Interview with Chris Bolton on the Royal Navy F-4 Phantom - Full
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Chris Bolton chats about his time flying the F-4 Phantom from HMS Ark Royal.
He includes his time flying the Phantom with the RAF and also the Hawker Hunter in Bahrain.
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"You land with a 40 inch extension. On the aircraft, that is..." This man is a genius.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this subtle comedic gold🤣
Brilliant interview, comes over as a pilots pilot.. A masterclass in how to use the F word properly with timing and skill.
Venture ZA634 glad you enjoyed it. It sure is, I wasn't expecting it when I was interviewing him!
Aircrew Interview
Loved this interview
Really interesting stuff
This man is refreshingly colourful.
More from Mr Bolton please.
He's as cool as a cucumber, and yet not stuck up. So very interesting. I really enjoyed that.
6 thumbs down so far, must be from those Russian "trawler" crews.
Chris is a great narrator with a distinctive style! I have seen this video several times and never get tired of hearing it.
He sounds like he's reading something from a book he wrote.
What a great interview, he's so interesting and fucking funny! The 40 inch extension but on the aircraft had me pissing myself lol
Chris Bolton what a character, only in Britain, he's very colorful, genuine and a real human being doing a dangerous job, and living life to the fullest. Thank you for the interview and his entertaining and humorous stories.
if you had 12 hours of this i'd be watching the whole thing. This man is my hero. And I'm pretty sure could still kick my ass and steal my girl.
That's awesome and spot on! Great guy; I've watched/listened to this one 6+ times.
I was a Catapult and Elevator Technician aboard the U.S.S. Independence (CV-62) when we cross-decked RN Phantoms and Fairey Gannets (Odd ducks, for sure). Very interesting seeing the dark blue/grey RN Phantoms w/ their Omega symbols on the cats next to our white diamond backs. A treat for us to witness this... I also recall seeing our ship recover French Crusaders... All very exciting even for a seasoned 20 year old with a Med Cruise already under his belt.
This was awesome. Really enjoyed it. What I find hilarious is the free and easy access of a bar on the UK ships. Unimaginable for the US - With a 5.5 pint limit (not a target :) )
Was absolutely riveting. What a character! 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👍🏿🇬🇧
Once again a very informative and workman like effort! Perhaps the most humorous interview so far as well! Easy to forget these days that the F-4 Phantom was a naval multi-role fighter and that Britain operated them as such! Would be interesting to hear a French naval aviator talking about flying another classic, the F-8 Crusader!
It was indeed, he was a great interviewee! Thats a good call and it is certainly one on my radar.
"Fit like a robber's dog". It doesn't get much more British :P
What a legend, they don't make them like this anymore!
I'll never look at a doughnut the same again. Yet another great interview. Setting new standards on the Web.
I thought the exact same thing! Great compliment, thanks very much :)
XD
It's nice to see that tradition is being upheld - all film of British military aircraft built prior to 1980 must contain a ladder and a bicycle. Obviously the bloke with the flat cap and the bucket is off screen, together with the boffin smoking a pipe :)))
Superb brief Chris !
He looks like an older Tom Skerritt in Top Gun
Brilliant. What a great bloke!
Another great RAF Phantom interview. Chris Bolton is a classic.
What a legend.
Fantastic interview
Outstanding interview! All of your interviews are great, but this was exceptional. He had quite a variety of experiences and was most humble. Wonderful choice for the subject of an aviation interview! Keep up the great work!
Thanks very much! great to hear you enjoyed it.
I was a f4 wso in the 80s, then did varks in the 90s...lv this!
What an entertaining way to hear about a first time carrier landing.
I ACTUALLY LAUGHED OUT ALOUD..GREAT INTERVIEW, TOP BLOKE!
He was a great laugh on the day!
I love his explanation of in flight refuelling
Thrilling listening to his first carrier catapult and landing! Chris Bolton is a great story teller, more from him please!!!
Loved this one! Well done that pilot. 👍🍻
Thanks
I recall one time when 892 were tasked with "Q" and a RAF equivelent friend of mine (from 43 Sqdn) asked me "Where are your Kites"? After the alarm went off! I informed him that "Our Cabs" were already in the air!! We had set a new record for launch speed! It happened that our aircrew were actually in the "Q" cab in the shed, setting the switches when the alarm went off! :-) Ahh! Crabs God Bless Em? And Protect us from them? ;-)
I think I've found my new phrase when things are difficult to do.
