RN Fleet Air Arm: General

[Pelican]

RN 700X Naval Air Squadron based RNAS Culdrose has purchased 7 QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+ remotely piloted air systems (RPAS) to build operating experience and trial different sensor payloads.

See - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 8507810816
And - https://www.janes.com/defence-news/air- ... capability

[Pelican]

A string of circumstances brought a British fighter aircraft on the deck of a commercial vessel laden with shipping containers.

https://www.jetsprops.com/fighters/when ... oeTndv88uI

[Pelican]

SKIMMERS

The British Sea Skimmer wingless seaplane armed with a machine gun and 20 mm Oerlikon cannon.
It carried four depth charges under the hull, which could be replaced by torpedoes.

[Pelican]

HMS Ark Royal (R09) 1975 Operations Buccaneer / F-4 Phantom II

Hands to Flying Stations - https://www.facebook.com/War1982/videos/811511359009143

[Pelican]

First Jet Fighter Carrier Deck Landing

On 3 December 1945, Captain.Winkle Brown became the first pilot to land on and (pictured) take-off from an aircraft carrier (HMS Ocean) in a jet aircraft. The aircraft he flew -- the de Havilland Sea Vampire LZ551/G -- is now preserved at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, Somerset.

See video at - https://www.facebook.com/War1982/videos/811572505669695

[Pelican]

A phenomenal contrast to a world where the loss of a single F35 generates front page media interest.

Far more carriers back then, with very much cheaper and less reliable equipment.
The numbers of Royal Naval aircrew, officers and ratings killed in flying accidents between 1962 and 1971 was 106.
The number of Fleet Air Arm aircraft, both rotary and fixed wing lost during the period 1962 to 1971 is 220.

[Pelican]

Diggers begin mammoth task of replacing Culdrose’s nine-mile outer fence

16 January 2024 Topic: CommunityLocal Initiatives Storyline: RNAS Culdrose
For only the third time in the air station’s 77-year history, engineers and landscapers have begun replacing the perimeter fence around RNAS Culdrose.
It will take most of 2024 to pull down the existing structure and erect its successor – part of a wider major redevelopment and investment in the Cornish air station.
The air base outside Helston covers a 1,540-acre site – split by the A3083, the main road to the Lizard, which separates the operational airfield from the administration and accommodation hub – demanding nine miles of fencing to keep unwanted intruders out.

Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... uter-fence

[Pelican]

In December 1946, Westland Aircraft signed an agreement to build under licence the world’s first successful operational helicopter, the American Sikorsky S-51, which became the first production helicopter in Britain. Named the Dragonfly, the first British-built S-51 flew on 5 October 1948. Westland produced a total of 149. Of these 71 went to the Royal Navy, where they served mainly as plane guards to aircraft carriers to recover downed airmen, doing what had been the task for a destroyer and 250 men. A further 16 went to the Royal Air Force to form the first frontline helicopter squadron in the service.
WH991 first flew on 4 February 1953. Shortly afterwards it joined HMS Illustrious, but was soon returned to Westland for repairs. During the next few years it served on HMS Centaur and at Lee-on-Solent and Eglington in Northern Ireland. After modifications in 1958, WH991 was sent to Trinidad to serve on the survey ship, HMS Vidal. Back in England in 1960, the helicopter joined 700 Squadron at Yeovilton and 705 Squadron at Culdrose. In 1994, it was found in a nearby scrapyard by Museum member Ray McElwain, who has restored it for static display.
Information & Image credits: yorkshireairmuseum.org/

[Fond memories of our one up at Lossie. When doing the am/pm dips off the Skerries it changed the lobster pots over bringing back rich picking of both lobster and fish. The former went to the wardroom and latter to the R.A.s in the mess.]

[jbryce1437]

The Saunders Roe P531 - Naval Trial on HMS Undaunted

[ivorthediver]

Trip down memory lane Jim ? , enjoyed that thanks