#ZZ528
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tank621.bsky.social
From the Fleet Air Arm, The Black Cats, with one of their AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA.2s shown here at RIAT. Two Wildcats took part in the display, ZZ514 and ZZ528, courtesy of 825 Naval Air Squadron.
The Fleet Air Arm's two-ship display, flown with a pair of AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA.2 helicopters, ZZ514 and ZZ528. The Wildcat is a development of the Westland Lynx, and 28 were ordered for the Royal Navy, replacing the Lynx HMA.8 by 2017. The Black Cats are operated by 825 Naval Air Squadron, which has flown the Wildcat HMA.2 since 2014, when it became the Navy's first frontline Wildcat squadron.
August 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
locospottingnw.bsky.social
And now for the aircraft promised. We've got several iconic British military aircraft here - including the true icon that is the Fairey Swordfish - ranging through from the interwar period up to the present day. What more could you want? (14b/24)
Westland Sea King XZ597 was built in 1978 for RAF service and spent most of its career, despite its anti-submarine pedigree, as a search and rescue aircraft. Put up for disposal in 2016, the helicopter was purchased for preservation and first flew again with Historic Helicopters in 2020. With a bird for company, the Catalina Society's Vickers PBV-1A Canso 2F approaches Southport. New in 1943 RCAF 11005, 'Miss Pick Up' spent the war on maritime patrol, before starting a lengthy civilian career as a transport and fire-bomber. Preserved in 2004, the aircraft is now one of the last operational Catalinas anywhere in the world. Seeing the plain-white aircraft arriving against a dull grey sky really gave a good impression of how hard it is to be a lookout... What a magnificent display from the Royal Navy! Westland Wildcats ZZ528 and ZZ531 of 825 Naval Air Squadron and attached to the 'Black Cats' display team flank NavyWings' pride and joy - Westland Wasp XT420 and Fairey Swordfish W5856. Here, the ancient Stringbag biplane carrier bomber - with dummy torpedo slung beneath the fuselage - leads the formation, with the modern anti-submarine patrol aircraft on each quarter, and the venerable Wasp bringing up the rear. G-BPIV is... well, it's an aircraft. It's a Bristol Blenheim IF - the only flying Blenheim in the world - new in 1939 as L6739. Apart from the bits which aren't. Most of the fuselage is a 1943 license-built Fairchild Bolingbroke IVT, which was restored to flight in 1993 as a Blenheim IV and was lost in a crash in 2003. However, the owning company had in their possession the nose of L6739 - a night fighter built in 1939 and scrapped in 1940 - and used this to repair the crippled Bolingbroke, creating an unholy composite aircraft which now carries L6739's markings. It is, by all accounts, a wonderful aircraft - even if I do prefer the aesthetics of the later models...
December 26, 2024 at 1:04 PM
abovebristol.bsky.social
#PlaneAlert ICAO: #43C769 Tail: #ZZ528 Flt: #VENGCE22
Owner: #RoyalNavyFleetAirArm
Aircraft: #AW159 Wildcat HMA2
2025-03-03 18:01:50 GMT
#LYNX #WhirlyBird #RoyalNavy #FindFixAndStike
#adsb #planefence #planealert by kx1t - link
March 3, 2025 at 6:03 PM
abovebristol.bsky.social
#PlaneAlert ICAO: #43C769 Tail: #ZZ528 Flt: #TALON16
Owner: #RoyalNavyFleetAirArm
Aircraft: #AW159 Wildcat HMA2
2025-02-27 12:46:34 GMT
#LYNX #WhirlyBird #RoyalNavy #FindFixAndStike
#planefence #adsb - link
February 27, 2025 at 12:47 PM
abovebristol.bsky.social
#PlaneAlert ICAO: #43C769 Tail: #ZZ528 Flt: #TALON08
Owner: #RoyalNavyFleetAirArm
Aircraft: #AW159 Wildcat HMA2
2025-02-17 19:23:43 GMT
#LYNX #WhirlyBird #RoyalNavy #FindFixAndStike
#planefence #adsb - link
February 17, 2025 at 7:24 PM
abovebristol.bsky.social
#PlaneAlert ICAO: #43C769 Tail: #ZZ528 Flt: #TALON010
Owner: #RoyalNavyFleetAirArm
Aircraft: #AW159 Wildcat HMA2
2025/02/11 15:20:39
#LYNX #WhirlyBird #RoyalNavy #FindFixAndStike
#planefence #adsb - link
February 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM
abovebristol.bsky.social
#PlaneAlert ICAO: #43C769 Tail: #ZZ528 Flt: #VENGCE10
Owner: #RoyalNavyFleetAirArm
Aircraft: #AW159 Wildcat HMA2
2025/02/10 22:03:05
#LYNX #WhirlyBird #RoyalNavy #FindFixAndStike
#planefence #adsb - link
February 10, 2025 at 10:04 PM