Jock Moffatt signing the prints of Terry Lee's limited edition print "Stringbags in the Snow". [© Lee Howard]

It has been a while since the last update for various reasons, so herewith a bumper edition! A flurry of activity towards the very end of the season saw the Sea Hawk become fully serviceable, managing to complete shows at Guernsey, Shoreham and Duxford. An appearance at the National Arboretum was thwarted by the weather, although Lt Cdr Matt Whitfield did get within 10 miles of the venue having transitted there high level. Sadly, on letting down to 500 ft, the visibility was too poor to continue safely. The flying that WV908 did has proved that the data gathering mod appears to work and gives good information.

Now with the onset of winter a whole different set of problems and pressures come to bear. Chief Engineer Howard Read has been to the USA talking to Vintage V12 about Centaurus engine problems, with very hopeful results. Mike Nixon of V12, went immedieately to the root of our problem and can overhaul and repair our damaged engine in about 4 months. This is considerably better news than we could imagine, but lots of work yet to do to gain approvals and possibly have pistons and rings manufactured. At the same time as this repair, the MoD's Engineering Authority have required us to fit a data gathering equipment to the Sea Fury. This will have the advantage of detecting any temperature trends in all 18 cylinders on the engine, giving early advice of any future problems of this nature. Meanwhile Sea Fury T.20 VX281 continues its re-assembly at North Weald, but considerably more work is being done than originally envisaged. Most of the problems are slowly being overcome and the aeroplane will be stunning in both appearance and mechanical condition when finished.

As I write this note the final Swordfish LS326 lower wing is being completed and will soon be with Pat and Dave Fenton for covering. This means we are likely to receive the wings by Christmas and re-assemble the aircraft in the spring, hopefully in time for the 2008 season. Chipmunk WK608 has also just completed a 600 hr inspection which saw her looking rather forlorn for a while, although we're pleased to report that she is now back in one piece again.

November 10/11 is the anniversary of the epic Swordfish raid on the Italian Battle fleet in Taranto harbour and Jock Moffatt, of Bismarck fame, and Bruce Vibert, Escort carrier Swordfish pilot, were invited to dine in HMS Ark Royal. Jock was intercepted by us on his way South to sign prints taken from this year's Christmas card painting (already signed by Bruce). Tales of wartime Swordfish flying were given in a presentation by Bruce, aided by Jock, giving the modern Royal Navy a taste of its heritage. Our association with Ark Royal is much cherished and indeed Jock Moffatt was in the wartime Ark, noting that it was such a fine vessel that aircrew were known for the ship rather than their squadron.

Chipmunk WK608, with an alarming number of bits missing (!!), under survey during late October. [© Lee Howard]

Back at Yeovilton, Katie is in full swing selling Christmas cards and merchandise for the festive season, the two new cards this year proving very popular. There have unfortunately been some teething problems with their online sale, which has necessitated some stop-gap measures being put in place. Please do persevere, and if you encounter any problems then do drop us a line via the Contact Us link on this page and I'm sure we will be able to assist.

Fundraising plans for the New Year are already in full swing. Planned so far are a banquet in London on 27 February, a joint Yeovil Hospice 'Swordfish Cocktail Party' at the FAA Museum on 8 May and a Charity flying day in September, date yet to be set.

As this will be the last update before Christmas may I, on behalf of us all here at the Royal Navy Historic Flight, wish all of you a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year. We do look forward to seeing you in the 2008 season.

 

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Lt Cdr Matt Whitfield after his first flight - the wait was evidently well worth it. [© Lee Howard]

Firstly it is with great sadness that all at RNHF would like to pay tribute to our friend and colleague Brian Brown, who tragically lost his life at Shoreham on 15 September. Rest in Peace.

After a long and frustrating wait, Lt Cdr Matt Whitfield at last clambered into the Sea Hawk and took to the skies on Friday 21 September on his first conversion to type. The sortie went very well indeed and covered engine handling, stalling, aerobatics, radar controlled approach and circuits. Already very familiar with the cockpit after hours of 'touch drills' and briefing by Lt Pat Barnes, he reported a faultless trip. Wednesday of this week saw Matt airborne again, this time as part of the flypast of Yeovil whilst white belted and gaitered sailors marched through the town centre with bayonets fixed and banners flying, as the Air Station exercised its right to do so having been given the freedom of the borough in 1962. Matt went on to practice display flying at altitude and carry out a few more circuits and practice forced landings to fill his second hour of conversion.

