The British Royal Navy Historic Flight(RNHF) was formed in 1972 with the aim of preserving a part of the Navy’s aviation heritage and to be a living memorial to all Fleet Air Arm personnel. Based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset the Flight has been until recently a close neighbour of the Sea Harrier Squadrons and still shares the base with Lynx and Seaking helicopters, Jetstreams and Hawks of the Royal Navy. Checksix met with Howard Read the Chief Engineer to talk about the Flight and its aircraft. The Aircraft that make up the Flight are three Fairey Swordfish, one Mk.I W5856 and one Mk.II LS326 and one MkIII NF389. The Flight also has the only flying Hawker/Armstrong-Whitworth Sea Hawk FGA.6. Another gem is the Hawker Sea Fury FB.11. The final members of the flight are a pair of Chipmunks, all kept in excellent condition by a dedicated team of 7 engineering staff led by the General Manager, John Beattie. The Naval face of the flight is presented by Lt Cdr Phil Thornton RN, the Flight Commander and six volunteer Pilots, all serving in other appointments within the RN.

At a time when biplanes were beginning to lose their appeal, the greatest of them was being developed by the Fairey Aircraft Company. In 1933 Fairey were developing a new Torpedo Spotter reconnaissance to replace the Greek Navy’s Fairey IIIF’s as a private venture. The T.S.R.I as it was known was destroyed in an accident in September 1933. The redesign was significantly different and adopted the name T.S.R2, the prototype of which first flew in 1934. When the British Air Ministry issued its specification S.15/33 for a carrier based torpedo and reconnaissance aircraft Fairey responded and the first order was issued in 1935 for 86 aircraft to be named Swordfish. With folding wings and an armament of one forward firing Vickers 7.7mm machine gun and one Vickers K gun in the aft cockpit. Capable of carrying one torpedo, mine or two 227kg bombs under the fuselage and alternate bombs on underwing racks.

The Swordfish entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in July 1936 replacing Fairey Seals and Blackburn Baffins and eventually in 1938 Blackburn Sharks making the Swordfish the only Torpedo Bomber operated by the Fleet Air Arm. When the order books at Fairey were full production was passed on to Blackburn Aircraft at Brough in Yorkshire. Blackburn produced 1,699 Swordfish, commonly referred to as Blackfish. With its open cockpits and bi-plane wings the Swordfish looked like it was fighting in the wrong war, but it’s impressive low speed handling made it very suitable for carrier warfare, in particular latterly when operated from the tiny MAC ships and Escort carriers. In total 2391 Swordfish of different marks were built. It was nicknamed the “Stringbag” because of the large variety of weapons and equipment it could carry both internally and externally. A Swordfish catapulted from HMS Warspite in April 1940 engaged and sank the submarine U-64, the first sinking to be credited to the Fleet Air Arm. By the end of the war Swordfish had sunk 21 U-Boats and many surface vessels. The Stringbags have many great exploits to their credit including the Bismarck attack and the Channel Dash when the battle -cruisers Sharnhorst, Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen made good their escape through the English Channel. As a desperate measure by the British, six Swordfish of 825 Squadron were deployed against the cruisers, with the protection of only one squadron of Spitfires. All of the Swordfish were lost without any losses to the enemy and only 5 members of the flight survived. Although the attack was a disaster for the British the bravery of the Fleet Air Arm was recognised by the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross to the 825 Squadron Commanding Officer, Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde. This was the first VC awarded to the Fleet Air Arm.

