Visit To Reymerston Hall - 13th July 2008
Good weather, a good turnout and a really good time was enjoyed by all who signed on for our visit to Reymerston Hall which was jointly organised by Don Burlingham
(5th) and Dixie Dean (40th). The Hall, in many acres, is the residence of flying legend Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis MBE, who retired from the RAF in 1964. The
sprightly 92 year old joined his visitors for lunch at the nearby Norfolk Golf & County Club. Needless to say Don had played there in past days and he described its course
as difficult. Ken proved an excellent luncheon guest as he regaled his audience with anecdotes and yarns. Born at Ely in 1916 into a family already committed to aviation
(his father built a plane as early as 1908) Ken entered the 2nd World War as a Royal Air Force Reservist and flew Bomber Command operations over Germany. After
completing a full tour he concentrated on armaments before returning to the skies over Italy during that conflict's later stages. Ken still asks if a Bomber Command
Campaign Medal will be struck? So do we all! As most Reserve aircrew returned to Civvy Street after VE Day, Ken's desire for a Service career saw him successfully
apply for a Permanent Commission. His love of flying was equally matched by a love of engineering and many of his ideas and suggested improvements were taken up,
particularly in his chosen speciality of armaments.
One yarn was that the Prison Governor of an establishment close to his home had invited him to give a talk to inmates, including murderers, about his service
experiences. Ken said, "I accepted and it was well received. But tactfully I never told them that, at the time, I was Vice Chairman of a National Campaign Organisation
which was seeking to restore capital punishment".
We were shown around his home where there were many framed pictures of Ken meeting famous personages (too numerous to list), RAF plaques and much other
memorabilia. We were clearly impressed by Ken's ability to remember dates, times, places and names from past decades with total clarity and accuracy. Of course he
mentioned his most famous invention - the AutoGyro - which had made him a household name. He recalled his audition before legendary James Bond film director
'Cubby' Brocolli at Pinewood Studios. With his top machine in use elsewhere he performed in a reserve one, and within minutes of display time, Brocolli was "hooked".
As for who would fly it the film director looked at Ken and said, "You're about the same build as Sean Connery so you'll do". Ken then purchased the "You Only Live
Twice" book and read it, but failed see any passage even close to what he was being asked to do! A 5 minutes' scene had taken over 42 hours of flying and 81 flights.
One shot high over a Japanese crater was re-shot as one camera had a hair across its lens. There was a note of regret when Ken pointed out that despite using his
invention on the film's posters he was never mentioned in the credits.
We then saw an old fashioned workshop belonging to an engineer of the old school. We then walked to his collection of autogyros, stored in a single storey building,
which housed many other exhibits - all of which were clearly captioned. "Little Nellie" the original autogyro which flew in that James Bond film was on Imperial War
Museum display so a replica was on show for visitors. Ken personally showed us around and was keen to fully answer members' questions. Then came, literally, the
high spot as he prepared to display his flying talents. The fit aviator, who donned a RAF representative sports tie, declined all help to push his autogyro out of its storage
position. He chose a 2-seater version, which looked like a bicycle frame with a propeller on top and one at the rear. He stressed that it was a propeller and not a rotor,
which he boomed, would only be found on helicopters. On a frame was etched the names of his first 100 passengers. "You won't find many pilots names as they take one
look at this machine and declare that they'd never go up in one" he said. A battered old leather flying helmet was donned and a pair of spectacles. "I don't need glasses; I
only wear them to keep the flies out of my eyes" he assured us. He cared about his contraption commanding, "Stand back. I don't want anybody going into the propeller
and damaging it".
Using a landing strip within his grounds he took off on a short run and ascended almost vertically. We had a noisy 10 minutes' display which truly captivated us, during
which he took aerial photographs of us in his field, before finishing off with low level passes - during which he flew with no hands or feet on his controls, and even sat
with both feet over the same side. On landing he was still not done as he told us more fascinating facts about his invention. "I once flew 50 miles in Brazil on a day when
all Civil and Military aircraft had been grounded owing to dangerous high winds" he recalled. Ken stated that his record duration had been 7 hours and 45 minutes adding,
"When I landed I still had enough in the tank for another 2 hours". This remarkable man then pushed his remarkable machine back into its storage area - and then
showed us his speedboat. Speedboat? No ordinary sailor had been Ken for he'd won races and had pictures and trophies to prove it.
A wonderful day out and if ever Winger Commander Wallis invites our Association's members to visit again, put your name down pronto as it'll be a day to truly savour.
On leaving we were so impressed by this nonagenarian's fitness that one attendee was heard to speculate if he'd still be flying when he reaches Centenarian status?
