Paul Bradley Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) This photo is of a Royal Navy recruitment poster I picked up about 10 years ago. It shows a Sea King HC.4 on IFOR detachment to Split-Divulje in Croatia, flying low over the Cetina River gorge at Omiš. The code letter on the nose is 'C' but, other than that, I have no clue as to the identity of the airframe - can anyone tell me what serial and what squadron? And does anyone have any other photos of this aircraft at that time? Edited February 18, 2017 by Paul Bradley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimV1969 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 "Fleet Air Arm Helicopters Since 1943" has ZA297 to 845 Squadron, marked as (Y)C from 7-Sep-94, refinished and marked first IFOR and later SFOR, airfreighted to Split 14-Jun-96 and returned to Yeovilton 14-Feb-97 (as well as other movements), so that sounds likeliest? Tim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missile-monkey Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 It's an 845 NAS cab. 845 side codes were Y C (in this case) or YA , YB etc. However for some reason we never ever painted the 'Y' on the cabs even in the good old days of the Wessex Mk5. 846 NAS side codes were VA, VB , VC etc, whilst 707 NAS (as was) was ZA , ZB, ZC etc. 848 I think was XA, XB, etc, although I could be wrong about this as I can't remember that far back..... MM.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 Cool, many thanks guys - ZA297 it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 (edited) On 2/18/2017 at 5:54 PM, missile-monkey said: It's an 845 NAS cab. 845 side codes were Y C (in this case) or YA , YB etc. However for some reason we never ever painted the 'Y' on the cabs even in the good old days of the Wessex Mk5. 846 NAS side codes were VA, VB , VC etc, whilst 707 NAS (as was) was ZA , ZB, ZC etc. 848 I think was XA, XB, etc, although I could be wrong about this as I can't remember that far back..... MM.. Edit - I stand corrected! It seems 848 were NOT X codes Edited March 14, 2017 by Ex-FAAWAFU 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglierating Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 On 18/02/2017 at 5:54 PM, missile-monkey said: It's an 845 NAS cab. 845 side codes were Y C (in this case) or YA , YB etc. However for some reason we never ever painted the 'Y' on the cabs even in the good old days of the Wessex Mk5. 846 NAS side codes were VA, VB , VC etc, whilst 707 NAS (as was) was ZA , ZB, ZC etc. 848 I think was XA, XB, etc, although I could be wrong about this as I can't remember that far back..... MM.. Whisky side numbers for 848 shippers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missile-monkey Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 So who had the X-Ray side letters? Was that 847? MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglierating Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 1 hour ago, missile-monkey said: So who had the X-Ray side letters? Was that 847? MM Not sure ....possibly with wessie 5s certainly not with lynx gazelles. Before my time but sure I've seen a pic with a wessie with x ray side numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missile-monkey Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 They should never have changed the name from 3 BAS to 847 NAS. That only confused us old sea dogs...well me anyway... MM... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Sqn codes changed over time, possibly due to disbanding then reforming. In the late 60's/early 70's, 848NAS Wessex were V as in the photo below of HMS Albion off Christmas Island with 848 embarked 1971. The codes clearly show VJ, VV, VH and VS. Entries in the book "Fleet Air Arm Helicopters since 1943" has the following: for Wessex in the 1970's: 707NAS had the code W as in WZ for XT481 845NAS had the code Y as in YL for XT514 846NAS had the code X as in XG for XT512. for the Sea King: 846NAS had the code V as in VR for ZD627 in 2000 848NAS had the code W as in WV for ZD479 in 2001 845NAS had the code Y as in YE for ZD477 in 2009 I haven't yet managed to find a Sea King Mk.4 NAS with the code X. Teeny-Weeny Airways for 3BAS was good enough for me! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missile-monkey Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Teeny Weeny Airways. Haven't heard that for a while ! Happy days... MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 7 hours ago, missile-monkey said: So who had the X-Ray side letters? Was that 847? MM According to Ballance's Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm (p.467), X was worn by 846 Sq at Culdrose and Yeovilton between 1971 and 1975 (example Wessex HU.5 XT461 XD/VL) and by "847/845" during Corporate in 1982 (example XS491 XM and, from the 847 Sq entry (p.224), XT482 XL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyf117 Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 (edited) Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another... Edited June 27, 2020 by andyf117 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 Cheers, for that, Andy - I didn't realize ModelArt did this a/c! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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