mmitch,
I saw several pictures taken at the time of the filming but can’t remember the finer points – I wouldn’t be surprised however if the Group Captain went along with this type of spoof.

Being in Ops at the time of his take-off in the Storch I didn’t actually witness him leaving the ground but had plenty of time to go outside and see him overfly the rest of the camp as he seemed to be moving at a snails pace! A fine sight though and very good fun.

Regards, Paul

I’ve always thought that my old RAF St Mawgan CO, Group Captain Harry Archer must have been one of the most prolific RAF pilots of his day. Sadly, a quick google check has revealed that he passed away in 2014.

I remember talking with him in his office in 1976 about a large photo on his wall showing a B52 bomber and an X15 experimental aircraft along with their crews. In the picture the Group Captain (then a Sqn Ldr) was shown as the B52 captain with a young looking Neil Armstrong as the X craft pilot.

Harry Archer also flew most of the then current RAF aircraft including V bombers and fighters clocking up a grand total of 175 different types.

During the filming of ‘The Eagle has Landed’ at St Mawgan in the summer of 1976 he surprised us all by flying the film makers Feiseler Storch aircraft around the camp. A nice quiet change from the usual Canberras and Nimrods!

Another rather special airman sadly no longer with us.

Paul

Excellent photos of Eagle’s 1967 commission. I particularly enjoyed picture 11 showing the Buccaneer overflying the surprisingly sparsely occupied pans of RAF Khormaksar in Aden. I would have been underneath it at the time, not far from the Beverley in the bottom right corner. Usually, the aircraft pans would be quite full as our resident squadrons included Hunter, Shackleton, Wessex, Twin Pioneer, Beverley and Argosy aircraft as well as the RAF’s last operational Dakota. Also daily visitors to Khormaksar included Britannia and VC10 troopers from British Eagle, British United Airways and RAF Transport Command, plus many regular scheduled civil flights including DC3’s and VC10’s from Aden and East African Airways respectively. RAF Vulcan, Victor and Canberra’s were also frequent visitors as were a variety of United States and French military types.

I also remember the old aircraft dump seen at the bottom centre of the picture where I recall clambering over a derelict Egyptian Air Force Ilyushin transport and an even older abandoned B25 Mitchell bomber. Going back to the Beverley at bottom right, I was especially pleased to see the lines of ‘blast walls’ built to protect the aircraft from mortar attack that I and many other ‘volunteers’ built in the summer of ’67. They were constructed of thousands of 45 gallon oil drums stacked three high and filled with water – gruelling work in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.

Anyway, many thanks for showing the photos and evoking old memories. Regards….Paul

Yes very good clips of the early days. I watched them perform as the Yellowjacks in 1964 at RNAS Culdrose which I think may have been their first public display. Russ Conway was the commentator on the day! Thanks for the memory.

Regards…..Paul

well said, and like many others who would have read one of the earlier posts with dismay, I also feel there’s nothing funny about this tragedy.

Regards…..Paul

Re: Spitfireman’s post 16 – Hercules video

Baz, thank you for the small credit you gave me at the end of your very fine Hercules video – it was a nice surprise. I was so pleased to see the video as it brought back instant memories of that evening way back in 2000.

As I mentioned on a different thread, I had just arrived at the airport as the aircraft was approaching and didn’t have a camera to record this rather unusual Plymouth event. It was therefore great to actually see it again in your video after all these years. Many thanks for bringing back a very pleasant memory.

Regards……Paul

Mention of the SS Atlantic Conveyor in earlier posts has reminded me of a visit I made to the ship during her conversion into a makeshift aircraft carrier in 10 dock at Devonport Dockyard, just before she sailed for the Falklands.

My first impression as I entered the ship via an imposing stern ramp, was her sheer size which almost filled Devonport’s largest drydock. The lower decks resembled a spacious underground car park which wasn’t too surprising as she was part ‘car transporter’ in civvy life. After a long climb upwards through her towering superstructure I eventually reached the bridge which was enormous in comparison to the bridge on the RN Frigate I had just left.

My over-riding memory however is looking down from one of the bridge windows to the forward deck area where dozens of dockyard workers were beavering away constructing her new ‘flight deck’. From my lofty position they appeared ‘ant like’ and totally focused on what they were doing – a very impressive sight. I seem to recall that the whole conversion took only ten days’.

A few weeks’ later, along with most of the nation, I was deeply saddened and shocked to hear of the fate of some of her crew and her subsequent sinking. A terrible loss.

Regards….Paul