Stringbag over Somerset

W5856 awaits her new paint job

It’s a cold day when I visit the Royal Navy Historic Flight (RNHF) at Yeovilton and I am glad to get into the enormous hangar and out of the bitter wind that drives across the airfield. The Flight’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Chris Götke AFC RN, shows me the collection, which includes two Fairey Swordfish, a Hawker Sea Hawk and a Hawker Sea Fury.

The RNHF’s second Sea Fury survived a forced landing following complete engine failure last year during an air display at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall. The pilot, Lt Cdr Götke, was awarded the Air Force Cross for his bravery and his cool handling of his aircraft.

It is one of the Swordfish I have come to see. There are thought to be only four airworthy Swordfish worldwide, and W5856 is the oldest surviving example. Following a re-spray into 820 Naval Air Squadron colours that take her back in time to 1941, she is at the end of a complete restoration that will see her enter the Flight’s display program this summer.

Nicknamed the Stringbag by their crews because of their ability to carry almost anything, these tough aircraft served from both land and sea in every theatre of war during the Second World War and, perhaps more than any other type, they represent the spirit of naval aviation in the FAA.

Swordfish had a number of significant successes, notably the attack at Taranto in which the Italian navy lost half of its capital ships. They also played a part in crippling the German battleship Bismarck. But perhaps their defining role was the contribution they made during the Battle of the Atlantic in which they shone as anti-submarine aircraft.

W5856 first flew in 1941 and served with the Mediterranean Fleet. Shipped to Canada at the end of the war, she fell into disrepair. In 1990, British Aerospace bought her from the Strathallan Collection in Scotland and, having restored her to pristine flying condition, presented her to the RNHF in 1993.
As we stand next to the enormous biplane, with its 45 foot wingspan, Lt Cdr Götke admits he has yet to fly one. Looking up at it, I ask him whether he intends to remedy this. He just smiles, and it’s clear to me that the pilots who fly for the RNHF do so for the love of the aircraft; for the pure joy of a kind of flying which is fast disappearing: flying by the seat of your pants and with the wind in your hair; quite literally, in the case of the Swordfish.

The Royal Navy has a long history with aviation. In 1909, it ordered its first airship, and just 3 years later, in 1912, the Royal Flying Corps Naval Wing was formed. This went on to become the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914 under which name it served throughout the Great War with distinction. In 1924, this became the Fleet Air Arm (FAA).

I ask Lt Cdr Götke how he finds pilots to fly these old warbirds. He assures me there is no shortage of volunteers, and so the Flight can afford to be choosy. Pilots selected to display the aircraft hone their skills on less valuable planes with similar handling characteristics. These include the de Havilland Chipmunk, a North American Texan, a BAC Jet Provost and the BAE Hawk.

The powerful radial engine after its rebuild

He leads me over to an enormous radial engine which stands on its own to one side of the hangar. It is about to be refitted to W5856 following a total rebuild. How, I wonder, does the Flight find the necessary skills to maintain what is, after all, an antique piece of engineering?
“We have our own engineers and fitters, and there are also volunteers, but for something as significant as this, we look outside the Navy. This was just rebuilt by specialist aero engine contractor Deltair Airmotive at a cost of around £120,000.”

I must have made a face because he continues:
“We had to make new pistons and cylinders because obviously they can’t be ordered off the shelf. And because we want them as close to the original as we can get them, they’re not cheap. £9,000 for the pistons and over £60,000 for the cylinders. It soon adds up.”
And who pays for this?

A Sea Fury in a crowded RNHF hangar

“Funding is the big headache. The Fly Navy Heritage Trust (FNHT) raises most of the money; they provide around £500,000 a year. Because the RNHF is an operational Naval Air Unit, there’s also a contribution from the MoD. Other funds come from personal donations and bequests from supporters. But major overhauls like this are often funded through the generosity of industry.”

The large biplane dominates the hangar

He pats the lower wing of W5856. “She flew for ten years until the wing spars needed to be replaced and that requires special tooling. BAE very kindly came to the rescue and undertook the work at no cost to the Navy or the FNHT. Otherwise, it would have been a million pounds.”

Before I leave, I am permitted to clamber up the side of the aircraft which I waste no time in doing. Having just spent a morning in the nearby FAA Museum looking at a Sopwith Pup, a wood and linen First World War fighter, I am struck by the similarities: open cockpits, uncomfortable seats, cables and dated dials and controls.

The rear cockpit of the Swordfish

The thought of a long patrol over the dark waters of a freezing Atlantic Ocean in this single-engine aircraft is horrifying. Even more so when you consider that safety lay on the heaving deck of an aircraft carrier somewhere in the murky grey distance. And yet for many young men, this was their office; their day-to-day existence.

Perhaps Captain Eric “Winkle” Brown, CBE DSC AFC FRAeS RN puts it best when he says: “It would be an absolute travesty if the Navy’s historic aircraft, and the men who flew them, and those who laid down their lives in them, were forgotten.”

This, then, is the point of the RNHF. It seeks to preserve a century long naval aviation heritage and aims to serve as a memorial to those who flew, and died, for the FAA in Britain’s darkest hour. I look forward to seeing W5856 when she returns to the flight line on 11 July at Yeovilton Air Day.

On the flight line with the RNHF and the Sea Fury