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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1320.PDF
422 FLIGHT, 14 September 1961 Research, strike, VTOL transport: Reading down, the H.P.I 15, Black- burn Buccaneer S.I (in its new white paint scheme) and Fairey Rotodyne prototype (in its new Service markings) FARNBOROUGH WEEK . . . fresh and sunny conditions to mark the Society's 100th display onThursday. The Royal Air Force accounted for 32£min of the programme,including the aerobatic displays, parachute jumping, and "a large- scale demonstration of tactical transport operations." This lastbegan with a simulated attack on the airfield by two quartets of Hawker 9s from 54 Sqn, followed by the landing of an assault party from two Belvederes and four Whirlwinds. As the troopsshinned down ropes from the hovering helicopters, the Hunters maintained a combat air patrol and loud bangs came from asound-effects man in the background. Four Beverleys were next to arrive, disgorging troops, guns andvehicles. The assault troops were then supplied with miscellaneous further supplies by the helicopters and by a Pioneer and TwinPioneer. The two aeroplanes then landed for a simulated casualty evacuation, after which the entire cast of aircraft took off andheaded towards Laffan's Plain, while an Army bugler played "No Parade To-day" (stand-down). So much for the circus, now for the flying. Nothing in the showexuded more sheer power than the three-second-interval stream take-off by the nine Lightnings of 74 Sqn, beating down the runwayin a sustained blast of brown dust and stomach-shaking noise. As the rear machines were taking off, the leaders were climbing aninvisible, vertical wall over Laffan's Plain. All were airborne in 35 sec. By contrast, the 16 blue Hunters of 92 Sqn were positively relax-ing. Beautiful aircraft in a perfect formation, they eased into a loop in Diamond 16, white wingtips shining together as they curved overthe top. Wingovers, rolls, and a neat change to the novel Diamond T formation—seven in line abreast, with a Diamond 9 behind. After the Hunters, the Lightnings were on stage, smoking intowards the airfield in arrowhead formation, changing to Diamond 9, and including wingovers and a roll in their programme. A splitinto three echelons preceded the final run-in and break for landing. Earlier, synchronized aerobatics had been effectively executed bytwo pairs of CFS Jet Provosts, and free-fall parachute jumps were made from three Auster 9s (22nd SAS Regt.) and a Beverley(instructors of No 1 Parachute Training School, Abingdon). Between the assault demonstration and the Lightnings' forma-tion drill, there was a varied selection of individual and formation displays by company-presented and Service aircraft. First came theComet 4C, Gyron Junior Javelin, Argosy C.I, Olympus Vulcan and Jet Provost, together with the hard-working helicopter quartetcomprising Belvedere, Scout, Wessex and Whirlwind. On Tuesday and Thursday the Rotodyne also appeared. The spirited intermeshing of the Army's eight Skeeters, barn-dancing, formating backwards and not-quite-head-on charging in two groups of four, was followed by a stylish solo act by the two-seat Hunter flown by Bedford on Tuesday and Wednesday and by Lockspeiser on Thursday. Immediately after take-off, a roll withgear still down began the performance, the later highlights of which were a diving roll to near-ground level, and a white-smokingrun along the length of (and only just above) the main runway. Impressive Pack of Beagles The Beagles were impressive, particularly the appearance anddocility of the B.206 and the low-speed handling of all four types. Folland's Gnat Trainer, Avro's 748 (seemingly jumping into theair on take-off) and the Blackburn Buccaneer followed, the all- white Buccaneer displaying some fast rolls and tight circuits.Handley Page's Victor and Herald preceded the still-remarkable sight of the SC. 1, extremely steady in its two transitions. Four further items remained, each one exceptional in a differentway—the Martin-Baker rocket-assisted ejector seat, the paper-dart shape of the H.P.I 15, a Lightning T.4 demonstration and the RoyalNavy's contribution. Beamont (Tuesday) and Dell (Wednesday and Thursday) once again produced a near-incredible display of tight,high-g turns in the Lightning, this year's speciality being the judi- cious application of re-heat seemingly to jerk the aircraft aroundthe corners with a bang. But, on each of the three days, it was the Navy which stole theshow, with a combination of originality, flying skill, and profes- sional split-second timing. The crisp timing, in particular, wasnowhere near approached throughout the rest of the flying display. Curtain-raisers to the Navy's show were low runs by a Scimitarand Sea Vixen, and by two Sea Vixens engaged in "buddy" refuel- ling. Then the unforgettable entrance of the nine Scimitars of800 Sqn—not fast and swooping, approaching head-on towards us, but suddenly, from over our shoulder, slow and rock-steadyin Diamond 9 and with everything (gear, flaps and hooks) down. With the Sea Vixen buddy-boys disengaged and away back toYeovilton, 800's Scimitars pulled out all the stops—rolls, a loop, formation changes, a break into five and four, solo runs, tight turns,a final bomb-burst and on into a stream landing. A zingy, swinging show based on beautiful flying and few gimmicks. To round off theNavy's contribution, in came the Gannets, Sea Vixens and Scimitars from HMS Hermes, the Gannets presenting their one and onlygimmick by each shutting down one-half of its Double Mamba as the formation passed the President's enclosure. During Thursday's display, Soviet visitors Ilyushin andLeschenko paid a visit to the Press tent and gathered up every available handout, brochure and photograph from the companies'publicity desks. After the display, Mr Antonov was taken for a demonstration flight in his favourite British aircraft, the Avro 748.
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