What a great character. Could listen to him all day.
Wonderful! Brought back lots of memories! “Badger” I hadn’t realised what an old fart you are! Boris
Great interview! I can attest that the Brits really like to drink. When station in Germany (me USAF) we had a sq exchange with the Brits. Great fun.
Great interview of a true character, thank you both!
The topic of cross decking makes me wonder though, landing the USN Phantoms on the British carrier may not be a problem, but how would they go being launched from that carrier without that extra nose wheel height? Would it just be a case of reducing take off weight?
Thank you.
Very interesting and also enjoy his wit and humor...Anyone flying Phantoms of the Ark Royal is deserving of our respect.
Smashing interview.Thank you.
Thank you
This was a great interview. I'd like to sit down and have a couple of beers with this man to hear more about his flying career.
Fantastic interview and what a great guy! Ark was my Father’s first ship so it was great to hear about life onboard. Thank you for sharing!
Watched this several times. I think it's one of your best videos together with your Roy McIntyre collaborations. Any scope for a live Q&A with Chris Bolton on the cards?
That gent is a Legend! Great interview!
Cheers!
Running fuck at a rolling doughnut.That could be the funniest analogy I’ve ever heard👏🏻😂
great interview love hearing about phantoms. how about some huey nam pilots? so far 6 assholes dislike? really? what do they want girls in bikinis dancing freakin trolls
What a great career. Definitely had the best of times. Always loved the Phantom. Ours were faster & cleaner than the yank ones. We shoehorned two RR Spey 202s into ours.
Wrong.
@@terrysmit4629 Agreed, better s.f.c and runway performance but few turbofans can match the J-79 turbojet for altitude and speed!
@@terrysmit4629 : Right
Very well documented of an aircrew experience in the RAF and RN and his visits to other countries including Malta. Cheers from Malta.
Great to hear you enjoyed it, Henry.
Outstanding interview could listen to this gent all day long, a plus for me his first flight in an Auster from my local airport👍
I know Chris from way back. good to see the same sense of humour. We lived in the same block in Hong Kong. Great interview, Chris and very amusing with terrific anecdotes. Best wishes,
Blair
Cheers, Blair. He certainly does, plus a lovely bloke.
I almost pissed myself IRT his description of refueling!lol! I gotta pass that one along...pretty close to dead on! Been to Al Mashirah Oman(Moon Base Alpha) a few times. Gawd Awful...
Heard a little from Chris yesterday at the unveiling of the ex RN RAF F4 Phantom at the Ulster Aviation Society in Northern Ireland. Very informative and interesting.
Dam if this isn't my new favorite interview I LOVE THIS GUY! Running F at at rollin doughnut I lost it right there.
Respect to him. I was on Ark Royal from 1971 to 1975 in two assignments down in the Boiler and Engine rooms. I would spend most of my off time on the Goofing Deck on the Island watching the flying. Phantoms for me are the sexiest looking aircraft EVER built. Watching a jet on re-heat at night was awesome. Watching them hit the splash target.I was always in awe of the Pilots. I wonder if he remembers us pushing a Buccaneer off the back end as the airframe was condemned. I wonder too if he remembers us in Barcelona when some idiot drove a tractor off the back end. I was part of that as I was being taught how to drive one and the guy showing me how to do it properly drove it off the back end. I never did see Barcelona we were in BIG trouble. LOL Those were the days my friend.
Thanks for mentioning the Barcelona tractor incident....We laughed about it at the time...and the story went that the tractor was still going round in circles on the sea bed in the harbour when the Ark put to sea again,,,..I was on 892 at the time...I think we went on to Malta with a stranded American Phantom on board & because that was potentially politically awkward it got repainted with 892's Omega on the tail.
Happy memories of special times.
Most likely "caught" him a few times I was operating the arrester gear(DAX) on the Ark during this period. Recognised most aircrew by their boots, my windows were at deck level. Wonder who the guys were with Shamrocks on their boots. Cross decking was a pain for us, Americans would hit the deck and go on afterburn just in case they missed a wire. This led to a lot of "overstrains" requiring the wire to be taken out of service for checks. Best job I ever had.
Ex Badger.
Our SOP was full cold power on hitting the deck. This avoided “whispering bolters “
I'm going to use, "Like taking a running fuck at a rolling doughnut" in everyday conversation from this point on.
