It's a long time since these old eyes have seen a Mk 44 torpedo but is that what is on the stores carrier in the above photo? If correct, what was it doing on a junglie Wessex?

If only they had let us operate the Wessex in NI in that fit (without the tropedo but with the fwd facing cannon and port GPMG)!!!

I like Baston's pic proudly proclaiming it had a Royal Nav - we only had ordinary plebian ones:E

Charlie1 and sixpence

We used to toss bomb them into clearings in Borneo to make sure there were no nasty chaps about. Fuses modified of course. Most effective too.

Crab - all for you. Y Insert as necessary!


Oh - and the 2" RP was fun as well.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...toscan3471.jpg

How did you manage to miss an island that big?

FED

As you can clearly see - depending on age - that the island is sinking by the stern.........

D

Nice one, BastOn.

Pegasus
 

Yes we eventually got it back in pieces and painted in an odd colour scheme, but we had the technology to rebuild it. It was restored to almost its original (Mobil) splendour.

D.G.

DG

As I recall it was in one piece until the rugger match- yes camouflaged - but in one piece. Things seemed to go downhill a little after that..........

PS we won the rugger.......................

D

Apologies if similar already posted having not read the whole thread but:-

Early in my army aviation career while co-located with a Wessex in Omagh, I asked one of the pilots what it (he/she?) was like to fly.

"Like flying a council house from the upstairs bog," came the reply.

Tickled me.

Crab

That remark about Navs could cost you dear. :mad: pilots. OK yeh I know, but it makes a change from you biting:\

Heads down, look out for the flack

Regain

Just a couple of points - those who flew and loved the Wessex because it was a tough old bird and would do anything that you asked of it - pulling you out of potentialy disasterous situations with aplomb - would never have been in a council house let alone in the "bog" I think you called it.

Cable cutter fellow

Flack - leave the poor Crab alone - at least he seems to like the Wessex - the point of this Wessex supporters club thread - but then again he is a Crab so probably on reflection it is OK for you to bait him.....................

D

She looked after me as a "young" sprog pilot, so I would contest the "council house" remark! Not that I have anything against council houses!
David, you have too much time on your hands now that you are retired!!
G:)

Thanks bast0n, but he has too much dirt on me to bait him too much:{

Mind you, what goes around comes around:E

I must put up some pictures of the Mk5 after tha RAF improved them to Mk5C

Heads down, look out for the flack.

Mk III Fan
 

You Junglies don't know how much better the good old Mk III was. Great autopilot and instrument fit and just enough fuel for you not to get tired. Then you had the excitement associated with EOL practice, In-Flight-Refueling (being towed around by a frigate in the middle of a dark night gives your ticker a good work-out) and you had the benefit of TWO tea-makers in the back.

G. :E

So that's 2 people down the back to reach up and tie your bootlaces together or pass you a pre-shaken bottle of coke or crack eggs into your washbag!! All things that happened down in S Armagh - fortunately not to me, however they probably just rimmed my toothbrush:{

Cabe LeCutter - one always needed a nav to prevent one from landing with the brakes on!!

Geoffers in Oggieland

You are very right about the Wx3 being a great aircraft. I once went for a test flight in one, in fog from Culdrose, and the autopilot was quite awesome when it all worked! Pots of power as well - but only one of them!

As to EOLs - did you not watch in amazement as the Junglies did them by day and night - not without some damage every now and again............

Biggest problem of the 3 was that it had Pingers up front and Observers down the back............definition of Observer - "interested bystander" and one of those words is wrong!!

Ian Stanley proved it's worth in South Georgia, in spades.

D

'Lookers'
 

Never be rude to, or about , your Looker. You can sneak back down in the darkened cabin, creep past the U/C with a finger raised to the lips and approach from behind and tap him on the shoulder giving him the fright of his life... but don't be rude or as Crab says, the pair of rascals down the back have some nasty tricks up their sleeves. Amongst some of life's injustices was the fact that 'they' managed the pee-tube. It is a bit of a sign-of-the-times when you find out that a cab in your Logbook is now a star in a museum.

G. :{

Of Whirlwinds and Wessex
 

I recall Col. Bob reminiscing about the pee tubes in the Whirldwind when he flew as CP for Christian Salvesen in the Antarctic. Evidently the off-ship sorties could be quite lengthy and nature could sometimes beckon while airborne. However, after digging through the various layers of clothing my godfather descibed (sometimes in too much detail) the challenge of extracting his John Thomas (shrunken by the hostile climate) and attempting to align it with the tube. Evidently after a couple of awkward efforts he settled on abandoning the pre-flight cuppa and waiting until he was back on terra firma, or in this case, ship.

Ah well, if you discover how to slow the sands of time .. do let us know! My father once wrote to me while I was at one of your British boarding schools that I should in the future "embrace each season of life with enthusiasm" and in preparation for which, should I live to retire, I have this vineyard in mind which is in need of revival. Yes, making wine is how I would wish to round-off the years!

Oh, but this is about Wessex .. couple of questions:

In the cutaway (yes I know its a Whirlwind) I assume that the Wessex had a similar arrangement to that of the Whirlwind in that the engine driveshaft passed through (or near) the cockpit on its way to the main transmission? Given this arrangement and with nose-mounted engines .. was the Wessex's cabin quieter, compared to .. say the Sea King?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--...520Cutaway.jpg
Whirlwind cutaway showing the driveshaft passing from the nose-mounted engine through the bottom of the cockpit and onto the main transmission

Secondly, why was the Whirlwind so much lighter on the controls compared to the Wessex?

Savoia

No ASE in the Whirlwind therefore no stick trim to fight against. Take out the stick trim and they were virtually the same. As to noise I think the Seaking is the quietest - but it is all a matter of degree..............

Those who flew the WW10 and 9 would tell you that they had the sweetest and lightest control feel of the lot - just don't let go of the stick.....!

D

Sav,the WW was not really `lighter` on the stick,as it did not have a `stick-trim`system,or an ASE/SAS/afcs to provide a datum,only adjustable friction controls,so the stick had to be held all the time,either by hand/fingers ,or by the knees.The Wx. had a stick trim,to provide the stick datum as it had an ASE/.AFCS, depending on whether it was a Mk1,2,3,4,5.However ,the stick -trim could always be turned off,so you were not holding any `spring-force feedback`,and fly it in exactly the same way as a WW,ie,no force,no feel,except a little feed-back from the ASE actuators.
The Wx.had duplex servo controls,secondary hydraulics ran from the coupling gearbox ,so one could check the ASE before rotor engagement,as the rotor system was much more substantial than a WW.

Anyway,you can see now why anyone in a WW would have great difficulty trying to use the P-tube,unless you had a copilot to hold either the stick,the tube,or the ....;I think even the Navy would not be that keen,as there would be a strong possibility of `spraying` everywhere....much better to just let the flow go,and enjoy temporary warmth..!
Would be much easier in a Wx. with an ASE/AFCS; as has been mentioned the Wx,3 had a great AFCS, dual channels,so no big dramas if you had a `Runaway` .Just a great pity it was not adopted for the Sea-king....
Spent many hours in XT256 trawling along the S Coast at 40-50 ft with a 25ft pole dangling underneath in all weathers.

In answer to the transmission in the Wx, yes it did come up between the seats,same as the H-34.