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703 Naval Air Squadron
703 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy was formed as a long-range catapult squadron on 3 March 1942 at RNAS Lee-on-Solent. During the Cold War, it was reformed as an experimental trials unit, and then as a helicopter training squadron. Since 2003, the squadron has formed the Royal Naval wing of the Defence Elementary Flying Training School at RAF Barkston Heath. History World War II On 3 June 1942, 703 Naval Air Squadron was formed at RNAS Lee-on-Solent to operate floatplanes off catapult-equipped Armed Merchant Cruisers. It was initially equipped with Vought Kingfishers, supplementing these with Fairey Seafox and Fairey Swordfish floatplanes. The squadron also operated three Supermarine Walrus amphibian aircraft from Walvis Bay in southern Africa. On 1 May 1944, the squadron was disbanded. Air Sea Warfare Development Unit (1945 - 1950) In April 1945, the squadron was reformed as the naval component of the RAF's Air Sea Warfare Development Unit (ASWDU ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wildcat and AW101 Merlin for commando and anti-submarine warfare and the BAE Hawk as an aggressor. The Fleet Air Arm today is a predominantly rotary force, with helicopters undertaking roles once performed by biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish. The Fleet Air Arm was formed in 1924 as an organisational unit of the Royal Air Force, which was then operating the aircraft embarked on RN ships—the Royal Naval Air Service having been merged with the Army's Royal Flying Corps in 1918 to form the Royal Air Force—and did not come under the direct control of the Admiralty until mid-1939. During the Second World War, the Fleet Air Arm operated aircraft on ships as well as land-based aircraft that defended the Royal Navy's shore establishments a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairey Firefly
The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation Company. Development of the Firefly can be traced back to pair of specifications issued by the British Air Ministry in 1938, calling for new naval fighter designs. Designed to the contemporary FAA concept of a two-seat fleet reconnaissance/fighter, the pilot and observer were positioned at separate stations. In flight, the Firefly was superior in terms of both performance and firepower to its predecessor, the Fairey Fulmar. Due to a protracted development, the type only entered operational service towards the end of the conflict, at which point it was no longer competitive as a fighter. The limitations of a single engine in a relatively heavy airframe reduced its performance, but the Firefly proved to be a fairly sturdy, long-ranged, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
700 Naval Air Squadron
700 Naval Air Squadron (700 NAS) is an experimental test squadron in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. History 700 NAS was originally formed on 21 January 1940 at RNAS Hatston (HMS ''Sparrowhawk'') in Orkney in a plan to centralise the operations of the 700 series "Catapult" flights attached to catapult units and to act as a pool and Headquarters for all catapult aircraft embarked on battleships and cruisers - chiefly the Supermarine Walrus flying boat, together with the Fairey Seafox and Fairey Swordfish floatplanes. Initial equipment comprised 42 Walruses together with 11 Seafoxes and 12 Swordfishes. On 21 June 1940, a Walrus (''P5666'') of 700 Squadron on the cruiser found the German battleship ''Scharnhorst'' but ''Manchester'' did not engage. 25 September 1940, Walrus L2247, embarked on HMAS Australia, was shot down by French Vichy fighters at Dakar and crashed into the sea all 3 crew perished. Trailing German capital ships in the lead up to the Battle of the Denmark Stra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
771 Naval Air Squadron
771 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm was formed on 24 May 1939 at Lee-on-Solent as a Fleet Requirements Unit with 14 Fairey Swordfish TSR biplanes. The Squadron carried out various exercises with ships and provided towed targets for naval air gunners and was decommissioned on 22 March 2016. Second World War The Squadron initially had a northern element (X Flight), and a southern element (Y Flight). 'X' Flight broke away on 28 September 1939 to become 772 Naval Air Squadron. The reshaped 771 NAS was based at RNAS Hatston flying a variety of fixed-wing aircraft, ranging from Supermarine Walruses to Hawker Hurricanes, from airfields across the UK and abroad. A notable point in 771's wartime history was that they started the chain that led to the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. The Commanding Officer of HMS Sparrowhawk, Capt Henry Lockhart St John Fancourt, RN, had been ordered to identify and sink the Bismarck at the earliest opportunity. The two squadrons of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westland Wyvern
The Westland Wyvern was a British single-seat carrier-based multi-role strike aircraft built by Westland Aircraft that served in the 1950s, seeing active service in the 1956 Suez Crisis. Production Wyverns were powered by a turboprop engine driving large and distinctive contra-rotating propellers, and could carry aerial torpedoes. Design and development The Wyvern began as a Westland project for a naval strike fighter, with the engine located behind the pilot, driving a propeller in the nose via a long shaft that passed under the cockpit floor, similar to the Bell P-39.Williams 1989, Chapter 21. This enabled the pilot to be located in a position that conferred the best possible visibility over the nose for carrier operations. Official interest resulted in Air Ministry Specification N.11/44 for a long-range naval fighter using the 24-cylinder H-block Rolls-Royce Eagle 22 piston engine (unrelated to the First World War-era engine of the same name) being issued to cover Westl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairey Gannet
