To us the noise was now much worse and we imagined the propeller was about to come off and wondered which way it would go! As it was now late afternoon it was decided to put the aircraft away for the night and try again the next day. When I arrived next morning the engine was being removed. Apparently the reduction gear had seized and the engine could not be turned over.
    Next I moved to the production Sea Fury wing centre section area. Eric was the fitter I was paired up with and our work was skinning the wing undersurface around the wheel bay. Eric was originally a cabinet maker from High Wycombe and had been drafted into Langley during the war to work on Hurricanes. He was a first class fitter and we got on very well. Our work was of such a high standard that the Inspectors requested that we should remain as the only fitters on this work as production was running down.
    The other pair of fitters was moved onto Hunter fuselage riveting rectification. At that time the fuselages were manufactured at Squires Gate, Blackpool, and stored at Langley prior to being moved on to Dunsfold. The standard of riveting was very poor so when the inpectors had finished their survey and marked the faults, the fuselages looked as though a graffiti artist had been let loose; whole rows of rivets could be encircled with red Chinagraph. I am pleased to say that the situation improved greatly as production continued.
    The time allowed for our work was seven working days but we could easily cut this to six. Eric obviously made a good bonus and he very kindly paid me a sum each week. Engineering apprentices were not allowed to earn bonus so his generosity was much appreciated. In all my time he was the only person I worked with that treated me that way. (To be continued)