HMS Eagle 1970: AEW Fairey Gannet, Buccaneer S2, De Havilland Sea Vixen Mk2, Wessex

[eezy1972]

I love the Fairey Gannet. Only the British could dream up such an extraordinary machine. Great clip.

[RobertM408]

At the time CVAO1 was approved in 1964 it was intended in the Late 1970s the RN would have had a three carrier fleet in the late 1970s with HMS Hermes and HMS Eagle both of which would have been refitted in the mid 1970s for another decades service as a strike carrier and probably standardised on the new dutch 3D radar fitt fitted to Tromp rather than the unreliable 984. Hermes would probably have used Sidewinder fitted Vixens as a fighter or radar fitted M type Skyhawks.

[RobertM408]

The Eagle was far the most modern British carrier before the current QE2. Eagle was massively reconstructed between 59-64 and in the early 70s was in far superior condition to the Ark Royal in terms of AW and physical condition. The Ark was said to be little more than a gin palace and admirals barge. A second squadron of F-4 Phantoms were actually delivered in l970 to equip Eagle, but Heath who say the UK's future with Europe had their tailhook ripped out after they arrived in Britain.

[jkaposi]

Great video.

[alismes1]

hi,joined 849 in singapore .jan 1968.sailed over to freemantle.we were going to enter manila but the victorious was damaged at refit ,so instead of manila and tokyo we ended doing three months off gan.all the best to any one that was on that trip.taff clarke.

[Johnpugwash]

did any of you know the FAA Pinky Jack Biggs? he was on Eagle for two tours with 800? This was what I was wanting to do , although I was at school....reckon the sailor series really got me interested......Cheers for posting this - These are days of gold where the RN was supported and respected throughout the world.

[mistersmith6000]

What a contraption is the Gannet!!

[sketchy74]

Fantastic stuff to see such good colour footage of the Eagle in her prime, thanks for posting!

[woggolly]

I knew your father well. I was LAM A/E Doc Vass and 071 was my cab for two commissions. Give him my kind regards. Glad someone had some footage.

Doc.

[mpinder]

@woggolly Hi Doc, thanks for getting in touch, I'll pass on your regards. If you private message me your email address I'll pass it on to Noel. He's off to a Fleet Air Arm Do this week in fact with Kim Sharman.

[Tafftheshed]

@woggolly

Hi Doc,.Just found this on you tube, great footage, good to see a fellow member of the flight ground crew. Hope you are well Rubes

[KB4QAA]

What a great time capsule

[bluejacketbugler]

I was catapult crew at this time on Eagle

[mpinder]

@bluejacketbugler Thanks for getting in touch. If you message me your name, I'll run it by my father and see if he recalls.

[vor033]

Excellent video, thank you for posting it though it does make me feel sad seeing the days when we had a large and powerful Navy and not just the shadow of one as we have now.

[mpinder]

Thanks for your comments, very kind. I'll be adding some more details to the description soon of others who feature in the film - (my Father needs to check his log books first!). I finally got round to digitising the footage to share.

[DSVOP]

Wonderful video and a rare view of one of the Royal Navy 'Big Four' carriers at the time, at work. This is a historical document too, so, it is very kind of you to share this to YouTube. I'm sharing this to Facebook so other carrier fans can share this. Thank you for the Share.