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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0551.PDF
567 FLIGHT, 25 April 1958 AIRCRAFT versus SUBMARINE 1: The Avro Shackletons of R.A.F. Coastal Command NO. 269 Squadron R.A.F. is not exactly a glamour unit. Incommon with the other maritime squadrons of CoastalCommand, its work does not hit the headlines of the national newspapers with the frequency, say, of the V-bomber force. Not only does this general distinction apply but, at the present time, 259 has the dubious honour of operating some of the oldest Shackletons in Coastal Command. With none of the trimmings with which squadrons usually make news, then, the unit's activities are of interest simply as an example of routine niaritime operations with well-proven and familiar air- craft. We visited 269 last month at its base at Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, where we were able to learn about its work and to fly in its Shackletons. The peace-time role of all maritime squadrons is surprisingly varied. Continual training (as individuals, crews and squadrons) for the anti-submarine work is of course the primary effort, but, in addition, a number of ancillary tasks have been accepted as a matter of routine. These include trooping, support operations for nuclear tests, search and rescue, transport and dropping of supplies, colonial policing and escort work on ceremonial occasions. For pilots and navigators, specified practice in pure flying and navigation is mandatory. These aspects, sometimes combined with the operational exercises described later, include asymmetric landings and overshoots by day and night; napless landings; instru- ment approaches; navigation exercises and airways flying. Operational exercises are obviously tailored to a number of variations on the theme of the Shackletons' job—to detect, track and attack submarines. Initial long-range detection is practised by means of tactical searches and patrols, and in homings by radar and other special equipment on to buoys, ships, snorting sub- marines and other aircraft. Accurate fixing and short-range THE seriousness of the possible submarine threat to this country,estimated at some 500 vessels by the Director of Naval Air Warfare in "Flight" last year, has since been the subject of a great deal of discussion,especially in relation to the submarine's future capacity to launch inter- mediate-range missiles. "Flight" recently visited two operationalsquadrons which have widely differing roles in the sphere of anti- submarine defence, No. 269 (Shackleton) Squadron of R.A.F. CoastalCommand and No. 820 (Whirlwind) Squadron of the Royal Navy. The woik of the R.A.F. Shackletons is discussed in this article; Part 2 willcontain a description of the Naval helicopter operations. tracking of submarines is carried out using sonobuoys; and day and night attacks with torpedoes and with depth charges complete the operational sequence. A Shackkton's normal crew consists of two pilots, two navi- gators, a flight engineer and five air signallers (radar, R/T, sonics equipment (two), and beam lookout position); and the working up of these groups of ten men into integrated and practised crews is obviously of primary importance. Aircraft captains can be either pilots or navigators; at the time of our visit to 269 all captains on this squadron were in fact pilots. Much of the routine operation of the equipment carried by the Shackletons can be learnt on the ground, and the operational flying exercises noted above are supplemented and interspersed by periods of training in ground simulators. In one of these trainers, sonobuoy exercises are carried out by navigators and signallers. An automatic plot is kept of the tracks of the aircraft and the track of the submarine ("flown" and steered by an instructor) as the aircrew operate their equipment in separate booths representing their actual stations in the aircraft. Realism in the flying exercises, which are frequently of 15 hours' duration, is provided by joint operation with Royal Navy sub- Exercises with submarines are a regular part of maritime squadron training. Above, a Shackleton MR.? of 269 Squadron; below, H.M.S. "Springer." "Flight" photographs
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