flight deck

Description

Hi You Tubers ad Friends, This recording and the others in the set of 3 are from the BBC TV Series "Sailor" from 1976 which focused on the ships company of HMS Ark Royal. This was a fly-on-the-wall look at life aboard the ship and made TV history and for the great sea going nation of GB. Sailor was made, showing life on board the ship during a February to July 1976 Western Atlantic deployment. Her commanding officer at this time was Captain Wilfred Graham, a later Flag Officer Portsmouth and the ship's Commander (executive officer) was Commander David Cowling. The theme tune for the programme was "Sailing" by Rod Stewart - a song that came to be associated with the ship and her successor. The record featured the band of The Royal Marines. I have chosen this track as this shows the the coming home of the Ark and includes the famous "Sailing" number sung by the ships company by Rod Stuart and again shows the life of ship like the others it is as the cover of the LP states "A Picture in Sound of the Royal Navy". History from Wikipedia: HMS Ark Royal (R09) was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and, when she was decommissioned in 1978, was its last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier. She was the world's first aircraft carrier to be commissioned with an angled flight deck, preceding the first American carrier with this feature, USS Forrestal, by nine months. She was launched in 1950, and her completion took five more years. In this time, she underwent redesign and, when completed, she was markedly different from her sister ship. Shortly before her launch from the Cammell Laird shipyard, an image of the ship painted with her white undercoat was captured by the pictorialist photographer Edward Chambré Hardman. This has been exhibited many times under the name 'Where Great Ships Are Built' and later 'Birth Of The Ark Royal'. When commissioned, she had a 5.5° partially angled flight deck, two steam catapults capable of launching aircraft weighing up to 30,000 pounds (14,000 kg), a deck-edge lift on the port side (the first British ship to be fitted with such a device), modified armament, and the new mirror landing system. Ark Royal was the first British ship to be constructed with an angled flight deck and steam catapults, as opposed to having them added after launching.[1] These innovations allowed aircraft to land and take off from the carrier at the same time. Her flight deck as built was 800 by 112 feet (240 by 34 m). About a year after commissioning, her forward port 4.5 inch (113 mm) guns were removed to improve aircraft operations over the angled deck. Four years later, the port deck-edge lift and the forward starboard 4.5 inch (113 mm) guns were also removed. The remaining 4.5 inch guns were removed in the 1964 refit. From March 1967 to February 1970, she underwent her final major refit, partially to enable her to operate the larger Phantom and Buccaneer Mk.2 aircraft. Modifications included an 8.5° angled flight deck, new catapults and arrestor cables, a modified island and a partially new electronic suite (some of her original radars were retained). She was also fitted for four Sea Cat missile launchers, but they were never installed, so she emerged from this refit with no defensive armament. Initially on entry into service, the ship had a complement of up to 50 aircraft comprising Sea Hawks, Sea Venoms, Gannets, Skyraiders and various helicopters. As later aircraft types grew in size and complexity, her air group fell to below 40 when she left service in 1978. Enjoy..... Warm regards Richard Please Note: The photos and music used in this video do not belong to me and are the copyright of their respective owners. I have uploaded this video for entertainment purposes only. If I infringe Copyright I will remove the posting without question.