Sink the Bismarck! HMS Ark Royal, 26 May 1941

[Massimo]

Those rafts are looking good!!!!

Well done Crisp!

[Brandy]

I wasn't even on a carrier! This was from Caribbean islands where the runway ran to the shore line and there were no town lights or anything anywhere close. 

In fact the first clue I got to this phenomenon was at Ceder Key in Florida, although I never took off on 23 at night. The airport web site (not in existence when I was there) includes this very sobering comment:

 

While runway lighting has been improved recently visibility at night on the field is still minimal. If you have never been to KCDK before it is highly recommended not to perform night or dusk operations. Even for KCDK experienced pilots, night-time departures taking-off Runway 23 (to the southwest) are highly discouraged. (See memorial plaque by the ramp.) Especially on overcast or moonless nights out over the Gulf you are taking off into a black hole. Do not attempt to climb out visually, use your instruments. If you are not IFR rated/current taking-off on Runway 5 over the town with city lights is a risk mitigation. 

 

Note reference to the Memorial Plaque! There were a number of accidents where the aircraft was recovered from the water and upon examination it was noted that the throttles were fully forward - they simply lost orientation and flew into the sea!

 

Ian

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Sadly, I lost a friend from my course because of low-level disorientation.  He launched from RFA Resource in a Sea King HAS5 on a black night in the South-Western Approaches in 1988.  Resource had a very high flight deck, which only contributed to the disorientation because there was not even a glimmer of the reflected deck lights off the sea.

 

Anyway, his P2 raised the gear as normal.  The Sea King landing gear had a microswitch system; when the U/C leg hit the stop, it made a switch that cut off the hydraulic power (no need to have 3,000 psi of hydraulics going to the undercarriage for the next 4 hours).  It was also supposed to engage an uplock hook to hold the gear in the raised position.  Occasionally the hook would stick, so the leg would come up, the hydraulics would switch off, the leg would fall under gravity, the hydraulics would kick in again, and the whole thing would cycle up & down.  No big deal; just select the gear down, carry on, and remember to snag the aircraft when you land.

 

Inside the cockpit this minor malfunction showed up as the Utility Hydraulics gauge fluctuating madly.  Andy was flying on instruments and must have seen this out of the corner of his eye just enough to distract him, and as they turned away from the ship to head for wherever they were off to, he simply flew into the sea.  I later tried it in the simulator, and you only need your attention to wander for about 2 seconds - as on “WTF is that hydraulics gauge doing...?“ BANG.

 

The P2 was thrown through the windscreen and survived, (which is how we know what happened) and at least one of the guys in the back also got out, but Andy was pinned to his seat by the collapsed instrument panel and drowned.  RIP, matey.  There but for the grace of God.

[Terry1954]

A sad and sobering story. So much respect for you and your colleagues, past and present.

 

Terry

[giemme]

 

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Sobering indeed. I find it a useful reminder about distraction and just how naturally mistakes can come. People who have never tried anything or done anything sit in armchairs and bluster about supposed idiocy as though they could never do something so stupid, but the more one considers stories like this, the more one accepts that humans are entirely fallible and that error requires a frighteningly lower amount of effort than staying error free does.

[Procopius]

18 hours ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

Sobering indeed. I find it a useful reminder about distraction and just how naturally mistakes can come. People who have never tried anything or done anything sit in armchairs and bluster about supposed idiocy as though they could never do something so stupid, but the more one considers stories like this, the more one accepts that humans are entirely fallible and that error requires a frighteningly lower amount of effort than staying error free does.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

 

-- Theodore Roosevelt

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Hi Crispin,

 

Do you happen to have the IWM's DVD "The Royal Navy At War - Know Your Own Navy"?

 

My copy just arrived today. There are three bonus features which includes some cine film reel of HMS Ark Royal. There are a number of scenes showing a good amount of both sides of the hull fairly close up as well as some around the flight deck.

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Thanks, Jamie; not seen & now duly ordered.  I do have “Ships With Wings”, a pretty awful late-30s film - but which includes flying sequences shot in the real Ark.  As you well know, detail references are very hard to find

[TheBaron]

PM sent with some tangential ArkRoyalisms from the academic ether.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

12 hours ago, TheBaron said:

...the academic ether.

Academic ether; is that the modern equivalent of Stephen Maturin’s Tincture of Laudanum?

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Apologies for relative silence; I have been working on Ark in the interim, but it’s largely been dull, unphotogenic - though important - stuff like building yet more ammunition lockers and cleaning up existing work.  However, there is some good news for the build as a whole, in that on Wednesday the rest of the kit (hull, flight deck and other stuff already done) will be arriving down in Salisbury to be reunited with all the detail work that I’ve been doing for the last 2 months.
 

So there might soon be something a but more exciting to show you - though keep in mind that thus far I’ve only done  the starboard side of the hull, so there are still an awful lot of scuttles to do!

[perdu]

Scuttles?

We love scuttles a la Crisp, bring 'em on.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

No actual modelling ro report -but the flight deck & island (& hull) are now back in the same building for the first time in almost 3 months.

 

[Terry1954]

They look happy. Must have missed each other...........😁

 

Terry

[Iceman 29]

On 16/05/2020 at 08:10, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Sadly, I lost a friend from my course because of low-level disorientation.  He launched from RFA Resource in a Sea King HAS5 on a black night in the South-Western Approaches in 1988.  Resource had a very high flight deck, which only contributed to the disorientation because there was not even a glimmer of the reflected deck lights off the sea.

