RAF Nimrod Air Electronics Operator | Adrian Bleese (PART 1)

Former RAF Nimrod Air Electronics Operator, Adrian Bleese, gives us an insight into what it was like to work on the Nimrod, the role of a AEO, working and training with the crew, working on the SAR mission, and of course what they ate on board!
Enjoy.
#rafnimrod
www.adrianbleese.co.uk/
www.amazon.co.uk/Above-Law-Ad...
/ adrianbleese
Help keep the channel going:
PATREON - / aircrewinterview
DONATE - www.aircrewinterview.tv/donate/
Purchase our Aviation Art Book, Volume One - amzn.to/3sehpaP
Visit our online shop: www.redbubble.com/people/acin...
Follow us:
www.aircrewinterview.tv/
/ aircrew_interview
/ aircrewinterview
/ aircrewtv
Photos in this video came from an annual paid subscription from nara.getarchive.net/search
Original thumbnail photo - en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawke...

[@jeffprice2537]

Takes me back 51 years when I started my career in the RAF and arriving on my first Squadron as a 20 year old Sergeant AEOp. Great times and some not so great. But wouldn't have missed it for the world.

[@garryharriman7349]

Take care, Jeff. Hope life was good to you in the 'real world'. Garry H. RAF Retired (TG 13...unlucky for some). South Carolina.

[@jeffprice2537]

@@garryharriman7349 Hi Garry. Life has been very good for me. After completing 24 years in RAF did another 8 with RNZAF. In total lived for 24 years in NZ but returned to the UK 3 years ago. Now enjoying retirement. Hope you were not responsible for dodgy dinghy that I had during one sea drill!!😉

[@garryharriman7349]

@@jeffprice2537 Wow! What a life Jeff. Sorry to say, I was TG13(b).Painter and Finsher. I did almost 20 years. Came at at the dizzy rank of Cpl (fucking embarressing, but it was a small trade group thus not many prospects for advacement relative to other trade groups) and trained to be a therapsit (counsellor) Couldn't get a real job doing that and so I made a dumb decision to sell my beautiful home in Hopeman (served 2/3 of my career in Scotland after Bruggen - Leucahrs, Kinloss and Lossie) and move to my then 2nd wife's home town of.......... ........Goose Bay! 😂. What the fuck was I thinking, I haf bloody been there on detatchment for fucks sake! Anyway, I am now living the American Dream (when asleep) as a British American protecting Plant Vogtle Nuclear electrical generarting plant with an M4! I have a grrat wife now though 3rd and last time around. I miss the UK, but could not afford to come back now. I hardly recognize the UK. We are fast on our way to being an Oiligarchy just as the US is and has been. You take care, Jeff. Garry. 👍

[@jeffprice2537]

@@garryharriman7349 And you Garry. Sounds like life is good with Uncle Sam. I only went to Goose Bay twice with the RAF. Both time in deep winter. Imagine my surprise when an Air New Zealand flight I was on diverted into Goose with a medical emergency. We sat on the aircraft for 90 minutes whilst the patient was taken off. Then thankfully continued onto LA and then Auckland.

[@garryharriman7349]

@@jeffprice2537 if it was between 2007-2010, you could have had a brew with Cpl Harriman where I could explain aircraft surface fininshing principles wirh you! Did you retire as Master Aircrew or did you commission?

[@TheFlyingPlectrum]

That’s my mate Ade. I was on the same ATC summer camp and ended up as an Air Engineer on Nimrods. We never flew together but we did drink together occasionally 👍

[@ableese2068]

Only very, very occasionally though. Some days not at all. 😉

[@DAGO58]

I love the Nimrod, such an iconic machine. A walk-through video of the Cosford Nimrod with Adrian, similar to your Shackleton video, would be a real winner!

[@Aircrewinterview]

It certainly would!

[@ableese2068]

@@Aircrewinterview I'm up for it - Norwich would be an alternative. 👍

[@stuartbourne5135]

When I was in the ATC I attended a summer camp at RAF Kinloss, it was around the time of the Falklands conflict. It was usual at a camp to have a camp photo in front of the main aircraft type of the base but this did not happen due to the secrecy around modifications that had been made due to the Falklands including the fitment of sidewinders as mentioned in the interview. I managed a 7 plus hour flight in a Nimrod which was amazing including a stint at the controls. I can also attest to the oven part, we were very well fed by the crew who were constantly eating. Three of us cadets went on the flight and I remember one of the lads was constantly being sick. It was a superb camp I also had the privilege of a flight in a Sea King at another camp at RAF Brawdy.