😂 brilliant
Air to air refueling, - 'Like taking a running fuck at a rolling doughnut'. LMFAO.
Greetings from Brazil! One of the best aviation channels! Congratulations.
Thanks very much and thank you for your support from Brazil!
Very enjoyable interview, quite strange to see the airfield at Portimao.. my local! but haven't had time to investigate any flying opportunities there. Didn't know retirement was going to be so busy( villa renovating )43 years flying, difficult not to miss though. My airline career was in no way as exciting as yours though still loved it. Hopefully trip over you in a bar sometime ...in this little corner of paradise.
Cheers Mark.
Thanks Mark. We’re living in Luz. I used to fly from Portimao, but due to the Great Plague, my license has lapsed due expired medical.
Where are you living?
@@lindabolton3037 Hi, for some reason your email went to junk!
Shame about the flying must have been lovely cruising around here . I hadn't appreciated that one could actually fly from Portimao ie take off AND land, I thought you always had to jump out during the flight!
We moved out here in December 2017, and bought a fairly run down villa that is about 4 km north of Paderne. I was communting back to the UK until retirement in Sept 2019. As I mentioned in my first post, have been very busy with the renovating, but it should be coming to an end (Portuguese)' soon'.....might even have our pool back before summers end .
We absolutely love it out here despite the odd challenge or two...
Chris is a great story teller , brilliant interview. My father, Colin Griffin , passed away 4 weeks ago. I’m guessing he was in 892 at the same time as you ? Let’s hope you’ve got more stories to tell.
Thank you Mark. I knew Colin from shore time at RAF Leuchars. I very much enjoyed his company and admired him for his wisdom and sagacity. A rare calm person in a storm.
Vale.
Thank you for your kind words. His funeral is today and will be attended by a number of his Fleet Air Arm friends. I hope you are well. M
Hearing how hard it was to get bombs on target back then makes me realize just how advanced CCIP bombing is in modern aircraft. Let alone laser guided bombs.
All the interviews are outstanding... But this one takes it to another level of great!!!
tom thumb thank you very much.
Bloody gorgeous Chippy behind him.
The relatively small Ark Royal managed to have 12 Phantoms and 14 buccs, wow. Will we ever see 26 British F-35’s on Lizzie, I wonder?
Wow,,, that was an amazing experience. Listening to such an amazing man.....
Thanks Mike. Chris seems like a genuinely top bloke, would love to have a beer or two with him
What a fantastic guy. I don't drink but I'm sure he could turn me into a hard-core alcoholic in a village pub in no time at all.
Had to go ashore with a 40in extension, the airplane of course......hahaha what a character :D Love it, great interview :)
Thanks mate :)
Quite the career
Every now and again I interact with him on Twitter about various aircraft stuff, lovely guy who i'd love to meet in person one day. Defo would buy him a beer or two
He is a nice and funny chap.
If Michael Palin was a pilot...
really enjoyed hearing that perspective, the experiences of a young guy joining the RAF in the 60s and flying off carriers for the RN in the 70s. He tells it well and good on him for leading an interesting life, wish there was more detail but for a 1 hr chat that was great. Thanks
+Adam Skinner glad to hear you enjoyed it, Adam.
Adam Skinner Thank you for your kind comments. I’m a little long in the tooth now.
What a super guy, kind of reminds me of John Cleese.
Looks like Nigel Mansell to me
Brilliant...really interesting guy
There,s a saying in the Royal Navy...never volunteer, I broke that golden rule only once
when I volunteered to be fire suitman on the "Ark" 71/73.
Having known then what Ive heard here, I probably wouldn,t have bothered.
Great interview.
Yes!. That’s what my father told me and why unlike some of his shipmates he survived and stayed on the ship where he was sent by the Royal Navy in W.W.2.
Fantastic British understatement...ding dong
Absolutely love this guy. And the channel itself is a discovery!
What a man. I envy his abilities.
Real life,nice story
Pure charisma.:)
Every time I hear or see British pilots who operated off the Cat equipped carriers I just want to drink til drunk. They were so good, and what an incredible capability that was lost. I know the new Carriers are quite capable but…. Being tied to vertical lift fighter bombers limits what can be done greatly.
True. F35B carries 3500kg of lift fan and associated drive. That’s a lot of fuel/ordnance. However, the RAF got the carrier they wanted.
@@lindabolton3037 yep….
