I had checked in at the OASC as instructed a little before 9 am. and I was taken to a rather sparse room containing a table, some chairs, a filing cabinet and two RAF officers, Flight Lieutenants, dressed in rather worn #1 dress. I suppose in their job as interviewers the uniforms did get a fair amount of wear. The single chair on the other side of the table was obviously intended for my eventual use. I remained standing until invited to be seated.
It transpired that the interviewers were really pleasant individuals and our chat about my schooling, my hobbies and interests, the sports I played etc. etc. went on for over an hour. They were particularly intrigued by the fact that I rebuilt motor-cycles and rode them in trials. Then about 10.30 one of the officers explained the procedure for the rest of the session. “Mr. Boing, the rest of our part of the interview will involve investigating your mechanical knowledge and particularly your knowledge of aviation. As the first step we are going to give you a mechanical cross-section drawing of a mechanism that could be used in an aircraft. We will leave you alone in the room for 30 minutes and when we return you can explain what you think the mechanism could be used for.”
He slid a single sheet of paper across the table which held a, I believe it was called “roneo-de” in those days, drawing. I looked at it for about 5 seconds and informed him that it was a fuel injector nozzle, probably for an aircraft piston engine.
There was a stunned silence. Along with the stunned silence came an uncomfortable feeling in the room. “How did you know that?” “Well it is pretty obvious really, look at the spring, the cavities, drone, drone, etc.” It was at this time I suspected why I had made a dreadful mistake. It was 10.30 am., we had been talking since 9 am. And these two both probably normally took a cigarette and tea break while their victim sweated over the drawing. I had just ruined their cigarette break!
Now we take our break while I confess my secret. The secret was a slim blue volume called “The Pictorial Encyclopeadia of Scientific Knowledge”. I guess I was about 18 years old at the time of the interview, this volume had stayed at my bedside since I was 10 years old and I read it almost nightly. It was the most marvellous collection of science facts and illustrations one could ever imagine and I spent hours looking at the aircraft/engines section and the mechanics section.
So that I do not be considered crazy here are some comments I found from other readers.
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Reviewer: PMcD999 - favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite - September 29, 2019
Subject: Implanted images from childhood.
Way back in 1962 - 63 I looked through this encyclopaedia and was fascinated by the pictures and graphs. Those images have been with me all my life and having recently searched on the internet for this encyclopaedia and others in this series. I am amazed at the myriad of times that those images have consciously and subconsciously helped me to view and understand this fascinating and wonderful world that we live on. Oh, how times and technology have changed and advanced.
L. Maupin
5.0 out of 5 starsINCREDIBLE
April 17, 2010
This is the kind of book I wish I had as a child I believe it is written for children but the subjects are deep enough
The pictures are incredible and I took about 20 so you could enjoy them as well As you can tell, this is an older book, printed in London, probably in the 1940's
Subjects covered include:
electrical engineering, cathode ray, concentrating energy, invisible magnetism, mechanical laws, birds and animals, curved mirrors, axle bearings, inertia, spreading sound, rain forests, heat laws, physiology, using energy, crystals, but even more than that.
There are so many subjects and pictures covered on the pages, it is amazing. It is so easy to understand..if I had read this as a kid I would be carrying it all round with me now..it is that easy to understand
I can say quite positively that this book changed my life in those 5 seconds it took to recognise the subject of the drawing. As one reviewer said it was a great source of general knowledge, it allowed me to hold semi-intelligent conversations on matters in which I had no practical experience. Why? Why? Do our children bury themselves in cell-phone games when they could be enjoyably gaining knowledge?
In any case, back to aviation. I had shown my knowledge (good) but I had made a social blunder (bad). Fortunately some little intuition tipped me off to my blunder. I blustered a little but I got by. “I am sure you Gentlemen have notes to make about the interview. I’m sorry I disrupted the timetable. I can easily sit here until you return if you wish.” The offer was accepted and as they say, “The Rest Is History.”
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