Spotter Plane

[firbeck 859]

Very entertaining chaps, but, lets get back to the thread content and not put Tomlinson off:

What year did you see these odd beasts burn off the grass at Newton, it must have been very interesting to see the Navy pilots land them on a grass runway, let alone take off, as you can see, is this picture taken on grass, maybe Newton, who knows, I found it on Wiki and thought it was quite relevant.

[Beefsteak 305]

At Southport in September

[tomlinson 879]

By the time I got to Newton they had probably been superceded by Seahawks. With their tail dragging undercarriage, Attackers must have made a few scorch marks on the grass. I gather that none of these aircraft have survived, though there are rumours that as the only major export customer, something may be lurking at the back of a hangar in Pakistan. The Attacker was the jet equivalent of the Spiteful, Supermarines proposed Spitfire replacement. Unfortunately, having been the cutting edge of fighter development with the Spitfire, Vickers Supermarine couldn't deliver afterwards, the Attacker was out of date before it came into service, Hawkers Seahawk saw that one off, then they tried to produce the ultimate fighter in the Swift, but it was dangerous to fly and once again Hawker saw them off with the stunning Hunter, no doubt had that genius R J Mitchell not died young, he would have had something to say about that.

Where abouts do you live in Norfolk, I know the area well, and where did you serve and what was your role in the RAF, I don't mean to be nosey, it's interesting to have someone on this forum who remembers and was involved with some of the glory days, though perhaps you don't see it that way.

Hesitate to refer to my days in the RAF as 'Glory Days' but they were mostly good ones. I joined in 1965; basic training at Swinderby; held precourse at Syerston-Jet Provosts; Elec. Mech training at Newton; (Notice how I kept getting closer to Nottingham?); posted to West Raynham to join 1 Sqdn, worked on Hunters Mk 9; Tripartite Kestrel Sqn was there (Managed to get a trip in a T7 out in El Adem); Fitters Course at Newton-Elec and Instrument trades; Maintenance Unit Sealand (Dump); Malta TASF; Honington Buccaneers; Swanton Morley; Cottesmore Tornado; Swanton Morley --- left RAF to work at KLM Engineering College Norwich Airport - taught Fokker F27; Fokker 100 and Electrical and Instrument basics. I retired 1994, forgot all the info' I had picked up and have felt much better ever since. I now live in Attleborough, about eleven miles from Norwich.

[tomlinson 879]

Very entertaining chaps, but, lets get back to the thread content and not put Tomlinson off:

What year did you see these odd beasts burn off the grass at Newton, it must have been very interesting to see the Navy pilots land them on a grass runway, let alone take off, as you can see, is this picture taken on grass, maybe Newton, who knows, I found it on Wiki and thought it was quite relevant.

Can't remember the exact year but you might be interested to know that amongst the demonstration aircraft at Newton was a Vulcan! We were told, quite seriously, that it had been flown in. Also of interest was a Bloodhound gate guard under which some wag lit the grass to confuse the police.

[firbeck 859]

Interesting career, does it make you feel sad that many of these places are no longer with us, West Raynham, ooh weren't Hunter Mk9's the ultimate beautiful jet fighter, and Syerston, are such sad abandoned ghost towns, I recall Honnington hosting Tornado's, Swinderby is currently being destroyed for aggregate reclamation, have you got any pictures of your experiences of these places, wer'ed love to see them.

[Beefsteak 305]

I didn't think you'd started work on Swinderby yet Rog!!!!

[tomlinson 879]

Interesting career, does it make you feel sad that many of these places are no longer with us, West Raynham, ooh weren't Hunter Mk9's the ultimate beautiful jet fighter, and Syerston, are such sad abandoned ghost towns, I recall Honnington hosting Tornado's, Swinderby is currently being destroyed for aggregate reclamation, have you got any pictures of your experiences of these places, wer'ed love to see them.

No pictures of anything very much I'm afraid. Just got on with what came next.

[plantfit 7,597]

Some of the old hard standings have been raised and crushed for secondary aggregates but the interesting bit is all the office blocks and guard rooms have been demolished to make way for some new venture (nothing to do with our industry as we never owned them)bought by some London (jewish) couple who want to turn the area into some sort of retail park

Rog