206 Squadron: Coastal Command - Aircraft Overview | John Lowe

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ALL AIRCRAFT FLOWN

(Last Updated: 12.12.07) 

Overview
 

This table below shows the different types of aircraft that Ken flew during his time in the RAF. I have used his Log-book entries of flying time in order to establish the total flying time in each type. A visitor to this site (Robert Stitt) has commented on how much trouble Ken had gone to in order to include both the serial number and the aircraft code letter, typically most pilots only used one or the other.

This information equates to the following statistics:

Total Number of Flights = 682

Total Flying Time = 1,419 Hours & 5 Minutes

That's the equivalent of 59 days spent in the air flying!!

93% of all flying time was spent as a Pilot

The following sets of information against each aircraft flown by Ken have been gathered through various sources.

Miles Magister

This plane was used as an RAF training aircraft that had a crew of 2. Ken is first recorded flying one on the 7th of August 1940, this was initially as a pupil and then completed his first solo flight as early as the 14th of August 1940. The last recorded main flight was on the 11th of September 1940 but it was used occasionally afterwards i.e. 22nd September 1941.

Airspeed Oxford

This plane was primarily a navigational training aircraft, it was know as the 'Ox-Box' and had a crew of 3. Ken is first recorded flying this on the 15th of September 1940, again intially as a pupil with his first solo flight on the 20th of September 1940. The last recorded flight was on the 12th of December 1940. 

This plane was primarily a trainer aircraft but was used as a light bomber and coastal patrol, it had a crew of 3. Ken is first recorded flying one on the 12th of February 1941 to complete a navigation exercise. The last recorded main flight was on the 21st of March 1941 however it was used occasionally afterwards for navigational exercises between the 15th of March 1944 and the 23rd of November 1944.

Lockheed Hudson

The Hudson was used as a patrol aircraft as it was useful against German Submarines, it had a crew of 5. Ken is first recorded flying one on the 18th of June 1941, this involved night flying, high and low level bombing throughout August 1941. There were also escorts and convoy missions with a notable one on the 2nd of November 1941 which was an escort to the 'Secret Force'. The last recorded flight was on the 4th of August 1942.

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

This plane was a heavy bomber with which Coastal Command sank the 1st German U-Boat, it had a crew of 5. Ken is first recorded flying one on the 29th of November 1941 with only one other recorded flight that was on the 28th of April 1942.

Boeing Flying Fortress

This plane was a heavy bomber that sustained the majority of bombings between 1943 and 1945 and had a crew of 8. Ken is first recorded flying one on the 5th of August 1942, it was recorded as having upto 16 passengers on board at times. There was a lot of night flying done in the Fortress with many records of escort missions. The last recorded flight was on the 3rd of August 1943. There were 3 main types of Fortress, they were Fortress I's, Fortress II's and the Fortress IIA's...

The Fortress I was the RAF version of the B-17C of which a handful were used in 206 Squadron as trainer aircrafts ready for the Fortress IIA's. Prior to the 206 they were with 220 Squadron as trainers and a couple were used in Op's. The Fortress I's had markings like AN519, AN520. I have recently checked Ken's log-book and he flew in AN520 on January 1943 that was piloted by Squadron Leader Patrick.

The Fortress IIA was the RAF version of the B-17E of which there were 45 aircraft with markings of (FK184 to FK213) and (FL449 to FL460) and (FL462 to FL464). Ken flew in 14 of those 45 different aircrafts - 8 different FK aircraft and in 6 different FL aircraft.

The Fortress II was the RAF version of the B-17F of which there were 19 aircraft with markings of FA695 to FA713. Ken flew in 4 of the 19 different FA aircraft. The main external differences were the nose cone, on the Fortress II it had a one piece blown Perspex nose cone and broader propeller blades.

Thanks to Robert Stitt for this information

De Havilland Dominie

This plane was used for communications, transport and training that had a crew of 2. Ken is first recorded flying one on the 15th of August 1943 with the 206 Squadron, Group 15. There are only 2 recorded flights in the Dominie and they were both on the same day.

Vickers Wellington

This plane was a heavy bomber that was known in the RAF as 'Wimpy'. It could do everything i.e. coastal guard, bombing, reconnaissance and patrol. It had a crew of 6. Ken is only recorded as flying the Wellington once and that was on the 6th of November 1943 for a navigational exercise.

Consolidated Liberator

This plane was a heavy bomber that was known for its fuel capacity as it had a long range. It had a crew of 10. Ken is first recorded flying one on the 10th of December 1942, it was mainly used through April and May 1945 with 37 flights recorded. The last recorded main flight was on the 10th of May 1945, on the 17th of May 1945 Ken's summary of bombing contained the words
 

_{'keen and co-operative'.}

North American Mitchell

This plane was used as a medium bomber that had a crew of 6. Ken is recorded flying a Mitchell B25-J throughout March 1945 on 11 occasions for 1 Squadron unit 111. OTU (Operational Training Unit).