This shot was taken at Shawbury in June 1980. I remember that the Wessex operated there were Royal Navy Mk 5’s and not the RAF Mk2’s which came later. I also heard that one of the five Navy a/c had been written off and placed in a museum before being given a major rebuild and loaned to the RAF. I have often wondered if any of these aircraft still exist.
Does anyone have any ideas?
By: Slipstream - 5th May 2005 at 22:15
Thanks TMN, This is one of the Mk2’s which arrived from Germany ( ex 18 Sqn I think ) as they wore the green/grey camouflage with a black underside. the Navy ones were green all over – the red nose / tail band being added to either denote training aircraft or increase visibility. I was told that the Mk5’s were returned to the Navy for operational use having suffered losses during the Falklands campaign.
By: TMN - 5th May 2005 at 21:08
Don’t know if this helps, but this is Shawburys gate guard taken on 2nd April this year.
Sorry its not a great photo, but it was taken from an RAF minibus as we sped past !
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May 5, 2005 at 6:25 pm