SQUADRONS OF THE ROYAL NAVY No.15
These are four of the 20 aircraft of 703 Naval Air Squadron, an outpost of the Fleet Air Arm in the RAF’s heartland – and the place where naval pilots and observers learn the fundamentals of flight. 703 is co-located with 674 Squadron Army Air Corps at RAF Barkston Heath, a satellite airfield of RAF College Cranwell – the spiritual home of the Air Force. It’s 703’s mission to deliver Elementary Flying Training (EFT) to Royal Navy and Royal Marines student pilots and, more recently, Elementary Navigation Training (ENT) to Royal Navy observer students using the Grob Tutor 115E. At any one time, 15 of the squadron’s 20 Grobs are serviceable... although there’s only room on the dispersal for 12 – a problem most commanding officers of FAA squadrons would love to have. It’s a problem currently tackled by Lt Cdr Roger Wyness, one of four RN Qualified Flying Instructors (QFIs) assigned to 703. Between them they have amassed a modest 12,000 hours front line experience on Harrier GR7s, Lynx, Sea King and Tornado F3s. They also go through a sixmonth course with 115(R) Squadron RAF where they learn all about the Grob as well as the art of passing on their skill, knowledge and experience to rookie pilots. In addition to the RN quartet, there are also three civilian instructors with a wealth of experience; one of the present team is a former professional aerobatics pilot whose log book entries include (inter alia) Spitfires, Mustangs and Corsairs. Thoughts of such aircraft are a long way in the future for the student pilots, who begin their time at 703 with a month of ground school at Cranwell where, alongside their RAF and Army counterparts, the budding aviators study flight theory, aerodynamics, meteorology, navigation techniques and altimetry, as well as completing a
number of safety drills including how to use a parachute. They then join the squadron at Barkston Heath where they begin the long road to the front line. Initial piloting skills are honed with the aim of a first solo sortie incorporating the basics of learning how to safely handle the Grob during take-off, circuits and landing. Advanced handling techniques are then followed by applied skills which include navigation, flying and operating solely with reference to the aircraft’s instrumentation, lowlevel navigation techniques and how to fly in formation. It takes approximately six months to complete the 55-flying-hour syllabus and culminates in the mildlystressful Final Air Test. Successful completion allows the students to move on to the next stage of training at RAF Shawbury for instruction on the Squirrel helicopter, or for the select few, to RAF Linton-on-Ouse for fixed-wing training. June 20 sees the first anniversary of observer training in its current guise, spilt between Barkston Heath and RNAS Culdrose. Under the badge of 703 NAS, observer students undergo a four-week programme of ground school following a similar syllabus to their pilot counterparts. After ground school they complete nine general handling flights and ten visual navigation sorties. If they successfully come through their time at Barkston Heath, the rookie observers decamp to RNAS Culdrose and 750 NAS where their tactical observer skills are developed with the aid of the newest aircraft in the Royal Navy’s inventory, the King Air Avenger. 703 runs six courses a year for each specialisation with the capacity to train 60 student pilots and 36 observers when running at full capacity. In the past 12 months the Senior Service element at RAF Barkston Heath has notched up 1,600 sorties having trained 14 pilots and nine observers (the relatively low numbers are the result of the 2010 defence review). Although flying training is the squadron’s principal mission,
In Grob we trust Facts and figures
H
IGH in clear-blue Lincolnshire skies, Grob trainers fly together as the Fleet Air Arm’s pilots of tomorrow learn the art of flying in formation.
Motto: Experentia docet – experience teaches Aircraft: Grob Aircraft Grob 115E Engines: 1 x Lycoming 0-360 A1B6 piston engine Wing Span: 10m (32ft 8in) Length: 7.54m (24ft 9in) Ceiling: 3,050m (10,000ft) Speed: 185kt Endurance: 620 nautical miles Crew: one pilot; one student
staff also have a duty to maintain and develop military ethos amongst what are essentially Royal Navy officers undergoing Phase 2 training. Visits to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and flights with some of the Air Force’s squadrons based at RAF Waddington go some way towards achieving this. But being a small speck of dark blue in a sea of RAF light blue it’s also important to foster the Senior Service identity. Use of correct naval terminology (shareholders, heads, gopher, shipmate and so on) is rigorously enforced by the squadron’s Executive Officer, Lt Jamie Haggo. Personnel also take part in major RN events, such as the ski championships, but it’s the most important date in naval aviation – Taranto Night – which is always commemorated. Each November, the RAF’s President of the Mess kindly hands over Daedalus Officers’ Mess – Cranwell started life
as RNAS Daedalus, hence the lighthouse on top of the college, miles from the sea – to the Senior Naval Officer, currently Cdr Andy Riggall. Of course, appreciation of the wider joint Service identity is hugely encouraged at every opportunity with regular attendance at the CO’s Cup where the 703 NAS competes against the other Squadrons and host units at RAF College Cranwell. Activities away from the squadron also keep the team busy throughout the year. Liaison with both Northumberland and Wales University Royal Naval Units passes on the Fleet Air Arm
‘word’ to potential aviators of the future through mutual visits and social events. Representation during the annual November ceremonies is also recognised as vitally important, with students and staff taking part at commemorations across the county. So, in the depths of ‘RAF Lincolnshire’, far from the sea
(well, two dozen miles – which isn’t that much further inland than RNAS Yeovilton...) there is a Fleet Air Arm squadron going about its daily business providing aircrew with their first taste of flying training and above all flying the White Ensign high.
PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORIES OUR trip down memory lane courtesy of the immense photographic archives of the Imperial War Museum this month appropriately takes us back to June 1953 and the Coronation of Elizabeth II. On the left (A 032568), the ship’s company of Britain’s last battleship, HMS Vanguard, paint her sides ahead of the Coronation Review at Spithead... ...and on the right (KOR 000049), Rear Admiral Eric Clifford – Flag Officer Second in Command for the Far East Station – raises his cap and calls for three cheers for the Queen during a Coronation Day parade aboard HMS Ocean – 6,000 miles away in Sasebo, Japan. The carrier had just completed the first patrol of her second tour of duty off Korea after relieving HMS Glory. And although the Coronation was a Commonwealth affair, it was celebrated by all ships in the Japanese harbour – Dutch, American, British – who dressed overall for the occasion. Ocean had already staged a flypast of her Sea Furies two days earlier, forming ‘E R’ over the carrier. On the big day itself Ocean was the focal point of commemorations with a service and parade held onboard (although a cloudburst meant it was shifted from the flight deck to her hangar). After the cheers, the beers – well, rum, for ‘splice the mainbrace’ was ordered; a treat extended to the Chinese stewards thanks to lobbying by Ocean’s captain. The day closed with a searchlight display by all the ships in harbour, enjoyed by all the assorted ship’s companies, plus some 200 VIPs. That wasn’t quite the end of celebrations, for the next day marquees with bars were opened ashore in Sasebo for all United Nations forces, all provided by local business leaders. ■ THESE photographs – and 9,999,999 others from a century of war and peace – can be viewed or purchased at www.iwmcollections.org.uk, by emailing photos@IWM.org.uk, or by phoning 0207 416 5333. 12 : JUNE 2012
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