Perhaps the most famous moment for the Swordfish was the raid on the Italian Fleet anchored in the harbour at Taranto, operation Judgment. On the night of 11th November 1940 two waves of Stringbags totalling 21 aircraft took off from HMS Illustrious to attack the fleet in harbour. Only 2 aircraft were lost. Using torpedoes, incendiaries and bombs the Stingbags altered the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean. Three battle ships were very badly damaged, a cruiser plus two destroyers were damaged and two auxiliary ships were sunk. The Seaplane base was damaged and fuel installations destroyed. Although most of the vessels were returned to service eventually this was a great success for the Fleet Air Arm and is recognised as the first such use of naval air power. The attack was also copied by the Japanese when they attacked Pearl Harbour. The greatest contribution to the war effort by the Swordfish was in the Atlantic defending the merchant convoys from the Wolf Packs of Admiral Doenitz. This role led to the development of the Mk II Swordfish that could carry rockets. The original Pegasus IIIM engine was retained but later production models had the Pegasus XXX. These changes brought a new lease of life as an Anti Submarine Warfare specialist aircraft working in the worst conditions imaginable. On one Russian convoy escort deployment in 1944 Swordfish Mk III’s of 825 Squadron sank four U-Boats flying from HMS Vindex.The Mk III carried the Air to Surface Vessel Mk X radar between its landing gear but was otherwise similar to the Mk II. Although remembered for its sterling work with the British Fleet Air Arm the Swordfish was also operated by the RAF {Coastal Command} and the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Canadian aircraft being the only ones with enclosed cockpits. Production ceased in 1944.The last Squadron 836 was disbanded in 1945 but a few Swordfish were still in general use for years after 1945. One of the remarkable facts relating to the Swordfish is that it out lived its own replacement in active service and was the last bi plane in active service.

The three Swordfish of the RNHF include the Fairey Swordfish Mk I W5856 {the Stringbag} which was built in 1941 by Blackburn Aircraft in Yorkshire making it a “Blackfish” and one of the last Mk Is to be built. It flew on Trafalgar Day in 1941 and went on to serve with the Mediterranean Fleet. After returning to Fairey’s Stockport factory it was refurbished and used for advanced flying training. It was transferred to Canada for use in the same role and placed in storage at the end of the war. After disposal she was owned by private operators and was eventually purchased by Sir William Roberts for the Strathallan collection. British Aerospace acquired the aircraft and presented it to the Royal Navy via the Swordfish Heritage Trust. The airframe was moved to BAe Brough for complete restoration, this was finished in 1993. W5856 is painted in the pre-war colours of 810 Squadron embarked in HMS Ark Royal. The horizontal stripes on the fin denote the Commanding Officer's aircraft, and the blue and red fuselage stripes are the colours for Ark Royal with the letter code 'A' being for the ship, '2' for the second squadron and 'A' for the first aircraft of that squadron. The long yellow fuselage strip identified 810 as Yellow Squadron in the summer air exercises held in 1939. In September 1996 W5856 was adopted by the City of Leeds and now proudly wears the City's coat of arms and name on her port side just forward of the pilot's cockpit.

W5856 is not flying at the moment as corrosion has been found in the wing spars and major work will be required before this aircraft returns to flight. But in the short term it’s a great static display. The engine in this plane is fully refurbished and will be transferred to the MkII LS326. Fairy Swordfish Mk II LS326, is also a “Blackfish” being built in 1943 and joined the Fleet Air Arm via 836 Squadron, the biggest Squadron in the Fleet. Serving on HMS Rapana, a tanker conversion on the North Atlantic convoy route. After completing active service this aircraft was used for training and communications duties. It was recovered by the Fairey Aviation Company Ltd and eventually re-registered as G-AJVH and painted in Fairey blue and silver. It was transferred to their airfield at Hamble in 1947. The next year she was placed into storage at White Waltham and allowed to become dilapidated until an intervention by Sir Richard Fairey himself who ordered a complete re-build. This work was finished in 1955 and from then the aircraft was kept in flying condition. In 1959 LS326 was re-painted for its starring role in the movie “Sink the Bismarck” telling the epic story of the hunt and battle to destroy the vessel that was a major threat to Allied shipping. It was a torpedo attack from a Swordfish of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal that struck the crippling blow to the rudder of the Bismarck leaving her sailing in circles while the British attack force assembled. In 1960 the aircraft was presented to the Royal Navy by the Westland Aircraft Company.

