what happened next?

Don’t let Pagen see this, he’ll be upset all day.:diablo:

Well i’m hoping James might be the guy who’s knows the outcome.

Its getting mighty close :eek:… judging by the nose-wheel this Gannet is heading in one direction only. But did she go over the side?

Nope……. He did a quick right full rudder & doughnutted the Gannet back onto the flight deck just as the C.O’s bird was taking the wire.:D:D

I think it’s actually stopped – no indication of movement on the wheels. She might even be about to reverse, hence the turn on the nose wheel.

A couple of things that seem odd about this photo

1. If the aircraft was landing, wouldn`t the arrestor hook be lowered?

2. It appears that the pilot is the only person on board the aircraft.

3. I would have thought that not enough flap is selected for landing, however I do not know what degree of flap would normally be selected for landing.

Furthermore, there is no mention of the loss of this aircraft (I think it is onboard HMS Eagle), in any list of Gannet losses that I can find.

Waiting to be proved wrong on all points….

Here’s my (pure speculation) guess then 😀
Off centre Hook failure…a/c is drifting to port as the pilot pulls back on the stick to ‘Bolter’
The flaps look like they might be in the ‘max lift’ posn and the a/c is about to become airborne over the port side of the carrier….:D

From memory now, it was a free take off attempt that went wrong, the Gannet did go over the side of the deck but luckily it got entangled in the ‘cat walk’ area.
There is a full sequence of pics of the incident somewhere.

Cheers James, at least it sounds like a happy ending. And that would explain the hook being up and flap position… and the pilot clenching no doubt.

I think the Gannet is WN411, can you confirm from the pic Rob?
Yes he looks fairly calm there, no doubt he was clenching at the same time!

OK, another new bird on me. I just checked some other pics of this one-am I right, am i seeing twin props on the nose??

I’ve searched through ‘Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft since 1946’ and have only noted two aircraft listed as carrying 266 / J, the were WN392 and WN401. 392 seems to had an uneventful career and was eventually disposed of. 401 went over the side of HMS Bulwark on the 16th Feberuary 1956 off Northern Ireland.

The entry says “nosewheel misaligned, failed to keep straight on deck during TO, plunged over port side, 200ft from start of t/o Bulwark”, the pilot Sub-Lieutenant P.W. Allkins was ok, his is the only name suggesting he was alone.

Hi Larry,

You certainly are!

Courtesy the AW Double Mamba powerplant:

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Siddeley_Double_Mamba

Regards,
Frank

I think the Gannet is WN411, can you confirm from the pic Rob?……..time!

No. This Gannet is WN401 “266/J” of 812 Sqdn. Eglinton which, due to a misaligned nose-wheel, during take off from HMS Bulwark plunged over the side on 16 feb 1956 the pilot, one S/L P Allkins survived.

Full details are published in Air-Britain’s superb work FAA Fixed Wing Aircraft since 1946

Tim

Must be WN401 then and that description fits perfectly.
I shamelessly lifted the pic from tinternet whilst searching for Wyverns, and its perilous position just made me wonder about its fate. Glad the pilot was deemed ok.. but i bet his navy issue underwear did’nt fair so well. 😀
Who’d be a naval airman aye…;)

Much more boring than my scenario 😀
Glad he was ok !!

Yes now that I have got home, I’ve dug out the details and it is as Alan Clark and Consul says. I have a sequence of pics of the evnt, but cant locate them at the mo.
Just as a little note the hook and flaps position dosen’t nescesarily indicate a take off problem as the ‘hook up & flaps up’ signal was given straight after trapping, it was sometimes the case that an aircraft would have a hydraulic or brake problem after that while taxing.

Yes good point about the hook and flaps. Be interested to see the other pics in the sequence mind.. just to complete the story.

The sequence does end with the just the tail bobbing in the water, I should have remembered, comparitively lucky that it only had the pilot on board.
After the fatal Albion accident in ’54 it was standard practice to take-off with the hoods open.
The one that got caught in the catwalk was taxing to its spotting position when it experienced brake problems and rolled off the stbd side deck!

Yes good point about the hook and flaps. Be interested to see the other pics in the sequence mind.. just to complete the story.

Oh thats just cruel, making Pagen look at Gannet “snuff videos” etc :diablo:

At Yeovilton last week watching Pagen with the reserve Gannet was like watching Gollum and a certain ring:rolleyes: