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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0364.PDF
^366 PLIGHT, 22 March 1957 Gannet flight simulator used at R.N. air station, Eglinton. Assessing cine interceptions at air fighter school, Lossiemouth. STRUCTURE OF THE SERVICE . . . the commissioning or re-commissipning date of a particular carrier.A five-months shore-based work-up period for the squadrons is involved: at the beginning of this period the squadrons intendedfor this carrier form; at the end of the period they embark in the ship. On completion of the ship's tour, the squadrons disembark,and disband, after a life of about 14 months. To be more correct, this was the cycle into which the squadronswere intended to fit. Delays in carrier-availability dates, and the emergency measures during the Suez operations, have resulted inchanges to this regular pattern. But the sequence of squadron formation, work-up, and embarkation remains the same. For the future, the new permanent-squadron system (justannounced) will provide a greater flexibility in matching squad- rons with carrier requirements. Front-line squadrons will nolonger disband after a relatively short life; they will remain in existence and their personnel will serve tours of duty of about18 months. Examples of fighter and anti-submarine squadrons engaged inthe work-up phase at present are 803 and 806 Squadrons (Sea Hawks) at Lossiemouth, and 814 and 820 Squadrons (Gannets) atCuldrose and Eglinton. The two Sea Hawk squadrons are work- ing-up in parallel, with the main emphasis throughout the five-month period being applied weapons-training. Pilots are expected to fly a total of 120 hours during this time. While both squadronsdevote a certain amount of time to each of the Hawk's possible roles (such as air-to-air and air-to-ground gunnery, day and nightbombing, rocketing), 803 is equipped with FGA 6s and is specializ- ing in ground attack; while the "Ace of Diamonds" insignia of 806(the first Hawk squadron to be formed—in 1953) is now painted on their FB5s, whose main task is interception. Towards the end of the work-up period, fighter and strike squadrons undergo a period of "flaps"—front-line armamentpractice. This involves a particularly intensive programme of weapons flying, under the guidance of instructors from theAdvanced Weapons Training Flight at Lossiemouth. Normally a squadron would carry out this work at Lossie, but it is notalways so. At present, for example, "flaps" are being carried out in addition by squadrons at Brawdy, South Wales. The mainobject of these intensive training periods is to produce a high standard in armament work and to ensure that all squadrons thinkand act along the same lines. In each of these four squadrons, the majority of pilots (and, inthe Gannets, complete crews) were inexperienced in front-line squadron flying before joining the squadron. This is typical ofnewly formed squadrons, where in many cases the commanding officer, senior pilot and air-warfare instructor (the three flightleaders) might be the only experienced pilots. Here it should be added that, in anti-submarine and early-warning squadrons, thecommanding officer is not necessarily a pilot; in a number of cases such squadrons are led by observers. Squadrons 814 and 820 are equipped witii Gannet AS.4s andAS.Is respectively. The training carried out by the two squadrons follows the same broad pattern, and includes crew training,anti-submarine bombing, minelaying, depth-charge dropping, MADDLs (mirror airfield dummy deck landings), and joint anti-submarine exercises by day and night. The two squadrons are destined for different carriers and are at different stages of theirwork-up—indeed, 820 has now completed its formal work-up programme. Other functions of the Advanced Weapons Training Flightinclude the training of fighter air-warfare instructors (one such weapons specialist is a pilot member of each squadron); of C.Osdesignate, who receive a modified form of the A.W.I.'s nine-week course with the accent on leadership in the air and the stan-dardization of operational techniques; and of Naval gunnery officers, who are given experience of most forms of fighter attack.Air-warfare instructors (A/S) are trained at Eglinton. Turning from Sea Hawks and Gannets to the remaining aircrafttypes in front-line operational service, we may consider in turn Sea Venom all-weather fighters, Wyvern strike aircraft, Skyraiderearly-warning aircraft, and helicopters. Pilots and observers destined for Sea Venom FAW aircraftreceive their introduction to air interception equipment and tech- niques at the R.A.F. All-Weather Operational Conversion Unit atNorth Luffenham. Here pilots take a twelve-week course (two weeks' ground-school, eight weeks' interception training and twoweeks' gunnery), flying in Meteor 7s for checks and standardiza- tion and Meteor 12s and 14s for the interceptions. Before goingto North Luffenham, pilots would have converted on to the Meteor at the Navy's jet conversion unit, operated by Airwork, Ltd., atSt. Davids, near Brawdy, After familiarization with the air interception radar equipment,observers join up with their pilots during the second phase of training, and from that time on carry out ground-controlled inter-ception exercises as a crew. By the end of the course the student crew is able to follow and intercept an evading target at night. From North Luffenham, conversion on to Sea Venoms is thenext step for the Naval all-weather fighter crews. This takes place at Yeovilton—or, during the runway alterations at present underway at this station, at nearby Merryfield. Here conversion is the Observers fly in Sea Princes during training at Culdrose.'
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