D-Day stripes were added for a fly by of the Normandy beaches in 1984 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the invasion. Since 1987 LS326 has worn her old colours of the North Atlantic Convoys and L flight of 836 Squadron. At the moment the wings of LS326 are undergoing extensive work back at Brough in Yorkshire with BAe Systems. The work is quite slow but the wings when returned will be completely new. Specialists are used for the canvas and stitching work. When the canvas sections were removed for the wing inspection they found a photograph stuck to the underside of the canvas in the wing interior. On the photograph was the name and address of the lady who built the wing and fitted the original linen skin. The lady, who is now over 80 years old, was tracked down and eventually reunited with the wings she made. After all this refurbishment the aircraft should be ready to return to displaying this year. The third Swordfish of the RNHF, the Fairey Swordfish Mk III NF389, another “Blackfish” was completed in April 1944 and transferred to the RAF the same year, returning to the Royal Navy in September 1946. In 1947 she is noted as being with the Communications Flight at RNAS Arbroath. After Arbroath she was transferred to the Aircraft Torpedo Development unit at Gosport. She ended her service career at the Torpedo Trials Flight at St Merryn in March 1953 when she was passed to RNAS Lee on Solent 781 Squadron for display purposes. In 1953 she was re-painted to appear with LS326 in “Sink the Bismarck”. Continuing as a display aircraft into the early 1960s her flying career was cut short when she was used as a source of spares for LS326 and moved to Brough where W5856 was being restored. After W5856 was finished she was re- painted and moved to the RNHF at Yeovilton as a static display. In 2000 NF389 was marked for full restoration to flying condition and was retuned to BAe Systems at Brough.

The Sea Fury was the last piston powered fighter to see front line service with the Fleet Air Arm, not in World War II but in the Korean War. Developed to meet the Specification F.6/42 the Sea Fury was a lighter and faster derivative of the Hawker Tempest II that was itself a development of the Hawker Typhoon. The specification that Sydney Cam was designing to is thought to be partly based on the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-3 that was captured by the allies when its pilot misidentified his home airfield and landed in Wales. Ironically after the war Fokker acquired a production licence to manufacture Sea Fury’s for the Royal Netherlands Navy. Hawker developed the land based aircraft but the Navalised development of the type went to the Boulton Paul Aircraft company in Wolverhampton. By December 1943 six prototypes were ordered with a mix of engines one with the Bristol Centaurus XII, two with the Centaurus XXII and two with Rolls-Royce Griffon 85 the last airframe was for testing only.

Orders were placed by the RAF for 200 aircraft and about the same for the Fleet Air Arm, with the end of the war and the development of the jet engine the RAF cancelled its order to pursue the new technology aircraft being developed. The Royal Navy order was eventually reduced by cancelling the Boulton Paul order, the Sea Fury F10 was introduced in 1947 and FB11’s went into service with 802 Squadron in May 1948. 615 FB11’s were built 66 of these for the Australian and Canadian Navies, 60 TMk20 two seat weapons trainers were also built. The Sea Fury was the Fleet Air Arm’s fighter during the Korean war and is credited with the downing of a Mig 15 in August 1952 and damaging 2 others even though the Mig 15’s had far superior speed in their favour. Lt Hoagy Carmichael flying an FB11 from HMS Ocean was decorated for this, the rest of his flight also claimed their share of the kill. This was the first kill of a jet by a piston powered fighter and was the only kill by a British pilot in a British aircraft during the conflict.

