st24 wrote:lmgaylard wrote:Lovely photos Docman.
Just as info; the Sea Harrier would have been piloted by Flt Lt Ian Mortimer who was the 1st Royal Navy SHAR display pilot and displayed in 1980 and 1981.
But this is 1979 and the SHAR wasn't fully in RN service - the a/c pictured belongs to 700A Sqn, the IFTU. Not saying though that the pilot might have been who you say as he was one of the original RAF inductees to the senior service to show them how to fly....
ST24 yes you are correct that the photos are from 1979, it looks like on reflection I worded my previous comment unclearly.
Flt Lt Ian Mortimer was the 1st Sea Harrier display pilot and he displayed in 79, 80 and 1981.
He has wrote a lot for my forthcoming book; Yeovilton-Home of the Sea Harrier.
Here is a relevant quote from Ian Mortimer taken from my book;
''Friday morning was gorgeous. Cold for August but the sky was blue and there was a gentle breeze to lean into whilst hovering. What could I do? Perfect VSTOL conditions. I got back to Yeovilton and went into the full VSTOL repertoire. Thousands of people turned out of their offices to watch. A little voice somewhere kept saying, “no fancy VSTOL” but I wasn't listening, I was having such a good time. When I climbed out of the jet the AEO, LT Cdr Peter Palmer, approached and he wasn't smiling. “I want a word with you”, said the AEO, but before I could panic he burst into a big smile and said, “thank you Morts, the boys really needed a moral boost and that was just great”. Wow, not only was I not in the guano, I was being thanked, but the elation was short lived. When I got into the line office I was told the Boss wanted to see me, immediately! Four days with the Navy and already I'd disobeyed a direct order, my career was about to end. “What happened Morts”, said a very stern faced Sharkey? I told him what I was sure he already knew after which he just said, “ok, that'll be all”. As I opened the door to leave Sharkey called me back and with just a hint of a smile said, “Morts you're going to be the display pilot, get a sequence together and let me know when it's ready”.
And this little section has a relevant comment regarding your RAF jibe;
''I told earlier how my time with the Fleet Air Arm began a sequence of events that can best be described as “being in the right place at the right time” and how, by that means, I became the first Sea Harrier Display Pilot. At that time I had no-one with whom to discuss the “Dos and Donts” of
display flying and was left very much to my own devices. When I suggested to Sharkey that he might want to watch my first attempt he was too busy and just told me to get on with it. This was quite typical of 700A where everyone was trusted to do their job, to the best of their ability, without constant supervision; what a contrast with the RAF!
The above is obviously copyrighted but I hope you enjoy reading it.
Kind regards.
197903YeoviltonTomcat by richard.digby, on Flickr
197903YeoviltonWessex by richard.digby, on Flickr
197905YeoviltonSeaHarrier by richard.digby, on Flickr
197905YeoviltonSeaHarrier2 by richard.digby, on Flickr
197905YeoviltonF104multiscan by richard.digby, on Flickr
197903YeoviltonFlycatcher2 by richard.digby, on Flickr
197905YeoviltonB173 by richard.digby, on Flickr
197903YeoviltonMirage by richard.digby, on Flickr
197903Scan-150131-0001 by richard.digby, on Flickr
