Sharkey Ward

[flycookie]

A somewhat dated story, but somehow still strangely terrifying. Just when you thoguth it was safe to go back to the sky......

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/03/30/nair30.xml

Unique double for Navy Harrier father and son
By Sean O'Neill
Last Updated: 8:46pm BST 25/06/2001


A PILOT made Navy history yesterday when he followed in his father's footsteps by qualifying to fly Sea Harriers.

Lt Kristian Ward was accompanied by his father, Cdr Nigel "Sharkey" Ward, on his first flight as a fully trained fighter pilot. It is the first time in Navy history that a father and son have qualified to fly the same aircraft type.

Cdr Ward, 57, now retired, commanded 801 Naval Air Squadron, from the aircraft carrier Invincible, during the Falklands war. He shot down three Argentine aircraft - a Mirage fighter, a Pucarra ground attack aircraft and a Hercules transport plane - and was awarded the DSC.

Lt Ward, 27, graduated as a fighter pilot at a ceremony at RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, where his father had also been based. The Navy invited Cdr Ward to join his son in an hour-long flight during which they reached speeds of 600mph.

Cdr Ward siad: "I was thrilled when they invited me to fly a Sea Harrier again and very excited to be doing it with my son. Kris always wanted to fly with his dad. Now it's the other way round. It was an awesome experience."

Lt Ward said: "I was extremely proud to be up there flying with him. We pulled some great manoeuvres which dad really loved. It has been an incredible day for both of us and an unforgettable experience. We were both grinning."

A spokesman for RNAS Yeovilton said: "This is the first time a father and son have qualified on the same aircraft in Royal Naval history. The whole Fleet Air Arm is fascinated by this unique reunion."


Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright

[FlyNavy]

"Thoguth"? Great story though.

[flycookie]

Three good pics of the event follow. The mind boggles at the thought of Sharkey letting another actual living human being to take the front seat. Truly astonishing.

[FlyNavy]

His eyesight would be bad. By this time Cmdr Sharkey was likely not a full time pilot so his qualification for flying the Harrier would have lapsed. Probably his son was not a QFI or qualified to be an instructor in the rear seat so Cmdr Sharkey had to go for a ride as a 'highly qualified' passenger in the rear seat. His son would have been the "captain" of the aircraft also.

[flyjoe180]

I though the Sea Harriers were gone burger?


Disregard, I just read the article date.

[flycookie]

Yes, the story dateline is old, but I posted it because I think Sharkey's reputation merits it. Ditto the pics.

Sharkey is long retired from the Fleet Air Arm and lives in the Caribbean, doing some sort of real estate work.

Both Florida and the English-speaking Carib are magnets for retired Canadians.

[flycookie]

Just went through the December issue of Warships IFR magazine to look at the first part of a rant by Sharkey. To summarise, it's a bog standard Sharkey rant, with RAF Typhoon and F3 (ie fighter) Tornado fast jets in his sights. All things considered, I don't recommend looking out for the mag just to read this. Maybe he'll say something original in the January issue.

The mag redeemed itself with a couple of pics from NATO ex 'Noble Midas' in the Adriatic recently. HMS Illustrious, fresh from hosting American Harriers and Ospreys, was now floating mama to Harriers and helos from the Spanish and Italian navies. See pics below, some of which also show foreign flight deck crew doing their thing on the Lusty.

I suppose this suggests a slight link to Sharkey's bloviating, as he makes the point that the UK has no independent expeditionary force capability without its lost Sea Harriers and cannot readily defend other RN ships from air and missile attack with that aircraft's AMRAAMs.

Here's Lusty's recoveries for her period in the Adriatic, listed by nationality-

Quote
In the first two weeks of October, HMS Illustrious racked up the following flying statistics:


Spain AV8B 71 deck landings
Italy AV8B 83 deck landings
SH3D 43 deck landings
HH3 21 deck landings
EH-101 8 deck landings
France Puma 8 deck landings
Croatia Mi-8 Hip 16 deck landings
UK Merlin 24 deck landings
Lynx Mk3 5 deck landings

Unquote

Anyhow, here are some pics of everyone's Harriers but the poor bloody poms! All are Spanish except where noted.