With the dawn of the jet the Piston engined Sea Fury was not going to have an extended service life and with the development of the Hawker Sea Hawk the Fury began to be retired from front line service with the Fleet Air Arm from 1954. The Sea Fury is still reputed to be the fastest piston engine aircraft ever made. The RNHF’s Sea Fury is FB11 VR930. Delivered in 1948 to RNAS Culham and then moving on to front line service with 802 Squadron aboard HMS Vengence and on shore at RNAS Eglinton in Ireland. From 1948 to 1953 the aircraft was placed in reserve and moved to various locations and holding units. She returned to front line service with 801 Squadron in 1953 before going to RNAY Fleetlands for reconditioning. The reconditioning effectively re set the air frame to zero hours, once again VR930 went into reserve, in 1959 she flew 828 hours as part of the Fleet Requirements Unit at Hurn in Dorset. Put up for disposal in January 1961 she had a total of 1280 flying hours on the airframe. She became a source of canabalised spares for the RNHF’s original Sea Fury TF956. When this was lost in 1989 it was decided to rebuild VR930 to flying standard. British Aerospace at Brough in Yorkshire undertook the work returning VR930 in to pristine condition in 1997. Now flying in the original 802 Squadron colours and code 110, even though she did not see service in Korea, the colours are to pay tribute to the Fleet Air Arm personnel who did . The letter “o” designates it as an 802 Squadron aircraft operating from HMS Ocean. The engine, a Bristol Centaurus 18 will need to be replaced within the next five years and Howard Read is already investigating the options available to the Flight to achieve this. The Flight has engines available but all need to be refurbished. A company in the USA can undertake the work but this is not cheap and needs funding.

The Sea Hawk was born from Sydney Camm’s experiment to jet power a Sea Fury, as the plans developed the cockpit was moved forward and the elliptical wings replaced. The single jet pipe was replaced by a split version and fuel tanks mounted in front and behind the engine. When all the changes were complete the what was left was not a Sea Fury, it was designated P1040. Camm ordered the prototype production in October 1945 after the end of the war. With the end of the war fighter aircraft production would slow down and the RAF already had jet aircraft in service so Camm navalised his design for carrier based operations. The design was submitted to the Royal Navy in early 194. The Royal Navy ordered four prototypes, three for flying and one for testing. Camm had not given up on the RAF even though they had no interest in his P1040, his determination eventually led to the Hawker Hunter that the RAF did show interest in. The first prototype P1040 flew in September 1947 powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene engine. By the time the third prototype flew in October 1949 the design was at the production level with folding wings arrester hook and rocket assisted take off gear.

After successful carrier trials the Royal Navy ordered 151 aircraft to be called Sea Hawk, this came as a relief to Camm who is reported as saying “thank God for the Navy”. The first Sea Hawks in service went to 806 Squadron in 1953 and carried the Ace of Diamonds emblem on the fuselage. In 1951 a super priority order was issued by the British Government requiring increased production of certain aircraft, the Sea Hawk was one of them and production was passed to Armstrong-Whitworth Aircraft {a member of the Hawker Siddeley group}. The F.2 version was an improvement of the Mk I and corrected a serious aileron oscillation problem. The Mk III FB3 fighter bomber was probably the most successful of the Sea Hawks and 116 were built. In 1954 a Fighter ground attack version was introduced {Mk4} FGA4 and 97 of this version were built. When the Nene103 became available some FB.3s were re-engined and referred to as FB.5s. The Sea Hawk saw combat during the Suez crisis in November 1956 in support of British and French ground forces, two Sea Hawks were lost to ground fire, but the type had proved its worth and is remembered as a good and friendly aircraft by its pilots.

Again the fast pace of aircraft development led to a relatively short front line service life and the type began to make way for the Supermarine Scimitar in 1958. By 1960 no Sea Hawks were in front line service, but the aircraft was a successful export and saw service with the West German, Dutch and Indian Navies. The Indian Navy’s Sea Hawks were in use until 1983. Sea Hawk FGA.6 WV908 of the RNHF was built at Bagington Coventry in 1954. Delivered in 1955 she served with 807 and then 898 Squadron on HMS Ark Royal and HMS Bulwark. After conversion to FGA.6 standard she flew with 806 Squadron until 1960 when she and many others were relegated to second line duties with 738 Squadron at Lossiemouth. Over the following years she was in storage and loaned to the RAF apprentices school at RAF Halton, then in 1971 she was used for systems training. Acquired by RNAS Culdrose {HMS Sea Hawk} she was restored to flying condition in 1977-78 and transferred to RNAS Yeovilton to join the RNHF in September 1982. She flew briefly in 1989 before going to British Aerospace at Dunsfold for complete refurbishment; these works were done by 1996.