The Fairey Gannet is a carrier-borne aircraft that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed for the Royal Navy, being the first fixed-wing aircraft to combine both the search and strike portions of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations to be operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). The Gannet was originally developed to meet a Second World War era requirement for a dual-role ASW and strike to equip the FAA.Taylor 1974, pp. 356–357. It was a mid-wing monoplane with a tricycle undercarriage and a crew of three, with a double turboprop engine driving two contra-rotating propellers. On 19 September 1949, the prototype Gannet performed its maiden flight. Four years later, it was brought into regular service with the FAA. The service would use the type from the majority of its aircraft carriers throughout the Cold War. Various export customers were also secured for the Gannet, including the Royal Australian Navy, the G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RNAS Arbroath
RM Condor is a large Royal Marines base located near Arbroath in East Angus, Scotland. The base also houses 7 (Sphinx) Battery Royal Artillery, part of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery. History The base was first constructed as a Fleet Air Arm base in 1938, when it was known as RNAS Arbroath (HMS Condor). It was opened on 19 June 1940. From the outset it was a training base, primarily involved in the training of naval aviators. A purpose-built 'aircraft carrier' sized landing area was constructed on the airfield and it, along with another similar facility at nearby East Haven, Angus, HMS Peewit was used to train aircrew in deck landing operations. In October, 1940, the base was attacked by Luftwaffe He-111 bombers, operating from Norway, which resulted in minor damage (then valued at £1000) being sustained to some Squadron buildings. Throughout the war years the base was additionally used as a rest area. Operational Squadrons from aircraft carriers would take it in tur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Catapult
An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carriers, as a form of assisted take off. In the form used on aircraft carriers the catapult consists of a track, or slot, built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or ''shuttle'' that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in some cases a wire rope, called a catapult bridle, is attached to the aircraft and the catapult shuttle. Other forms have been used historically, such as mounting a launching cart holding a seaplane on a long girder-built structure mounted on the deck of a warship or merchant vessel, but most catapults share a similar sliding track concept. Different means have been used to propel the catapult, such as weight and derrick, gunpowder, flywheel, air pressure, hydraulic, and steam p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirror Landing Aid
An optical landing system (OLS) (nicknamed "meatball" or simply "ball") is used to give glidepath information to pilots in the terminal phase of landing on an aircraft carrier. From the beginning of aircraft landing on ships in the 1920s to the introduction of OLSs, pilots relied solely on their visual perception of the landing area and the aid of the Landing Signal Officer (LSO in the U.S. Navy, or "batsman" in the Commonwealth navies). LSOs used coloured flags, cloth paddles and lighted wands. The OLS was developed after World War II by the British and was deployed on U.S. Navy carriers from 1955. In its developed form, the OLS consists of a horizontal row of green lights, used as a reference, and a column of vertical lights. The vertical lights signal whether the aircraft is too high, too low, or at the correct altitude as the pilot descends the glide slope towards the carrier's deck. Other lights give various commands and can be used to require the pilot to abort the landing an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
739 Naval Air Squadron
739 Naval Air Squadron (739 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was formed as the Blind Approach Development Unit for the Fleet Air Arm, operating with Fulmar and Swordfish aircraft, at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), in 1942. Just under one year later the squadron moved to RNAS Worthy Down (HMS Kestrel), in late 1943 and continued in the role. Roughly one year later the squadron moved again, relocating to RNAS Donibristle (HMS Merlin) in late 1944, disbanding in 1945. From 1947 it was based at RNAS Culham, with a new role, as a Fleet Air Arm Photographic Trials and Development Unit. History of 739 NAS Blind Approach Development Unit (1942 - 1947) 739 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), situated near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately four miles west of Portsmouth, on the 15 December 1942, as the Blind Approach Development Unit. It was initially equipped with Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Fulmar aircraft. Nin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HM Prison Ford
HM Prison Ford (informally known as Ford Open Prison) is a Category D men's prison, located at Ford, in West Sussex, England, near Arundel and Littlehampton. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Air Force and Navy use The site was initially RAF Ford before changing into Royal Naval Air Station Ford (RNAS Ford/HMS Peregrine) a Fleet Air Arm station. The Westland Wyvern went into service first here in the early 1950s with 813 Naval Air Squadron. The following units were here at some point: ;Naval units: ;Units: Prison recent history The prison has been criticised for its lax security – especially after 70 people, including three murderers serving the last three years of their sentences, absconded in 2006 alone. In March 2009, the prison's own Independent Monitoring Board issued a report stating that an outdated CCTV security system and a staffing shortage were contributing to burglars breaking into the jail to steal equipment from workshops. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westland Wyvern S Mk
Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila, Scotland Netherlands *Westland, Netherlands (other) **Westland (municipality), Netherlands **Westland (region), Netherlands New Zealand *Westland District, a political subdivision on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island *Westland Tai Poutini National Park, a national park **Informally, the name often used for the entire West Coast region, of which the Westland District is a part **Westland (New Zealand electorate) a former parliamentary electorate in the above area **Westland Province, a province of New Zealand from 1873–76 United States *Westland, Indiana *Westland, Putnam County, Indiana *Westland, Michigan * Westland, Oregon; see McKay Reservoir *Westland, Pennsylvania *Westland, Virginia *Westland Mall (Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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