On Thursday 26 September we played host to Ralph Patel of AHA Events, organisers of the annual RNAS Yeovilton Air Day, who handed over a cheque for £2,000 - thank you Ralph!

Also bringing forth much appreciated funds have been the Bristol & District,Fordand Kent FAA Associations who have all sent in very large sums of money in the past few weeks. A whip-round at the Thames FAAOA 10th Annual lunch, held recently, brought forth a cheque for an incredible £500 - to all those who have raised and continue to raise funds on our behalf, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks. It really does all help.

John Beattie and Katie Campbell accept the cheque from Ralph Patel of AHA Events Ltd. [© Lee Howard]

Meanwhile Christmas card season is in full swing again and we are very pleased with our two new cards, both taken from original paintings by trusty regulars Terry Lee and Clive Abbott. Please do visit the online Shop to place your orders. The 'Swordfish in the Snow' painting has also been produced in a limited edition print of 200 and signed copies can also now be ordered online. Get your bids in early!

 

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Thumbs up at the end of the first check test flight, 11 September 2007. [© Lee Howard]

Great news at season's end..... the Sea Hawk fought the pull of gravity on Tuesday 11 September at long last and got through it's check test flight faultlessly. Pilot, Lt Pat Barnes, climbed out with a huge grin on his face which told us all we needed to know. He went on that day to carry out display practices and a formation sortie with the Kennet Aviation Seafire before qualifying to display to the public in front of Commodore Chris Palmer, the Commanding Officer of RNAS Yeovilton. Followers will know that the aircraft was grounded in July 2006 because of worries over the stability of the starter cartridges. These were inspected, tested and declared OK in July of this year, but during last winter data gathering equipment was fitted to the airframe by a private contractor. Unfortunately the process was more protracted than hoped and consequently dragged on throughout the summer. The last piece in the puzzle was slipped into place in time for the aircraft to make it's 2007 debut at the Guernsey Battle of Britain airshow on Thurs 13 September. It will also attend Shoreham Air Show 15 and 16 September and is provisionally booked into Duxford's end of season show on 14 Oct. Lt Cdr Matt Whitfield will hopefully convert to the type shortly, in readiness for the 2008 season.

On a more sombre note, we have been in discussion with various agencies over the damage found to Sea Fury VR930's Centaurus engine. No decision has yet been made but a quick fix is not possible, and it will need a complete strip and re-build. On a brighter note Sea Fury T.20 VX281 is now on its undercarriage at North Weald and a good portion of the airframe has been paint stripped and finished in primer. It will receive a complete repaint before going into service.

Kennet Aviation's Seafire helping to celebrate WV908's return to the air. [© Lee Howard]

Meanwhile office work has revolved around getting ready for the Christmas card season and as usual we have produced two new cards from original art work by Clive Abbott and Terry Lee. As a spin-off we have commissioned both cards and a limited edition of 200 prints of Terry Lee's excellent painting of our 3 Swordfish in a snowy setting at Yeovilton. All of these items will shortly be going on the Shop page, so keep a look out!

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Another happy customer - Lt Cdr Dave MacKay signs a Sea Fury print for an eager young airshow-goer at Culdrose. [© Lee Howard]

The season for the Sea Fury was going very well indeed. However, a slight increase in the amount of smoke being dispensed by the left hand exhaust bank towards the end of July meant we felt it necessary to investigate. Looking down the bore of No 8 cylinder showed an unusually slack piston and evidence of piston ring damage. Once the cylinder, sleeve and piston were off the engine it was readily apparent that there was a very similar damage trail to that witnessed in 1997 and 2001 when on both occasions that same cylinder sleeve valve seized in its bore and the evidence found seems to suggest that another seizure could well have been on the cards. Naturally further stripping is being carried out to see if any other cylinders are similarly distressed. The primary aim now is to have a consultant engineer conduct a thorough detective job to nail the root cause and then source suitable replacement parts. For this reason all displays booked for the month of August have unfortunately had to be cancelled while we carry out this vital work without the pressure of having specific show commitments to meet.

In a very generous move Kennet Aviation has kindly allowed Seafire F.17 SX336/G-KASX to step into the breach and honour some of the Sea Fury's previously booked appearances. Our thanks must therefore go to Tim Manna.

The Sea Hawk, meanwhile, is essentially ready to fly but still being held back by the work to bring the data gathering modification into service. In order to satisfy airworthiness criteria every mod has to be rigorously researched and each part meet stringent avaition use standards. A few items within this installation have necessitated additional lengthy discussion, unfortunately exacerbated by summer holiday time when vital players are absent enjoying their annual break! We do now have clearance to use the starter cartridges again and a plume of black smoke has been seen several times outside the hangar whilst firing up the Nene engine for ground tests. All appears to be well with the aeroplane and we eagerly await the first test flight.