Unfortunately in 1997 after flying for only 30 hours a crack developed in the transition section of the exhaust unit causing damage to a mainframe. She returned to BAE Systems at Dunsfold for the repairs and returned to flight in 2004. Flying now in the colours of 806 Squadron as she did at the end of her front line service life. The RNHF are very proud of the fact that WV908 is the only flying example of the type in the world. She currently has the RNHF’s only serviceable Rolls-Royce Nene103 engine so the search is on for a replacement within the next five or six years . Howard Read, the Chief Engineer is investigating possible sources of replacements as far afield as Canada and India. Last year the Indian Navy donated a starter to the RNHF when a problem developed with the existing one and although the full unit was not useable many critical parts were.

The RNHF also have two De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunks T.10 WK608 and WB657 the first aircraft to be designed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada Ltd. Designed to replace the Tiger Moth as a basic trainer and flying for the first time in May 1946. The Chipmunk was a great success for the company and its designer Wsiewolod Jakimiuk who later in his career worked on Concorde. 1283 “chippies” were built 217 in Canada 66 in Portugal and 1000 in the UK. The RAF was using Chipmunks as late as 1996. The type remains very useful with historic flying organisations as acrobatic trainers and for providing pilots used to modern jets the experience of “tail draggers”. The type entered service with the Royal Navy in 1965 replacing its ageing Tiger Moth’s. The Royal Navy retired the type from service in 1993 after 27 years of very successful use. Chipmunk T.10 WK608 was built by de Havilland at Broughton and served with the RAF before transferring to the Royal Navy’s Britannia Flight at Rosborough {now Plymouth City Airport} in June 1966. She served there until the type was retired in 1993, she then joined the RNHF in July of that year. She is not part of the display flight and is not rested during the winter months, being used for training display pilots, to gain experience on tailwheel aircraft. On the day Checksix visited WK608 was not flying due to a magneto problem that occurred the day before. The second Chipmunk belonging to the Flight WB657 is no longer airworthy as the wings have reached their fatigue life, she is complete but used to provide parts for WK608.

The RNHF Team

The team is led by John Beattie, the General Manager. John joined the Royal Navy in 1959 as a junior mechanical engineer transferring to flying duties in 1968. During his career he has gained experience on many types starting with the Chipmunk T.10, Hiller 12E, Whirlwind HAS.7, Wessex HU.5, Wasp HAS.1, Gazelle HT.2, Lynx HAS.2 and the Seaking HC.4., His first display was in 1973, he led the “Sharks” helicopter display team in 1982. John flew the Swordfish display in 1986 moving onto a Fairey Firefly and Sea Furies he served at RNAS Culdrose on the Jetstream T.2 with 750 Naval Air Squadron. Moving to Yeovilton to take command of Heron flt Jetstreams and the RNHF, he remained in this position until leaving the Royal Navy in 1994. After flying airliners for 10 years John returned to the now civilian RNHF in 2004 taking over from Brian Wood as the General Manager. Although John acts as mentor to the pilots and helps with the training he does not fly the RNHF’s war birds. The aircraft are owned by the Royal Navy and only serving personnel are permitted to fly them. John does display other war birds with Kennet Aviation including Venom, Jet Provost, AD4 Skyraider and Seafire 17.

