30 years ago today

May I wade in on this thread, the last catapault launch from Ark Royal, and thus becoming the last British service conventional fixed-wing carrier take-off, was made by Fairey Gannet AEW.3 XL471. Can’t be more specific on date and time apart from Nov ’78.

No it wasn’t.

The last ever fixed wing cat launch was at 1511 hrs on 27th Nov 1978 by F4K 012, XT870 crewed by Flt.Lt M. MacLeod and Lt. D. McCallum.

However, a Gannet had the distinction of making the final fixed wing trap recovery on 18th Nov when Gannet 044, XL472, flown by Lt. Slade with Lt.Cdr Rotherham and Lt. Cass in the rear caught the wire. This Gannet is currently preserved at the Gatwick Aviation Museum.

See this link to the online Ark Royal commising book for details.

http://www.axfordsabode.org.uk/pdf-docs/arkroy27.pdf

So the ‘most significant british Phantom’ is preserved.. well that does not make it the most significant RN Phantom does it? It was never a fully navalised version and never served with the RN.
Yeovilton also have the prototype UK Concorde.. does not mean that all others are ‘insignificant’..!

XT867 is still around as far as i am aware, and is one of the few true RN FG.1 versions to survive. That is MY argument for it being in the FAAM, i don’t expect you to agree.

I agree. As a trials a/c XT596 would have been better off displayed along with other prototype a/c at Cosford for example.

FAAM should have earmarked one of the ex-RN service example’s after their RAF retirement…..IMHO.

There was only ever one front-line Phantom sqn, 892!
700P and 767 were second-line trials and training units, most RN phantoms had a very similar career patern, your argument dosen’t really stand.
As michelf says, the most significant British Phantom, XT596, is already preserved at FAAM

Where did i say front line squadrons??? I know there was only one front line sqdn, but how many surviving RN Phantoms have served will all RN Phantom sqdn’s???

So the ‘most significant british Phantom’ is preserved.. well that does not make it the most significant RN Phantom does it? It was never a fully navalised version and never served with the RN.
Yeovilton also have the prototype UK Concorde.. does not mean that all others are ‘insignificant’..!

XT867 is still around as far as i am aware, and is one of the few true RN FG.1 versions to survive. That is MY argument for it being in the FAAM, i don’t expect you to agree.

Well the same could be said for XT867, which i believe is still on gate duty at Leuchars. Given that this example has served with i think all RN Phantom squadrons in its time i find it hard to believe that it is still not in the FAA museum.
OK so we cannot save everything, but surely those with an important history should come first..!

There was only ever one front-line Phantom sqn, 892!
700P and 767 were second-line trials and training units, most RN phantoms had a very similar career patern, your argument dosen’t really stand.
As michelf says, the most significant British Phantom, XT596, is already preserved at FAAM

Well the same could be said for XT867, which i believe is still on gate duty at Leuchars. Given that this example has served with i think all RN Phantom squadrons in its time i find it hard to believe that it is still not in the FAA museum.
OK so we cannot save everything, but surely those with an important history should come first..!

Not to pick on you Wyvern…but priority should be given to the ‘first’…

The FAAM have the first UK spec Phantom (YF-4K) at Yeovilton…. in the ‘Carrier Exhibition’… OK its the ‘prototype’ and never served but is that an issue?

The question is do they need more than one to represent the type? If not then the first is more important than the last or the oldest or most served, certainly in historical terms.

If more than one then yes go for one which has the most history etc etc.

May I wade in on this thread, the last catapault launch from Ark Royal, and thus becoming the last British service conventional fixed-wing carrier take-off, was made by Fairey Gannet AEW.3 XL471. Can’t be more specific on date and time apart from Nov ’78.

A sad day indeed, as a kid I remember seeing Ark Royal passing Falmouth on her last cruise.

[QUOTE=Firebird;1327796]

The final a/c to launch was F4K XT870 flown off by an RAF exchange pilot, Flt.Lt Murdo MacLeod, and this F4 went on to serve with the RAF right up to the end of the RAF’s use of the Phantom and was scrapped at Leuchars.QUOTE]

was it known at the time to be the last launch? just wondered as it was an RAF pilot, can imagine some of the FAA less than happy about that?

Doesn’t FG.1 XT864 still survive at Leuchars?

Spooky…

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/352642-30-years-ago-today.html#post4558789

Possibly, if it was the end of 1980. She arrived there at the end of Sept 1980 for scrapping which took until 1983 before she was all gone.

Her sister ship, HMS Eagle had been scrapped at the same place a couple of years earlier.

Thanks Firebird, could have been 1981 then, we made that trip a few times in the early 80’s…

As a nine or ten year old, circa 1980 I recall been driven down the Scottish west coast to Cairnryan to catch the car ferry to Northern Ireland for a family visit. There was the hulk of a massive aircraft carrier tied up further along the dockside and somebody said it was the remains of the Ark Royal, which was being scrapped there. Would that have been the case ?

Possibly, if it was the end of 1980. She arrived there at the end of Sept 1980 for scrapping which took until 1983 before she was all gone.

Her sister ship, HMS Eagle had been scrapped at the same place a couple of years earlier.

Marked the end of an era in the RN FAA, when the Ark Royal made her final cat launches with the flying off of her Buccs and Phantoms from the ship for delivery to RAF St.Athan.

The final a/c to launch was F4K XT870 flown off by an RAF exchange pilot, Flt.Lt Murdo MacLeod, and this F4 went on to serve with the RAF right up to the end of the RAF’s use of the Phantom and was scrapped at Leuchars.
Given the historic significance of the airframe to the RN, I never understood why the FAAM didn’t save this aircraft for display back in her final RN flight markings in the carrier exhibition……???

Well the same could be said for XT867, which i believe is still on gate duty at Leuchars. Given that this example has served with i think all RN Phantom squadrons in its time i find it hard to believe that it is still not in the FAA museum.
OK so we cannot save everything, but surely those with an important history should come first..!

As a nine or ten year old, circa 1980 I recall been driven down the Scottish west coast to Cairnryan to catch the car ferry to Northern Ireland for a family visit. There was the hulk of a massive aircraft carrier tied up further along the dockside and somebody said it was the remains of the Ark Royal, which was being scrapped there. Would that have been the case ?

And speaking of RN F-4’s, timely that this excellent 1:72 scale diecast has just been released onto the November collectors market by Gemini Jets. I think I’ll place an order…;)

I agree with Ewan, remember those Thrush Commanders well, very noisy, as i lived 500 yards from the ADS hanger.

Cheers,

Pete any chance of a few scans of the photos please I was only 11months old when the pier head went up so rember absolutly nothing about it, not seen many photos either.

Its a Rockwell Thrush Commander, G-BCKA, G-BCKB or G-BCKC. ADS Aerial Services (Marmol’s crop spraying company) had 3 based at Southend in the 1970s.

Was it that long ago, we’d just bought our first house in Witham for the grand sum of £7950, ouch.
We visited the pier for the first time only a few days earlier, so all the slides I took that day are a poignant reminder of what it used to be like.
As an interesting comparison, the summer of 76 was also hot and drought ridden, it must have been 30 years ago today that we took the tent up to the Suffolk and Norfolk coasts where even the sea was warm for once.
I recall sitting on the beach at Dunwich and watching Delta Darts flying out of Bentwaters, and at Holkham Bay, RAF Phantoms flying so low over the dunes that you could feel the jet wash as they powered up to go supersonic over the sea.

a pzl dromander?
can’t think of any other radial powered ag planes that may have got that far
paul

It looks like a Cessna Agwagon or Piper Pawnee