FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1812.PDF
14 August 1959 25 SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Forces and Naval Flying News Kentish Javelins /"\N Wednesday last week West Mailing^-^ airfield became a fighter station once again, when Javelins of No. 85 Sqn. flewin from Stradishall to make it their new operational base. They were preceded bya Spitfire and Hurricane, to give the event historical perspective; and are being fol-lowed at some future date (probably early next year) by another all-weather squad-ron, No. 41. So Kentish ears will get used to the noise of Javelins flying from what isnow the R.A.F.'s only operational airfield south of the Thames. Noise was one aspect of the rehabilita-tion of West Mailing stressed by the station commander, G/C. C. N. Foxley-Norris.He admitted that the Javelins were the noisiest aircraft in R.A.F. service, "ex-tremely noisy" even when taxying; and owing to the adjacent M.T.C.A. controlareas and zones, extending from 3,OOOft to 25,000ft, the Javelins would have to go inand out at 2,500ft or below. Take-off would normally be to the west, but they werenot allowed to climb in a westerly direc- tion. These inconveniences, both to civi-lian population and to private pilots (who must be under Manston control or flyalong the Ashford - Redhill railway below 600ft), were regretted; but the R.A.F.would not have been put back into the skies over Kent "without good tacticalreasons." No. 85 Sqn., which is commanded byW/C. G. A. Martin and operates Javelin 2s and 6s, has old associations with WestMailing. In 1943 it flew from there with Mosquitoes against targets in OccupiedEurope, and it returned there after the war until at the end of 1957 the airfield wasclosed for runway improvements. Sea Vixen, R.N. "EIGHT de Havilland Sea Vixens swept•*-' into the summer skies above R.N.A.S. Yeovilton on July 2 for an impressive dis-play celebrating the commissioning of No. 892 Sqn., the first Naval all-weatherfighter unit to be equipped with these air- craft, which are replacing Sea Venoms. Atthe ceremony the Flag Officer Training, Rear Admiral D. R. F. Cambell, said thatthe introduction of Sea Vixens with their Firestreak weapons system "ushered in theNavy's guided missile age." For the first time, he added, the Navy had up-to-dateaircraft, radar and ships. There was a noticeable feeling of prideat Yeovilton for this occasion, not only because of the commissioning of No. 892Sqn. (which had been working up there for several months as 700 Y Flight underthe same CO., Lt-Cdr. (now Cdr.) M. H. J. Petrie, a New Zealander) but also becauseof the presence of five Scimitars of No. 807 Sqn. These, too, gave a fine display, andwith No. 892 are representing the Royal Navy at Farnborough. Their "team man-ager" for the S.B.A.C. show is the captain of H.M.S. Heron (R.N.A.S. Yeovilton),Capt. D. B. Law. After the commissioning ceremonyCapt. O. N. Bailey, Director of the Naval Air Warfare Division at Admiralty, saidthat No. 892 Sqn. would embark in Ark Royal early in the New Year. Its strengthwas being increased from eight to 12 air- craft and all Sea Venom squadrons wereto be re-equipped with Sea Vixens. R.N. ships and aircraft now had "the world'sbest radar." Air Marshal H. O. McGregor taking the salute during a march-past at Bentley Priory when he assumed the post of A.O.C-in-C. Fighter Command on July 30 IN BRIEF Air Chief Marshal Sir Thomas Pike, who recently completed his term as A.O.C-in-C. Fighter Command, is making liaison visits to the R.C.A.F. and U.S.A.F. After returning to this country on August 27 he is to tour R.A.F. units overseas before taking up the post of Chief of the Air Staff on January 1. * * * Vice-Admiral D. E. Holland-Martin, Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel since October 1957, is to be Flag Officer Air (Home) from January next year in succession to Admiral Sir Walter T. Couchman. * * * A.V-M. D. J. P. Lee assumed the post of Commander, Air Forces, British Forces Arabian Peninsula, on August 1. He had been secretary of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Ministry of Defence, since April 1956. * * * Several senior R.A.F. officers were honoured on the Queen's birthday, including the follow- ing: Acting Air Marshals W. G. Cheshire, A.O.C. Malta, and K. B. B. Cross, A.O.C-in-C. Bomber Command (both K.C.B.); Air Chief Marshal Sir Claude Pelly, Controller of Air- craft, Ministry of Supply (G.B.E.); and Air Vice-Marshals L. Dalton-Morris, A.O.C-in-C. Signals Command, and F. W. P. Dixon, Central Medical Establishment (both K.B.E.). * * * Among promotions to rear admiral lately announced by the Admiralty were those of Capt. R. M. Smeeton, whose recent commands have included