Mike Saunders is the Business Manager for the RNHF, he joined the Royal Navy in 1957 as a Navel Air Mechanic {ordnance}. His service has seen him aboard aircraft carriers and at Naval stations around the world. He concluded his career working on the Sea Skua Missile in 1996 and took up his current position. Fundraising is run by Alison Dufosee who also runs the RNHF Support Group and Young Flyers Club. Lt Cdr Phil Thornton is the RNHF Flight Commander, responsible for all flying at RNAS Yeovilton and voluntarily took command of the RNHF in July 2005. His career has carried him from the Falklands to Boscombe Down. The RNHF has 7 pilots, on the day Checksix visited we met Lt Cdr Dave Mackay RNR who flys the Sea Fury and was putting it through its paces on the day and Lt Pat Barnes RN who was taxi trialling the Sea Hawk. Dave joined the Royal Navy 1979 after completion of a Royal Navy Flying Scholarship and has flown Provosts, Hunters, Hawks, Harrier GR.3, Sea Harrier FRS.1 and F.18s as a USN exchange pilot. He has seen service in Iraq and Bosnia embarked in HMS Invincible. In 1998 he re-joined 899 NAS as the Commanding Officer. He has flown the Swordfish, Firefly and Sea Fury for the flight and is it’s long term Flying Instructor. He maintains Reserve status as a RNR pilot but his day job is flying an Airbus A320.

Lt Pat Barnes RN joined the Royal Navy in 1990, the son of a Rhodesian Air Force pilot he was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps. Serving in the Gulf and Sierra Leone and Northern Ireland on Seakings. In 2000 he re-qualified on the Lynx Mk 7 and joined 847 Squadron RM at Yeovilton. In 2002 Pat moved on to 208{R} Squadron as an instructor on Hawks at RAF Valley in Anglesey. He returned to Yeovilton to take up a position with the Naval Fixed Wing Standards Flt, where he continues to fly the Hawk. The other pilots in no particular order are Cmd Adrian Orchard flying the Sea Fury, who joined the Royal Navy in 1986 and has seen service as an exchange pilot with the USN and service in Bosnia and Iraq. In 2005 he was promoted to Commander and is now the Commanding Officer of the reformed 800 NAS at RAF Cottesmore. as part of the new Joint Force Harrier programme. He flies the Harrier GR.7/7A as his day job, having in the past flown the Swordfish. Lt Cdr Paul Stone RNR joined the Royal Navy in 1987, he trained with the RAF and joined 899 NAS in 1990 flying the Sea Harrier he too saw service in Bosnia and the Gulf War after joining 800 NAS. After a tour with the Sea Harrier Operational Evaluation Unit he was selected for test flying duties, graduated from the Empire Test Pilots School at Boscombe Down and served with the Fast Jet Test Squadron as the Sea Harrier project pilot. Following on from this he was posted to the USA to test fly the new Boeing X-32 contender for the Joint Strike Fighter project and the F-18 Hornet.
In 2001 Paul re-joined the Sea Harrier world as Senior Pilot of 801 NAS. After promotion to Commander he assumed command of first 800 and then 801 NAS. Aside from his military flying, Paul also displays many of the Shuttleworth Collection's aircraft from Old Warden, and in 1997 he flew the Sea Hawk for the RNHF, converting to the Sea Fury in 2004. His last RN appointment was with the MoD in London as part of the team involved with the procurement of the Joint Combat Aircraft, and 2006 sees him joining 'Civvie Street' as a test pilot for BAE Systems Warton. At the same time a transfer to the ranks of the Royal Naval Reserve (as Lt Cdr) has ensured that he will remain as one of the RNHF Sea Fury pilots.

Finally Lt Chris Gotke RN joined the Royal Navy in 1992, after completing his training he spent a short time with FRADU and the Naval Flying Standards Flight at RNAS Yeovilton. He converted to the Sea Harrier F/A.2 in 1998 and joined 800 NAS in HMS Invincible and saw service in Iraq and Kosovo eventually becoming the Unit Test Pilot. He has also served with 801 NAS in HMS Illustrious and 800 NAS in HMS Ark Royal. Chris is currently with Fast Jet Test Squadron at QinetiQ at Boscombe Down flying the VAAC Harrier and Hawk, Tucano and Alfa Jet. With the RNHF he flies the Sea Hawk.

Engineering Team.

