Sailor series -Aircraft from HMS Ark Royal at Vieques weapons range

[transonicbuoy1]

Class in a glass. From Japan. Love my country and the men who sail.

[stewie1972]

Does anyone know what was stored in the yellow tank starboard aft just underneath the flightdeck? Seems far too small for anything significant and why is it yellow and not grey? Just something I`ve been wondering about. Thankyou.

[m60a3ttsmilwaukee]

she carried #39 f-4 phantom-2...(much bigger that operation corporate # 20 shar frs-1 off hermes and invincibile)...after the 1982 war...raf phantoms defended falklands-uk...

[m60a3ttsmilwaukee]

these far out phantoms would have prevented the 1982 falklands war!...the tom cruise movie top gun 1986 seems to have copied this? /milwaukee

[linklater86]

Imagine if we had this during the Falklands War...

[YARROWS]

Imagine that music and coverage of one of the Invinsible class carriers.Just how shit would that look.We have got to go back over 30 years to see a decent British Aircraft Carrier.

[blackcobs007]

has anyone got the full series that would be brill

[Popeetog]

Yes I have, but nearly seven hours to edit down to 10 min section on youtube woud take toooooo long to do.

[blackcobs007]

sorry mate dint think of that ..shame

[Greenhornet270]

buccanneer looked like a sitting duck...UK FINALLY got a modern fight in the F4.

[farmerned6]

@Greenhornet270 the buccanneer is the best navy strike bomber ever built, constant 560 mph at 30ft with 4000lb in the belly - hard to find, track and stop while the F4 was a one-trick pony of a fighter - plenty of power but lacked agility

[Motoguzzi750]

@farmerned6 I wont disagree that the Buccaneer was very good, the F4 was not just a one-trick pony. Have you read what Eric Brown said about it? And he's a bloke who's opinions on carrier aircraft (of that era) I would take over pretty much anyones.

[farmerned6]

@Motoguzzi750

Hiya moto

I was replying to hornet's bucc v F-4 coment. and no I haven't read what Eric Brown said (put some up maybe?)

I have however seen documentaries with vietnam pilots , who said it lacked agiliy in combat, ("go vertical")

& the book "phoenix squadron" kinda backs that up it its early pages -(but it could be read as a bit too pro-RN ) that aside it probably was the best carrier-capable fighter of the 60/early 70's I was saying the bucc was NO sitting duck

[Motoguzzi750]

@farmerned6 thats fair enough mate! I have a freind who is a Retd Lt Col in the USAF he started out in F4s, then F111s, then finally managed a short time on F15s due to a general who was a good freind (he shouldn't really have been flying too much by then due to his rank...) - Bob has a lot of good to say about the F4 as a ground attack/strike aircraft but as you say in a dogfight not the right thing at all - though his combat expereience in then was confined to SE Asia in the 1960s.

[russmar2168]

Great to see this sequence again! I served in Ark Royal for her final deployment in '78, the best months of my service career. I remember spending hours on the goofing deck just, well, goofing! (I was in the RM band so had sod all better to do lol!!). I made the mistake of going to see her in Plymouth the day before she was towed to the scrappers- wish I hadn't because now, my final memories of that once magnificent ship are of her stripped bare and lifeless.

[n272dar]

That's my dad at 2:55 "handling" Buc onto bow cat. I was 6 when he was on Ark. Previous he was on Victorious, Hermes, Eagle. After Ark....Bulwark and went to Falklands 82 in Invincible. He loved those big fixed wing days. This is a great clip.

[YARROWS]

@n272dar If we had the Arc and Eagle in 82 the Argies wouldn't have dared invade the Falklands.

[Popeetog]

To be fair the Ark was at the end of her life. HMS Eagle up until 1976 was moored up in the Tamar for the main purpose of being a floating spares reserve to keep Ark going. Lack of government foresight (so no surprise there!) meant smaller carriers with a smaller striking force were the way backward.

