PPRuNe Forums

PPRuNe Forums (https://www.pprune.org/)
-   Military Aviation (https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation-57/)
-   -   Supermarine Attacker (https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/611407-supermarine-attacker.html)

Steve Bond 23rd Jul 2018 13:25

Supermarine Attacker
 
Looking for anyone who flew the Attacker during it's Royal Navy service. This is the final type outstanding in my search for people who flew all the FAA fixed-wing types post-war for a new series of books.
Thanks in anticipation!

MPN11 23rd Jul 2018 14:44

Narrow field, eh? Good hunting!!

BEagle 23rd Jul 2018 19:01

'Baay' (Barry) was a real lounge lizard who used to drink in our local Somerset pub in the 1970s. Ex-FAA, buggers grips, cravat and blazer with rather an affected manner which he assumed would endear him to the laydeeez…

But his tale of flying an Attacker was quite amusing: "Eh was right overhead London one night when the dem engine flamed out and wouldn't relight. So eh managed to make it to Ford and landed orff a glide approach. Then to the wardroom for a stiffener or two!"

mcdhu 23rd Jul 2018 22:01

Steve, Sadly, I never flew the Attacker. But, my ol’ Dad Was the PMO (SMO) at RNAS Abbotsinch (HMS Sanderling) in the mid ‘50s.i remember him taking me around the hangars showing me the latest naval aircraft which were the Sea Prince, the Meteor and the Attacker which the kindly maintainers would let me sit in (I was around 9 at the time). I think the resident squadron was 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron.
Tail wheel jet - wow!!
mcdhu

megan 24th Jul 2018 00:08


Tail wheel jet
With Spitfire wings, well, from the Spiteful to be absolutely correct. Was called the Jet Spiteful originally.

langleybaston 24th Jul 2018 11:53


Originally Posted by BEagle (Post 10204179)
'Baay' (Barry) was a real lounge lizard who used to drink in our local Somerset pub in the 1970s. Ex-FAA, buggers grips, cravat and blazer with rather an affected manner which he assumed would endear him to the laydeeez…

But his tale of flying an Attacker was quite amusing: "Eh was right overhead London one night when the dem engine flamed out and wouldn't relight. So eh managed to make it to Ford and landed orff a glide approach. Then to the wardroom for a stiffener or two!"

"Bugger's grips!" I have not heard of them in 60 years, but the last time was a Commander F......... RN {Rtd] who had a senior post in Met Oceanography and was i/c the Nautical branch [why we duplicated the Navy nobody told me]. His bugger's grips were magnificent, you could swing off them, but he was a creature of icy menace to youngsters so we avoided taking the proverbial.

Whereas taches, beards, stubble and the rest are commonplace, how many grips do we see in a year?. I am sure that I would notice, even if only to compare with the late Commander.

As for the Attacker, it was an ugly beast, unlike the Sea Hawk [much as Swift versus Hunter, obviously].

treadigraph 24th Jul 2018 13:37

I believe the Swift was pretty much a swept wing Attacker with a training wheel and presumably a bigger engine wasn't it?

Yellow Sun 24th Jul 2018 14:18


Originally Posted by mcdhu (Post 10204297)
Steve, Sadly, I never flew the Attacker. But, my ol’ Dad Was the PMO (SMO) at RNAS Abbotsinch (HMS Sanderling) in the mid ‘50s.i remember him taking me around the hangars showing me the latest naval aircraft which were the Sea Prince, the Meteor and the Attacker which the kindly maintainers would let me sit in (I was around 9 at the time). I think the resident squadron was 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron.
Tail wheel jet - wow!!
mcdhu

I recall clearly the Attacker at Sanderling, in the latter years it was gate guard at the Inchinnan \Abbotsinch Road gate and I think it spent its last few years mounted on a pole. I saw a lot of things fly into or from Abbotsinch; including Gannets being towed in convoy through the streets of Paisley; but can not recall ever seeing an Attacker airborne.

YS

cargosales 24th Jul 2018 15:27


Originally Posted by langleybaston (Post 10204708)
"Bugger's grips!" I have not heard of them in 60 years, but the last time was a Commander F......... RN {Rtd] who had a senior post in Met Oceanography and was i/c the Nautical branch [why we duplicated the Navy nobody told me]. His bugger's grips were magnificent, you could swing off them, but he was a creature of icy menace to youngsters so we avoided taking the proverbial.

