Fly Past

50 FLYPAST 50 FLYPAST May 2018May 2018

WINGS OVER THE EAST INDONESIAN CONFRONTATION

aircrew. Meanwhile, I was to become

absorbed into the ranks of the JPs

(Junior Pilots), who had yet to

complete in-theatre operational

tuition on the FGA.9 before being

allowed out against the common foe.

Hitting a wall

The Hunter was an absolute delight.

I had revelled in the training at

Chivenor. My ambitions at that time

simply did not extend beyond that

of flying a Hunter, preferably for

eternity.

I was completely absorbed in my

exciting new role, flying a fast and

agile jet, pointing it frequently at the

ground at 400kts or more. I could

launch three-inch rockets on the

air-to-ground ranges at Asahan, near

Malacca, or Song Song Island, north

of Butterworth.

Firing one, two or, very rarely, all

four of the 30mm Aden cannon

usually at ground targets and

sometimes at the hessian ‘flag’ towed

behind a Meteor ‘tug’ was endlessly

thrilling and hugely satisfying.

We rarely got to fire the four Adens

together as it was both expensive and

unnecessary. Occasionally it would

be done to prove the system and to

provide each pilot with at least one

experience of the effects of firing a

full pack. Then 80 projectiles, each

weighing 9oz (255g), were expelled

forward every second at a muzzle

velocity of 1,807mph (2,908km/h).

Apart from the tremendous noise,

the vibration was such that circuit

breakers popped out all over the

cockpit. There was also the rapid,

eyeball-popping, Newtonian

deceleration, which was matched only

in my very much later experiences

in ‘viffing’ with the Harrier. [Viffing

• employing the Pegasus engine’s
  vectored thrust in forward flight - ED]
  Decelerations in both cases were
  described as like hitting a brick wall
  in mid-air. When firing four Adens
  the Hunter lost 40 to 50kts in what
  seemed like an instant.

“I imagined that anything more than a two-second burst of the

cannon would have caused the sturdy Hunter to pop all its rivets. I

tried it one day with the full six seconds and it didn’t”

Below

For 20 Squadron’s 50th

anniversary in 1965, its

personnel and Hunter

FGA.9s were paraded at

Tengah.

Right

Airbrake down, a 20

Squadron Hunter is

photographed by the

author.

Right
Groundcrew pose for the
camera in a relaxed view
of the fl ight line at Tengah
in the mid-1960s.