FighterControl

Nav training at Finningley 1981.

The view on an early, high-level, navex in a Dominie.

FY1 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

Quite a busy office layout.

FY2 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

FY3 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

The weather radar had been adapted by an American exchange officer to be usable for taking navigational fixes. We also used it for terrain avoidance at low-level as a lead-in to Tornado GR1 terrain following ops. This is the view of Teesside, heading north-east, after taking a fix on the pier at Hartlepool. It was said that the American officer was never paid for his invention.

FY4 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

On the break into the circuit at Chivenor for a lunch stop in a Dominie.

FY5 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

There was a Battle of Britain airshow at Finningley in 1981 with two stars of the show.
The Nimrod AEW (I've still got the tie somewhere).

FY6 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

And the mighty Tornado F-2.

FY7 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

Next time a little bit of Chivenor and some early 617 Sqn at Marham.

Steve W

Thanks for sharing these with us, it's nice to see what some did for their day job. I must admit that the Dominie was always one of my favourites and I did attend many shows at Finningley from 1981 up to the last one in 1994. The type had a long service life and it's surprising that all twenty served without a single one being written off. I know that a couple were withdrawn from use in the early 1990s, but nice to see a couple preserved and like a lot of people, always thought they look better in the red and white training scheme.

Ah, the Nimrod AEW. What a waste of money that was. The Tornado ADV almost followed it into the dustbin of history. The common denominator was the radar. Our electronics industry just were nt up to producing the required goods and it took years to sort out the ADV radar into anywhere near acceptable spec. Just ask Rick Peacock-Edwards, first boss of 229 OCU/65 Sqn.

Photo #1 is excellent