Perhaps one RAF aircraft that should have ‘pride of place’ in any flypast is Chinook HC1 ZA718 ‘Bravo November’.
This was the only Chinook to survive the destruction of Atlantic Conveyor by Exocet and was the only Chinook available to the British forces until after the end of the war.
Last sighting I had ZA718 was still earning her keep (23 years later) out in Iraq!
Yes, would be nice to see her or any veteran rotary wing in June. Here is Bravo Hotel 1982 on the apron at Ascension and at work supplying the Bristol Group on the way south. Also a ‘Wezzy’ (my favourite) with an underslung load for HMS Cardiff. Is Bravo Hotel still operational?
Now what was the thread here……………..oh yes, will the Sea Harrier be flying June 17th?
Well I hope so!
I’m going to be proudly marching that day, hopefully with a couple of thousand of other blokes who took part in liberating the Falkland Islands from the Argentine invader. I say ‘proudly’ because I am bloody proud of the fact that we did our duty and did it well.
I will not react adversely to some of the ‘bizarre’ comments I have read here.
Regards.
A proud sailor of the South Atlantic Task Force 1982.
p.s. I took this picture at the Ascension Islands on the way South.
Captain to Captain
A bit more about the ‘Weapons Tight’ call from HMS Bristol:
Bristol was the leader of that group heading south. Her Commanding Officer was Captain Alan Grose R.N. (now Vice Admiral) and our Commanding Officer Captain Mike Harris R.N. (now Rear Admiral) was junior………….but not by much.
When we ‘locked-up’ the 707 on the first approach with our 909 radar we reported to the Anti Air Warfare Co-ordination (AAWC) ship (Bristol) “Birds Affirm Hostile ****” thus telling the AAWC we are ready to engage with a surface to air missile……………there was a short delay and over the radio came “Weapons Tight Hostile ****”. We and presumably all the other ships were aware that there was an airway almost directly above us and Captain Grose became immediately concerned that we could be engaging a civilian airliner. He failed to take into account the electronic signature emitting from the 707 that the groups’ Electronic Warfare operators had identified as Argentine and were reporting. More amazingly he ignored the strange side stepping manoeuvre this aircraft was making around his group.
Let me tell you, a blind man on a galloping horse could have made a better assessment of our situation!
In warfare situations time either stands still or whooshes by in a flash………there appears to be no middle ground and that day things seemed to go very very quickly. Before we knew it we had fired (no request to Bristol this time) and had a salvo miss situation. Mike Harris got on the encrypted radio circuit and spoke to Alan Grose……….it was an extremely heated conversation and Mike kept saying “I had him in my bloody sights……….” and told him in so many words that his command decision making skills were severely lacking. This candid talk between two senior officers surprised us all………….it just isn’t done.
That incident affected us and I couldn’t wait to get into theatre and detach from that Captain.
I served under Captain Grose in HMS Illustrious in 1985 and it was the worst time I had in the Royal Navy.
Oh! and by the way……today I’m bloody glad we didn’t kill those airmen.
HMS Bristol storing on her way South:
Canberra, B-109, is in the museum at Moron.
Images on this webpage:
http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/specs/englelec/canberra.htm
‘I flew Argentina´s Air Force Canberras between 1992 and 1998 as a pilot, until the Squadron was deactivated. I won´t add anything new about their operational qualities or performances, but a tale about the “lucky aircraft”, instead. Canberra B-Mk-62 Registration Number B-109 (original british number WJ-109), which is in fact displayed at our Aeronautics Museum since 2000, had a colourful career in the Air Force. These are its main highlights:
1-By unanimous opinions from most pilots I flew with and including myself, B-109 was by far the nicest aircraft to fly: well balanced, vicious free, nice response through all the flight envelope.
2-It flew several bombing missions during the South Atlantic Conflict in 1982, always coming back home.
3-Although it went through several in-flight emergencies during its career, all the crews returned safely (the last one happened to me in 1994, when the starboard engine suffered a massive collapse and literally “swallowed” the first stages of the compressor).
4-In 1997, during a TV documentary footage at its operational Air Force Base, B-109 was unofficially named “Karina”, after one of the TV programme members – a nice looking girl – flew formation and low level tactics in a rear ejection seat.
5-It was the last Canberra to fly in Argentina.
08/21/2006 @ 15:20 [ref: 13946]’HS-125,LV-ALW,was destroyed in 1985
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850411-0&lang=en
Very informative TEEJ. I think Jorge thought that it was B-108 in the picture.
This is B-109 on a display stand…..clearly not in 1982.
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