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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0453.PDF
o FLIGHT, 19 February 1954 209 BREAKING PORT: A /one Sea Hawk of 898 Squadron heads for its Pembrokeshire home. SEA HAWKS Fleet Fighters at Brawdy By H. F. KING, M.B.E. IT seems that the first British fighter to be flown from the deck of an aircraft carrier was a Bristol Scout. The date was November 3rd, 1915, the ship H.M.S. Vindex, and the Scout pilot F/L. H. F. Towler. Vindex was formerly the Isle of Man passenger steamer Viking and as a warship she carried two of the tiny Bristols dismantled in her forward hangar. They took the air from a special "flying-off" deck. A little later, Sopwith Baby floatplanes, with "fall-away" wheels, were launched from the deck of H.M.S. Campania; but these Tabloid developments proved ineffective against the Zeppe lins they were intended to destroy, and experiments were put in hand with Sopwith Pups fitted with plain wheel-undercarriages. Subsequent development of the ship's Pup was described by J. M. Bruce in Flight of January 1st this year. A most significent achievement was the first deck landing on a British aircraft carrier, by Sqn. Cdr. E. H. Dunning on August 2nd, 1917. The space available was the 228ft forward deck of H.M.S. Furious and Dunning had to "crab" his Pup over the deck centreline, whereupon it was hauled on to the deck by means of rope toggles. He repeated the feat once but was killed in a third attempt. From the ship's Pup Beardmores developed the "foldable" S.B.3D, but this was quite outperformed by the R.N.A.S. version of the Sopwith Camel (Type 2F.1). In 1921 the Camel itself was declared obsolete and was supplanted by the Gloucestershire/ Nieuport Nightjar, or Mars X, of 1922. Something of a rara avis, the Nightjar was the last British operational aircraft to have a rotary engine and soon gave place to the Fairey Flycatcher. Pert, noisy, and well loved, the little 'Catcher held the deck for nearly ten years, until the Hawker Nimrod came in about 1931. First cousin of the Fury shore-based intercepter, this Kestrel-engined On o winter's morning at Brawdy the officers of No. 898 Squadron, with the chief and petty officers, pilots' mates and men of the Squadron Servicing Unit, present themselves before "Flight" photographer L. W. McLaren. From left to right, the officers are: Lt.(E) M. H. Hall, air engineer officer; Lt. W. R. Dillen, U.S.N.; Lt. N. R. Williams; Act. S/Lt. P. ]. Swain; Lt. F. W. S. Grant; the CO.—it. Cdr. 0. G. Parker, D.S.O., D.S.C., A.F.C.; Lt. D. 8. Morison, senior pilot; Lt. D. P. W. Kelly; Lt. j. L. Newns; Act. S/Lt. £. A. Shortell; Lt. P. L. Hon; Lt.(L) /. A. McLellan, air electrical officer. ? ^^^^p&Q^r \ 6 - -m y in • - fr H|—-' —*— *mmg ppM *»*&"< *mm ^^^^^ I fe:- J 01 • V ill " i. ,f mm.
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