Fly Navy 100^th Anniversary

Words and photography by Mike Freer.

The Fleet Air Arm celebrated 100 years of Navy aviation flying on May 7^th 2009, with a flypast of fixed and rotary wing aircraft over the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious which was moored in the river Thames near the famous Royal Naval College at Greenwhich.

The rotary wing element of the formation operated out of RAF Northolt and for a time the airfield took on the appearance of a Royal Naval Air Station. The scene at times resembled that from the classic film 'Apocalypse Now'.

The Balbo formation of forty aircraft led by Merlin HM1 helicopters flew down the river Thames and over HMS Illustrious. His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, Commander in Chief of the Fleet Air Arm and a distinguished Navy pilot, who saw active service in the Falklands conflict, was present to witness this historic event. He was welcomed onboard by the Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope KCB OBE.

The formation comprised all the current Royal Navy types in service. The Hawk formation (callsign “Bronze”) and the Jetstream formation (callsign “Mercury”) operated from RAF Odiham, while the rotary wing formation comprising Merlin, Sea King and Lynx helicopters (callsign “Mayfly”) operated from RAF Northolt.

It was on May 7^th 1909 that the Admiralty first set aside £ 35,000 for the development of an airship, His Majesty’s Airship 1. This would lead to the formation of the Fleet Air Arm as we know it today.

The first Royal Navy Air Station was established at Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey in Kent during 1909, where the first four Naval aviators were trained. Short Brothers commenced production of aircraft for the Navy at Shellbeach during 1909 before moving to Eastchurch. The Royal Navy was to take to the sky.

The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was established in January 1914 under the Air Department of the Admiralty. During the First World War the RNAS was engaged in the role of fleet reconnaissance, patrolling coasts for enemy shipping, attacking enemy coastal positions along with defending the United Kingdom against air attacks. The RNAS was also deployed to the Western Front.

In April 1918 the RNAS was merged with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to form the Royal Air Force. On April 1^st 1924, the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force was established. The Squadrons were formed from those that normally embarked on aircraft carriers and fighting ships. On May 24th 1939, the Fleet Air Arm returned to Admiralty control and became the Air Branch of the Royal Navy.

During the Second World War, the Fleet Air Arm saw considerable expansion. The aircraft carrier, by now, had replaced the battleship as the Fleet’s capital ship. The Royal Navy at that time could boast of a fleet of 59 aircraft carries in worldwide service.

With the dawn of the jet age, the FAA needed to modernise its fleet of aging piston powered aircraft and during the late 1940s the de Havilland Sea Vampire entered service. The Sea Vampire was the first jet powered aircraft to make a landing on an aircraft carrier.

For a while, the FAA continued to operate piston powered aircraft alongside its newly acquired jet aircraft. The age of the piston powered fighter was not yet over as was demonstrated during the Korean War when a Hawker Sea Fury shot down a MiG 15.

The Defence cuts of the 1960s precluded the purchase of any further large aircraft carriers and a smaller cruiser-size carrier, the Invincible class, was built to operate the new Hawker Siddeley Sea Harrier VTOL aircraft. It was during the Falklands campaign that the Sea Harrier saw outstanding service. Since the 1960s, the FAA has established a large fleet of helicopters and these have seen service in the Falklands as well as the Gulf Wars and other trouble spots around the world.

On a rather overcast day a group of invited aviation photographers, journalists and enthusiasts gathered at RAF Northolt to witness the helicopter operations for this historic flypast.

Helicopters representing the current Naval Air Squadrons from RNAS Yeovilton and Culdrose were present. The photocall was arranged to raise funding for the restoration of the Northolt Battle of Britain Sector Ops Room.

The author wishes to thank the Station Commander, Group Captain Guy van den Berg; OC Ops Flight Flt Lt Cunningham; SATCO Sqd Ldr Shumer; Senior Air Movements Officer Sqd Ldr Baxter and last but not least, Phillip Dawe for making the photo-shoot possible.