820 squadron

[pixie]

Any one out there who was on 820 with A3 Gannets back in 57/58 or who was with us at Ford when we changed over to Whirlwinds

 

[rangeblind]

No sorry- Must have been and interesting time, maybe the same as when We went Sea King to Merlin

 

[Pierre_Argh]

I was on 820 in the mid 80's (Invincible)

 

[avoiding_action]

And they couldn't find a submarine in a swimming pool!

 

[Pierre_Argh]

Two "find the sub" dits... the first directly concerns 820NAS, the second they were participating in:

Flying off Invincible during a CASEX the boys had been using JEZ and pinging on a UK Sub... when things got a bit tricky, and they were "temporarily unaware of the Sub's position"

Senior Pilot, flying one of the cabs, calls "Hot" and throws the Seaking over into a sharply banked turn (for a SKG?) and dives towards the Sub he can see on the surface... but as they approach, realises it's not the UK Friendly, but a Soviet conventional boat, running on the surface that no one else seemed to be aware of or know anything about.

Many years ago, a message came through to Culdrose that the RAF had lost contact with a Soviet Sub moving up the South West Approaches... and the call came out to "Scramble"... All available Seakings on the Air Station leapt into the air, crews ready and willing for a bit of "hot contact with a real Red"... the action had been going on for about an hour, when ATC received a call from the Civilian S61 Helicopter on the scheduled passenger run between Penzance & the Isles of Scilly saying, "Did you know there's a Submarine down here on the surface?".... Guess what it was?

 

[Joint_Force_Harrier]

I was lucky enough to serve on 820 from 87-89. Did the Outback 88 trip to Australia on Ark Royal.
Was on when one of our Sea Kings landed on a Harrier.

 

[chockhead819]

well not 820 but 819, we had a middy observer late 70s doing a casex with Oberon in the Clyde, they found it went through the procedure for dropping a depth charge, only trouble was the middy actually dropped it & it hit the Oberon. So when Oberon goes back into Faslane theres the depth charge wedged just below the sail.
Also didn't an 820 cab depth charge a whale down south.

 

[teejatfr]

I was a tel air on Gannets 820 Squadron in the fifties

 

[Richie]

Chockhead819

I sure it was 826

 

[ssam]

Sorry-- no to the original question but I was with 820 at Culdrose '68/'69. Ahhh memories.... Porthleven Jane.. a freeezing snowy winter. a cab shedding a blade and embedding itself in a hangar door. a few of us clubbed together and bought a 'squadron car', (a Citroen DS 19), for shore runs. Later we went on Eagle on exercise in the Arctic. I also recall one or two' float tests' when main gearboxes failed.
Jog any memories for others out there?

ssam

 

[Richie]

all of those ssam and loads more ........

 

[jiver]

Tel air. I was on 820 56/57 gannets from formation at eglinton until disbanding ford 57. remember exercise strikeback in the artic. We had nice warm clothing but crappy rope soled shoes which were freezing. One of the tels named romaine came from the same town as myself. I see my old oppo pixie is on here ex 820 man.