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

Sailor, The 1976 BBC series set on HMS Ark Royal. Vieques weapons range. Cut down version from the DVD with a live version Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond replacing the 'tune' Aunty Beeb misguidedly chose to use for their vhs/dvd re-issue of the series. I believe this is what was used originally.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• HMSArkRoyal
• BBC
• Buccaneeers
• Gannets
• Phantoms
• PinkFloyd
• Royal
• Sailing;
• Sailor;
• Seakings;
• Vieques
• Wessex

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[transonicbuoy1]

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

[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.

[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 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]

@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

[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.