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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1393.PDF
[FLIGHT,\\6 September 1955 505 SERVICE AVIATION C.F.E. Hunters ReturnO N August 31st the team of Huntersfrom C.F.E., West Raynham, re- turned from a most successful tour of theMiddle East. They had flown 5,500 miles, not including an additional flight toAmman and Habbaniyah, and the aircraft, all Hunter Mk Is, had behaved extremelywell. Even with the short endurance allowed by the smaller tankage of the Mk 1there had been no difficulty. The longest hop had been 337 miles between Eskesehir,Turkey, and Ellenikon, Greece, which had taken 50 minutes. Between Italy andGreece, on the outward flight, a strong following wind had given them a groundspeed well over 700 m.p.h. Flying time to Cyprus was just under 4.5 hr. Ten pilots and eight Hunters were en-gaged on the tour, and the formation was led out to Cyprus by the Commandant ofC.F.E., A.Cdre. J. Grandy. G/C. J. M. Thompson, Group Captain Ops. at C.F.E.,also flew, but the formation was principally led by W/C. C. S. Scott-Vos, the com-mander of the Day Fighter Leader School, who was until recently O.C. Flying atWattisham. The remainder of the team was composed of D.F.L.S. instructors S/L.E. M. Higson, S/L. C. W. Coulthard, F/L. J. J. Phipps, F/L. J. M. Nicholls, F/L.J. R. Maitland, F/L. P. Latham, and F/L. K. N. Haselwood. The Hunters were partof the equipment of D.F.L.S. and some bore the white stripes on the wings andalong the dorsal spine which distinguish the machines of one of the two flights. The route followed led from WestRaynham, via Wahn, Fuerstenfeldbruck, Istrana (Venice), Capodichino (Naples),Brindisi, Ellenikon, and Eskesehir to Nico- sia. There members of the team had stafftalks, A.Cdre. Grandy returned to the U.K., and the aircraft were flown toAmman, to be entertained by the Arab Legion Air Force, and on to Habbaniyahand the Canal Zone. For the first time sonic booms were heard in that part of the worldand the phenomenon aroused great inter- est. The flight back was along the same These Sea Hawks from No. 800 Sqn., F.A.A., gave a display of formation aerobatics at the Naval Air Day held at R.N.A.S. Anthorn recently. Direct competitors were a team of Meteors from C.F.S. Six of the Hunter pilots after returning from the Middle East seen with A. Cdre. J. Grandy, C.F.E. Commandant (centre). They are (I. to r.) F/L K. N. Haselwood, S/L. C. W. Coulthard, W/C. C. S. Scott-Vos, O.C., D.F.L.S., G/C. J. M. Thompson, G/C. Ops., F/L. J. J. Phipps and F/L. J. M. Nicholls. (Right) Genuine Arab headdress worn, for taxying, by F/L. K. N. Haselwood. Ten of the twelve Valiants of No. 138 Sqn., Wittering, which carried out fly-pasts during the S.B.A.C. Show, make an impressive line-up at their base. The three Canberras are T.4s. route, starting on August 25th, with theaddition of a visit to Malta, where another exercise was held. Here the Hunters met,and in some cases had dog-fights with (J.S.A.F. F-86Ds from North Africa. The whole tour was the annual journeymade by members of C.F.E. to fighter stations abroad which all come within their"parish." Unfortunately only six of the eight aircraft returned to C.F.E. together,since one was held up at Malta for an engine change and another had stayed toes;ort it back when it was ready. The engine change was, however, caused bya stone thrown up into the intake. It had been intended that a Canberrashould precede the Hunters on each leg to provide actual weather information, butthis aircraft (incidentally, the only Can- berra in Fighter Command; it is used asa high speed target at West Raynham) went unserviceable at Capodichino. Ground crews, whose hard work wascredited with making the tour a practical possibility, and spares were carried in aHastings and two Valettas. Noteworthy was the landing at WestRaynham on returning. The main 2,000 yd runway was being resurfaced and, in a six-knot wind, all the Hunters put down com- fortably on the subsidiary 1,500 yd runway,used normally only to avoid very strong cross-winds. All of them could havestopped comfortably before reaching the end of the short runway, despite the factthat the very minimum touch-down speed is well above that of the Meteor.
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