Anyway, many thanks for those who've said they'e enjoyed watching these clips.

When the day job allows me time, I 'll have some fresh clips posted up very soon.

[BritishFalklands]

yeah I remember that. I joined the mob in 78 and used to see Eagle when I crossed the Torpoint Ferry. That was a bit surreal and being a sprog not really understanding anything at the time! Cheers for posting the videos - great stuff.

[Grahampk73]

I lived in Torpoint as a child and would see the Ark Royal every day. Could see it from our school, it was a sad day when the towed her away.

[BritishFalklands]

I can imagine. I was on Eskimo in 78 and years later was in Plymouth and picked up a Navy News (I know, very anchor faced :) And saw a picture of Eskimo being towed out for missile practice. Was very sad feeling; you had to be on that ship every day (a complete piece of junk btw) to love every thing about it. Shooting missiles into it was a very sad ending.

[Grahampk73]

I My Dad did serve on the Eagle and has fond memories of that ship. I met Dad on Berwick, Norfolk and Naiad when returning to base in Pompie and Gus. I think Naiad and Berwick was sunk and I think Norfolk sold.I used to get a special day off school to meet him. Family navy days were great on these ships going to sea and seeing parts of the ship. I would always wear at school a jumper with the crest of the ship which was permitted by the schools.

[BritishFalkland]

I bet. I remember those family days they were a lot of fun. It was always good to see people on the ship and appreciating all the hard work. The firs ship I ever went on was Norfolk. I was on a school trip up to Liverpool docks and we got to go on board and walk through the ship. After that I was pretty much sold on what my future was going to be. I was 16 and joined up at 17. By 18 I was on the beach in Rio De Janiero Brasil. I celebrated my 18th birthday in Africa on the way down there....

[Grahampk73]

My dad was in the Navy at the time of this series. I saw the Ark Royal when she was decommissioned and laid up near Plymouth. A great looking ship but a sad sight waiting for the scrapyard. Its great that we soon see some big carriers again in the fleet.

[Popeetog]

The two Queen Elizabeth class carriers due to enter service in 2014 and 2016 will initially be configured for STOVL operations, the carriers will be adaptable to conventional catapult and arrested-landing configuration in the future - although what we'll have to fly from them is another story! Maybe Thundercity in South Africa will lend-lease us their Buccaneers for a bit!

[BritishFalklands]

...I thought we were getting the JSF for the carriers? Has that idea been scrapped? The Harrier is well past her age. I actually met a bloke in the states that bought an ex-RN sea harrier and he flies it every weekend. Google Art Nalls Sea Harrier. The only person in the world with their own VTOL Jet!

[Grahampk73]

The government says it will order 150 JSF but not until the carriers are nearly complete. Due to the new carriers being delayed by two years the harriers might have to go on longer with our present carriers or possibly there might be gap in which the RN has no planes on carriers. But we know as governments change their defence policy change so I hope we get our carriers and JSF not a low budget fleet air arm.

[BritishFalklands]

THANKS FOR THE UPDATE. Must have JSF!

[thewobblyorange1987]

JSF was going to come into service years after QE carriers. This is still the case but dates are now closer.

[BritishFalklands]

one last comment I know you have heard a thousand times before...sorry: If the Ark was not scrapped then the falkland's war would never have happened. The Argies respect strength and power and we showed them we were a bunch of idiots were getting rid of one of the world's finest war fighting capabilities. Dumb move and someone should have paid for that decision in Whitehall.

[BritishFalklands]

thanks for posting.....outstanding....I remember watching the original and then joining the mob soon thereafter! was not quite so glamorous!

[pj11182003]

I'm 22 ,so this ship was scrapped along time before i was born,but wow the Mighty Ark has to be the best looking Aircraft Carrier ever made.if she was a Supercar she would of been a Aston Martin

[CAPTJACKAUBREY69]

Back when the British actually had a navy.......

