Nothing to do with helicopters but a recent encounter with an eye surgeon and reading this thread brought back a lot of memories of my early career on the Beverleys of 84 squadron in the 59/60 era and a surprising outcome for some ex-military facilities.
I attended the eye clinic to have my cataract assessed and was seen by a consultant who clearly was not of English extraction. In reply to his enquiry as to my former employment I told him I had served in the RAF for 30+ years. 'Had I ever been to Aden?' was his next question and when I answered in the affirmative he told me that he was originally from Aden and, because his father was a civil servant working in the dockyard he had qualified for and been assigned a former Officer's Married Quarter at Khormaksar. He had grown up there so now we know how the quarters were utilised after the British pullout.
I wonder if it was one of those in which we had so many riotous parties in the old days?

RR

Further research indicates a final final OSD for the Sycamore of August '72 :eek:, which was of course from 32 as it was by then (Metropolitan Comm took over the numberplate in February '69).

Interesting, Ramraider. When I was there the Regiment did 24 hour Land Rover patrols around the base, including the MQs. I was normally in the ops room with my sergeant and a signaller, and we initially wondered why there was competition among the blokes to be allocated a particular patrol area at night. All became clear when someone revealed that a teenage occupant of one MQ used to put on a nightly strip-show at the lighted window of her room for the benefit of the patrols. Naturally the sergeant and I had to instigate spot checks on the patrols to make sure they were being carried out effectively ;)

Just had a look at Khormaksar on Google earth. Seems in a sad state, with as far as I can make out a total of two transport aircraft up near the civvie airport end and a couple of helicopters over where the Argosies used to be parked.

It all looked a bit different in 1966!

http://www.frpilot.com/Dad/ODRK.jpg

Mention of "where the Argosies used to park" led me to this piece of nostalgia. The long building at the extreme right of the photograph was my old home when I was on 105 Sqn. We were upstairs and 84 Sqn were downstairs. We shared a coffee bar in the basement where Saif, a Yemeni, presided.

Not many aircraft down the route, apart from Britannias. When was that photo taken Jock?

MRT WING HQ in the 90s
 

MRT WING HQ
 

Sadly this was how it appeared to "Stompie" Stableford when he staged through in a Dak in the 90's. Glad to see the Yemenis kept the place sparkly. On a trip to Thumrait we once got a call from an Aeroflot enquiring if we had anybody on board who was in Aden. On giving the affirmative they replied "We know why you left!"

http://www.frpilot.com/Dad/BMH.jpg

It wasn't a Dak. It was DC-4 ZS-BMH and the year was 1998. By the way, Stompy was my co-pilot on 105 and we are still in daily contact.

John: I'm not sure when that photograph was taken but I think it was before my time. I'll try to ferret out the original and see if there are any clues on the back.

http://www.frpilot.com/Dad/B26.JPG

And here is the man himself examing the B-26 which landed at Khormaksar with a faulty undercarriage on its way to the Congo. It resided on the fire pit on the north side of the airfield by the bomb dump.

http://www.frpilot.com/Dad/IL14.JPG

Parked next door to the B-26 was the Yemeni Air Force IL-14 which got lost and landed at Lodar by mistake. The crew tried to take off again but an Army officer drove a Land Rover in front of them. It was ferried to Khormaksar by a couple of gentlemen from RAE at Farnborough. That's my beloved Fiat 850 Coupe in the background.

http://www.frpilot.com/Dad/84SQN.jpg

And here is another one that I found.

K/Sar
 

Some of you had it easy, tarmac & concrete !, when I was there in 62-64 we had Gypsum as "hardstanding", plus our hangar is shown in the background (105 sqn) none of this fancy new stuff, PH.

I wonder what happened to Falaise Field with its hangars and tower at Little Aden after we withdrew? I know the nearby camp had a church (that rather resembled a Mosque) which was completed just before we upped sticks. Plenty of Twynham (sp) accommodation too.

Around '65

http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps59gjtulw.jpg

I see the stadium lighting had been nicked by 1998.

From the old pics, any idea where the Vulcans parked? I know we sank in to the tarmac.

Jindabyne,

That's the first Whirlwind 10 I've ever seen outside the Far East with the sand filter door. If that was '65, it would have been one of the first, I think, to have got the door.

It was probably a good idea in Aden as GW 1 showed further north but in Borneo it was regarded as 84 lbs of worthless weight, which reduced the payload/fuel and for little tangible benefit.

Old Duffer

Further to which Wessex (if any) remained yellow, the words of a squadron song came to mind. To the tune of "Teeterboro Tower"

"Hello Khormaksar Tower, this is XT 603,
You're getting all bad-tempered, that's very plain to see.
I'm still a nice bright yellow, they haven't gone as far
As to paint me with distemper; I'm still on SAR"

I don't recall flying it in yellow colours though, so perhaps it was absorbed into the fleet by the time I got to Khormaksar in May '67. In fact, checking the logbook, I first flew it after the move to Sharjah, in Dec of that year.

Old-Duffer

Have a peep at www.radfanhunters.co.uk

... and where was the 37 sqn pub?

I remember being sat on the bar at the age of four!

Picture
 

Who is the artist of the print & where can I get a copy please ?.