Another Navy Wings article...

[CharlieOneSix]

BRITAIN'S TOP GUNS - THE FLEET AIR ARM STORY

Today is the launch day of a crowdfunding event - details above - to provide funds for the production of a 90 minute film which will tell the story, little known to the general public, of the Fleet Air Arm from its humble beginnings - before the formation of the Royal Air Force - right up to the modern era. The film is due to be released in approximately October 2023.

Those who donate will receive the following:-

For £25 you will receive a special edition Blu-ray or DVD of BRITAIN'S TOP GUNS - THE FLEET AIR ARM STORY. This will play All Regions and contain the main film (90 minutes) and several bonus features about the FAA and Navy Wings.

For £50, we'll send you a Blu-ray/DVD and a copy of the book View From A Jungly Cockpit 1958-2008. Collated by John Beattie, this fascinating book reveals stories from the FAA's crucial rotary wing.

For £75 you will be given a Blu-ray/DVD plus the book and a Sea Harrier Pegasus Engine Compressor Blade key ring.

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For £150 you can be credited as a SPONSOR of the documentary, with your name listed on screen just after the film ends. You will also be sent all the rewards above.

For £250 we will credit you as an ASSOCIATE PRODUCER on the film, with your name on screen on a separate page just before the end titles begin. Only 10 places are available and you'll receive a Blu-ray/DVD, a book and a Sea Harrier blade key ring.

The video below is a precursor to the film:-

[TheGreenAnger]

Thanks for pointing out that funding drive. I will certainly send a penny or two their way.

[PHXPhlyer]

Thanks for pointing out that funding drive. I will certainly send a penny or two their way.

Spring for this one and make the donation in your SO's name.
Then offer to buy the book from her.

For £50, we'll send you a Blu-ray/DVD and a copy of the book View From A Jungly Cockpit 1958-2008. Collated by John Beattie, this fascinating book reveals stories from the FAA's crucial rotary wing.

PP

[TheGreenAnger]

Thanks for pointing out that funding drive. I will certainly send a penny or two their way.

Spring for this one and make the donation in your SO's name.
Then offer to buy the book from her.

For £50, we'll send you a Blu-ray/DVD and a copy of the book View From A Jungly Cockpit 1958-2008. Collated by John Beattie, this fascinating book reveals stories from the FAA's crucial rotary wing.

PP

Funnily enough she is talking to me as you implant this evil scheme in my innocent head, and she is smiling sweetly at me!

[FD2]

Here's a shot of three 809 Squadron Buccaneers on Ark's deck with just the cockpits of two 892 Squadron Phantoms showing. C/O Navy Wings.

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[CharlieOneSix]

As of now £15770 has been donated on Day 1 of a 30 day appeal for £15,000! Amazing!

Navy Wings put out the following update this afternoon:

Day 1 of our appeal has shown the strength of support for our project to create a documentary to bring the little known story of the Fleet Air Arm into homes around the globe.

This appeal was specifically to cover the location filming costs and it was our intention to start a second appeal, in due course, to cover the costs of editing.

Because of the extraordinary level of support it has received, it is now our hope that this campaign has the potential to run on and cover both costs.

Any funds received after our target has been achieved will contribute to other project costs and thus bring it to a conclusion earlier than we had envisaged.

Please spread the word.

Thank you for your support. It is very much appreciated.

[FD2]

Brilliant response! Thanks for update C16 - time for me to get online to the bank.

[TheGreenAnger]

As of now £15770 has been donated on Day 1 of a 30 day appeal for £15,000! Amazing!

Navy Wings put out the following update this afternoon:

Day 1 of our appeal has shown the strength of support for our project to create a documentary to bring the little known story of the Fleet Air Arm into homes around the globe.

This appeal was specifically to cover the location filming costs and it was our intention to start a second appeal, in due course, to cover the costs of editing.

Because of the extraordinary level of support it has received, it is now our hope that this campaign has the potential to run on and cover both costs.

Any funds received after our target has been achieved will contribute to other project costs and thus bring it to a conclusion earlier than we had envisaged.

Please spread the word.

Thank you for your support. It is very much appreciated.

I am apt to say that this is a far more inspired idea, more calculated to move the supporter of the preservation of the ethos, memories and aircraft, than the scratch cards/lucky draw/lotter type campaign! Maybe I am wrong and the former strategy is a lucrative one but that's the way this Navy Wings supporter feels anyway. Despite all my other sins, I am very antagonistic to gambling.

Fly Navy Heritage Trust is licenced and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commision under the account number 52537.

Add pedantry to my list of sins as I note that they have spelled Commission incorrectly on their site!

