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Meteors |
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The Squadron once again re-formed, this time at Odiham on 15 August 1954 as a night fighter squadron equipped with Meteor NF12 and 14s. The early days were affected by shortages of manpower and equipment; although training began almost immediately, it took until the end of October for the Squadron to reach a strength of 12 NF12/14s and one Meteor 7 for training and categorisation. By March 1955 when Wing Commander Birchfield took over as CO from Squadron Leader Ross, the manpower situation was improving, but MT shortages caused problems for the Squadron, whose dispersal was on the opposite side of the airfield to the rest of the station. By June 1955, it was recorded that the Squadron had received "some Meteor 8s for target towing, and that its strength had reached 48 officers and 110 NCO/airmen. By August, when the Squadron went to Acklington for APS, the aircraft totalled 16.
In January 1956, the Squadron began converting to Javelins, and the first Javelin Mk 1 arrived in February together with 8 Meteor NF 11s: the NF12s were sent off to 72 Squadron. By May, all squadron pilots had converted and 15 Javelin were held; 8 of these were earmarked for intensive flying trails whose target was 1000 hours in 2 months - a feat believed by some to be impossible, but achieved in fact by "a wartime spirit". On 15 June, the Squadron lost its CO, Wing commander Birchfield, in a Javelin crash. He was replaced by Wing Commander H E White.
Over the years, the Squadron continued to train by participating in many exercises such as Halyard, Cold Wing, Kingpin Adex, Ciano and Bombex, and took part in various trails including those of new pressure suits and helmets. The problem of poor serviceability and lack of spares continued when the Mk 2 Javelins replaced the Mk 1s in 1957. In April 1959, the Squadron sent 6 Javelins to the French Air Force 1/30 Squadron at Tours, whilst the French sent Vautour aircraft to Odiham. In June the Squadron won the Ingpen Trophy after being 3rd in 1957 and 2nd in 1958. On 30 June 1961, the Squadron disbanded yet again. |