The engineering team is led by Howard Read. Howard has 34 years experience and service with the Royal Navy and after qualifying served in the aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal, Bulwark, Hermes and Illustrious. He has also had many shore postings. He ended his service with the Joint Force Harrier Team at RAF Cottesmore. He joined the RNHF in 2005 replacing Eric Young. His team consists of Don Robertson {senior supervisor mechanical}. Don joined the Fleet Air Arm in 1965 when he was 15 years old. He has worked on Whirlwinds and Wessex helicopters and fast jets Sea Vixen’s and Meteors. He left the Royal Navy in 1984 but returned to work on the Sea Harrier as a civilian fitter in 899 NAS a Squadron he left in 1972. He joined the RNHF in 1997. Mac Mckernan {senior supervisor electrical} joined the Royal Navy in 1966, after training he worked on Buccaneers at RNAS Lossiemouth. After a career that took Mac to many Royal Navy ships and shore postings Mac left the Royal Navy in 1992 as a Chief Petty Officer. He joined the RNHF in 1994 and is responsible to the Chief Engineer for all radio, electrical and ordnance work carried out within the RNHF.

Neil Fraser {avionics fitter} joined up in 1980 and trained as an Aircraft Mechanic {radio and radar} and became the first radio trade mechanic to join the Sea Harrier equipped 899 NAS from trade training. He joined 801 NAS in 1982 and served during the Falklands conflict aboard HMS Invincible, this is the theatre that proved the combat ability of the “Shar”. He later served with 899,800 and 801 Sea Harrier Squadrons and aboard HMS Avenger. He completed his service at the Ground Radio section at RNAS Yeovilton and left with 15 years service in 1994 and joined the RNHF in 1995. Mick Jennings {aircraft fitter} joined the RAF in 1967 and has worked on C-130 Hercules and Phantoms. He retired as a Chief Technician and joined the RNHF in July 1998, he is the only team member that was not Navy. He is the plane captain of the Sea Hawk an aircraft not operated by the RAF. Tony Smith {aircraft fitter} came from the motor trade and joined the Royal Navy in 1967. He served on fixed and rotary wing aircraft and served for 22 years. He joined the RNHF in 1998 and is now the plane captain of the Sea Fury. Ben Clay {stores liaison} joined up at 15 years old in 1968 and served for 25 years. His service saw him on board both HMS Ark Royals the present and the last vessel. He joined the RNHF 1995 as stores liaison and Technical Clerk.

The funding of the Flight is split into two parts: the Royal Navy pay the wages of the staff and donates the buildings that house the flight; the maintenance of the aircraft is funded externally via sponsorship and donations. The RNHF also endeavours to raise money by organising events and displaying the aircraft for other organisations, this is where Alison Dufosee leads the way. The corporate sponsors include Mitsubishi, Agusta Westland, Airbus, BAE Systems, Thales, Breitling , Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce. Public donations are always welcome and can be made via the RNHF website at www.royalnavyhistoricflight.org.uk you can also see the full team biographies and check the display season diary and news sections of the site. From our time spent with the RNHF team it was obvious that the team members were not just doing a job, they were indulging a passion for vintage aircraft. The team biographies show a low turnover of staff that again points to a dedicated group who love what they do, the benefit of which is passed on to the aviation enthusiasts who flock to see these historic aircraft where they belong, in the air. During our conversation with Howard Read, the Chief Engineer, we asked him if the Sea Harrier now retired from the Fleet Air Arm would be making an appearance as an addition to the RNHF. The answer was that there are no plans to do so, due to the complexity and expense of operating the type. In the future however, who knows.

We will bring our readers updates on the progress of the Swordfish return to flight as the news breaks.

Checksix would like to thank John Beattie for organising the visit and Howard Read for taking the time to show us around the flight HQ at RNAS Yeovilton and introducing us to the team. And our thanks to the team themselves for allowing access to their pride and joy and for making us so welcome. Thanks also to Lee Howard {the webmaster} for his kind permission to paraphrase and use extracts from the RNHF’s web site www.royalnavyhistoricflight.org.uk

Will Moore / Checksix UK.

Release 2.0/2009

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