[TheGreenAnger]

Here's a shot of three 809 Squadron Buccaneers on Ark's deck with just the cockpits of two 892 Squadron Phantoms showing. C/O Navy Wings.

Another incredible shot. I am probably being terribly dense, like a thick fog, plus ca change, but where are you finding these shots, where on the Navy Wings site are they, or did you take them yourself perchance?

[FD2]

Not mine - they came from the Navy Wings emails which stated they were from Steve Bond’s private collection.

[TheGreenAnger]

"A Royal Navy Officer is the first pilot to land on a moving ship!"

Squadron Commander Edwin Harris Dunning, DSC (17 July 1892 – 7 August 1917), of the British Royal Naval Air Service, was the first pilot to land an aircraft on a moving ship.

Dunning was born in South Africa on 17 July 1892, the second child of Sir Edwin Harris Dunning of Jacques Hall, Bradfield, Essex. He was educated at Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth.

First landing on a moving ship

Dunning's Sopwith Pup veering off the flight deck of HMS Furious during his fatal attempt to land on the carrier while underway, August 7, 1917.

Dunning landed his Sopwith Pup on HMS Furious in Scapa Flow, Orkney on 2 August 1917. He was killed five days later, during his third landing attempt of the day, when an updraft caught his port wing, throwing his plane overboard. Knocked unconscious, he drowned in the cockpit.

He is buried at St Lawrence's Church, Bradfield, between his parents. A plaque in the church states:

The Admiralty wish you to know what great service he performed for the Navy. It was in fact a demonstration of landing an Aeroplane on the deck of a Man-of-War whilst the latter was under way. This had never been done before;and the data obtained was of the utmost value. It will make Aeroplanes indispensable to a fleet;& possibly, revolutionise Naval Warfare. The risk taken by Squadron Commander Dunning needed much courage. He had already made two successful landings;but expressed a wish to land again himself, before other Pilots did so;and in this last run he was killed. My Lords desire to place on record their sense of the loss to the Naval Service of this gallant Officer.

Some might think it a bit odd but I make a trip every year to lay some flowers in the churchyard at Bradfield. It is a pretty place anyway.

https://www.picturesofengland.com/Engla ... /Bradfield

[CharlieOneSix]

TGA - another church which may interest you - it's St Bartholomews, the Fleet Air Arm church just outside the FAA base at Yeovilton. I've visited several times - a very moving place, especially the naval graveyard. There is a beautiful Roll of Honour book in the church - unfortunately the link to it in the website is 404'd - and last time I was there a staff member allowed me to peruse the names of the six course mates who, out of sixteen of us who completed flying training in the mid 60's, lost their lives in the five years after getting their Wings. All forms of military aviation took a big toll of lives in the 1960's, the FAA numbers being 101 pilots, 55 Observers and 11 Aircrewmen.

The church is usually open to the public from 1330-1530 Mon-Thurs but it's worth a phone call to check.

https://www.fleetairarmmc.org/

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[TheGreenAnger]

Thanks for the heads up C16. I shall make a sortie down to pay my respects.

[CharlieOneSix]

...and for my next trick.....

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[FD2]

Some more for the albums, c/o Navy Wings:

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All off Ark Royal.

[G-CPTN]

I'm sorry if this is heresy, but I've never considered the Phantom as British.

[Wodrick]

Got Speys in our version didn't it ?

[FD2]

Where we lived in Northumberland some years ago, the area was full of amazing historical sites, including several major fights between England and Scotland, one of which was the one which would eventually lead to the demise of Harry 'Hotspur' Percy. Another nearby was the Battle of Flodden which went so badly wrong for the Scots. One day we drove down to look at Humbleton Hill near Wooler, where 'Hotspur' started the path to getting his head on a spike. https://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/hotspur.htm

We passed what's left of RAF Milfield, which is still used by light aircraft and gliders, but due to the proximity of high ground in the Cheviots and other hills saw its fair share of accidents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Milfield
https://aviationtrails.wordpress.com/20 ... airfields/

We drove into the village of Kirknewton, under the historic hill fort of Yeavering Bell and stopped to look around the lovely church of St Gregory the Great. In the peaceful graveyard I noticed the stone marking the grave of Lt Cdr Digby Cosh RCNVR.



More to follow.

[FD2]

I'm sorry if this is heresy, but I've never considered the Phantom as British.

No it's not. It was made by McDonnell Douglas but has had a lot of British kit in it, including the Speys.

[FD2]

On the rotary side the Whirlwind, Wessex and Sea King were likewise British built and engined versions of American aircraft. The Wasp is all British and the Lynx and Merlin are European co-operation built and designed. The Wildcat is really a development of the Lynx. Royal Navy British built fixed wing aircraft finished with the Sea Vixen, Gannet and Buccaneer. The F35B is certainly not British!