My Old Aviation Pictures

Great pics, V35.

The Ship and Sunderland were training in rough sea landing techniques. The ship sailed in a circle of about 1 mile in diameter. Apparently, the wake creates a calm area in the middle of the circle allowing the Sunderland to make a landing. The exercise took place off the coast of New Zealand.

That’s broadly correct (although it would have been ‘open water landing techniques’ definitely NOT ‘rough sea’ as there’s no good reason for landing a Sunderland in ‘rough seas’ expept in an emergency) and is a standard technique for operating seaplanes with ships. More precisely, the ship makes a turn across the wind, which creates a ‘slick’ of calmer water for the aircraft to land into.

I’m aware of it specifically for retrieving Walrii by RN cruisers, et al, in early W.W.II, but the principle is the same. However this is the first time I’d heard of it in the case of something as large as a Sunderland.

A full circle is unnecessary for the creation of a slick, but may have been a manoeuvre used to put the ship back in position for the next item on the agenda!

Open water landings in seaplanes were generally discouraged in peacetime Commonwealth air forces, as unless it was relatively calm with no major swell, it was all too easy for something to go wrong and the loss of the aircraft and crew. Sunderland floats are all too easily knocked off, by just one wave at the wrong moment, with unfortunate consequences.

It’s a common layman’s assumption that marine aircraft can land on open water with impunity – sometimes they can, but it’s not unlike trying to land a landplane on the first bit of ground that you find. Sometimes it’s OK, often it’s not, and history is full of tragic stories of attempted rescues by Sunderlands which went wrong.

HTH.

I was about 12 at the time I took it so I probably continued to Farnborough after the Blackbush vist. Needless to say, being 12 in the early 80’s, I wasn’t the one who took the Sunderland picture!

Steve

Interesting photo’s vutee
The Vulcan was XA903 and was at Farnborough, cos so was I and I took the engines out of it!

Rgds Cking

The last couple are from Hendon and the Shuttleworth Collection. The Beverley at RAF Hendon in the 1970’s, which I believe was scrapped. The FAA Swordfish at Old Warden around 1983, and the Battle at Duxford taken in 1989 I think.

Steve

Hi Vultee,

Thanks for posting. I like the Shack photo, very atmospheric.

I remember going to RAF Leuchars many years ago when they used to operate the Phantoms. Don’t know if this is true or not, but we were told that the Russians knew when the airshow was on and sent over a couple of Bears to interupt the show. Every year the show was stopped and we had the pleasure to see the QRA Phantoms scrambling in the middle of the show to intercept them. Then the show continued as if nothing had happened. A couple of hours later the Phantoms would return.

I can also vaguely remember the Lightning doing a low and fast flyby. I think they were going at .8-.9mach. They were gone before you heard them.

Those were the days.

Alex

Next two pictures are taken at Blackbush Airport and Farnborough, from sometime in the early 1980’s. The B-17 is G-FORT, so somebody should be able to identify the date as I believe it left the UK for the USA shortly after the picture was taken.

The Vulcan was at one edge of the airfield, and I guess it was scrapped soon after this picture, unless anyone knows different.

This one was from RAF Leuchars airshow, a Phantom squadron scramble, followed by a diamond 9 formation, shown here.

I also remember one year there was a ground attack demonstration by EE Lightnings, complete with Pyros.

The next selection were all taken at Usworth ( Sunderland Airport ) Airshow days in the 1970’s. They are one of the BBMF Hurricanes, The Goodyear Airship, a Shackleton caught in a ring of sunlight, and the Red Arrows Gnats.

The grain on the pictures is as a result of the textured photo paper.