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Honouring a former bird watcher (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Firby63
- Start date
mooreorless
Well-known member
Hi Firby, I was wondering what is a fairy? Sorry just trying to help. Regards, Steve
Hi Steve
A fairy in the Royal Air Force is an avionics engineer. Could be a man or a woman, and they work on airborne radio, radar, targeting pods and similar kit.
Lee
PYRTLE
Old Berkshire Boy
I'm guessing that this comes from the thought that fairies appear during the night to fix or clean up after something is broken, needs tidying or restocking?
mooreorless
Well-known member
Hi Lee, Thanks for that information! I was trying to get Firby to reply again and why I asked this question. I see he has not been on here today. He only has 7 posts and needs 10. I wonder can I give him 3 of mine?
I think I could spare a few. Forgot to say Sorry Firby for the loss of your brother. A fairy is a very important person to be an Avionics Engineer!!
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I like that explanation! I wondered if work on the avionics rarely required spanners, screwdrivers and hammers (!) and so what was 'broken' seemed to get fixed by the magic, or at least just having a lap top hooked up and a few keys pressed.
Maybe its a mix a both explanations, but I definitely like the image of the fairies emerging during night time and having fixed what was faulty, disappearing back from whence they came.
Lee
It’s like gremlins. Surely the Germans were not valiant enough to shoot down a RAF pilot, so if one were downed, it must have been the gremlins’ fault, per Roald Dahl.
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Sorry Firby the pic is too blurry to be certain. In my experience Mistle Thrushes usually hold their head up from the horizontal so the beak is pointing up a bit. The bird in your pic isn't doing this but this is very flimsy evidence to base a conclusion on.
Lee
Robert Wallace
Well-known member
I think your son works for Qinetiq ( no u)
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