THIS is a sight you will see no more in Cornish skies as more than 30 years of faithful service by the trusty Jetstream trainer came to an end.
Six of the propeller-driven aircraft flew over Culdrose air station for the last time on Friday as 750 Naval Air Squadron paid tribute to an aircraft which has trained two generations of Fleet Air Arm observers.
With the final course of rookie observers trained on the blue-and-white-liveried aircraft now complete, and the next not due to begin until the summer, the Jetstreams are being retired.
Come June four King Air 350 Avengers (which looks remarkably similar to their forebears...) will provide 21st Century observer training.
The new aircraft’s kit which better replicates what is found in the Fleet Air Arm’s front-line helicopters, ‘dead reckoning’ navigation will still be taught alongside the latest modern navigational techniques.
“Because 750 has been around for so long doing the same role that people tend to assume it doesn’t change much and in a sense that is true: the core skills that are required by every observer haven’t changed a great deal but the technology and equipment we use certainly has,” explained 750’s CO Lt Cdr Nick Armstrong.
“We continue to teach many of the things those observers of 50 years ago would have been familiar with but on modern equipment with modern techniques that more closely reflect how we operate on the front line. The King Air will allow us to do exactly that.”
The Jetstreams trace their history back to the mid-60s (they were designed by Handley Page of WW1 heavy bomber fame...) and have been in service with the RN since the late 70s. As for 750, it’s been training observers – they ‘fight’ a front-line Fleet Air Arm helicopter, while the pilot deals with flying it.
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