CAPTAIN & THE CHIMNEYS

The Captain – and the chimneys

Bev Pook recalls a flight from Shoreham in 1988 with American friend, Dick Meyers…

Back in the 1980s, I owned a 1/8 share in a de Havilland DHC1 Chipmunk. On one particularly nice sunny day, I was visited by a very good friend of mine, Dick Meyers. The date, to be exact, was 16 July 1988, according to my flying logbook.

We decided to take advantage of the weather and pull

Chipmunk, G-BBMW, out of the hangar at Shoreham

Airport and go flying.

Captain Dick Meyers hailed from the USA and was a very experienced pilot – he was a captain for American

Transair, flying its Boeing 757 fleet. Due to Dick’s experience, plus the fact that I was current in both the front and rear seats of the Chipmunk, I elected to take the rear cockpit and allow him to sit in the front, P1 position.

The Chipmunk has dual controls and can be easily flown from both seats.

We departed Shoreham on Runway 21 and, after climbing out, we turned left to fly along the coast on the seaward side towards the east, a route that took us past

Shoreham Power Station B and its two prominent chimneys, which served for many years as a useful landmark for the purposes of nautical and aviation navigators. On many occasions, the chimneys offered me a great visual aid when flying, indeed I remember my qualifying solo cross-country flight in 1976 – the last leg of that triangular route being to leave Goodwood, near

Chichester, and fly back to Shoreham. Those two chimneys immediately came into sight and made that a very easy return to complete the test. Above Chipmunk G-BBMW in which Bev had a one eighth share. Today it flies from Goodwood. Photo: Bev Pook.

Right Old friend, American ATPL, Dick Meyers who enjoyed that day’s adventures. Photo: Bev Pook.

Below Cornish Farm landing strip near Beach Head, where Bev and Dick landed for tea and cake. Photo: Courtesy Google maps.

Dick and I continued our flight along the coastline, past Brighton and Newhaven, then past the famous Beachy Head with its lighthouse at the bottom of the cliffs, and on towards Eastbourne. At Eastbourne we turned north towards the rolling countryside of Sussex. It was fun to point out the many private landing grounds that are littered about within the green and pleasant land of Sussex. Dick’s thoughts on these grass-covered landing strips were quite amusing, because in the US most airfields are considerably larger and usually covered in concrete.

Just to the west of Eastbourne and north of Beachy Head, there is some council-owned land called Cornish Farm, managed at that time by a friend of mine, Chris Johnson. One of the fields on the farm had been used for years as a landing strip, and I had made use of it a few times, so I made the traditional fly around the farm house that usually brought Chris out, and it did. He jumped into his truck and made for the landing field. Briefing Dick on how we would approach the strip, I positioned the Chippie west of the field and started an approach to land.

We landed, turned around and then backtracked to the western end, parked up and shut down to wait for Chris to arrive. Chris took us to the farmhouse, and we were treated to tea and cakes.

Dick did the departure, taking off toward the east and then turning 180° to the west for our return flight to Shoreham. The forward visibility from the rear seat in a Chipmunk is restricted due to being further back from the nose, and of course, having somebody sitting directly in front of you. I therefore informed Dick that we should keep the coastline on our left and keep an eye out for the two power station chimneys, because Shoreham Airport was just on from those chimneys.

Dick responded by politely asking if my directions were correct because he could only see one chimney. I assured him that my directions were correct, and that there were definitely two chimneys on that power station.

“Goddamn it, Bev, I can only see one chimney, and this doesn’t feel right at all,” he said. I responded that perhaps we had the two in line and it looked as if there was only one, but that did nothing to convince Dick that we were where I had told him.

As my visibility ahead was restricted and the chimneys were hidden to me, after Dick questioned it for the third time, I briefly took control and put in some right rudder, which yawed the aircraft sufficiently for me to see the two chimneys. However, just as Dick said, there was only one chimney to be seen. My response was to offer a most unencouraging remark and saying, rather weakly, “Well, there were two when we took off.” I managed to convince Dick that, even though I couldn’t explain this mystery of a missing chimney, I knew where we were, and that Shoreham was now in view and it was safe to continue. I called up Shoreham air traffic, giving them my position and calling for a rejoin to land. The tower responded with the usual information and warned us about some intense aerial activity taking place around the power station, as the Eastern chimney had just been demolished by controlled explosion.

A few minutes later we passed over the power station at 2,000ft and looked down upon a sorry sight. There, laid on its side and horizontally spread out on the quayside, were the crushed and bruised remains of the disputed chimney.

It was on 16 July 1988 that the eastern chimney of the Shoreham B Power Station in West Sussex was demolished. Over the next few years, the rest of the power station was demolished, leaving the remaining chimney standing on its own. That remaining chimney survived another 10 years until, on 27 September 1998 the 46-year-old, 350ft west chimney was also demolished.

Dick Meyers passed away on 22 June 2013. I hope you will always discover blue skies and fair winds my friend. I am sure he would have agreed that the new chimney that now stands as part of the new Power Station C is rather ugly, but it does still serve as a good visual aid for those approaching Shoreham, by air or by sea. On the positive side, there’s no dispute as to the number of chimneys anymore, there is only one! ■

Top Shoreham Power Station B, coal powered and built in 1947 – with two chimneys. Photo: Ted Bunker.

Above The moment the landscape changes, when the eastern chimney is demolished. Photo: Ted Bunker.

Right The single chimney of the current gas powered Power Station C serves as today’s navigation aid. Photo-Wiki.