These great, hulking, bleeding hydraulic juice, war machines were great. Only Scimitars were Scimitars - stuff the rest!
Looking for any of the guys on 800 Squadron in 1960/61 on the Australian trip especially Jim (Dodger) Long whose last four numbers were 0909. Anyone know him? Or Chris Grant, Roy Miles?? Love to hear from them. I'm in Victoria, Australia but would love to hear from them.
All the best,
Jay (Jerry, Jake, Jezbo and other names I was known by) Dunning
PS I played guitar and had a band on the Ark!

Further to John Stevens comment about a canopy detaching at 600 MPH, could that be the one that Lt Somerville Jones lost on a cat launch from the Ark 65/66 time? I believe he completed his sortie and landed back ,unless someone knows any better?

I cut my teeth on this one in '64'. A cracking aeroplane for all it's faults.

I worked on scimitars in 1962 on 736 squadron The scimitar was prone to be down due to service failures in fact when deployed to the airshow at Farnborough we flew all but one plane to Yeoville by using the opportunity servicing to get them in the air in spite of not being fully operational we would be soaked in fuel when we removed the servicing covers By the way is that Ginger Warrington ?We called the scimitars leaky puppies "MO " Smith

I don't think you can blame "Big Aircraft" "Small Deck" for Scimitar losses.I served on 803 on the Ark and we had many losses and none were attributable to aircraft's size but due to failures in the aircraft's systems.Apart from the one which ended up with the nose wheel in the catwalk due to heavy seas and a slippy deck.

The reason for the Scimitar's high accident rate wasn't a flaw to the aircraft itself.The Scimitar was large and powerful while the British carriers of the period were very small,this made take offs and landings from them a nightmare especially when flying big aircraft like the Scimitar

hey paul how are you doing? visit me at facebook and congratulation on your wedding.regards to julieta

This was a popular aircraft alright but took a long time to gestate. One has to remember that prior to finalising this design the Royal Navy had been looking at aircraft that would not have an undercarriage but would land on a rubberised flight deck. You wonder how much they paid for that idea! Prior to the retirement of the Scimitar the risible plan was to remove the guns fortunately this idea was not taken up.

I was witness to the first deck landing on HMS Ark Royal, it frightened the hell out of us.

Iwas an Aircraft fitter working at RNAY Fleetlands on Scimitars in the late 1950's/ early 1960's, we managed to stop all fuel and hydraulic leakswhen carrying out functional tests but it only needed a flight to undo all hard work, wings leaked fuel like a sieve despite copious amounts of PRC sealant. But what an aircraft!!

Clean a/c climb speed was 500knots converting to .8Mach! LABS attack at 300feet was either 615knots or 630knots depending on which profile chosen - believe me, 630knots at 300feet AGL was REALLY something to enjoy.

Worked on these on 736 sqdn at Lossie and 803 Sqdn on HMS Hermes from 1961-65. If they didn't leak they were empty! Then has the time to worry. Experienced pilots said it was the last of the true sports car aircraft. I still have a 2" scar on my scalp from the lower IFF aerial! Or was it TACAN?

600Mph is approx 960Kmh. I was a lowly apprentice on these at South Marston and in about 1958 as I was walking between flight sheds a Scimiter flew at low level across the airfield which appeared to be FO and a with a sudden vertical turn, stood on its tail and vanished into the blue and a roll of thunder following. I am 70 now.

The pilots loved it.One ex Scimitar,Concorde pilot, stated in my Scimitar Book. "There were no twin seater Scimitars. You just strapped one to your bum and off you went."
One Scimiter pilots landed at Ford in a Seahawk, had a quick brief from another pilot who had flown one, had a look at the pilots notes and off he went. Says he could see the airfield shrinking in size on his rear view mirror as he shot skywards.
Another tells of his canopy flying off when doing over 600mph at low level. "If you think you had the ultimate thrill in an open top sports car, you have not." he states.

The pilots loved it.One ex Scimitar,Concorde pilot, stated in my Scimitar Book. "There were no twin seater Scimitars. You just strapped one to your bum and off you went."
One Scimiter pilots landed at Ford in a Seahawk, had a quick brief from another pilot who had flown one, had a look at the pilots notes and off he went. Says he could see the airfield shrinking in size on his rear view mirror as he shot skywards.
Another tells of his canopy flying off when doing over 600mph at low level. "If you think you had the ultimate thrill in an open top sports car, you have not." he states.

I Concur with Roland about the leaky Scimitar. Even as a Radio Mech I got continually soaked in oil. I still have affection for the noisy old girls though! Farnborough was never the same after 736 performed in 1962.

Take any panel off from underneath the air craft and you would collect a couple of litres of hydraulic fluid,(736 squadron Lossiemouth 1963/4) see my moan about Sea Vixens 893 squadron 1962/63, even worse. The Sea Hawk was the best aircraft the navy had until the Buccaneer and Phantom

Gee wiz thats a fair old cruising speed it has there! 14020km/h!
I think you guys may have a little mistake there.