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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1436.PDF
136 FLIGHT, 27 July 1950 SERVICE AVIATION . . - near Paisley, for Malta, flying by way ofMarseilles and Rome. It prepared the way for a similar flight by 15 Firefliesof No. 1830 (R.N.V.R.) Squadron, based at Abbotsinch, which, as a result of theiroutstanding training performance when embarked in H.M.S. Illustrious lastyear, will spend the 1950 training period on anti-submarine exercises with theMediterranean Fleet. • ; The Squadron will take off from Abbotsinch on Sunday, July 30th, forLee-on-Solent, where they will fly the following day to Marseilles. The lastlap of the flight from Marseilles to Rome and then on to Malta will beundertaken on Tuesday, August 1st. No. 1830 Squadron, recruited fromthe Glasgow and Edinburgh areas, is commanded by Lt.-Cdr. (A) J. D.Murricane, R.N.V.R., who won the D.S.C. for distinguished services in theMediterranean theatre during the last war. Its aircrew strength is 15 pilotsand seven observers. Last year, the Squadron received theBoyd Trophy, awarded annually for the finest feat of aviation of the year in theRoyal Navy, for their remarkable achievement in completing 205-deck-landings with only one minor accident, while training in Illustrious. At Malta,the programme will consist of anti-sub- marine exercises, rocket-projectile firingand long navigational exercises over the sea. The Squadron's non-flying R.N. andR.N.V.R. maintenance personnel will be transported to Malta, together withbaggage and stores, by Dakota. The Squadron's aircraft will leaveMalta on August 10th and follow a route similar to that taken on the outwardjourney, arriving back at Abbotsinch on August 12th. Service Gliding Teams BOTH Naval Aviation and the R.A F.are represented in the National Glid- ing Contests, which are now in progress at Great Hucklow, Derbyshire. PERFECT PROFILE : Few will deny that the Spitfire remains one of the most beauti- ful aircraft ever produced. Pictorial proof of a widely held opinion is offered here by a Mk. 22, finished in the latest colours ot No. 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force and flown by the CO., S/L. Peter Devitt. There are seven R.A.F. entries: anEon Olympia from No. 188 Gliding School (Barrow); Rhonbussard—No.148 G.S. (Hornchurch); Slingsby Sed- bergh—No. 89 G.S. (Christchurch);Slingsby Prefect—No. 65 Group (Hen- don) ; Grunau 2B—No. 64 Group (York);Slingsby Gull—No. 204 G.S. (Sydenham, N. Ireland); Slingsby Sedbergh—R.A.F.Gliding Instructors' School (Detling). A.T.C. cadets will taKr part in the contests. In addition to flying as pas- sengers in the two-seat gliders they will assist in rigging and retrieving the air- craft. The Navy is entering a two-man team,consisting of Lt. Cdr. G. A. J. Goodhart, a torpedo officer, and his brother, Lt.Cdr. (E) H. C. N. Goodheart, a test pilot. Both aie members of the PortsmouthNaval Gliding Club, which is affiliated to the Royal Naval Gliding and SoaringAssociation, formed in 1947 to stimulate interest in gliding and soaring a? a sport AUXILIARIES INSPECTED : During its summer camp at Tangmere, No. 615 Squad- ron was visited by Air Marshal Sir Basil Embry, the A.O.C.-in-C, Fighter Command. Shown here are (left to right) : F/L. Shillingford, Auxiliary adjutant ; Sir Basil Embry; F/L. Weir, engineering officer; F/L. Thoroughgood, D.F.C., Regular adjutant. and recreation. It has a membership oiabout 80, including a number of Wrens. The Navy also has gliding clubs atLossiemouth and Eglinton. Far-East Flying-Boais TWO Sunderfends from Hong Kong-based No. 88 Squadron, R.A.F. (an aircraft from which went to therelief of the Amethyst in the Yangtse last year), have completed a three-monthdetachment to the Fiji Islands, in the Pacific, where they served with a RoyalNew Zealand Air Force squadron. Dur- ing the same period, two Catalinas flyingboats from the R.N.Z.A.F. unit took part in the day-to-day activities of 88Squadron in Hong Kong. This exchange was the first in a series designed to giveR.A.F. and other Commonwealth Air Force aircrews experience in operatingwith each other. Many of the alighting areas used bythe R.A.F. Sunderlands during their flight to the Pacific were uncharted, andhad never before been used by heavy flying boats. In addition to taking partin the normal training programme of the R.N.Z.A.F. Squadron the Sunderlandsundertook a number of special missions. On one occasion, at the request of theFiji Government, a Sunderland flew the High Commissioner of the WesternPacific and a number of officials on a ten-day annual inspection of the NewHebrides Condominium and the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Later,the same aircraft flew to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, in the Western Pacific,with six officials of the Western Pacific High Commission on board. Air-sea rescue operations were anormal feature of the Sunderland's routine duties while at Fiji. Airsearches for small sea-going craft swept off-ccfurse by hurricanes in the areawere undertaken, and on each occasion proved successful. During a short stayin Auckland, the aircraft were inspected by 150 R.N.Z.A.F. cadets and trainees.Towards the end of their detachment, the Sunderland officers were invited toWellington for discussions with the Director of Operations at the Air Depart-ment there, where maritime operational methods used by the R.A.F. werereviewed.
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