| Signatures for : Gannet | | A list of all signatures from our database who are associated with this aircraft. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | | Name | Info | Eric Bond Click the name above to see prints signed by Eric Bond | Eric Bond
Joined the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm in August 1940. He served on the aircraft carriers HMS Furious, Ark Royal and Illustrious in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. In February 1942 he was drafted to Gibraltar to fly in Skua, Fulmar and Swordfish aircraft for exercise attacks on the Fleet and Gibraltar fortress. He was then transferred to North Africa (Oran) for four months, then back operationally to Gibraltar with 833 Squadron. Eric's next move was back to the UK with the carrier HMS Stalker and then he qualified at the School of Air Combat. He left the Royal Navy in October 1945. In 1950 Eric joined the RNVR and served as CPO (A) aircrew and joined 1840 & 1842 Channel Air Division, flying in Firefly, Gannet and helicopter aircraft. On the disbandonment of R~ squadrons, Eric served as Chief Radio Supervisor involving duties at Whitehall and Faslane. He left the R~ in 1971, having served 26 1/2years.
| Lieutenant Commander J E Eatwell RN Click the name above to see prints signed by Lieutenant Commander J E Eatwell RN | Lieutenant Commander J E Eatwell RN
Joined the Royal Navy as an Air Cadet in 1956 and went straight to sea in HMS Theseus, part of the Home Fleet Training Squadron. He commenced Observer training in September 1956 flying Sea Prince, Firefly, Gannet, Brigand and Sea Venom aircraft, before embarking with 894 Sea Venom Squadron in HMS Eagle in 1958. He received training at De Havilland for the Sea Vixen and embarked on HMS Ark Royal with 892 Squadron, the first Sea Vixen Squadron in 1960, transferring to HMS Victorious for a deployment to the Far East. After a tour with 899 Headquarters Squadron, he transferred to the Buccaneer S Mk 1 in 1963 and then received training as a Photographic Interpreter (PI) prior to joining 800 squadron in HMS Eagle as a Photo Recce Specialist. This was followed by a tour instructing in 736 Squadron before rejoining 800 Squadron with the Mk 2 Buccaneer for another embarked tour in HMS Eagle covering the withdrawal from Aden. Further appointments at Lossiemouth as Station Intelligence Officer and P I to Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers, Operations Staff in HMS Eagle and as a Trials Officer at RAE Farnborough followed. His final four years were spent at the Joint School of Photographic Interpretation, responsible for the selection and training of all RN. WRNS and RNR PIs. He retired from the RN in 1976 but remained active as a PI and Intelligence Officer in the RNR, finally retiring in 1993.
| Commander David Hobbs MBE RN Click the name above to see prints signed by Commander David Hobbs MBE RN | Commander David Hobbs MBE RN
Commander David Hobbs MBE RN joined the Royal Navy in 1964 and since qualifying as a pilot, flew both fixed and rotary wing aircraft “to the deck”, including Gannet AEW aircraft, Wessex Commando helicopters and Canberra ECCM aircraft. He has served on the aircraft carriers, Victorious, Centaur, Hermes, Bulwark, Albion and two Ark Royals (the 1955 and 1985 ships) with 849, 845, 846 Naval Air Squadrons and 360 RN/RAF Joint Squadron. While serving in the Director General Aircraft (Naval) Department, he was responsible for developing the visual and electronic recovery aids for the Sea Harrier. He also organised the flying trials that cleared the Invincible class and Hermes to operate the modern generation of aircraft at sea.He has been Curator and Deputy Director of the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton since leaving the active list of the Royal Navy in 1998. After a lifetime interest in naval history, he is the author of numerous books, contributes regularly to a variety of international publications and has presented papers at naval historical symposia in Australia, France, New Zealand, the United States and Great Britain. He is an adviser to the naval Staff on a range of aircraft carrier matters.
| Lieutenant Commander Brian Jackson-Dooley RN Click the name above to see prints signed by Lieutenant Commander Brian Jackson-Dooley RN | Lieutenant Commander Brian Jackson-Dooley RN
Joined the Royal Navy in 1961 and as a midshipman served in a landing ship, HMS Striker, in the Persian Gulf. The principal purpose for the military presence in the region at that time was to dissuade the Iraqis from invading Kuwait and it proved successful. In 1965 he qualified as an observer in the AEW role and joined HMS Eagle in the Far East. Following a late night swim in the South China Sea, courtesy of a Gannet engine failure, he thought it would be more civilised to see where he was going and transferred to Buccaneers. Brian qualified in the Strike role and joined HMS Eagle in 1967 for the second time. Two further sea going tours in Buccaneers followed, both in HMS Ark Royal. In 1975 he joined VA 42, the A6 Intruder training organisation based on the East coast of the USA. Initially he was the Systems Training Officer, later the Director of Replacement Training. During this shore job he took 6 trainee pilots to the decks of four US carriers making 90 arrested landings. This was his final flying appointment, completing with 2500 hours in the strike/attack role and rather more terrifying arrested landings than he cares to remember. His final appointment was negotiating the specification of the mission system avionics for the Nimrod AEW with the contractor before he retired from the Royal Navy in 1980. A successful second career followed and he has a Board position in a pharmaceutical company.
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