Whereas taches, beards, stubble and the rest are commonplace, how many grips do we see in a year?. I am sure that I would notice, even if only to compare with the late Commander.

I have obviously led a sheltered life and had never heard of them, so goggled it .. and the results were predictable and worrying in equal measure.

If I tried swinging off my nearest and dearest's "bugger's grips" then I would not be long for this world

1. Or: buggery grips / buggers handles , long sideburns or a handlebar moustache. Chiefly British usage. 2. More rarely, the female pubic hair.
https://www.definition-of.com/buggers+grips


MPN11 24th Jul 2018 15:55

The late and lamented ACM Sir Peter Squire (CAS) sported the grips. Nothing pubic to my knowledge.

Union Jack 24th Jul 2018 22:03


Originally Posted by cargosales (Post 10204917)
I have obviously led a sheltered life and had never heard of them, so goggled it .. and the results were predictable and worrying in equal measure.

If I tried swinging off my nearest and dearest's "bugger's grips" then I would not be long for this world

Sadly the truly distinguished gentleman concerned is no longer with us, but here's a fine nautical example for your delectation - and of course to preserve you from the wrath of your current next of kin....

https://uboat.net/allies/commanders/83.html

Jack

NickB 25th Jul 2018 10:27

My Dad remembers watching one make a crash landing at Culdrose in 1952 (I think)... it had a fuel problem I believe and landed very short of runway 30, actually touching down on the other side of the road that then bi-sected CU. It went through a fence, slid across the road (there was a aluminium skid mark for many years on the road) and was arrested by the fence on the other side of the road. Pilot got out OK ('Boots' Nethersole I think) and a small fire started that my Dad helped to extinguish (he was only a 16 year old 'spotter' at the time!)

Interesting times back then...

Steve Bond 25th Jul 2018 10:40

Thanks all, sitting on one and seeing one crash is getting closer to what I need.....

KING6024 25th Jul 2018 12:11

I can remember a family holiday on Hayling Island in the early 1950s watching Attackers attacking targets moored offshore,I can't remember if they were using guns,rockets or bombs.

TBM-Legend 26th Jul 2018 07:52

Great stuff here. By the way did you get a pilot's view of that other wonderful fighter, the Westland Wyvern?

Steve Bond 26th Jul 2018 16:13

Yes I did, courtesy of Bob Edward. Here is some of what he had to say about it:

“The aircraft was a delight to fly unless something went wrong, when it could be a very dangerous beast. Although often described as a fighter it was not one. Yes, it was armed with four 20 mm cannon sited in the wings, with 600 rounds per minute rates of fire and so was not defenceless in the air. It was very much an air to service weapon of war. It was not an aerobatic aircraft, was assessed as not being recoverable from a spin but was a beautifully steady weapon delivery platform. The cockpit was roomy, allowing plenty of room for re-folding maps, using hand-held navigation aids etc. There was even a flexible tube that could be used to urinate – I never heard that anyone used it."

orca 26th Jul 2018 20:09

Did he mean ‘Air to Surface’?

(Speaking as someone who said BV in an interview meaning Blue Vixen...which got turned into Beyond Visual at some point prior to going to press).

Wander00 27th Jul 2018 08:44

King 2*** me too, Bracklesham Bay 1953 (watched coronation on tiny TV in the village hall) but best bit was watching the aircraft presumably from Ford bombing, rocketing and cannon firing at the target wrecks off shore

Davef68 27th Jul 2018 09:13


Originally Posted by treadigraph (Post 10204822)
I believe the Swift was pretty much a swept wing Attacker with a training wheel and presumably a bigger engine wasn't it?

In a simlar way to the Hunter being a swept wing Seahawk - it was a progressive development through a series of intermediate designs

Frostchamber 27th Jul 2018 13:10


Originally Posted by Davef68 (Post 10207489)
In a simlar way to the Hunter being a swept wing Seahawk - it was a progressive development through a series of intermediate designs


Yes the Type 510 experimental prototype was the arguably main "intermediate" design - it had the swept wing but retained the Attacker's tail-wheel, whereas the Swift got a nosewheel.


All times are GMT. The time now is 17:12.


Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.