Aircraft History:
- First Flight 26 December 1962.
- 21/3/1967 Flown by LCDR (P) P Vickers RAN, who subsequently lost his life in Vietnam.
- Crashed at RANAS Nowra. Repaired.
- On board HMAS Melbourne, ‘Spithead Deployment’ 28/04/77 to 04/10/77 with HS817.
- On deck HMAS Melbourne 28 June ’77 for Queens Silver Jubilee Naval Review, Lee on Solent UK.
- Exercise ‘Highwood’ 5-20 July ’77, North Sea, 15 hours total air time for this exercise.
- Withdrawn 31/12/89. Sold to Ron Schneider of Ruppanyup (near Horsham) Victoria, who has a private collection of aircraft.
- Last report: in storage.
Images
Photographed from the RAN aircraft carrier HMAS MELBOURNE in the Indian Ocean (Jeff Chartier collection).
An early image of 815 aboard HMAS Melbourne
The aircraft in its early markings as a 31-A model. The registration “WA-205” later became N7-205 and the side number was changed from “85” to “15”.
Heavy landing, date unknown. The aircraft was repaired and returned to Service.
Aircraft in transit in Tasmania. Date unknown.
Wessex 815 with a torpedo loaded in the port weapon station (Jeff Chartier collection)
