question RFC Crossley

[Enigma]

Sounds sweet.

Well done!

[Great War truck]

Great stuff. I look forward to seeing it out and about.

[Charawacky]

Here are a couple of pics of the Staff Car out and about some time earlier in India 1966 just prior to repatriation.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

Tom

[Charawacky]

I have riveted the Leather material to the Clutch and fitted it, the result is very good, a very smooth uptake, or wa it the snow! The leather should have been thicker as the cone protrudes out of the housing a few mm, will correct when next relining it.

Hopefully the clutch spring will be strong enough, road testing will confirm this summer, I am told I will have to take some fullers earth in case i experince slipping.

 

Please find a llink to a short video on youtube:

 

 

Regards

 

Tom

[Old Bill]

What a glorious motor car! I am so looking forward to seeing it out and about!

 

Steve

[Charawacky]

The snow having cleared I have been out clutch testing. Initially it slipped in 3rd and top probably due to too much neetsfoot oil, however this corrected itself and works fine now. As the clutch is quite easy to press so I will change the clutch spring for a new one to ensure there is no possibility of slippage. This would result in glazing of the leather surface and then continuous slippage.

I am expecting the Staff Car to have a top speed of about 60 mph, a Crossley light tender must have compared well with the heavy RR Armoured car's max speed of 45 mph.

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the BBC documentary this week showing Laurence of Arabia with a Crossley Tender, the documentary also showed a clip of a 20/25 staff car being driven in Cairo.

[Charawacky]

Here is a picture taken before the Staff Car went for wiring

John Rice is stood by the Car looking workman in the evening sun.

I can always rely on John for that billet of steel when the stockists are shut at weekend or late a night so I can make a part, he is a willing helper for any two man job I cannot manage.

He has many strange mechanical devices, currently rebuilding a 1902 DeDion, a Monet & Goyon AUTOMOUCHE and he is looking for a "Pramotor 750cc V-twin with direct drive" image Google it! :-D

 

 

Tom

[abn deuce]

Sounds like a great friend to have and a very clever man.

[Charawacky]

I hope you like this my favourite image - Australian Squadron no 1

 

Typical AFC /RFC squadron allocation of vehicles with their drivers, but missing runway road roller!

 

1 Crossley 20/25 staff car

8 Crossley 20/25 Tenders

2 Ford T trucks

2 RFC Leyland Trucks

5 P & M Motorbikes

1 P & M Motorbike with Sidecar

 

Aircraft engine test ring in background

 

 

Edited October 3, 2010 by Charawacky

[Richard Peskett]

Another image proving the point that the spare was intended for universal front and back use, this Crossley would seem to be well pased its sell by date. As an aside, the pneumatic tyred 30 cwt Dennis lorries of the mid / late 1920s had different size wheels / tyres back and front, to get over this the lorry came new with a solid tyre spare which solved the problem. Also in earlier times it was common place to change a tube at the roadside rather than a wheel.

Richard Peskett.

 

[Charawacky]

Superb photo Richard,

 

Did the driver escape the bullets by not moving his head?

The steering wheel would have taken one bullet!

 

Here is a bit of colour

 

Crossley selling on its war image.

 

I don't know how the public would have taken to using a twin spare on the front?

Quite the opposite of our present day space/weight saver spares, or is it?

 

Tom

[Great War truck]

What fabulous images.

[Tony B]

Three wheels on my wagon from that photo:-D though there is one lying in the background. Does appear to be still mobile though.

[Charawacky]

Penguins

 

According to the Oxford Dictionary a "penguin" was "a non -flying flapper in the RAF"

 

 

PRECEPTS FOR PENGUINS.

 

By One of the W.R.A.F.

 

1. Thou shalt have no dealings with Cadets 1 Thou

shalt not give them the " glad eye " ; nor seek to attract them with thy smiles—lest thou be called flighty "

always remembering that thou art a Penguin and canst not

fly-

2. Thou shalt not try to find favour in the eyes of any man

by offering unto him a " second helping," for I say unto you :

He that can eat a ' second helping' in these days loveth

dearly his ' Little Mary,' and can have no love for another."

3. Thou shalt not exceed thy rations, for sufficient unto

the day is the food thereof as allowed by the good Lord

Rhondda; and shouldst thou eat more than thy allotted

share, then surely someone shall receive short measure I

4. Thou shalt not smash the crockery, but walk warily

and watch thy step, lest thy foot slip, and in falling thou

shouldst break 101 plates. If such misfortune should overtake

thee, then shalt thou throw up thine arms, crying, " Oh

Lord 1 oh. Lord ! What have I done ? "

5. Eight inches from the ground shalt thou wear thy frock

—Hot more than these eight inches—nor shalt thou wear

a lemon-coloured stocking, lest, perchance the Cadets should

see a golden calf (a well-fatted one withal), and, like the

Israelites of old, should fall down and worship it.

6. Thou shalt not wear a " t rench coat," lest thou be taken

for an officer, and thy comrades beholding thee should say:

" Lo 1 Here is our officer." And they would give thee the

salute, which would be a pity, for it would be wasted.