Question is will they be able to fly anything other than F-35’s off it? Might be nice to have the Tempest…. But that would require cats and gear….
My experience with F-14’s in the late 80’s early 90’s vs the f-18’s replacing everything on the deck was a substantial reduction speed and interception flexibility……… and although it worked out because of the Soviet Collapse…. There was a market reduction in CAP options.
Speed shrinks the battlefield a great deal and the difference between a Mach 1.5, 1,8 and Mac .99 really is a lot. When intercepting much faster aircraft with a much slower one, the slower one must rely on far superior intelligence of an impending attack, have E2C’s already launched and scanning in order to position themselves for a kill. And if the attacking aircraft are spread out, it really taxes a small number of .99 fighters to “kill” all the potential adversaries. I’m sure the F-35 can speed up to right at 1.5 but this is for. A short time or it risks loosing its stealth and structure damaged. If there are a half dozen aircraft to intercept that are pushing Mach 2…. with cruise missiles, you have to kill those aircraft before the can target the battle group.
He's still back there. Come on, Mav, do some of that pilot shit! :D
Someone get this poor guy a chair to sit on!
mouth of a sailor, fabulous storyteller!
they´re all good, but this one was great. thanks.
Great interview as always. Thought I recognised the backdrop, this is at skydive algarve. I’ve done a lot of skydiving there and work for their sister dropzone in Lincolnshire!
Cheers mate.
Superb, superb video. Many thanks for this interview.
Ecthaelyon You're very welcome
One of the very best, would love to buy him a pint!
Thank you. Could we stretch to 2 pints perhaps?
What an interesting Guy. Great interview.
Cheers.
Very interesting, congratulations, its great 👏👏
34:04 “who gives a shit anyway? I’m down”
Legend 😂
Just discovered your channel. Really superb, good detail, anecdotes and a lack of hyperbole. Great!
I hope you enjoy our content!
Fascinating, thank you very much for the upload. I would have been in my early teens when Mr. Bolton was attached to the RN on HMS Ark Royal but because my old man was on the MoD Police launches at HMNB Devonport and we lived in SE Cornwall (RAF St. Mawgan wasn't far away) I can remember my fascination with RN/ RAF F-4s, Buccaneers, Nimrods.
Glad you enjoyed it.
What a wonderful man!
Great Interview! If you could get Pete Sheppard on here, it would be brilliant! What a legend!!
+ccooxxyy Cheers! He would be an interesting interview. Navy guys are a bit difficult to get hold of for some reason.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. My father was a Fleet Air Arm pilot and I wonder if their paths crossed. Bob Northard was Commander Air of Ark and later Yeovilton where he returned as Captain in the early 80s. I met Sheppard as a kid!
Paul Northard Thank you Paul. I remember your father “Wings” very well. I think he took over from Jack Worth. Great days.
Yes, Jack Worth rings a Bell. Dad died in 2007 and Mum last year. You may remember Peter Redpath, he came to Mum's funeral and looks in fine fettle for his age.
@10:05 is what you call the "classic moment."
Sounds like a hard life on the Ark for you,perhaps you would like to know that your idea of ships company gettingbthe best, try this for size, next to the galley was a mess the sizeof your acomadation that was home for 40 men.
On the mid watch aircrew got a meal where as ships company took a can of soup they purchased a can of soup which thdy purchased from the nafi from their own pocket, even with the air confition running at full bore the tempersture in the mess was usually a steady thirty plus, with no flight time where you could cool down.
Many thanks Mr. Bolton- just a great interview.
Really enjoyed watching that. Keep up the good work
What an interesting interview. The steam catapult installation at Bedford was purpose built in 1954 as part of the NAD development and had raised and flush catapults. I was told the raised cat was the original, but had been relocated from the WW2 aircraft carrier it was previously installed on. The runway for the flush system may have been repurposed, but the ship systems built into it were all naval gear. Oh, I found a good web page for this. All that is visible now is an odd grass gap in the Palmer racing school circuit and slightly different grass where the CHAG arrestor gear used to be. When I was there it was all out of use and Sam Kidd had converted the chamber where the steam gear was into a very effective fog chamber. Sad that it's all lost to history now.
www .bahg .org.uk/NAD.htm
cageordie interesting!
Very good story teller.
'Not that dangerous, walked away!'
Chris is definitely a natural raconteur! I loved this one!
Glad you enjoyed it.