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ZE419, a Sea King HAS5 that (temporarily) forgot how to fly


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7 hours ago, hendie said:

Crisp,  I don't know if you've seen this, but if you were looking for a new seat for your man cave... you might want to check ebay

 

 

 

 

 

1,200 hours sitting on a vibrating one of those has already done enough damage to my back, thank you very much!  Besides, the thought of modelling while sitting on a rock-hard dinghy pack for hours at a time doesn't bear thinking about.  I think I'll pass.

 

 

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Crisp,

 

Been reading the whole thread over the last two days, absolutely fascinating.

 

I joined 820 in November 1980, just as we were receiving the "new" Mark 5 with LAPADS (as opposed to the earlier "Jez" gear that 814 had).  Only 2 generators at that time, I believe the 3rd didn't appear in the ASW world until the Mark 6 ( I was TO of 810 for the Mk 6 introduction, there was a separate cell for that within 810.  Initial cable hover performance was atrocious as the LINVARS weren't modified for the thinner cable.  I think it was then that we lost the Doppler RAW selection option as well, but that may have been the Mk 5, it's in the distant past now!).

 

Have attached a photo taken in 1981 (at a guess), showing the weapon load options for the aircraft.  Despite the big "thing" at the front, I believe this was put up on the Squadron display boards for port visits on Invincible....thought the 'old' markings might be of interest.  The stylised "flying fish and ringbolt" was designed by Malcolm Kelham, a pilot on the Squadron at the time, sadly killed off Gibraltar in 1983.

3563f114-9ce0-4cf6-9090-67bed94f9a9a.JPG

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57 minutes ago, BazJ said:

Crisp,

 

Been reading the whole thread over the last two days, absolutely fascinating.

 

I joined 820 in November 1980, just as we were receiving the "new" Mark 5 with LAPADS (as opposed to the earlier "Jez" gear that 814 had).  Only 2 generators at that time, I believe the 3rd didn't appear in the ASW world until the Mark 6 ( I was TO of 810 for the Mk 6 introduction, there was a separate cell for that within 810.  Initial cable hover performance was atrocious as the LINVARS weren't modified for the thinner cable.  I think it was then that we lost the Doppler RAW selection option as well, but that may have been the Mk 5, it's in the distant past now!).

 

Have attached a photo taken in 1981 (at a guess), showing the weapon load options for the aircraft.  Despite the big "thing" at the front, I believe this was put up on the Squadron display boards for port visits on Invincible....thought the 'old' markings might be of interest.  The stylised "flying fish and ringbolt" was designed by Malcolm Kelham, a pilot on the Squadron at the time, sadly killed off Gibraltar in 1983.

3563f114-9ce0-4cf6-9090-67bed94f9a9a.JPG

Thanks - as you say somewhat surprising to see the "I can neither confirm nor deny" beastie so prominently displayed up front!

 

The HAS5 &, for that matter, 1 & 2) definitely had the third generator - it was what powered the sonar, whether Type 195 or 2069; the thing that changed with the Mk 6 was that the No 3 Genny "bulge" got bigger (see the very early stages of this build, in fact).  The transition to 6 from 5 was during my sojourn away from Sea Kings in the Lynx world (I flew Mk 5s on 820, then later came back to Mk 6s on 819) so I missed the teething problems - but I recall hearing a few "adrenalin is brown" stories from my Pinger mates about LINVARS and the longer cable of 2069.

 

Happy days!  I stared through 706 / 810 in 1985, so I suspect we have a lot of friends in common!

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That thing you can't deny nor discuss...

 

There's a blo.dy big white one dangling off the port station on one of my pictures in the Wessex file

 

I wonder what it is?

 

 

 

 

For sanity's sake I mun admit, I don't really wonder what it is

 

But if anyone wants to talk about it, phone Madame Zizi in Obergurgle

 

She knows a man who .....

 

😨

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On 9/16/2017 at 11:26 AM, BazJ said:

Have attached a photo taken in 1981 (at a guess), showing the weapon load options for the aircraft.

Superb typical Culdrose photo, thanks for sharing.  Could the 'special' be carried on any of the weapons stations?

 

Talking of which, @Ex-FAAWAFU I've found a job for you!

https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=b3duZXJ0eXBlPWZhaXImam9ibGlzdF92aWV3X3ZhYz0xNTQyMzA1JmNzb3VyY2U9Y3Nxc2VhcmNoJnNlYXJjaF9zbGljZV9jdXJyZW50PTEmcGFnZWFjdGlvbj12aWV3dmFjYnlqb2JsaXN0JnVzZXJzZWFyY2hjb250ZXh0PTQ0NTAyNzA0JnBhZ2VjbGFzcz1Kb2JzJm93bmVyPTUwNzAwMDAmcmVxc2lnPTE1MDU4NDc4NzgtYTVlNTNmMTA0N2FmYWY3NzA5YjJmMDM2YjJmNTA5MzU0MTkxODcyMw==

 

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[I think it's safe to say that my QHI category is more than a tad lapsed!  And I've never flown on NVG, believe it or not.  But thanks.]

 

The 600lb HEMC Special Weapon could only be carried on the forward stations, under the stub-wings.  On either of the rear stations it would give you horrendous centre of gravity problems, and not even Dr Strangelove would want you to carry three or four (or even two) of them!

 

I think I only ever saw it on the port side, but that might just be my memory - it's not like we carried it often (even inert drill rounds).   ...Thinking a bit more about it, we often carried the weapon simulator (it made all the right lights show in the cockpit to test your drills) on the starboard forward, so it must have had the requisite wiring; somewhere in this build there's even a photo of a cab carrying the simulator (a stubby flat rectangular box thingy), and from memory that's on the starboard side.

 

We only ever did Special Weapon-y stuff to tick the boxes to remain current (each squadron / flight has to do a certain number of loads (all sorts of weapons) and other drills (crash on deck, fuel spillage, etc etc) each month to keep up to speed); I suspect the reason we usually carried the drill round on the port side was that the best (because hardest) way to exercise loading it was rotors running at the same time as a refuel, so best to have fuel team starboard, weapon load port.  There is no value for the aircrew in flying with a 600lb dead weight; the training value is for the deck crews.  For us, it was just a waste of about 40 minutes of endurance!

 

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  • 3 months later...

Ha!  Currently I have the Fang & Fire build, the Walrus and HMS Brinton all on the go.  Sea King resumption is next cab on the rank - i.e. when any one of those completes (most likely to be the Fang) I will pick it up again.

 

Patience, Grasshopper.

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  • 2 months later...

I’m posting here just to push this back to the top of the pile, but for those of you who seem to want me to return to this, your patience has been rewarded.  The Fearless drawings are now pretty much done, so ZE419 is officially back.

 

Since we’re already 103 pages in, I plan to start a new thread!  Watch this space.

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  • 3 years later...

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