[@coffeeguy6673]

I visited RAF St.Mawgan in the late 80s, I was already serving in the RAF as comms operator based at RAF Brize Norton, part of Tac Comms WIng ( TCW UKMF ) . I was a lowly senior aircraftsman and was told that promotions were basically dead mans shoes, someone had to die in this trade to get to Corporal. I enquired about remustering and was invited down to St Mawgan for a day of seeing what the role of AEO was all about. Completely different world, met by the OC Squadron, a Wing Commander, who made me a brew !! We talked about the role and I was introduced to some other crew members, had a tour inside one of the Nimrods and we were told it was just a case of waiting for lunch to arrive on the aircraft before we could take off on the flight. Unfortunately, something happened which meant lunch wasnt coming and the flight was cancelled !! I was gutted !! I also needed English O'level and was told I couldn't take my application any further until I'd got that extra qualification. I applied for evening school to do English at Witney college but unfortunately I never got to complete the course, so that was that. Big regret. PS..oh yes, I remember the ration packs, the choc and sweets always disappeared first on exercise, then everything else just got whacked in a big pot, tins of meat, jam, peas, the lot and as Adrian says, we used to take sauces and curry powders etc and throw this into the mix too, had some pretty good nosh out in the forests of Germany !! Great memories.

[@chrishewitt4220]

Great video. I was on a Taceval at St Mawgan, down from RAF Locking, when a Nimrod came in with a major fire onboard. I remember watching it land and thinking that's not an exercise! Also, I went sailing around the Outer Hebrides with a mate who owned a yacht. One of the crew was a mate of his who was a Warrant Officer on Nimrods. We were buzzed by a pair of Buccaneers as they knew we out and about with old mate onboard!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks Chris.

[@hondansx1000]

One of my instructors at the BAE ama was a crew chief on Nimrod and even wrote a lot of the training syllabus for the MRA.4 before it was canned. Really interesting chap and I learnt a great deal from him in my time there.

[@victornalin]

What a pleasant chat!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@cpbajj]

Great to see you Adrian. Excellent book too.

[@Aircrewinterview]

I shall be starting it soon.

[@ableese2068]

Glad you enjoyed both the interview and the book. 👍

[@adventuretarian8191]

The missions you did were so much more dangerous than what most currently experience on typical combat deployments. It wasn’t that long prior, the Soviets were shooting down aircraft that got to close to the 'Матушка Россия'. The requirements surrounding the 'instant sunshine' capability must have been intense also. Many thanks from here in the States!

[@Ian-Saxon]

Another great upload and a fantastic insight into the nimrod and operation. Cheers Mike and Adrian 👍

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers mate.

[@ableese2068]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@brianford8493]

Awesome...Dad was at Lossiemouth on Nimrods.... fantastic piece of kit.....unlike the Augering in Comet.✌️

[@Aircrewinterview]

Great stuff

[@rossmain9120]

Likewise mate!

[@jjsmallpiece9234]

Nimrods were based at Kinloss

[@garryharriman7349]

@@Aircrewinterview Out of interest, what is your background? Garry Harriman. South Carolina. RAF, 1987 - 2007.

[@Aircrewinterview]

@@garryharriman7349 bought a camera a few years ago and started up this channel to where it is today. No military background just an avgeek lucky to chat to these guys and gals!

[@barriewright2857]

WAW......! Amazing "you could spot a snort twenty miles away with good weather conditions " that's incredible, that's me swimming with just my head popping up out of the water !? . Is it true that for anyone mission it would last fifteen hours, that's a long day. Brilliant interview 👏, thank you very much.

[@ableese2068]

Hi Barrie - the average sortie was actually about half that time, some were a little less, a few were significantly more. You'd arrive in Ops several hours before take-off, though and then after the flight there was generally a pretty lengthy debrief, so it would all add up to quite a long day.

[@bill8784]

Brilliant interview. Brilliant aircraft.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers Bill.

[@ableese2068]

Thanks Bill.

[@davidsmith8997]

I can't believe anyone would even consider dogfighting a Phantom in a Nimrod! Didn't know they carried AIM-9s either. Great interview!

[@hughjardon5101]

We did regular training against Phantoms, Tornado F3's (even easier to defeat than the Phantom), Sea Harriers (they beat us every time as they could slow and turn as tight as we did) and even a Mig-29. But the thing to remember is, that only worked in close air to air dog fights, we would probably have been shot down by long range AAM's before ever getting that close 😞

[@davidsmith8997]

@@hughjardon5101 By dogfighting, I thought he meant trying to get off a defensive all-aspect AIM-9 Sidewinder. But oi, I'm not letting someone take the mick out of me pretending that you could even dream of doing ACM against a Mig-29.😉

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it David.