Well...you wouldn't bet against
(5th) and Dixie Dean (40th). The Hall, in many acres, is the residence of flying legend Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis MBE, who retired from the RAF in 1964. The
sprightly 92 year old joined his visitors for lunch at the nearby Norfolk Golf & County Club. Needless to say Don had played there in past days and he described its course
as difficult. Ken proved an excellent luncheon guest as he regaled his audience with anecdotes and yarns. Born at Ely in 1916 into a family already committed to aviation
(his father built a plane as early as 1908) Ken entered the 2nd World War as a Royal Air Force Reservist and flew Bomber Command operations over Germany. After
completing a full tour he concentrated on armaments before returning to the skies over Italy during that conflict's later stages. Ken still asks if a Bomber Command
Campaign Medal will be struck? So do we all! As most Reserve aircrew returned to Civvy Street after VE Day, Ken's desire for a Service career saw him successfully
apply for a Permanent Commission. His love of flying was equally matched by a love of engineering and many of his ideas and suggested improvements were taken up,
particularly in his chosen speciality of armaments.
One yarn was that the Prison Governor of an establishment close to his home had invited him to give a talk to inmates, including murderers, about his service
experiences. Ken said, "I accepted and it was well received. But tactfully I never told them that, at the time, I was Vice Chairman of a National Campaign Organisation
which was seeking to restore capital punishment".
We were shown around his home where there were many framed pictures of Ken meeting famous personages (too numerous to list), RAF plaques and much other
memorabilia. We were clearly impressed by Ken's ability to remember dates, times, places and names from past decades with total clarity and accuracy. Of course he
mentioned his most famous invention - the AutoGyro - which had made him a household name. He recalled his audition before legendary James Bond film director
'Cubby' Brocolli at Pinewood Studios. With his top machine in use elsewhere he performed in a reserve one, and within minutes of display time, Brocolli was "hooked".
As for who would fly it the film director looked at Ken and said, "You're about the same build as Sean Connery so you'll do". Ken then purchased the "You Only Live
Twice" book and read it, but failed see any passage even close to what he was being asked to do! A 5 minutes' scene had taken over 42 hours of flying and 81 flights.
One shot high over a Japanese crater was re-shot as one camera had a hair across its lens. There was a note of regret when Ken pointed out that despite using his
invention on the film's posters he was never mentioned in the credits.
We then saw an old fashioned workshop belonging to an engineer of the old school. We then walked to his collection of autogyros, stored in a single storey building,
which housed many other exhibits - all of which were clearly captioned. "Little Nellie" the original autogyro which flew in that James Bond film was on Imperial War
Museum display so a replica was on show for visitors. Ken personally showed us around and was keen to fully answer members' questions. Then came, literally, the
high spot as he prepared to display his flying talents. The fit aviator, who donned a RAF representative sports tie, declined all help to push his autogyro out of its storage
position. He chose a 2-seater version, which looked like a bicycle frame with a propeller on top and one at the rear. He stressed that it was a propeller and not a rotor,
which he boomed, would only be found on helicopters. On a frame was etched the names of his first 100 passengers. "You won't find many pilots names as they take one
look at this machine and declare that they'd never go up in one" he said. A battered old leather flying helmet was donned and a pair of spectacles. "I don't need glasses; I
only wear them to keep the flies out of my eyes" he assured us. He cared about his contraption commanding, "Stand back. I don't want anybody going into the propeller
and damaging it".
Using a landing strip within his grounds he took off on a short run and ascended almost vertically. We had a noisy 10 minutes' display which truly captivated us, during
which he took aerial photographs of us in his field, before finishing off with low level passes - during which he flew with no hands or feet on his controls, and even sat
with both feet over the same side. On landing he was still not done as he told us more fascinating facts about his invention. "I once flew 50 miles in Brazil on a day when
all Civil and Military aircraft had been grounded owing to dangerous high winds" he recalled. Ken stated that his record duration had been 7 hours and 45 minutes adding,
"When I landed I still had enough in the tank for another 2 hours". This remarkable man then pushed his remarkable machine back into its storage area - and then
showed us his speedboat. Speedboat? No ordinary sailor had been Ken for he'd won races and had pictures and trophies to prove it.
A wonderful day out and if ever Winger Commander Wallis invites our Association's members to visit again, put your name down pronto as it'll be a day to truly savour.
On leaving we were so impressed by this nonagenarian's fitness that one attendee was heard to speculate if he'd still be flying when he reaches Centenarian status?
Well...you wouldn't bet against
| An Article By Dave Ainsworth (304th) |
| Pictures Courtesy Of Dixie Dean |
| Want To See Pictures Of Ken Wallis's Autogyros? Click Here |
 |  |  |
| Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Association |
RAFAA
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| Multam A Parvo |