 

Anyway, his P2 raised the gear as normal.  The Sea King landing gear had a microswitch system; when the U/C leg hit the stop, it made a switch that cut off the hydraulic power (no need to have 3,000 psi of hydraulics going to the undercarriage for the next 4 hours).  It was also supposed to engage an uplock hook to hold the gear in the raised position.  Occasionally the hook would stick, so the leg would come up, the hydraulics would switch off, the leg would fall under gravity, the hydraulics would kick in again, and the whole thing would cycle up & down.  No big deal; just select the gear down, carry on, and remember to snag the aircraft when you land.

 

Inside the cockpit this minor malfunction showed up as the Utility Hydraulics gauge fluctuating madly.  Andy was flying on instruments and must have seen this out of the corner of his eye just enough to distract him, and as they turned away from the ship to head for wherever they were off to, he simply flew into the sea.  I later tried it in the simulator, and you only need your attention to wander for about 2 seconds - as on “WTF is that hydraulics gauge doing...?“ BANG.

 

The P2 was thrown through the windscreen and survived, (which is how we know what happened) and at least one of the guys in the back also got out, but Andy was pinned to his seat by the collapsed instrument panel and drowned.  RIP, matey.  There but for the grace of God.

Probably this accident:

 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/73328

Edited May 28, 2020 by Iceman 29

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

18 hours ago, Iceman 29 said:

Probably this accident:

 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/73328

That’s the one, yes.  My French has clearly improved!
 

[Edit: that’s weird - yesterday, when I made this post, Iceman’s quote of my account appeared in French (hence my joke); now it shows up in English.  I must be multi-lingual without even being aware of it]

Edited May 29, 2020 by Ex-FAAWAFU

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Having all my modelling stuff in one place again for the first time in over 2 years is great, but in trying to snatch some time at the bench in the past few days (work is v busy) I realised that I couldn’t find anything.  When you only have an hour of spare time, wasting half of it rummaging through tool boxes looking for things is a real waste. 
 

So I finally decided to do something about it; I’ve seen the Polish “HobbyZone” modular stuff at Telford & thought it has potential. 36 hours after finding the UK supplier, 9 modules were delivered on Friday.  It’s taken me two days to build them all & sort out my stuff, but finally (possibly for the first time ever!) I know where everything is:

 

It transpires (which will surprise none of you, I suspect) that I own an embarrassing number of files & tweezers!  
 

Let’s hope it allows me to get in with some work on the ship (though part of the school re-opens tomorrow, so I’m expecting this week to be pretty mad as well)

 

More soon

 

Crisp

Edited May 31, 2020 by Ex-FAAWAFU

[giemme]

1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

It transpires (which will surprise none of you, I suspect) that I own an embarrassing number of files & tweezers!  
 

Nope, can't see them....

 

Ciao

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

That's a nice tidy work area. I am a chronic mess maker. I hate myself for it and can't stand mess, but making it just comes soooooo naturally.

 

I can spend a couple of hours under Gill's supervision tidying things into some sort of order then snap your fingers and there's crap everywhere again and I'm working in about a square foot of space cleared in the middle of the table.

 

It's not good.

[Terry1954]

3 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

It transpires (which will surprise none of you, I suspect) that I own an embarrassing number of files & tweezers!

There speaks the man who started the great BM tweezer frenzied buy up, not so long ago, second only to the International Covid toilet roll panic!

 

Terry

[Cookenbacher]

That's tidy bench there Crisp, congratulations - hopefully you'll have the time enjoy it sometime soon, and therefore we will too, seeing this impressive build continue.

I resemble Jamie, if my bench looked this organized, it would last about three nanoseconds before it reverted to its natural tornado hit state - I have learned to accept this about myself.

[giemme]

Tornado hit... yes, that's a good description for my bench too

 

Much like Jamie, I end up working in an A4 size space....

 

Ciao

[Modelholic]

I've got (partial) use of the dining table😟

And I have full use of the garage, But SWMBO has decided to fill it up with junk!

Tom

[perdu]

On 31/05/2020 at 18:37, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Having all my modelling stuff in one place again for the first time in over 2 years is great, but in trying to snatch some time at the bench in the past few days (work is v busy) I realised that I couldn’t find anything.  When you only have an hour of spare time, wasting half of it rummaging through tool boxes looking for things is a real waste. 
 

So I finally decided to do something about it; I’ve seen the Polish “HobbyZone” modular stuff at Telford & thought it has potential. 36 hours after finding the UK supplier, 9 modules were delivered on Friday.  It’s taken me two days to build them all & sort out my stuff, but finally (possibly for the first time ever!) I know where everything is:

 

It transpires (which will surprise none of you, I suspect) that I own an embarrassing number of files & tweezers!  
 

Let’s hope it allows me to get in with some work on the ship (though part of the school re-opens tomorrow, so I’m expecting this week to be pretty mad as well)

 

More soon

 

Crisp

How the heck you can work in such an oppressive atmosphere?

 

All that TIDY!

 

Give me five minutes with that, I'll show ya how a workbench should look

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"He muttered jealously..."

 

 

Blimey it looks, er, workable Crisp.

 

Nice one.