Bob Parkinson: the Westcott Tiger team
Bob Parkinson recalls joining the Rocket Propulsion Establishment's 'tiger team' at Westcott in 1965.
It was interesting because Westcott was an old wartime airfield and the different groups were sort of spread out across the airfield. And our group was sort of in a little wartime building [laughs] over at one side of the airfield. And I was – I remember being quite fascinated in the early days because, and I’m just trying to think how many people who were in this group, but the science group, seven, I think there seven of us. Seven scientists, yeah, scientists because we were scientific officers, so yes we can use that term there. And there was a workshop and industrials supporting it. And when I was first there I used to wonder a bit because they’d come in at nine o'clock in the morning, or perhaps a bit before, and first of all they'd put the coffee pot on and make a cup of coffee and stand around talking. And then they’d go off into their different offices and then about eleven o’clock they'd all come back and have coffee again [laughs]. And I know now that it was kind of a bit of a university influenced department, but it seemed a very laid back department that spent all its time drinking coffee and not getting on with work almost. And then I discovered this was the group they gave all the difficult problems to. This was the Tiger Team.
- Interviewee: Bob Parkinson
- Duration: 00:01:39
- Copyright: British Library Board
- Interviewer: Thomas Lean
- Date of interview: 3/29/2010
- Shelfmark: C1379/05
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