A beaming Lt Cdr Glenn Allison on completion of his first public display in the Chipmunk at Culdrose on 1 August. [© Lee Howard]

On a more positve note, carrying out their first Historic Flight displays recently were Lt Cdr Glenn Allison and Lt David-John Gibbs, both in the Chipmunk. We haven't displayed the 'Chippy' in recent years, but with the Swordfish out of action it seemed reasonable to show it and give the Pilots a little display experience. Both acquitted themselves very well indeed.

Also on their first show were Al Cole and Derek Bond in the Flight sales trailer at Culdrose. It proved to be an excellent day out in beautiful sunshine and the pair didn't stop all day, raising a goodly sum for our charity. Well done, and many thanks Al and Derek!

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Easy does it! The Rolls-Royce Nene is carefully lowered into WV908 on 12 June. [© Lee Howard]

The latest information from BAE Systems at Brough indicates they are making excellent progress with the lower set of wings for Swordfish II LS326, but won't be able to finish them until the end of August. Unfortunate for the 2007 season, but you cannot rush the quality of work that is being applied. Sadly it isn't like assembling meccano, each part has to be inspected with many items having to be remanufactured, heat treated, coated and finally assembled and re-inspected. The smallest snag takes a seemingly inordinate amount of time to rectify, passing through several stages of discussion and advice. Meanwhile, back at Yeovilton we are X-raying the completed upper wings to provide a 'benchmark' to use as a comparitor against X-rays we will take in two to three years time.

The Sea Hawk now has its Nene engine installed and is very close to being ground run. The men from Pi Research and ARCO have visited a couple of times to tie up loose ends in the data gathering equipment they fitted in the spring. The ejection seat is just about ready to fit, having been away at BAES Warton for annual servicing, but held up by the need to manufacture a new anti 'g' strap and drogue withdrawal line.

Sea Fury VR930 has again been the public face of RNHF as the sole flyer so far this year, displaying to a fairly full programme. Lead Sea Fury pilot Cdr Adrian Orchard commutes to Yeovilton from his home base at RAF Cottesmore, usually accompanied by wife Carol, baby son Nathaniel and dog Taz. We have taken the opportunity to fly co-ordinated arrivals with the Kennet Aviation Skyraider at a few airshows recently before continuing with the individual solo displays, making a particularly good noise!

Sea Fury T.20 VX281 is coming along slowly at North Weald. The propeller is away being fully refurbished, which appears to be the longest lead item at present. New wing bolts have been manufactured ready to fit centre section to fuselage. Outer wings, tailplane, rudder and engine cowlings are being paint stripped to bare metal and primed ready to accept a new coat of paint when the aircraft is assembled. The aircraft has now been registered G-RNHF and a huge pile of paperwork is currently in the process of being presented to the CAA to issue a Permit to Fly together with an application for the aircraft to appear in non-national markings.

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Lt Cdr Dave Mackay taxies VR930 along the crowdline at IWM Duxford's Spring Airshow on 20 May. [© Lee Howard]

The RNHF 2007 Season has now officially started with Lt Cdr Dave Mackay in the Sea Fury attending the TAGs memorial service at Lee-on-Solent and then going on to Duxford's Spring Show, both on 20 May. Lt David-John Gibbs flew his first display in the Chipmunk at RNAS Culdrose 'Freshers Fair' on 22 May.

Meanwhile the Sea Hawk rebuild makes steady progress in the hangar. The data gathering equipment modification is just about complete and should be easily commissioned once we start flying. We have a very positive indication that we can once again use the starter cartridges....big sigh of relief there! The wings are on and most of the outstanding work now complete, except re-fitting the engine which is the last operation before the test flight. Ejection seat servicing has been held up slightly by the need to manufacture a new anti 'g' strap, but we hope that will be resolved very soon.

Excellent news from BAeS Brough is that two more men are now working on the LS326 wing re-build project, bringing the workforce up to four. The port wing is structurally complete and will be going to Pat and Dave Fenton at Hornet Aviation shortly to be fabric covered. The starboard wing is now being re-assembled.

The Sea Fury T.20 has started the process of coming back to life. US registration has been cancelled which will enable UK registration as G-RNHF to be applied. The propeller is currently with Skycraft for re-build and the essential new wing bolts in manufacture. Many panel parts, including the outer wings are in the PMS bay being paint stripped to bare metal. They will be given a coat of etch primer and then yellow chromate prior to the airframe being re-built.