R.N.A.S. Halfar and H.M.S. Albion; and of Capt. C. B. Pratt, a former CO. of H.M.S. Nuthatch (R.N.A.S. Anthorn). The retirement was announced of Rear Admiral A. C. C. Miers, V.C., among whose post-war commands were H.M.S. Vernon II, R.N.A.S. Stretton and H.M.S. Theseus. * * * Among half-yearly promotions announced on July 1 were those from air vice-marshal to air marshal of Acting Air Marshals Sir Denis H. F. Barnett, A.O.C-in-C. Transport Command; Sir Edward Chilton, A.O.C-in-C. Coastal Command; and H. D. Spreckley, Con- troller of Engineering and Equipment, Air Ministry. Six new air vice-marshals (pro- moted from air commodore) were named : Act- ing A.V-M. D. R. Evans, Commandant, School of Land/Air Warfare; Acting A.V-M. C. T. Weir, Deputy C-in-C, Headquarters M.E.A.F.; A Cdre. P. H. Dunn, Deputy Air Secretary, Air Ministry; Acting A.V-M. F. S. Stapleton, Head of the U.K. Joint Services Liaison Staff, Canberra; Acting A.V-M. R. C. Storrar, S.A.S.O., Maintenance Command; and Acting A.V-M. C. A. Rumball, Senior Consultant, Central Medical Establishment * * * No. 230 Sqn., which flies Pioneers and is based at Upavon, received a C-in-C.'s Com- mendation in the Queen's Birthday Honours. This was the first award of its kind to a squadron in Transport Command, and was made in recognition of the rapidity of No. 230's move to Cyprus late last year and for its work out there. The squadron, whose Army support role was described in Flight for December 5 last year (page 852), went to Cyprus at less than a week's notice to take part in anti-EOKA operations. During some four months there it flew more than 800 hr and made 2,084 land- ings on roads and small airstrips, among other tasks lifting over 1,500 passengers. Shortly before going out the squadron had been cleared for air re-supply duties, and its first operational attempt at this was successfully carried out in support of an Army brigade in the Troodos Mountains, when 12,000 lb of rations were delivered in 232 drops (mainly free-falling). * * * A. Cdre. H. J. Maguire is to be Senior Air Staff Officer, Fighter Command, from August 28 with the acting rank of air vice-marshal. He has held a similar appointment at No. H Group since May last year. * * * A. Cdre. C. H. Hartley has been appointed A.O.C. No. 12 Group, Fighter Command, with the acting rank of air vice-marshal. He has been S.A.S.O. of the Group since August last year and was previously Eastern Sector Commander. * * * W/C. James Dell, who has been Fighter Command liaison officer with English Electric, is to command the first R.A.F. squadron of Lightnings. * * * The Type 984 radar installed in H.M.S. Victorious considerably impressed American observers during the carrier's recent participa- tion with U.S.N. units in Exercise Riptide. * * * Maj. H. B. Warburton of the Joint Experi- mental Helicopter Unit, Middle Wallop, recently became the first Army Air Corps officer to complete 4,000 hr flying. ••.-.. * * * G/C. A. G. ("Sailor") Malan visited his old squadron, No. 74, at Coltishall on July 17 and was presented with a silver model of a Hunter and a new squadron de. * * * Two amalgamations of F.E.A.F. units have recently taken place. The helicopter squadrons at Kuala Lumpur, Nos. 155 and 194, have joined forces as No. 110 Sqn. This is com- manded by S/L. F. Barnes, formerly CO. of No. 194 Sqn. At Changi, Singapore, the F.E.A.F. Parachute School and Survival School have been merged to form the Far East Sur- vival and Parachute School. * * * Two record long-distance flights have recently been made by R.A.F. aircraft. A Vulcan of No. 230 O.C.U. flew from Wadding- ton to Akrotiri, Cyprus, in 3 hr 41 min on July 27. Captained by F/L. R. M. Crawford, it had an average speed of 643 m.p.h. for the 2,365-mile flight. On July 9 a Valiant of No. 214 Sqn., captained by W/C. M. J. Beetham, flew from London to Cape Town in 11 hr 28 min. It was refuelled over the Sahara by Valiants of the same squadron and covered the 6,060 miles non-stop at an average speed of 530 m.p.h. * * * For the first time in its history, Southamp- ton U.A.S. this year won the Hack Trophy, awarded annually to the most proficient uni- versity air squadron. At Little Rissington on July 2 the squadron first won the Cooper Trophy (competing against Oxford, Cam- bridge, London and Bristol) then went on to beat Liverpool, Durham and St. Andrews, the other regional winners. This was the first time the competition had been held on this basis, with contests for local trophies deciding the finalists in the main event. The Southamptonsquadron, commanded by S/L. A. A. Pearce, wai represented by A. P/O. R. J. Hale, Cdt.Pit. J. W. Powell and Cdt. Pit. P. A. Sedgwick.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
