SHFNI Stories!
Join Date: Feb 2006
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Well I never, all these years I thought it was XW198, I wonder if I mixed it up with the Matchbox one?. Airfix incidentally produced the first Hercules after it came down off sticks, and despite being told, the early kit had beautifully cast jacking pads on the outside.
Airborne, missed XW201 off my list (corrected).
Was on the Wessex, Puma OCU 76 to about 80 when the Wessex departed to Benson, The Pumas remained put in the old OCU shed and the rest of us moved over to the OCU Chinook flight, with the late and sadly missed Arthur Mitchell as W/O (ex 230 Puma F/sgt) in the old 230 Sqn hangar, the Pumas then followed us over as it became established. From there I went to Bruggen on a couple of Jag Sqns, and would have been there attempting and failing to drink Germany dry at about the time you were flying them...
Airborne, missed XW201 off my list (corrected).
Was on the Wessex, Puma OCU 76 to about 80 when the Wessex departed to Benson, The Pumas remained put in the old OCU shed and the rest of us moved over to the OCU Chinook flight, with the late and sadly missed Arthur Mitchell as W/O (ex 230 Puma F/sgt) in the old 230 Sqn hangar, the Pumas then followed us over as it became established. From there I went to Bruggen on a couple of Jag Sqns, and would have been there attempting and failing to drink Germany dry at about the time you were flying them...
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Plastic Pumas
At the end of the day I took 227 to Battersea on the 28/3/1973.
This one time, R*** H even used the surrounding razor wire to slow the cab down!
That's XR525 on spot 5 and we'd just landed on after recording 'G' over Millvale Road (see #109) with R*** H in the rh seat of the Puma.
A typical day's tasking at 850.
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Looking for a bit of help here, has anyone got any photos of, or know the serials/codes of the first four Pumas from 33Sqn deployed to NI in December 1972. Any help would be appreciated .
Very few people took photographs in those days; the situation was still rather fraught. You can tell by the paucity of Puma pictures in this thread before the polivalent intakes were fitted in 1979.
Avoid imitations
Yes, the NI situation in the early 90s meant that personal photography was discouraged. I have absolutely nil photos of my time there; it didn't occur to me to take any. Having said that, it was dark most of the time, anyway 
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That's what I thought, all I can find from that time are poor black and white shots mostly with the codes etc unreadable, quick question would the 33Sqn insignia have been be carried on the cockpit sides?
Go back to Page 8 Post 156 of this thread and there is a picture of me dragging a Scout from Omagh to Aldergrove in 1973. It is taken from an 8mm cine film so the quality is not good but you can see the Squadron Crest on the pilot's (both) doors.
They are 'Stopanynastythingsgoingintotheengines' kit. The Dyson vacuum cleaner also uses the same principle. The front has a plug that can be opened or closed, and on the side are the FOD/ice seperators. These are small tubes with a spiral in them that spins the air so that anything solid is ejected out of the side and only clean air goes in the intake. A very good idea especially where there is a lot of abrasive dust around.
Some foreign Pumas have a system where the plug is opened when the undercarriage is raised so that the engine receives pitot or ram air.
Some foreign Pumas have a system where the plug is opened when the undercarriage is raised so that the engine receives pitot or ram air.
Avoid imitations
Polyvalent intake protection system was designed to keep debris and dust from damaging the engines.
The HC1 PIPs could be set to auto so they worked in conjunction with the landing gear.
The HC1 PIPs could be set to auto so they worked in conjunction with the landing gear.
Join Date: Feb 2007
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If tis not paint tis dirt. Paint it black either way.
A puma has two cleanliness states. Filthy and more so,
And before anyone disagrees I have partaken in the joke that is the aircraft wash.......
A puma has two cleanliness states. Filthy and more so,
And before anyone disagrees I have partaken in the joke that is the aircraft wash.......
