Military movements through the North West in this period fell into two groups: transport aircraft working into Manchester, and naval aircraft visiting the Mersey whenever a ship came in. This page records what was seen in 2003.
Vickers VC10 C1K, No 10 Squadron
The VC10 C1K was the transport and tanker variant of an airliner designed for BOAC in the early 1960s and still in RAF service forty years later, which is a record in itself. No 10 Squadron operated the type from RAF Brize Norton on long-range transport and air-to-air refuelling tasks.
The VC10 is the aircraft most often described as the most beautiful ever to serve with the RAF, and it is hard to argue with: four rear-mounted Conway engines, a high T-tail, and a shape that looks fast standing still. Two frames of a C1K were taken for the original version of this page.
Hercules: C130E and L-100-30
Two Hercules were photographed. The first was a C130E of the Royal Saudi Air Force, one of a number of Saudi aircraft that passed through the North West in this period. The second was a civil L-100-30, the commercial Hercules, which is externally almost identical to the military model but carries a civil registration.
Telling them apart on the apron comes down to detail: the position of the refuelling probe, the aerials, and the registration. At a distance, the safest answer is that it is a Hercules and to leave it there.
Royal Navy Merlin HM Mk1, ZH858
The most unexpected visitor of the year was ZH858, a Royal Navy Merlin HM Mk1 anti-submarine helicopter, which called in at Barton Aerodrome during a recruitment exercise. A Merlin at Barton is worth a second look: the aerodrome’s grass and tarmac strips were laid out in 1927 for aircraft a fraction of the Merlin’s size and weight, and its arrival would have been a considerable event for the club members present.
Three photographs of ZH858 were taken on that visit.
RAF Gazelle
Two photographs of an RAF Gazelle were taken at Barton. The Gazelle was by this stage well into a long career as a training and liaison helicopter with the Army Air Corps and the RAF, and remained a frequent visitor to civil airfields.
HMS Invincible in the River Mersey
HMS Invincible, an Invincible class aircraft carrier, anchored in the River Mersey when she visited Liverpool to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic. Her embarked helicopters were photographed on deck: a Sea King Mk4 in the search and rescue role, a Sea King Mk7 airborne early warning variant with its inflatable radome, and a Merlin Mk1.
A Harrier was photographed taking off from the ship, and a second frame shows the helicopters tethered down on deck. An aircraft carrier is not an aircraft, strictly speaking, but it carries enough of them to earn a place on this page.
What has changed since
Almost all of it. The VC10 was withdrawn from RAF service in September 2013 and the last airworthy example flew a farewell tour that month. The Sea King left Royal Navy service in 2018. HMS Invincible was decommissioned in 2005 and towed to Turkey for scrapping in 2011. The Merlin and the Gazelle, in different marks, remain in service.