Italian (AV8B) Harrier launch



Italian navy jets again

Mr FlyNavy would approve of the stickers on the tractors.



















This last one is a file pic from the Lusty site - a RAF Harrier ready to go, but a killer Sea Harrier it's not.......



NB - Just to clarify, this a (now) somewhat dated file pic. Godonlyknows when a pommy jet last blasted the Lusty's deck.

[corsair67]

HMS Illustrious - aircraft carrier for rent? ;D

[flycookie]

Certainly seems that way. Must be a bit grim to be no more than a blue-clad concierge.

[corsair67]

Yeah, not much job satisfaction.

I wonder how much they charge per night for accomodation? ;D

"Tired after a long mission, or just looking for somewhere to get away from it all after combat? Well here at HMS Illustrious we offer four and a half star (AA) accomodation: sit back and relax with a cocktail while our experienced mechanics perform an engine change on your steed, or a simple wash of the windscreen, if that's all you'd prefer instead.

Call 555 RN G-o-t-N-o-P-l-a-n-e-s to book for this once in a lifetime experience."

[FlyNavy]

Certainly this situation would be dispiriting for the RN (FAA) but look what is on offer in a few years time.

[flycookie]

Found a few more good pics from ex Noble Midas on the Nato site.

Crossdecking helos on Illustrious


Italian (AV8B) Harriers recovering


Italian crates in the hangar (note lowered aft elevator)


Spanish and Italian Harriers parked on the back of the boat.

NB - I have my doubts about this pic. The dark crates to the right (immediately aft the island) seem to be RN Sea Harriers - note the two words stencilled below the tail and the bolted-on refuelling probe on one of them. Someone at the Nato site might have just lifted a file pic of Illustrious with a mixed Harrier load to make a visual point. A good idea, but they should say so.

[corsair67]

Boat? I don't see any Harriers parked on the back of a Submarine. ;D

[FlyNavy]

It is an awful USN disease to call a ship a boat. Have you seen the 'famous' photoshopped pic of an A4G parked on an Oberon sub on the web? Don't ask. ;D

[FlyNavy]

Here is a subcarrierboat cartoonie:

[FlyNavy]

And yes there are folding wing A4s:

[mumbles]

flycookie said:

NB - I have my doubts about this pic. The dark crates to the right (immediately aft the island) seem to be RN Sea Harriers - note the two words stencilled below the tail and the bolted-on refuelling probe on one of them. Someone at the Nato site might have just lifted a file pic of Illustrious with a mixed Harrier load to make a visual point. A good idea, but they should say so.

Yup, definitely SHARs. You can see the smaller wing on the ones parked on the stern. Good call!

[flycookie]

Re FlyNavy's hopes for the possible future RN stovl carriers, here are some interesting illos to put matters into perspective. It will be noted by the more observant that the RAN LHDs are 31m/100ft longer than the Invincibles but a hop, step and jump narrower.


The angle deck landing and catapult markings are merely indicative of layout if the hulls were be configured for conventional carrier ops.


I like the tennis courts


I think this illo is merely a government bone for the shipbuilders' dogs to gnaw while deals are done and brown paper bags exchanged.




Amazing what some pots of paint can do to a deck's appearance! It should remembered that the angle and cats are not just idle daydreaming, as the hulls are designed for an RN service life of 50 years, and the boffins think it likely there will be return to non-stovl ops after the F-35B retires.

So the story goes, anyway.

[flycookie]

Italian stovltop "Guiseppe Garibaldi" at work. So far, so normal



Same ship. Remember, this ship is in commission for the Republic of Italy, a country notorious for its Italian speaking population.


I wonder what language the menus in the messes are written in?

[FlyNavy]

What is Italian for "Que?" (Questo?)