RAF Pawlett RAE
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
I have called this Pawlett RAE as I believe the only reason the hangar was built here is for use by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, to test hawsers for anti-aircraft balloons.
Another item: I do not condone trespass, we did enter and through an open gate. We did walk around. BUT we did NO damage and took nothing but photos and not enough of them.
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WAAF's struggling.
WAAF's being lifted off the ground.
RAF Pawlett RAE
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
The river and estuary of the River Parrett at Pawlett from a Pillbox defence, one of many that dot the area. I believe they are part of a stop line. Go to eDoB online a searchable map with most defences of Britain are added.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
One of the original entrances to the site via a military concrete road.
Pawlett experimental establishment
and balloon tests at
Pawlett Hams on the lower reaches of the
Parrett River. Where the river swings in wide
meanders across the low land that was a lonely area
and well suited to secret experiments. These
experiments were run by the Royal Aircraft Establishment,
Farnborough (RAE). The initial trials were to
test the breaking strain of German barrage
balloon cable and to compare them with British
balloon cables. The tests were carried out by
aircraft with strengthened wing edges flying
into the cables. The aircraft were initially based
at RAF Exeter but were later moved to RAF
Churchstanton (RAF Culmhead) on the Blackdown Hills. Other
experiments included testing aircraft fitted with
strengthened wings or cutters to attempt to cut
or deflect German balloon cables. Experiments
to test the concept of aerial minefields included
suspending ‘paint bombs’ from a balloon. A
barrage balloon was stationed at Pawlett and a
balloon hangar constructed to
house it. This avoided the need for a balloon
crew to be constantly present to turn the close hauled balloon into the wind or for the balloon
to be deflated and re-inflated for each experiment. The hanger, which measures 100 x 70
x 80 feet high (30 x 21 x 24m), was erected
in 1940-41 and still survives.
An adjacent camp was constructed to accommodate personnel and provide administrative
facilities.
Paul Francis, Military Airfield Architecture.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
The hanger, which measures 100 x 70 x 80 feet high (30 x 21 x 24m), was erected in 1940-41.
RAF Pawlett RAE
19 August 2012
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
The glass windows high up on the side wall.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
An adjacent camp was constructed to accommodate personnel and provide administrative facilities, but I do not know where that was.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Front door.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Fully opening front and rear doors.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Main entrance and the MT section on the right and it also may have been a fabric store.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
MT and fabric store.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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The Balloon hangar.
MT vehicle pit.
Under training.
Fordson flat bed lorry carrying the gas cylinders.
Winch lorry.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Some of the electrical wiring.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Boxes littered the site.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
MT office.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005 Somerset HER image 42356 2003
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
MT and fabric store, with a dilapidated roof and tons of stores littered around, bearings, gaskets, oil seals.
More storage areas.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
South door. Fully opening front (and rear) doors 100ft high. All that was needed was a handle and one man.
Door handle.
How they would have looked inside a hangar.
Repairing barrage balloons
RAF Pawlett RAE
Somerset HER image 42363 2003
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The Balloon hangar.
The utter rubbish that was lying around.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Heavy cast iron guttering to the side office extension.
RAF Pawlett RAE
Somerset HER image 42358 2003
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The Balloon hangar.
Side office extension. Boxes of engines, gearboxes, all sorts.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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The Balloon hangar.
Side office extension. A part of an old fire engine, generators, boxes, it went on.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
The North door. It is huge 100ft high.
RAF Pawlett RAE
19 August 2012
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
The door runners for the tops of the door.
RAF Pawlett RAE
Som HER image 42361 2003
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
The door runners at ground level.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
The door from inside. Standard commercial galvanised steel sheeting used to cover the building.
Galvanised corrugated sheet.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Door drive mechanism on the inside.
Door handle.
Square drive to open the door on the outside.
RAF Pawlett RAE
ARG Archive A.M. 2839/35
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Drive mechanism plan view for a Type "C" Aeroplane Shed Air Ministry Drawing No. A.M. 2839/35, which there is no reason why the same does not apply here.
RAF Pawlett RAE
ARG Archive A.M. 2839/35
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Drive mechanism plan view for a Type "C" Aeroplane Shed Air Ministry Drawing No. A.M. 2839/35, which there is no reason why the same does not apply here. You can see the handle on the right.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Inside looking at its vastness.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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The Balloon hangar.
One of two Coles cranes.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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The Balloon hangar.
North door. The second Coles Crane in I believe NATO green with yellow line. This may help date it. Stores piled high up full of ex military hardware..
Coles having been at one time the Largest Mobile Crane Manufacturer in the World ceased to exist and it is sadly no longer possible to buy a UK built mobile crane. Says a lot for British industry.
Coles drawing office.
Coles (Steels) workforce.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Quite a few FV432 gear boxes that had been reconditioned ready to be re used.
FV432 on Salisbury Plain.
FV432 in pristine condition.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
South Door.
RAF Pawlett RAE
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Four WAAF's struggle with a barrage balloon on a site somewhere in Britain.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Outside the west wall.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Outside, wooden boxed batteries. There were ex-government grey trailers, about 20 of them. More boxes just heaped up.
RAF Pawlett RAE
02 October 2005
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
The original electrical supply from the main grid.
RAF Pawlett RAE
19 August 2012
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
From the area where the experiments were held.
RAF Pawlett RAE
19 August 2012
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Brean Down.
RAF Pawlett RAE
19 August 2012
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The Balloon hangar.
Balloon tie down.
RAF Pawlett RAE
19 August 2012
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Balloon tie down. What look like threads in the top.
The principle of the cable cutting experiments was to ensure that the flying cable was such that it made a angle of 45 degrees with the horizon. From the balloon a single cable was dangled vertically down with drogue parachutes attached and warning flags. The aircraft would deliberately fly into the cable and attempt to cut the cable using various methods such as hardened leading edges to the wing. It was eventually found that a small cable cutting chisel fired by an explosive bolt was the answer. As the wing hit the cable the aircraft slewed around and the cable would slide along the leading edge of the wing and enter a small notch in the wing. This would detonate a cartridge that would fire a hardened chisel and sever the cable in two. The pilot then was able to recover his aircraft from any stall.
Barrage balloon cutter fitted to the wings of aircraft.
RAF Pawlett RAE
19 August 2012
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Steep Holm and Flat Holm.
RAF Pawlett RAE
19 August 2012
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RAF Pawlett RAE
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The Balloon hangar.
Coastguard helicopter that we witnessed at the time over the flats near Brean.
Dramatic rescue
- A walker has been rescued by Burnham-On-Sea coastguards after getting stuck in the mud.
The 38-year-old man, who was visiting the area from East Timor, was spotted by a beach warden a mile-and-a-half from the shore at Berrow.
Two rescue hovercraft's were involved in the operation, south of the beach wreck, at 19:11 BST on Monday.
"He was extremely lucky not to have got into more difficulty," said coastguard officer Steve Bird.
Mike Lowe, from the Burnham Area Rescue Boat (BARB), said: "The beach warden did the right thing in contacting coastguards as soon as there was any concern regarding the man's welfare.
"It could have turned out to be far more serious."
The walker and his rescuers.
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19 August 2012
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France
Great Britain