[@gdmonks1959]

Aim 9’s we’re added as part of the mods carried out for the Falklands War, prior to that they didn’t and couldn’t carry them

[@billb7876]

Smallie lol, I joined in 77, had about 70 hours in Nimrods by then (Space cadet jollies) Fantastic aircraft

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

Beautiful video

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@bigglestintin6875]

Great video, I lived next to British aerospace Woodford, what a mess the new variant turned out to be.

[@JagdgeschwaderX]

I grew up in Stockport, we used to ride our bikes or even walk from Cheadle to Woodford for the airshow. It's very sad to see what they've done there.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@stueyre1406]

you dumbed downed what we did quite well, without giving away too much :-) (Dry Man 5,000 hours, on the lost MRA4 Project :-( Don't think we ever flew together

[@matthayward7889]

Another brilliant interview!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers Matt.

[@ableese2068]

Glad you enjoyed it, Matt.

[@matthayward7889]

@@ableese2068I was obsessed with aircraft as a kid, watching interviews like yours allows me to experience it all vicariously!

[@gordon228]

Follows on nicely from Above the Law, very interesting.

[@ableese2068]

You just wait for Part Two, Gordon. 👍

[@gordon228]

@@ableese2068 Always regret not trying for Aeop instead of leaving after 9 years, went back to cio after leaving, but they werent interested. Fly Gyros from Mona, where do you fly from?

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

The Comet IV was a great base for the Nimrod

[@martinchamberlain542]

What a great interview with an amazing bloke. I used to love the nimrod and often saw them at air shows and on Cornish holidays near St Mawgan. I was sad to see them chopped before their time, leaving a lengthy capability gap until the introduction of Poseidon. A wonderfully absurd, but typically British decision! I still have one question for the aircrew. How vulnerable do you feel on operations? Nimrod was a very high value asset and would have been a priority target for any passing Mig 25, so were procedures in place to protect them, was fighter cover very far away, and what escape chances did the aircrew have in the event of a hostile interception! Many thanks for a brilliant channel.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks Martin!

[@ableese2068]

The Nimrod was the world's biggest fighter - armed with Sidewinder during Op. Corporate. Later fitted with radar decoy and chaff and flares pod.

[@paddywoolley6035]

Still remember "that" chamber run Bleezy

[@DnBTiger]

If you've not read Adrian's Bleese's book about his time as a Police helicopter observer you really should - I think there's a link in the comments and it's a cracking read. Who knew you could hunt Russian submarines over the rural Suffolk countryside?

[@ableese2068]

You can hunt for Russian submarines anywhere, Andy. Finding them, however, is not a given 👍 Thanks for the plug for the book, there's another Aircrew Interview about that.

[@DnBTiger]

@@ableese2068 it's a great book - I won't spoil the ending by telling anyone whether you die or not

[@ableese2068]

Cheers Andy. We did also cover Kent and there was a Soviet sub to find in the Medway.

[@DnBTiger]

@@ableese2068 I remember flying (right seat) in a Dominie from Cranwell to Leuchars and hearing the U/T WSOPs calling visual on the Admiral Kuznetzov on the port side. Those sneaky Russians were sailing through Leeds, apparently.

[@ableese2068]

@@DnBTiger In my day we did it in morse.

[@maxliverpool]

i was finningley air traffic at this time so we will know some of the same people

[@Aircrewinterview]

Nice one.

[@tomvanbaren7747]

18:14 "buckets of instant sunshine" ? Nuclear depth charges?

[@timwingham8952]

I've come across the terms Air Electronics Operator and Air Electronics Officer. Which is right?

[@ableese2068]

Both - the Air Electronics Officer was in charge of the sensor team of Air Electronics Operators and was often the aircraft captain, too.

[@mimisprinkles6905]

What happened to the mig27 iaf guy did he bug out? Tell him the PAF is not in the vicinity

[@garryharriman7349]

If I had a Pound for every coat of DTD5580A polyereathane SHR finish to the airframe substrate of the 'Mighty Hunter' during my at time at Kinloss.....I most likely would not be sitting in my lounge in South Carolina putting posts on KZbin that nobody cares about! 😂 Garry H. RAF, 1987- 2006

[@cpgravenor]

I was thinking the same lol, Flight Line Mech/ A Mech P, NLS 1980 to 1987, Now I live in Southern California, one of my old crew chiefs lives down in San Diego, a Dog Handler I know from kinloss I met when I was working on the USMC Base In 29 Palms CA, he was Tank Driver on 1st Tanks.

[@garryharriman7349]

@@cpgravenor My fellow American and former wearer of the covetted Blue Berret! 😂🇬🇧🇬🇧🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@gdmonks1959]

Airborne Eating Officer that’s all they were, sortie rations gone before they left the ground

[@jjsmallpiece9234]

They weren't called Scope Dopes for nothing

[@CHECK6-963]

First !