Incidentally the Wyvern shown in the static, WL876 ‘186’ had a relatively short service life. It joined 813 Sqdn at Ford in June 1954 but crashed in the sea off Malta on the 20th Oct killing the pilot Lt. Banner.

I agree, fantastic show : wonder if it would have been professionally filmed at the time and something exists in a film library somewhere?
I beg to differ on the fate of WL876 however, BARG records quote as you have Wyvernfan, but from Air Britain’s FAA Fixed -Wing Aircraft (Sturtivant/Burrow/Howard ) “‘engine flamed-out on catapult as a result of fuel starvation, lost overboard from Albion ,the aircraft was cut in two by the ship off Europa Point,Gibraltar, Cat ZZ 13.10.54. (Lt B D MacFarlane made a successful underwater ejection aft although ejection seats not cleared for such use)”
From the same source, sadly : (VZ783 After TO from Hal Far (Malta) loose stones ingested into air intakes, crashed in sea from 800 ft 1m offshore, Marsaxlokk, Cat ZZ 20.10.54. Lt PR Banner killed) Both indeed from 813 Squadron. Hope you don’t mind the additional info, keeping the rather sad record straight. Brian S.

Evening all….a couple more from Ford July 1954,

Avenger XB365 and Sea Prince WP311.

Thanks chumpy…and in back, as they say,.. behind the Avenger, and the Gannet, there’s also a Wyvern lurking (teasing?).

Never did see an Avenger at Arbroath, although saw dozens at Abbotsinch (H.M.S. Sanderling) an Aircraft Holding Unit, in 1959 : these were pre-camera days, unfortunately. Keep ’em coming lads, great to see them. Brian S.

Few more from 6/7th July 1963, dull and overcast weekend : they’re self-explanatory, the JP Mk 4’s were from Linton-on Ouse, the Tiger Moth was based at Lossiemouth, and was visiting to aerotow the glider for the flying display : these shots were taken Sunday morning at Station Flight before she headed home.(This aircraft is at the FAA Museum Yeovilton now…my Tiger Cub [not DH but Triumph] in the background also long gone), and so too the Seahawk WM943 and the Sea Prince WP309, on Yeovilton dump 1989, although I believe the fuselage still survives? 🙁 Brian S.

Very near miss, Robert, an F.17 , SX347 , marked as 114/VL, (ex-764 Squadron) and believe it or not, July 1955… yes I got to sit in one!…to this day I believe I can recall the smell of the cockpit, and can visualise now the shiny marks on the floor by the rudder pedals where the black paint was scuffed by many pairs of feet! (Not to mention the impatient matelots from the the Station Photographic section who wanted me to bail out because I’d paid my two bob for the photo, overstayed my time and there was a queue of similar -minded lads like me who were impatient to have a go and were getting on their nerves! :rolleyes:

Glad to oblige Wyvernfan, sadly there are no more : the last two shots are badly lined up, although the first has a view of the airfield looking north from Station Flight, where the dump was, and shows the control tower: in the extreme right distance the corrugated roof over the shooting butts can just be made out.

In that area several burnt-out aircraft came to repose temporarily, including the Seahawk WM999.

Also attached photo of part of the fuselage of Buccaneer S.1, XK529, the thirteenth production aircraft, recovered from Lyme Bay Dorset, following the fatal crash from HMS Hermes in August 1961 and the last photo shows Wessex XL722 (which was a Sikorsky S-58 , imported by Westlands, a Gazelle power plant was substituted for the Gnome R-1820 : the aircraft then became the prototype Wessex.(Worthy of retaining perhaps, but alas long gone.)
Lest it be thought all my shots are of doom and gloom, I promise many lighter, brighter,colourful and entire airframes will follow from Air Day displays at Condor as I resurrect them!

Is this the same aircraft John? See the attached url :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aichi_E13A

Thats an interesting photo. I only have a small contact print taken from the other side, negative long gone. That day I walked from the Railway Station to the airfield.

Quite a trek Robert : at that time I’d moved from motorbikes to a Heinkel Three Wheeler (in my opinion the best side-by-side seater of the type) , so getting out to ‘Condor’ was no problem…on reflection nowadays it’s a toss-up as to which one I would like to have today..the Sea Fury or the Heinkel……297cc or 2480 Horses?..Nah! No contest.:diablo: