112 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 22
“down south” during the Falklands conflict in
- Although not part of the main task force, it
did provide valuable intelligence to the surface
commanders. The big “mystery” surrounding
the R.1’s semi-covert operations revolves around
where it was based during Operation Acme.
There has been speculation over the years that
XW664 operated from an airfield in southern
Chile, with the latter government’s permission.
San Félix, one of the the small Desventuradas
islands, which lie 530 miles (850km) off the
Chilean coast, is regarded as the likely operating
base for these “secret” R.1 missions. Although
certainly not conclusive proof, XW664 did return
to the UK four days after the last sortie was
flown from San Félix on May 18, 1982.
In July 1990 a Nimrod R.1 and its 28-man crew
claimed a world record by reaching a combined
total of 266,569 flying hours. But this significant
event was soon to be overshadowed by the R.1’s
involvement in a high-profile conflict when
it took part in the Gulf War. In August 1990,
all three of No 51 Sqn’s R.1s arrived at RAF
Akrotiri in Cyprus, from where they operated
during Operation Desert Shield (August 1990–
January 1991), the build-up to Operation Desert
Storm (January–February 1991). Two of the
R.1s, XW664 and XW666, later operated from
within the Gulf theatre but, as with all things
surrounding the R.1, details on exact locations
remain hazy.
The rise of Damien
Chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation in The
Bible teaches that the number six is the number
of man; a common man is born in his sin. The
number of God’s creation was seven, therefore
six has fallen short of the glory of God. The
reason the number six is considered satanic is
that it is the mark of the beast, which is widely
understood by theologians as representing
Satan. Those familiar with the 1970s Omen series
of films will know that the character of Damien
Thorn, complete with his birthmark of “666”, is
depicted as the Antichrist, the son of Satan. With
typical RAF black humour, Nimrod R.1 XW666
was nicknamed “Damien” by the personnel of
No 51 Sqn.
Flight Lieutenant Art Stacey was an
experienced Shackleton pilot when he joined No
51 Sqn in 1991. After four years with the unit he
was promoted Pilot Leader, and it was in this
role that he was tasked, along with his crew,
with an air test at RAF Kinloss on the Moray
Firth in Scotland in the spring of 1995.
During a routine sortie the aircrew of an R.1
would consist of a complement of 29: two pilots;
a flight engineer; one navigator and 25 others of
mixed trades and specialisations. Crammed into
the back of the Nimrod, these would include
Russian and Arabic speakers and many others.
This particular air test, however, required a
smaller aircrew of seven, including copilot Flt
Lt Pat Hewitt, flight engineer Flt Sgt David
Rimmer and navigator Flt Lt Dick Chelu. Also
aboard was a flight safety team of Air Electronics
Operators comprising Stu Clay, Andy Lawson
and the junior member of the team, Steve Hart.
By the time this air test had concluded, Stacey
would be in hospital — and a member of an
exclusive brotherhood, as he explains:
“In almost 10,000 flying hours my most
memorable day’s flying has to be the day I
qualified for membership of the Goldfish Club —
an exclusive club open only to aircrew who have
survived an aircraft ditching and subsequently
been rescued from the sea. I became eligible to
join on Tuesday, May 16, 1995”.
From this point on, Art Stacey takes up the
story himself...The Nimrod R.1s were progressively upgraded throughout their careers, with the addition
of wingtip pods to house additional electronic equipment and finlets on the tailplane to
improve handling. Seen here touching down at Wyton, XW664 was despatched to the
South Atlantic in 1982 and reportedly undertook night missions in Chilean airspace in
support of operations against Argentina during the Falklands conflict.
VIC FLINTHAM