7. If thou shouldst meet a motor transport driver wearing

the cloth of an officer, then shalt thou turn thine eyes away

and give not the salute, for she is not an officer 1 (No,

certainly not.)

8. Thou shalt not powder thy face I If thou wouldst secure

unto thyself a husband, and one that is a soldier, I say unto

thee, he that hath already " faced the powder " careth nought

for the powdered face. It appeareth unto him even as a

camouflage !

9. Thou shalt at all times wear thy uniform—the coat,

the hat, the frock that has been given unto thee. Thou shalt

not receive on Saturday morning a parcel bearing the legend

"Laundry," which containeth not the snowy raiment, but,

rather, a suit of blue serge, and a blouse that is of silk, to be

donned secretly and at night when thou goest out to meet

thy friends.

10. At the hour of nine-thirty shalt thou be in thy billet—

not later than this. If, perchance, thy watch hath deceived

thee, or the tram hath broken down, seek not to enter thy

hostel with loud knocking on the door and ringing of bells;

but, rather, get thee to the back of the house, where fhou

mayest enter by the scullery window—silently and without

noise—having a care that thou disturbeth (?) not the slumbers

of those that are within. Then " all shall be well with thee."

11. At least once a month shalt thou have thy photograph

taken (by Breach or another) that thou mayest send it to thy

relatives and friends in the north, the south, the east, and the

west, that they may behold thee in thy uniform, and say unto

the neighbours : " See 1 This is my daughter, and she is a

Penguin ! "

12. And when it shall come to pass that the war shall be

over, thou canst return to thy home, feeling proud that thou

hast done " thy bit " for King and Country, for in ministering

to the needs of these Cadets thou hast helped in a measure

to bring about the end of the Great War. Wherefore, go

thy way and dwell in peace. Thou hast done well, my child !

Thou hast done well 1—Roosters and Fledglings.

Edited November 22, 2011 by Charawacky

[Great War truck]

That is brilliant. Where on earth did you find that?

[Charawacky]

That is brilliant. Where on earth did you find that?

It is an piece from Fledglings and Roosters the post 1918 monthly journal of the Royal Air Force Cadets.

 

Hope you like the picture, nice smile :-)

Tom

 

 

Edited November 22, 2011 by Charawacky

[Charawacky]

The last RAF Penguin and Veteran of WW1 has sadly died this last week, Florence Green was the last living link with the great war.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-16929653

Edited February 10, 2012 by Charawacky

[Charawacky]

Here is a fantastic staff car somewhere in France, picked up from a link on the pigeon carrier forum.

Really looks the part.

There seems to be one of everything out there!

 

 

[Gordon_M]

That staff car is absolutely correct to look at, isn't it?

 

It looks almost brand new, adapted with twin rears, and hard used for a year or two. The owner is to be congratulated on not having it shiny with paintwork that looks like it is an inch deep. Well done.

[Roy Larkin]

That staff car is absolutely correct to look at, isn't it?

 

It looks almost brand new, adapted with twin rears, and hard used for a year or two. The owner is to be congratulated on not having it shiny with paintwork that looks like it is an inch deep. Well done.

 

It certainly does look 'right'. But i have nothing against bright and shiny either. British vehicles were completely repainted once a year, more often if overhauled as well. That repaint involved body off, a complete rub down and 2 coats of paint followed by 2 of varnish. They were also kept as clean as possible. Not because the army loves spotless parades but because cracked chassis, front and rear axles, springs etc were a common and serious problem. By fastidiously cleaning vehicles on regular basis the cleaner/driver was forced to pay close attention and therefore spot cracks before they became breakages. Cracks were far too big a problem to be hidden by dirt.

[Charawacky]

I could not agree more with both comments

The appearance of the Renault is just perfect.

Small but potentially serious problems are found when you inspect closely during cleaning.

Here are the two extremes in service

Tom

Edited February 20, 2012 by Charawacky

[Redherring]

The 'shiny' photo intrigues me. Do you happen to know who the people are? Regards Robert

[airman585]

Any one know of a functional RFC Crossley that the owner would be interested in bringing to a Hampshire air museum weekend event in the summer as part of the centenary of the Royal Flying Corps celebrations ??

If so I would like to hear from you.

[Charawacky]

We will be down at the Royal Flying Corps formation centenary event with both the Staff car and Tender this coming bank holiday weekend the 5th, 6th and 7th May.

 

This will be an interesting show and reasonably priced.

 

http://www.stowmaries.com/index.asp

 

Details

 

http://www.stowmaries.com/news/story.asp?NewsID=86

 

 

Tom

[Charawacky]

Stow Maries Royal Flying Corps Centenary

 

We trailered the 1914 Staff Car and drove the 1918 Tender 250 miles down the Motorway from Preston on the Friday.

On Sunday we returned home driving the Staff Car and Trailered the Tender.

The Tender was happy at about 45mph and the Staff Car 50 mph neither had any issues.

Surprisingly we overtook a couple of trucks both on the ways!

 

The Dawn Patrol were great, a pity no full size WW1 aircraft were able to attend due to poor flying weather.

 

http://www.dawnpatroluk.co.uk/site_selection_page.htm

 

Here are a couple of pictures

 

Credit www.lighthouseimaging.co.uk