RAF Lockheed P-2 Neptune
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,400
Likes: 136
From: NSW
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Llandudno
R.A.F. Lockheed Neptune P2V5
The Neptunes at MOTU at Kinloss when I went through the course in the summer of 1953 were the short nosed ones with the three turrets. When I joined 203 Squadron at Topcliffe that Autumn we were equipped with the long nosed version still with the three turrets. After about a year these were taken to Scottish Aviation at Prestwick and they were converted to the Perspex (?) nose and the MAD "sting" tail. Also the electric Varicam was changed to a hydraulic Varicam to avoid interference with the MAD tail instrumentation. A lovely aeroplane but I preferred four Griffons!! What have we got now? I think that we still had the twin .5 turret on top, but can't be sure. We still had our 16 rockets under the wings.
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 758
Likes: 2
From: morayshire
Back to Neptunes...
... last summer on our way back to the Chunnel we stayed overnight in a farmhouse B&B. There were 8 other guests there (of a similar demographic to madame and me).
Next morning over breakfast we all got chatting and one chap (deaf as a post) picked up that we were from Morayshire and said that he had spent a couple of weeks at a place called Kinloss for an exercise (flying Neptunes from the French Aeronavale) in the late 1950s.
He became very enthousiastic on finding a fellow (ex)maritime aviator but said that he and crew had had great difficulty with the food in both the Os and Sgts messes. "terrible" he claimed. Being enterprising chaps they set snares around the dispersal and caught a lot of rabbits. How to cook them?
As mentioned further up there was quite a good galley in the aircraft.
They decided to start an engine and get a genny on line to power the oven. It took rather a long time to cook the casserole and he reckoned they'd burnt maybe a thousand litres of Avgas.
"The most expensive rabbit stew in the history of French cuisine".
Small world the maritime aviators' world. But always amiable and interesting.
The Ancient Mariner
Next morning over breakfast we all got chatting and one chap (deaf as a post) picked up that we were from Morayshire and said that he had spent a couple of weeks at a place called Kinloss for an exercise (flying Neptunes from the French Aeronavale) in the late 1950s.
He became very enthousiastic on finding a fellow (ex)maritime aviator but said that he and crew had had great difficulty with the food in both the Os and Sgts messes. "terrible" he claimed. Being enterprising chaps they set snares around the dispersal and caught a lot of rabbits. How to cook them?
As mentioned further up there was quite a good galley in the aircraft.
They decided to start an engine and get a genny on line to power the oven. It took rather a long time to cook the casserole and he reckoned they'd burnt maybe a thousand litres of Avgas.
"The most expensive rabbit stew in the history of French cuisine".
Small world the maritime aviators' world. But always amiable and interesting.
The Ancient Mariner
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,103
Likes: 0
From: 45 yards from a tropical beach
the food in both the Os and Sgts messes. "terrible"
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: Braunton Devon
The Neptunes certainly had the range, and the handling was excellent. I was told it was "almost like a fighter". APS 20 was very powerful, but the display was a bit rubbish when looking for small contacts. The early sonobuoy system using EER was very hit or miss, as was the Shackleton, with its slow data rate 1c system. I looked round one at Ballykelly, and remember the main spar took up a lot of space, and made it hard to move around. The galley was tiny and a bit of a slum. In ASW exercises from Ballykelly it did not have a lot of luck. Later improvements (AQA5?) may have helped, but the Shackletons had the edge as an ASW aircraft.
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: Hurworth, Darlington.
Topcliffe Neptunes.
Around the same period we had the excitement of 66 and 92 squadron Canadair Sabres frequently passing around the village, and used to ride our bikes the 5 miles to hang over the hedge to watch the Sabre movements for hours on end.
I realise I am extremely late to add to this thread, but I saw a photo of a Neptune on line and the memories spurred me to do a bit of a search which ended up here!
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 96
Likes: 8
From: Over the hills and far away
[QUOTE=chopper2004;10788283]Did we just use the P-2 for patrols around the coast at height of the Cold War, or did we deploy them outside of theses shores and Europe such as used in the Malayan emergency or Borneo ..
Pretty sure they were based at Kinross in the 50s
Pretty sure they were based at Kinross in the 50s
Guest
Posts: n/a
Given that there were 6 squadrons plus the radar trials flight I assume 3 at Kinloss and 3 at St Mawgan?
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/researc...sp-2h-neptune/
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/researc...sp-2h-neptune/
Joined: Apr 2010
Aviation Qualifications: Military (Retired)
Posts: 958
Likes: 1,239
From: Herefordshire
Given that there were 6 squadrons plus the radar trials flight I assume 3 at Kinloss and 3 at St Mawgan?
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/researc...sp-2h-neptune/
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/researc...sp-2h-neptune/
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 3,081
Likes: 252
From: London/Oxford/New York
Given that there were 6 squadrons plus the radar trials flight I assume 3 at Kinloss and 3 at St Mawgan?
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/researc...sp-2h-neptune/
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/researc...sp-2h-neptune/