BBC on board HMS Illustrious - BBC Breakfast

BBC Breakfast are on HMS Illustrious at the moment.

 

Can't see it as we are in Malta and don't get much real tele.

Daily Mail ran an artical on her recently and there is a bit on the BBC news web site.
"At its peak there can be as many as 700 staff on board. Many can be stationed on the ship" WHAT??? 700? We used to have about a thousand back in the 80's

 

"Many can be stationed on the ship" WHAT??? 700? We used to have about a thousand back in the 80's"

exactly what i said to the chief MA & AH when i visited a few weeks ago. Anyone who served on an I class will be shocked if they went onboard. Its obvious they don't get many a/c to play with as the front of the hanger is full of gym equipment. My oppo onboard told me he spends all his time trying to keep his lads from putting their notice in & the highlight was getting 6 harriers on deck for a week.

 

Personally I, for once, was impressed that RN PR has got it together. There was a good plug for Fly Navy 100 yesterday on BBC Breakfast, and today they got Brian Hanrahan onto Lusty. Everyone, including the journos and presenters seem pretty on-message about the importance of CVF, and that it's coming despite the recession. That's good, because it makes it harder for the Government to rethink its support.

All in all, a bit of a win.

 

What I am happy with is the amount of PR coverage the Navy (via Illustrious) is suddenly getting. Looks like someone has pulled their finger out - perhaps they may have read the odd comment here about the lack of coverage the RN hasn't been getting compared to the other two junior services.

Old git mode <ON> When the 4 flights were embarked (two in hanger and two ranged on flight deck), we weren't allowed anywhere near the hanger\flight deck let alone have any gym kit there.

 

Hardly full, it has a couple of running machines.

It was 2 weeks, Opsec limits what else I can say but theres plenty of FW ops on CVS in the pipeline.

Having just been onboard I can tell you now morale seemed extremely high from where I was, so it's not all doom and gloom I can assure you.

 

I saw the Lusty on the BBC this morining but only briefly. What on earth do you want running machines on a sodding carrier for? Not big enougth or has the flight deck been converted into tennis courts?

 

Am I correct in thinking these aircraft will not make it as far as Tower Bridge? If so, I've just alerted 300 staff to a non-event! Ooops!

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8037081.stm

 

Sorry, too cryptic for me to work out :-(

 

I am in London
I am by Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a famous bridge in London

I wanted to ascertain as to whether the choppers would get as far West as Tower Bridge from Greenwich
I told my colleagues that the flypast is outside at 1200

Therefore not at all sure what's so cryptic

 

Well you wouldn't want to be running around the flight deck or hangar whislt operating aircraft would you? :roll:

 

I am in Malta
I was born and raised in London
I have served on Illustrious as crew (not Woo)
I am also daft as a brush for not realising that the ship is in Greenwich - otherwise I wouldn't have posted as your post now makes sense.

 

Well I had to endure 4 wokkas going over my flat this morning... bloody Woos.

Apparently there is a flypast at 1200 today (so sayeth the BBC, tho someone else told me tomorrow).

I hope they have a bloody great Ensign to fly under a helo, otherwise some idiots will think its the crabs and all our PR will go to waste!

 

That was good was that

"I am also daft as a brush for not realising that the ship is in Greenwich - otherwise I wouldn't have posted as your post now makes sense."

Mea culpa as I didn't explain they're coming from Greenwich although I'm not sure that they did in any case now!

 

Well, the might of the FAA has just flown over. Good show. Two disappointments, however. 1) No harriers. I know that NSW is busy, but it would have been good to remind people that we're still in the fixed wing game. 2) No way of knowing that these were RN aircraft- which is bloody useless for PR purposes. If civives doing promotions can fly a big flag off the bottom of an aircraft then why can't we have a bloody great White Ensign?

Anyway, BZs to the guys- good to see that we can at least break the crab monopoly of overflying London.

 

IIRC didn't the Luftwaffe overfly London last year or year before. Some old WWII vintage bomber thingy. If they can do it why can't the RN. Sad.

<aside> Wonder if the UK would be allowed to fly a Lancaster over Berlin? Hmm, thought not.

 

Well, they made it past Vauxhall bridge also - the rotary wings did, haven't seen any fixed wing yet ?

Happy Birthday the Woos ccasion4:

Trust the Ship's Company will be in Soho for an evening bash ??

 

Busy like you have no idea, if you could see our longcast then you'd understand why we can't go for a mince around London, even for just one afternoon. There is however one of our jets onboard the Lusty for the public to have a gander at.

 

Feature on this lunchtime's ITV news, in the next twenty minutes... :thumright: