Maritime Monday
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Europe
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The Shackleton carrier myth reminds me of a day in the lateish 60s when flying as a pair in T17s with a Naval pilot, Wedge Thorpe (who had coincidentally attended the same school as me a few years before my time there) in the lead we were exercising with the RN up off the North of Scotland, and Wedge decided it would be fun to refresh his carrier approach technique. He called me into long trail and set up a circuit, but as he started a descent the carrier guys started to get upset and there were several calls from them of "You are not, repeat NOT, to land". Seems light years ago now.
Wander00 wrote:
During a KELTEX involving a Canberra and a couple of Gnats, one of the Gnat QFIs ('PV' L****, ex-Sea Vixens ) did the same thing, making all the appropriate calls. I gather that the RN types were most impressed as the diminutive little Gnat went scooting past after a 'low overshoot'...
P6 Driver, that isn't quite the worst Nimrod I've ever seen!
This is:
Apologies for the poor photo quality - it was a scan of a print from a slide made a while ago. The NimWACS was making yet another "Due to enter RAF service shortly...." fly through at the Farnborough Air Show and I didn't manage to focus properly.
Next time I saw the hideous looking thing was during my AAR Cat check on the VC10K OCU. It made several climbing lunges at the centreline hose, before managing one successful contact....
Thankfully they were withdrawn from service soon after, but were still littering Abingdon several years later.
Who remembers this delightfully painted Nimrod:
XV246 - the 'Flying $hite' - one of those RAF stories which no-one would believe if there weren't any witnesses to it!
"Are you sure that's the colour Sir wants?"
"Yes it is, now get on with painting it!"
"But it doesn't look like the colour we were told about?"
"I'M A SENIOR OFFICER AND I KNOW ABOUT PAINT! DO IT!!"
(Some days later)
"Ah, errm, perhaps it'll change colour when it's dry?"
"It is dry, Sir and it hasn't!"
I gather it languished at the far end of Trebalzue before Someone Very Senior saw it, asked what on earth it was doing in such a vile colour, before ordering that it should be repainted in 'proper' hemp forthwith!
...it would be fun to refresh his carrier approach technique...
P6 Driver, that isn't quite the worst Nimrod I've ever seen!
This is:
Apologies for the poor photo quality - it was a scan of a print from a slide made a while ago. The NimWACS was making yet another "Due to enter RAF service shortly...." fly through at the Farnborough Air Show and I didn't manage to focus properly.
Next time I saw the hideous looking thing was during my AAR Cat check on the VC10K OCU. It made several climbing lunges at the centreline hose, before managing one successful contact....
Thankfully they were withdrawn from service soon after, but were still littering Abingdon several years later.
Who remembers this delightfully painted Nimrod:
XV246 - the 'Flying $hite' - one of those RAF stories which no-one would believe if there weren't any witnesses to it!
"Are you sure that's the colour Sir wants?"
"Yes it is, now get on with painting it!"
"But it doesn't look like the colour we were told about?"
"I'M A SENIOR OFFICER AND I KNOW ABOUT PAINT! DO IT!!"
(Some days later)
"Ah, errm, perhaps it'll change colour when it's dry?"
"It is dry, Sir and it hasn't!"
I gather it languished at the far end of Trebalzue before Someone Very Senior saw it, asked what on earth it was doing in such a vile colour, before ordering that it should be repainted in 'proper' hemp forthwith!
Last edited by BEagle; 15th Jun 2015 at 20:16.
Ivan,
Quite like that jobby, perhaps the tasking could be farmed out to EzyJet, using the principle of "getting more for the taxpayers pound". I'm sure the standing passengers wouldn't worry too much about their brief interlude of operational activity, especially as the Marguritas go down.
Smudge
Quite like that jobby, perhaps the tasking could be farmed out to EzyJet, using the principle of "getting more for the taxpayers pound". I'm sure the standing passengers wouldn't worry too much about their brief interlude of operational activity, especially as the Marguritas go down.
Smudge
)
Steam gets priority!
Liberator FL930 at Ballykelly - the only airfield that I'm aware of where the ATC controllers had to have railway signallers qualifications - and the trains had priority up to the day it closed.
![](https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3736/18426414644_a69d3f2d3d_c.jpg" width="800" height="510" )
Of note, FL930 sank three U-boats during its career
Liberator FL930 at Ballykelly - the only airfield that I'm aware of where the ATC controllers had to have railway signallers qualifications - and the trains had priority up to the day it closed.
Of note, FL930 sank three U-boats during its career
![](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/377/18861220180_c5f36390e3_c.jpg" width="800" height="619" )
![](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/269/19043382282_3ea9f10b98_c.jpg" width="600" height="800" )
Post 61
"M"of 204 sqdn ,if it was WL745 then it had my name below the cockpit window as part of the 3 man servicing team!Gave you pride in your aircraft,I guess that picture was c1960/63?
I also heard that story but was told it was a squadron crossing the pond that did it line astern!!!
I also heard that story but was told it was a squadron crossing the pond that did it line astern!!!