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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1473.PDF
642 FLIGHT SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News HOMEWARD JOURNEY: This impressive picture of the Rock of Gibraltar, with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh inspecting the Royal Air Force parade, is framed by the port Griffons and undercarriage of a Coastal Command Avro Shackleton. Air Welcome to the Queen T HE first contact by home-based aircraft with Britannia after she had left Gib raltar with the Royal Family on board was made by a Shackleton of No. 42 Squad ron, 30 miles due north of Cape Finisterre. It was piloted by S/L. D. H. Sutton and had on board A.V-M. T. C. Traill, A.O.C. No. 19 Group, Coastal Command. As soon as contact was established—via the control centre in H.M.S. Duchess, one of the ships escorting Britannia—the Group Commander sent the message "Humble duty and loyal greetings," which greeting was duly acknowledged by the Queen. Coastal Command kept patrol over the royal yacht until she was in territorial waters. At 6.40 p.m. last Friday evening, as Britannia steamed off Cowes, the Fleet Air Arm staged a fly-past by five squadrons of aircraft in a single formation. The units taking part were No. 813 Squadron (Wyverns), Lt-Cdr. C. E. Price; No. 802 Squadron (Sea Hawks); Lt-Cdr. D. N. Steer; No. 804 Squadron (Sea Hawks); Lt-Cdr. E. M. Brown, O.B.E., D.S.C., A.F.C.; No. 898 Squadron (Sea Hawks), Lt-Cdr. D. C. Parker, D.S.O., D.S.C., A.F.C., and No. 890 Squadron (Sea Venoms), Lt-Cdr. A. Gordon Johnson. Immediately in the rear of the formation the Flag Officer Air (Home), Vice- Admiral Sir John Eccles, K.C.V.O., C.B., C.B.E., flew over in a Percival Prince. Unfriendly weather, like that which caused a fly-past restriction on Coronation Day, had a marked effect on the occasion of the Queen's London homecoming on Saturday last (writes a member of Flight's staff who flew with the Duxford wing). The original plan was for the Biggin Hill, Duxford and Waterbeach wings (each of 24 Meteors) to lead the fly-past in a vee formation, followed by a similar vee of Meteors (Horsham St. Faith) and Sabres (R.C.A.F. North Luffenham and R.A.F. Linton-on-Ouse), and finally by four for mations each of nine Canberras (from Bin- brook, Scampton and Coningsby). In the event, bad-weather plan "B" was used, whereby the wings flew in line astern, at 30-second intervals, led by W/C. D. G. Smallwood, D.S.O., M.B.E., D.F.C., and the Biggin Hill Meteors. Leading the Duxford wing was W/C. P. R. Wickham, D.S.O., D.F.C., and the Meteor 7 containing Flight's representa tive was flown by F/O. Tony Chambers, of No. 64 Squadron. After take-off, the join-up was made at about 600ft in a wide circle to port, the attendant Meteor 8s seeming to swim up into position between the rainwashed green below and die grey cloud-base just above. By Wratting Common, the formation of 24 was complete—the understudying "spares," still not needed, could be seen tactfully, hopefully holding position in the distance—and we fell in behind the lead ing wing. Behind us the following wings, if not visible, were audible over the R/T, as Bury St. Edmunds, Stowmarket and Ipswich passed below. A starboard turn at Felixstowe—"Kodak Two, Harwich, five seconds late"—and then along the coast and over the silver grey sea towards Shoeburyness. Speed was 300 kt, altitude just under 1,000ft. Starboard again, then over Southend and the Estuary. The formation, already tight, tucked in even closer, and the squad ron beetle painted on the fin of A-Able alongside crawled ominously nearer. Ahead were the winding curves of the Thames; below, the eastern fringe of Lon don's dockland. Small toy boats which might have included the royal yacht could just be glimpsed; but it was with a realiza tion of the two completely separate sensa tions experienced by those who watch formation fly-pasts from below and those who fly in them that the writer primarily recalls the passing over Gallions Reach and Britannia. From below, a steady, in animate, automatic pattern: from above, a slowly weaving network of essentially indi vidual flying machines. A right bank away from the river just before St. Pauls, and the R.A.F.'s "welcome" salute was over. A message from the Queen, subsequently received by the Secretary of State for Air, said: "Please convey my sincere con gratulations to all ranks who took part in the fly-past on Saturday. My husband and I were delighted to receive this splendid welcome from the Royal Air Force as we entered the Pool of London." Nottingham U.A.S. Dinner A TOTAL of 2,600 flying hours during the last year was reported by the com manding officer of Nottingham University Air Squadron, S/L. R. P. Elliott, at the squadron's annual dinner, held at R.A.F. Station Newton on Friday last. Among the other activities reviewed by S/L. Elliott was the squadron's success in small bore rifle shooting at Bisley, where the Kingsley Wood Trophy had been won for the diird successive time. Replying on behalf of the guests, Mr. B. L. Hallward, M.A., Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham University, said that the University was intending to enlarge its electrical and electronic engineering faci lities: in this, close co-operation with the squadron would be valuable for, in the future, would not guided-missile electronics engineers replace "chauffeur fighter- pilots?" A. Cdre. R. L. Kippenberger, C.B.E., A.O.C. No. 64 (Northern) Group, next pro posed the health of the squadron, amus ingly developing the Vice-Chancellor's future theme of "a section with a whole lot of goon-boxes in it." Replying, P/O. Ward, one of the senior cadets, told a selection of stories on topics ranging from Tiger Moths to young ladies from Wan tage; and went on to demand more ad vanced aircraft for the squadron to fly. ROYAL ESCORT: Photographed by "Flight's" representative (see above): Meteors of the Duxford Wing, which formed part of the escort for the Queen's arrival in London.
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