The Nimrod Mk1 & 2
I started my Nimrod phase on what was called the Nimrod Holding Flight at
Ballykelly when 210Sqn folded. After a few months of flying occasionally as a passenger with 204Sqn crews, crew
3 went to the 3 month Nimrod crew conversion course. Then to 42Sqn, the Group Standards Unit, 236 OCU, Boscombe
Down for the Nimrod Mk2 trials, then my final (very nearly so) job in the RAF - the Nimrod Software Team as OC
CTS Flight.
The requirement to fit sidewinders came as a result
of the Falklands war. A 201Sqn crew was handing out these stickers at the Biggin Hill Air Fair in 1986 after I
had left the RAF.
Welcome
to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas by if I remember correctly Captain Turner and his wife. This was the
start of the 1982 Boscombe Down 6 week Mk2 hot weather trials.
A couple of weeks were spent in CC for the hot and wet trials over the sea, then we went to Laredo for the hot and dry trials. Unfortunately it didn't get hot enough so we then went to the US Marine Harrier base at Yuma, Arizona during the ATC strike. It was very quiet on airways as the few aircraft flying did its own thing.
I'm on the left in the No 6 uniform which I bought for a few quid off a guy leaving the service. Very smart but a bit over the top compared to the rest of the scruffs. The guy shaking hands is our non maritime test pilot copilot for the trials.
The
flight trials crew with a naval Harrier test pilot and our non maritime test pilot captain just behind him. I think that this photo was
for the local paper. The pilots appeared on TV, naturally. My replacement at Boscombe Paddy T on the left
The Boscombe Down hot weather trials team
with civilian ground crew and trials officers.
The trials
crew at Cold Lake, Alberta for the 6 week cold weather trials. Front row third from left is our civilian crew chief,
then me, the CO of B Sqn at A&AEE Bernie F, our maritime captain Rod F and AEOp John R. We never did get down
to the required -40C, having to make do with -38C. All the kit worked except the CTS tape loader which we found
was only specced down to -5C. Warming it up with a hair dryer did the trick.
Near Cold Lake in formation with the base F5
trainers. We let the aircraft chill down outside for 3 days, then started everything up and flew around for a few
hours and then repeated the exercise every 3 days over the trial period - not nearly as much fun as the hot weather
trials at Corpus Cristi, Laredo and Yuma.
I also took part in the Loral wing tip pod trials in what was described as the investigating the deep stall. There
was a knotted rope from between the nav stations to the back door for heaving yourself back and out of the door
if we entered a spin. All very exciting I can tell you especially as initially we fell out of the sky, luckily
at high altitude.
42 Sqn crew 4 stuck in Gardermoen (Oslo) after trying
to get into Andoya in lousy weather and diverting South when the fuel got low. We had a problem with starting No3
engine which caused a few days stay much to the annoyance of the air attache who had to pay our bills.
I can't remember why we had the foam but as the captain,
I left the pilots to deal with the problem. I do remember that our SAC engine mech wanted to hold a tin over the
starter exhaust to check that it was working but No1 pilot wasn't happy about that.
The most enjoyable 6 weeks for me was spent in making the Mk1 Nimrod film in 1972. The film company must have made lots of dosh as they threw a great party at the end. The film was even shown recently in Discovery Wings TV but I didn't see it.
This photo was supposed to show the torpedo drop but as usual with navs, the timing was out!