This is the scheme that XP924 should revert to – 899 Squadron as in 1970.

Totally agree with you Adrian. In fact it could almost be identical if everything goes as planned as De Havilland Aviation are seeking CAA permission to carry drop tanks – which will give XP924 an extra 300 nautical miles range.

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Chumpy,

I’m pretty certain that the Fleet Air Arm’s Air Accident Investigation Unit was based at RNAS Lee-On-Solent, i.e. HMS Daedalus, during this time. They were certainly located there in the late 1960s.

Cheers,

Mark

Airwork Ltd and Airwork Services Ltd

Hi everyone,

Just a brief note to say that at last I’ve put a few words together on the history of Airwork and posted them on Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airwork_Services

I’ve tried to stick to the facts as I’ve learnt them during my limited research but due to the extraordinary number of different areas that Airwork has been involved in during the last 78 years some mistakes may have crept in. Also the article is only a summary so there are bound to be a significant number of gaps. I’ve been amazed at the sheer diversity of the company’s activities. Just when I thought I’d completed the article I’d stumble another contract or airfield it was responsible for. The recently published book “Bournemouth’s Airports – a History” by Mike Phipp has also been a great source of information including clarifying the period of the existence of Airwork Services Ltd.

When one takes into account the geographic spread of Airwork over the years and the number of people who were employed by it or came into contact with it I think that the history of the company would make an excellent subject for a book. Whilst it may be regarded as being too ‘specialised’ hopefully this will happen some day.

Please feel free to update the Wikipedia article if you think you can improve it – after all that’s what it’s there for. However, when attempting to add links please beware that the ‘Airwork’ page on Wikepedia relates to the current New Zealand airline which is not related to the original Airwork Limited or Airwork Services Ltd.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a successful 2007.

Mark

Airwork

I’m relatively new to this forum so have only recently come across this topic which is of great personal interest to me.

Both my later father and I briefly worked for Airwork. However, whilst my association was fairly mundane – an admin job in the Supplies Division at Ferndown in 1983/84, my father was a pilot with the Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) at Hurn in 1968/69. This primarily involved flying the Meteor T7 and Meteor TT20 on target towing and radar calibration sorties. Tragically he was killed in February 1969 when the Meteor T7 (WL350) he was receiving a competency check in to extend his QFI status developed a flat spin and crashed near Blandford in Dorset. His examiner that day, an RAF Flight Lieutenant, was also killed. No ejector seats in the T7 of course…..

More recently I’ve been looking into the history of Airwork and what a long and rich history it is – stretching back to the 1920s. In addition to having provided a variety of defence support services to the RAF, Fleet Air Arm and overseas air forces over the years, Airwork also played an important role in the early development of civil aviation – both in the UK and abroad. Airwork is something of ‘an unsung hero’ in the history of British aviation. As PaulR indicates there is little to be found on the internet, certainly nothing official, although if one searches long enough a basic history can be outlined. Also I’m sure there would have been a great deal of interesting documents held in the Airwork archive at some point but there must be a risk that much of this was destroyed following the sale of the company to Bombardier and more recently the VT Group. Hopefully this is not the case.

I intend to try and write up a summary of the company’s history at some point and post in on the internet. So if anyone has any knowledge of Airwork and its history I’d be pleased to hear from them. Are there any more ex employees out there?

One small question I have which hopefully someone may be willing to help is in respect of the company’s name. The FRU (and later FRADU) was operated by ‘Airwork Services Limited’ whilst I worked for plain ‘Airwork Limited’ – the original company registered in 1936. Were these the same company or was Airwork Services a subsidiary of the main Airwork?

Regards,

Mark

The most beautiful has to be the Hunter but my overall favourite jet is the Sea Vixen.

Cheers,

Mark

This is catching. Any guesses on this one?

Thanks for posting the photos. The formation seen over Yeovilton would also be Fred’s Five. Simon’s Sircus was only in existence during 1968.

Regards,

Mark

I’m new to the Forum so am just catching up on this thread.

The Sea Vixen is without doubt my favourite type of aircraft – largely due to the fact that my late father flew the type during the 1960s when he was a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. Aircrew recollections indicate that the Sea Vixen had excellent turning characteristics in the air and was perfect for dog fighting. One former Sea Vixen pilot, the late Lt. Marcus Edwards RN, is on record as saying that he was surprised at how easily the Vixen could intercept and despatch the Javelin during practice intercepts off Singapore and could only speculate as to how the RAF would have faired had it chosen the Vixen instead of the Javelin when it made its decision on its all weather interceptor in the 1950s. Brian Grant, the highly experienced current display pilot of G-CVIXXP924, also indicated during the recent ‘Classic British Aircraft’ series on Discovery Wings that the Vixen was far superior at dog fighting. It may come as a surprise to some that there is also at least one account of where a Sea Vixen FAW2 armed with Red Top missiles beat a Phantom FG1 (F-4K) during a simulated intercept. A full account of this is due to be included in a forthcoming book on the Sea Vixen by author Tony Buttler due for publication by Air-Britain later this year. Can’t wait!

I understand that there were plans for a supersonic version of the Sea Vixen but the twin boom configuration would have led to a big design issue as the heat generated by the afterburners would have caused potential problems around the tailplanerudders.

The Sea Vixen was an excellent fighter for its time and had good all round multi-role capability.