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

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.

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!

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.

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 👍

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.

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!

What a pleasant chat!

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.

Still remember "that" chamber run Bleezy

Great to see you Adrian. Excellent book too.

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!

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

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

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

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

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

The Comet IV was a great base for the Nimrod

Brilliant interview. Brilliant aircraft.

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.

Beautiful video

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

Follows on nicely from Above the Law, very interesting.

Another brilliant interview!

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?

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.

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

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

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 RU-vid that nobody cares about! 😂 Garry H. RAF, 1987- 2006

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

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

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

They weren't called Scope Dopes for nothing

First !