Also now in commission, the merchandise trailer was christened by Ellen and Gordon Balmer at Duxford and we have a good season planned for it with a new team of volunteers (and a couple of well known faces).

Pilot training took a slight change with the two Sea Hawk pilots finishing their work ups by doing a little training with Brian Grant in Hunter G-VETA, filling in for the Kennet Aviation Jet Provost more normally used but the type is currently serving a temporary CAA aerobatics ban.

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At a very wet, murky RNAS Yeovilton on 11 May, Lt David-John Gibbs puts WK608 through her paces. [© Lee Howard]

Despite the heavy rain downpours, Lt Cdr Dave Mackay and Lt Chris Gotke both successfully completed their annual display authorisation flights in front of Commodore Jerry Stanford at RNAS Yeovilton today. With Cdr Adrian Orchard having already flown his routine on 19th April this now sees all of our Sea Fury pilots qualified for this year. VR930's first public display is scheduled to be at Duxford on 20th May, having first performed a flypast at the Telegraphist Air Gunner (TAG) Memorial service at Lee-on-Solent.

Following hot on the heels of the Sea Fury was a new feature for the 2007 season - a Chipmunk display by Lt David-John Gibbs. Very much the "unsung hero" of the Flight, WK608 will this year be seen at a few appearances as far afield as Culdrose and Manston.

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Cdr Adrian Orchard gets VR930 airborne in her "new" scheme for the annual Check Test Flight, 4 April 2007. [© Lee Howard]

Slightly later than planned, VR930 today completed her first annual Check Test Flight after winter maintenance and passed with flying colours.....or perhaps that should that be "new flying colours"? With his wife, Carol, having given birth to a healthy baby boy only last week, Cdr Adrian Orchard managed to sneak away from the dirty nappies to fly in the family Tobago from RAF Cottesmore to Yeovilton.

Just minutes after VR930 got airborne, Sea Hawk WV908 also arrived "home" by road (courtesy of the Mobile Aircraft Support Unit) from the Aircraft Restoration Company at Duxford where she has been since late last year. Work will begin straight after Easter to refit the engine, fin, wings and tailplane ready for the start of the airshow season - her first planned booking currently being, ironically, the May Airshow at IWM Duxford on 20 May!

Meanwhile the 2007 display season is continuing to take shape - please take a few minutes to visit the Display page to find out where you can see VR930 and the rest of the RNHF aircraft throughout this year.

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VR930 basking in the spring sunshine on 12 March in her "new" scheme as worn when she first entered service with 802 NAS in 1948. [© Lee Howard]

Emerging from the Serco Paint Shop at RNAS Yeovilton on 6 March was RNHF Sea Fury FB.11 VR930. Having previously worn a 802 Naval Air Squadron scheme since being rebuilt at BAe Brough in 1997, she has been refinished over a six week period in the original markings she wore when issued to 802 Sqn at RNAS Eglinton, Northern Ireland, in 1948 as '110/Q'. In this, RNHF's 35th anniversary year, it was felt appropriate to take the opportunity to make a break from the Korean marks which VR930 had worn for the past ten years, and TF956 for the 17 years prior to her loss in June 1989. All of the authentic factory-applied and service markings were meticulously researched, re-drawn and their positioning supervised by our very own webmaster and Fleet Air Arm specialist Lee Howard with accurate roundel colours generously provided by Akzo Nobel Aerospace Coatings (ANAC) to specifications provided by Steve Atkin of Warbird Colour Services. All Sea Fury F.10 and early FB.11s originally left the Hawker factory at Langley finished in this "Pattern 1" scheme which conveniently utilised gloss paint, thus allowing VR930 to legitimately carry this surface finish which is much easier to maintain. More photographs will appear here shortly!

Meanwhile the other big news is that RNHF is shortly to take delivery of yet another Sea Fury, this time in the form of ex-RN T.20 VX281. The loss of T.20 WG655 in July 1990 became even more keenly felt when VR930's restoration to flying condition was completed in 1997 as there was no fully representative dual control aircraft available on which to carry out 'big piston' pilot training. VX281 was originally issued to 736 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Culdrose and has subsequently been owned by the German DLB, Doug Arnold, Spencer Flack, Wally Fisk and Ed Zayger. It has been generously funded by an anonymous sponsor and should, by the time these words are read, have been shipped from California and arrived at North Weald where it will be re-assembled and registered - rather appropriately - as G-RNHF prior to being flown to Yeovilton to begin life on the Airshow circuit and as the Flight trainer. The registration is slightly more flattering than her last UK registration of G-BCOW!

