As a boy during the 1970’s, living in Sidcup, Kent I recall occasional days when, for what seemed liked hours on end, a fighter-type jet would regularly pass low overhead. It always followed a precise curving track and seemed to pass at regular intervals as if keeping to a set speed. Based on my mental-picture of it now I’d say it was a Hawker Hunter…and I seem to recall it was either brightly coloured or at least heavily dayglo’d. Either way when I heard its approaching roar I’d know that I’d be in for a few sightings that day, and it always thrilled me. The last time I recall watching this procedure was just after I started work, so that’d be about 1977/78. On that day I saw one such aircraft whilst I was visiting Purfleet…so its track must have extended in that direction…..and it was still going round in circles when I got home to Sidcup later that afternoon.. I’ve always assumed that these flights were part of some regular regime, and were not just pilot-training sorties…my thought was perhaps these were some kind of radar-calibration exercises, with the pilot obliged to keep to a defined course for a set period. A know of the FRADU Hunters but would they have been so tasked? Likewise I’ve heard of airfields being visited by ‘Ministry’ aircraft equipped for assisting with calibration of appoach radars etc, but this pattern did not appear to me to directly involve any airfields as such? Does anyone out there have an idea what such flights might have involved and what Units were involved? Many thanks
By: Resmoroh - 31st March 2010 at 13:25
At some stage in the 70’s the Boscombe/Farnborough Hunter was used to acquire data to validate FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red). Although when I was involved in such ‘games’ it was at night, in winter, and in the Brecon Beacons, in company with some Gentlemen from Hereford! Sidcup by day would have been much more preferable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HTH
Resmoroh
By: WG789 - 31st March 2010 at 13:04
Hunter Radar Calibration Flights
Thanks Rod;does sound like much the same – but would have been definitely mid-late 1960’s, extending into 1970’s. Might well have been a Meteor, though my memory suggests single-engine? Cheers
By: Whiskey Magna - 25th March 2010 at 17:00
Of course, Sidcup is only about 7 – 8 miles in a rough line from runway 03/21 at Biggin Hill.
Are you sure it was the seventies?
I recall similar flights in the early fifties when I lived at Welling and then Blackfen, both slightly to the north of Sidcup. If I remember correctly they were mostly Meteors back then. I don’t know about livery though. They would circle for hours or so it seemed, and on most days.
I don’t recall much jet activity an the later periods though as the airliners had pretty much bagged all the airspace by then and Biggin and Kenley had long ceased being used by RAF jets.
Probably about when I became hooked on aviation.
Rod
(Showing his age)
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March 24, 2010 at 9:16 pm