,very convenient. I am really a Civil engineer and was manager of the Civil Engineering Dept at the Polytechnic of Central London,so commuted most days. Had Eric Stokes taken over the combined Aero and Civil when you were there at RMIT ? I had been offered Managership of Civil Engineering while I was still over at the PCL and when I fronted up for the interview at Swanston St, Brigadier Jackson asked if I thought that I could look after the two tasks, I asked if I could have double salaries,we compromised! When I flew from Booker I flew in a Procter that had actually been at RAF Swanton Morley when I did my Air Signallers course, it belonged to a fellow named Sewell I think, but it was not hangered there. Anyway I must go, I have to attend hospital today for some prelimlinary tests prior to the upcoming op.Regards William

How I wish that I was nearer to you mate.to try to save a Canberra would just about be the ultimate in my life. Good on yer mate just wish I could help in some way, Best of luck regards. Fireproof

Sorry to butt in here guys but let me tell you what the canberra means to me. Ater flying as Nav in Lincolns and pretty well anything else the RAF chose to throw at me, they told me that I was henceforth on Canberras. To keep it short it was like going from a go- cart to a Formula 1 I was, at the age of 30 like a teenager again. WOW!!

djpacro I'm getting more nostalgic by the hour. It is great for an old fellow like me (81yoa)to be able to hear from folk such as yourself still directly invoved in flying,and who knew some of my old buddies. You must have known Taf Lewis and the othe chap,ex Fishermans Bend, seem to recall that his name was Denton, walked with a limp. So do I and I'm due to go into hospital on the 3rd of May to get a knee reconstruction done. That's the left one, and then I have to go back to get the right one fixed. I gave up piloting as opposed to flying, some years ago after experiencing an heart attack whilst landing on 24r at Jandakot. I got down ok but recall very little of HOW!! .Perhaps as well. An old RAF pal that I flew with in Cyprus eventually led the Marlboro Pitts Special Team.They were based at Wycombe Air Park or Booker as the locals and the RAF knew it in WW2. I also flew from there at the same time as 'Manx' Kelly and his Pitts. We also had Hadrian Swires (of Cathay fame) and his Spitfire there too. OK that's it for now, Thanks for the welcome and Regards. Fireproof.

hello cficare I flew him around in an Airtourer from Benalla and also flew as passenger in various gliders from there. Great chap.We set up the flight facility for our students together and I had a hell of a lot of respect for him.I also flew him in the Schieb Falk also at Benalla.Great memories of a great man! Regards William (fireproof, my RAF nickname always intrigued him)

:help:Hi, Just getting back as close (as I can) after a long exile from aviation,mainly RAF. Must admit,feeling my way at the moment. Ex Manager of Aero engineering at RMIT and worked with Henry Millicer. Flew from Wycombe Air Park (Booker) UK, and Janderkot WA.