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Vice Admiral Adrian Johns CBE ADC, Rear Admiral Fleet Air Arm, presents Lt Chris Gotke with his Green Endorsement certificate. [© HMS Heron]

On Wednesday 14th February the head of the Fleet Air Arm, Vice Admiral Adrian Johns, visited RNAS Yeovilton to present a much-coveted Green Endorsement award to Lt Chris Gotke in recognition of his successful forced landing in the Sea Hawk at the start of last season. The award citation reads as follows:

"On Friday 12 May 2006, Lieutenant GÖTKE was conducting the annual test flight on the Historic Flight Sea Hawk, WV908. Although the most experienced Sea Hawk Pilot flying with RNHF at the time, he had only 17½ hrs on type at the commencement of the sortie. While conducting a level run at 25,000 ft, the hydraulic low-pressure caption illuminated, followed soon after by a manual flying control reversion. Lieutenant GÖTKE calmly put out a pan call and commenced a descent while not only positioning the aircraft in the Yeovilton overhead but also reading the Flight Reference Cards and carrying out the required emergency actions. At the appropriate speed and height, GÖTKE blew down the gear and flaps using the emergency system in preparation for landing.

Following a total hydraulic failure such as this, the Sea Hawk hydraulic braking system only has a single application available from the accumulator and there is no anti-skid; handling after touchdown was, therefore, recognised by Lieutenant GÖTKE as being crucial in recovering the aircraft safely. Despite heavy control loads and a difficult crosswind, he made a perfect, flat approach, crossing the threshold at the minimum threshold speed and achieving a gentle landing. Subsequently, GÖTKE used one carefully applied pressure on the brakes to bring the aircraft safely to a halt without running out of braking pressure or bursting the tyres. On inspection of the aircraft, the starboard flap operating jack was found to have a 6 inch crack along the length of the jack body, leading to the loss of the contents of the hydraulic system.

Throughout this unusual and challenging incident Lieutenant GÖTKE acted in the finest traditions of the Fleet Air Arm. His calm and professional handling of this emergency, followed by a flawless approach and text book landing ensured the safety of this historically important aircraft; all this being achieved with minimum experience on the Sea Hawk. He is to be highly commended for his actions in response to this unforeseen system failure, throughout which he demonstrated the highest levels of judgement.
It gives me great pleasure to award Lieutenant GÖTKE a Green Endorsement for his Flying Log Book.

A J JOHNS CBE ADC
Rear Admiral Fleet Air Arm"

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(Top) Don Robertson gives five of our pilots their annual Qualified Flight Servicing refresher brief. (Below) VR930 being paint stripped on 31 January 2007. [both © Lee Howard]

As you can imagine at this time of year our main thrust is in the hangar taking aeroplanes apart and then putting them back together again. The old adage has it that we do this to find out why on earth they kept on working all summer! Under the military system, of course, the philosophy is to change/inspect/monitor components and structures well before they break.

The Sea Hawk is well into having its electronic data gathering equipment fitted at ARCO and we expect it back for re-build sometime soon. Various items will require re-fitting including the ejection seat after servicing at BAES Warton, the engine and the wings, followed by system checks before its test flight. The Sea Fury has completed its annual servicing and gone over to the dope shop to be re-finished in a glossier and easier to maintain finish. The team at BAES Brough meanwhile continue to work wonders with LS326's wings. Not quite re-inventing the wheel, but certainly using their ingenuity and particularly well-honed engineering skills to overcome the problems of producing brand new spars. They are confident that a latest forecast delivery date of early April is achievable, which gets the wings into the dope shop for painting, airframe assembled and test flight probably by mid May.

Always nervous about putting dates down on paper as there are a huge number of things that can go wrong or take longer than forecast, but needless to say we eagerly await the sound of an airborne Bristol Pegasus again.

Also this time of year we are spending much effort in getting pilots ready for the season, including our new Sea Hawk pilot for this year. Matt has recently re-qualified on the BAE Hawk and started the lead in to the Sea Hawk by flying the training syllabus in the Jet Provost. Unfortunately Mike Abbey recently broke his ankle and has been off flying since Christmas time. He is due to get better about mid March so will be well up to speed by May to carry out the Swordfish test flight. Even though he's grounded it doesn't seem to have stopped him rough shooting with his dogs!

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