Seaplanes At RNAS Lee-On-The-Solent

The first picture (not a postcard of mine) shows the early arrangement for launching and recovering seaplanes at Lee. There were rails on the cliff top on which the seaplanes were moved on a trolley. There were similar rails and trolley at beach level and a crane on the cliff top to lift the seaplanes up and down. The beginnings of the slipway can bee seen to the far left.

The second picture (again not one of my postcards) was taken later and shows nothing on the cliff top and so by then the slipway was in full use. Note that there is no sign yet of the airfield itself. 

After the pilot ejected, the Hunter landed intact in shallow water and was recovered intact after a couple of days by a crane barge. It was deemed to be beyond repair and the fuselage was then used for lightning strike testing. The cockpit still exists as a display item.

I have seen a report on the crash that says that the pilot dropped the hook but it failed the catch the wire. I was not aware that the runway at Lee was fitted with arrester gear. Can anyone say for sure whether it was or not? 

Yes, I think that it was WV381 (q.v. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=22604.msg93058#msg93058).

I remember the Hunter incident well. The RN(?) investgators recruited enthusiastic kids like me, who’d come to look,  to comb the beach for Hunter bits the next day. How could we refuse? 🙂

Yes, the cliffs are not  very high at all.

Are you talking about the Hunter GA.11 WV381 that aborted its take off, went through the fence, crossed the road, went over the cliff and beach huts and into the sea on 1st November 1972?

The second photograph, attached to the last post, was helpful to me because, not long ago, I was looking at an accident report which spoke of an aeroplane overshooting the runway at Lee-on-Solent and ‘going over the cliffs’ and onto the beach. Not knowing the area intimately, I puzzled at where the cliffs might be (associating, in my mind, cliffs of the like on the East Sussex coast). Seeing the photograph leads me to deduce that the cliffs at Lee-on-Solent, between aerodrome and sea, are of a rather less substantial nature than I had in mind! 

Fairey Seafox on what looks to be its landing run due to the break in the wake.

Saro London (as far as I can tell) moored off the beach. This post card was posted in 1952 ten years or so after the type left service. 

These are the last of my current post card collection, but I am always on the loo out for more.

If anyone else has any other images of seaplanes or flyingboats at Lee, please feel free to post them here.

First. Walrus crossing the public highway at top of slipway.  Sea Fox and two Shark land planes in front of hanger. Late 1930s.

Second. Three Walrus in front of hangers. Note personnel sitting on top wings of two aircraft. A small car is on the public highway – Austin 7? Sandbags have now appeared on top of the control tower and so photo probably taken just before, or shortly after start of WW2. 

Walrus ‘B’ about to run up the slipway.

Walrus K8550.

Thanks for the tip. There are currently a few copies on eBay but I have just ordered a copy from Amazon for less than the starting price of any of the auctions.

If you can get hold of a copy, there’s a great book called ‘You Are Not Sparrows’ by S.J. Carr (1975 Ian Allan) which has a few funny and hair-raising stories of life flying IIIF’s  at Lee in the 30’s .

Enough of the Faireys.

Walrus L2182 at foot of slipway with winch cable attached.

Shark II K8462 on the winch cable with airman adding weight to the front of float.

Fairey IIIF ‘Y’

Fairey IIIF S133?

If the Sea Turbulent was a failure in its operation out of Lee-on-Solent, it’s a good job that no-one chanced their luck there with the Wet Wot G-APNT!

Fairey IIIF S1330 at foot of slipway with some panels removed.

Fairey IIIF S1348 on slipway. Note the missing prop spinner. It seems that it was quite common for these a/c to be operated without one. In the early days of the base, before the slipway was built, there was a crane system on the top of the cliff to lift a/c off the beach. Note how wide the top part of the slipway was right from the start.

file:///C:/Users/Michael/Downloads/Giant_Scale_Floats_RCM-863_Article.pdf

Close. but no banana?!

I remember G-AIVW in its yellow scheme too. That would have been during the mid 1960s at Lee. For a short time there was also an all yellow Turbulent on floats at Lee too. I think that the experiment was a failure probably due to the drag of the floats and the Solent often being too rough for such a small plane. I don’t think that I have ever seen a picture of the “Sea Turbulent”.

Thank you Aerotony. The yellow c/s is the one I remember, I was sorry to see she is no more – and quite surprised, considering how many Tigers have been ‘rebuilt’ from wrecks. ‘ACDC is an aeronautical Trigger’s Broom iirc!

There is a photo of the Tiger Moth floatplane at Lee in this thread.

https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/47620-tiger-moth-on-float-… 

Fairey IIID ‘D’ being recovered on slipway.

Fairey IIID ‘D’ S1825, probably same aircraft as above on beach with winch cable attached.