vintage overflight

[cornish-stormrider]

Hmmm
I think I got treated to an unusual flight past us earlier

Due to my limited spotting skills of WW2 prop stuff I think it was a Corsair.....

I am certain I saw an inverted gullwing and it sure wasn't a ju87. It was also doing about three times normal Cessna speed and it did seem to have a us navy roundel on the underside of the starboard wing

Whatever it was it sounded glorious and made the boy jump up and down trying to catch it

[Tankertrashnav]

Corsair due to display at Culdrose air day tomorrow, so it looks like your spotting skills aren't too limited :ok:

Just been watching something big and noisy practising, but my skills are even more limited, and at 3 miles it could have been a Typhoon or a Mig 29!

[treadigraph]

According to Flypast site, TFC's Corsair (http://fighter-collection.com/cft/goodyear-corsair-fg-1d-g-fgid/) and Wildcat both flew down to Culdrose from Duxford today.

[Lyneham Lad]

Hmmm
I think I got treated to an unusual flight past us earlier

Due to my limited spotting skills of WW2 prop stuff I think it was a Corsair.....

I am certain I saw an inverted gullwing and it sure wasn't a ju87. It was also doing about three times normal Cessna speed and it did seem to have a us navy roundel on the underside of the starboard wing

Whatever it was it sounded glorious and made the boy jump up and down trying to catch it

Something like this? (As seen at a mid-80's BoB Day at Abingdon).
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f84/Lyneham_Lad/Aircraft/Corsair_Abingdon.jpg

[NutLoose]

No JU 87's flying btw.

One of my piccies

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff321/taylortony/Victory%20Show%202012/Corsair.jpg

[Danny42C]

Lyneham Lad and Nutloose,

Lovely pic ! The "Buried Spitfires in Burma" seem to have been fictional, but I can tell you where to find 24-odd Corsairs, brand new, CKD in their crates.

About 30 miles off the Malabar coast at approx 11 degrees N. Lat, they are on the seabed where (as deck cargo) they were bulldozed off an RN escort carrier which was taking them out to Ceylon. (Perhaps the Navy could look up the ship's log [don't know what its name was], and give the exact position), do you think, Union Jack ?

VJ day came while they were in transit; as Lend-Lease supplies they had to be dumped as neither the USN or RN wanted them any more. They'll be a bit rusty now, 70 years on.

Should be on the Continental Shelf: all you need is a trawler and a lot of time and dosh.

Danny.

[ian16th]

I don't like this 'vintage' label!

I'll 'ave y'all know I worked on RN Corsair's that staged through Istres in 1957, and I'm only old, not vintage :uhoh:

[Tankertrashnav]

Nice view of the Frecce Tricolore as I leant on my gate with the binoculars this afternoon, especially when their 9 ship formation flew right over my house in a wide turn as they headed back to overhead Culdrose. Good display, but I cant believe they were blatantly leaving red, white and green chemtrails all over Helston and the surrounding area :*

;)

Really pleased for all the guys at Culdrose. After several years of really lousy weather they finally got a perfect day for it today, and judging by the traffic backing up on the roads round here (I gave up on a trip to Helston) they've had a good number through the gates.

[ian16th]

My memory is fallible.

I've just realised the the Corsairs that I worked on in 1957 were Avengers :=

But nobody on Pprune corrected me!

[oldgrubber]

Same old story with the excellent exception of the chinook, as far as RAF displays though. We don't bite y'know. (well unless provoked)
It's always puzzled me why we have to rely on every other nation to provide the noise makers at Culdrose (Mig29 and F18 this year).
Still, excellent display by all especially the Frecce.

[Tankertrashnav]

Ian

Corsairs, Avengers - same difference, they're all antiques ;)

[Cpt_Pugwash]

In a similar vein to the OP, was treated to an overflight by the current display Chinook in its show finery early this evening, followed shortly afterwards by a Hunter/Gnat pair, all returning from Culdrose I assume.

[Hydromet]

As a youth, I worked for a former WW II RNZAF Corsair pilot in his shop, which sold, among other things, model aircraft. It always brightened him up when someone chose a model Corsair to build.

He was also kind enough to take me flying. Thank you HNRJ.

[BEagle]

ian16th, I assumed you meant French Navy Corsairs as the Aeronavale was flying them into the 1960s, whereas the RN's had all been pushed over the side into the oggin at the end of WW2.

Those must have been the very last RN Avengers, as they went out of service in 1957.