[stewie1972]

I remember this old lady even though she left us when I was just 8 years old. My Old Man served on her in the `70s and my Sister was Christened on her too. So good to see her here and the music too is very emotional.Thankyou for posting footage of her and it`s a fitting tribute to the guys who served on her.

[projetociclone]

The britsh catapults was too short!!!!

[dansterrrr]

Great video, shame we scrapped this ship and her aircraft so many dead in 1982 due to it not being there :(

[MontytheHorse]

Sadly she was literally falling to bits by the time she was decommissioned.

There were times in 1982 when sea conditions around the Falklands would have prevented carriers like the Ark from launching aircraft, so it could be argued that the support given by Hermes and Invincible might not have been there if the RN had used Ark Royal and her Phantoms and Buccaneers. Of course the war might not have happened at all if we'd still had Ark in service.

[BritishFalklands]

exactly my point; they could have moth balled her and all the planes,. kept her in Guz on standby squadron. That would be incredibly low cost and also let others know that we could take off the wrappers and send her back out. Whether we could or not is debatable. Doesn't matter; perception is reality and it could have held us over until we got 3 invincible class carriers into operation.

[dansterrrr]

Yeah I think the Invincible carriers are rubbish. Far to small to do what we need them to do. We have always been an Island nation with a strong navy and a small army. Powerful carriers, scrap the nuclear missile subs and lots of destroyers. Power projection!

[BritishFalklands]

yeah...but they were slightly better than rubbish down south in 82. We'd have been in big trouble without them. But I agree. Not like having the real thing with AEW and everything that goes with it.

[adwasono]

Bring back the old memories right guys? when RN were using really big aircraft carrier and their Fleet Air Arm were using powerful jet like Phantom and Bucaneer , not just a STOL/VTOL carrier for Harrier and Helicopter. Its rare footage anyway, I have 3 documentaries about U.S' carrier, but its common to see US Navy carrier vessel anywhere. All the best Mate, Britannia Rules The Waves!!!!

[ryanmgill]

Bloody good!

[lordofbore]

I remember watching this the first time,I think I was about six or seven!!

thanks for posting,brings back lots of happy memories!!

[Canashea]

The days when the Royal Navy had a real Fleet Air Arm, and will again when the CVF's and F-35s arrive.

[phillneal]

I remember this so well when it 1st came out on BBC TV and just loved the way the music was matched to the film. Years later I purchased the video set and was so dissapointed it did not have Rod Stewart at the start and Pink Floyd on the flight deck and taking off bits. Thank you, you have made an old man very happy seeeing this again.

[phillneal]

The 1st time I saw this I never heard this tune by Pink Floyd but I do remember thinking how clever somebody was at the BBC for putting such music to the film and I have never ever forgotten it. Years later I purchased the videa set and it did not have Rod Stuart or the Pink Floyd music backing the video, very sad and bad news for the BBC but what a wonderful unforgettable programme this was, thank you, I am a happy man to hear this again.

Phill Neal, Leighton Buzzard

[wscott8987]

Brilliant, I loved that series. the 'Fleet Chief' was the best character, supervising activities on his 'war canoe' Loved it.

[ZilogZX]

Airfix Super Flight Deck - best Christmas ever (1975)!!!!

[davejc1]

this is great!!!!!!!!might i suggest timing off bit? seem to remember the rockets being in time to dum-dum-dums...not a critisism at all..Amazing piece of film, thank you for up loaing it. Maybe i`m remembering it wrong?

[Popeetog]

Ta very much! I was much toooo young (LOL) to remember it first time Davejc1!!! I've cut off about two mins off the start of original footage - -which may well tie in the beats with the rockets . Plus only had a live version of Shine On.....to play with which probably stretches a little longer than the studio version.

[KrisRamJ]

AWESOME, love it!

[sketchy74]

SUPERB!

Thanks for posting!

[Popeetog]

My pleasure!