Or possibly Wildcats? Supposedly out of service by then, but a few survivors were still lurking in the more remote of pusser's hangars for a while. I once heard a tale that one was kept (perhaps at RNAS Anthorn?) until its aerodrome closed (1958?), on the personal direction of the Captain - sound fellow!

[Lordflasheart]

Fleet Air Arm Grumman Avengers

Those must have been the very last RN Avengers, as they went out of service in 1957.The last-but-one did a wheels up at Fairwood Common sometime in 1960 and the very last one (in front-line RN service) was still going strong as an airborne ECM classroom in 1961 - 831 Squadron Culdrose. It was later shipped off to Abbotsinch where it was allegedly discovered to have been in danger of undercarriage collapse for a while. That it didn't was obviously due to JB and BW etc doing greasy landings. I believe one or either of these Chuffs eventually went into UK civilian ownership. .... LFH

[Union Jack]

Corsairs, Avengers - same difference, they're all antiques - TTN

Possibly even Skyraiders, which 849 NAS operated from early 1950s to about 1960, with 778 NAS as the training squadron.

Jack

[ian16th]

My memories, therefore probably gnarled up a little.

At Istres, sometime between Sept 57 and May 58, we had RN Avengers pass through at least once.

At Orange, sometime between May 58 and Sept 58 we had RN Avengers pass through, definitely just the once, and they were going south, so probably Malta.
The 1st flight of Avengers requested 140 octane fuel, which at Orange we couldn't supply, so the senior pilot jumps back into his a/c and calls up the next flight on the VHF and tells them to go on to Marseille Marignane Airport.

When they had arrived, he and his mates, about 4 of them call up Orange tower, and get clearance to LAND at Marignane. When this was given, the all started up their engines and took off and went straight into Marignane on the proverbial smell of fuel.

At Istres and Orange, RN and other odd balls, Israel Meteors and RCAF F-86's included, was business as usual.

How many other RAF Radar Fitters do you know that have re-fueled a Wyvern?

[Union Jack]

At Istres and Orange, RN and other odd balls,

Would you care to rephrase that, Ian!?:=

Jack

[ian16th]

Sorry, no offense intended.

But it was 'odd' in the sense of being unusual, to have RN a/c visiting any other RAF unit I served on.

My time at RAFLP was the only time I worked on any a/c other than RAF ones.

[Martin the Martian]

The last-but-one did a wheels up at Fairwood Common sometime in 1960 and the very last one (in front-line RN service) was still going strong as an airborne ECM classroom in 1961 - 831 Squadron Culdrose. It was later shipped off to Abbotsinch where it was allegedly discovered to have been in danger of undercarriage collapse for a while. That it didn't was obviously due to JB and BW etc doing greasy landings. I believe one or either of these Chuffs eventually went into UK civilian ownership.

The last Avenger was XB831, which spent its last flying days with Culdrose Station Flight, known as Chougher or Chuffer, and was grounded in 1963. It now resides at the FAAM, painted in a WW2 scheme with D-Day stripes, which clash horribly with the lack of ball turret. Given the FAAM's work on the Martlet and Corsair, one can hope that XB831 will be restored to its post war glory at some point.

FAAM's Hellcat, KE209, was issued to Lossiemouth in June 1946 for the use of the Captain, and may have flown into the late 1960s in that role. It was handed over to the museum in 1970.

[Lordflasheart]

Martin -

I think you'll find the current FAA Museum Avenger is XB446.

As per my post - XB446 was certainly the sole remaining flying Avenger at Culdrose in 1961-62 - it's side number 992 suggests it was looked after by Station Flight, as you say. There is a photo somewhere of XB446 adorned with some two dozen 831 aircrew, that puts it firmly in the mid-61 to mid-62 timeframe. XB831 is more likely to have been a Sabre.

Ian.

751 - (Watton then Culdrose) operated several ECM Avengers and regularly travelled from North Norway to North Africa in pursuit of Fleet and NATO exercises.

In early-mid 1958, 751 was renumbered to frontline 831 at Culdrose, to reflect the operational nature of squadron activities - including real sea time. The Avengers were then replaced by Gannets, equipped with essentially the same '1945 ex-US Navy' ECM gear. They also used converted Sea Venom 21s and 22s.

So in your time frame, your FAA Avengers were most probably 751/831 Avengers staging through the S of F - which might happened half a dozen times a year. Alternately it is possible that an 849 Skyraider flight (usually 4 aircraft) might have flown to the Med on occasions. The last operational 849 Skyraider flight disbanded Christmas 1960 after a year on Albion..

LFH