While operational with 10 Sqn, the Neppy performed many different roles as it was a versatile aircraft and for its era carried a lot of sophisticated equipment, including the whopping big APS20-E radar. It had good visual stations, anti-submarine warfare capability, electronic support measures (scanning and recording), torpedoes, mines and carried heaps of sonobuoys.

We spoke with Col Price who was an AEO on the Neppy for many years and showed him our notes, he said:-

Those pics sure brought back many hot and sweaty memories of the old beast. The crew on the SP-2H (10SQN) normally consisted of 2 pilots, 2 navigators (route nav and tactical coordinator), 5 AEOs  in positions Jezebel/Julie (acoustic submarine tracking), then rearwards just over the mainspar to the radio operator and then the two waist positions who managed the stores (sonobuoys, SUS, PDCs) and kept visual lookout through the square inward opening (in-flight to cool off!) windows and usually did the cooking, coffee runs etc.

Sometimes we would have three pilots to allow for some rotation on long sorties and sometimes ditto with three navs.

The Neppies operated with the Aust Navy a lot of the time on joint exercises usually anti-submarine warfare out of Sydney, 10 Sqn deployed to Richmond for these exercises. They did a lot of coastal surveillance, photographing and reporting by radio all surface shipping contacts they came across. Associated with this were fishery surveillance and reporting of any illegal refugee boats. Every two years they would fly to Hawaii for the RIMPAC (rim of the Pacific) anti-submarine exercises with the US Navy.

These were big exercises and it was a major effort getting 2-3 Neppys over there via places such as Wake and Kwajaleion Islands.

Being an unpressurised aeroplane, it normally few at about 8,000 ft - so most of the flights were uncomfortable.

Most of the blokes who flew on the Neppy remember them fondly and most got their share of frights with engine failures, equipment fires,

rough pilots etc. but, it was a great crew-bonding aircraft.

This was the Navigator and Sonobuoy operator's console and was situated just behind the pilots.

Down the bottom left of the pic can be seen the engine analyser (circular green screen) where

crew could monitor among other things, the condition of the 72 spark plugs contained in both engines.

Many a sumpie felt like putting a hammer through this apparatus.

Normally the aircraft would taxi out to the runway, then the crew would do their engine checks

and then the numerous radio checks with the engines idling.

This would cause one or more of the plugs to fowl but when the engine was fired up,

they would undoubtedly clear on their own.

Sometimes, as the aircraft lined up, a crew member would check the plugs and

seeing one or more fowled, would U/S the aeroplane

which meant dropping the cowls and changing one or more

plugs - on a hot engine.

Looking towards the rear of the aircraft, the position on the left was one of the Air Electronic Officer's (AEO) console.

This was situated just to the rear of the wing spa that went right through the aircraft and over which

you have to crawl to get from the front of the aircraft to the back.

Looking from the rear of the wing spa, back towards the front of the aircraft.

The seats were normally used by the Anti-sub operator, the APS-20 radar operator and the Navigator at times. The aircraft also had seat belts built into the floor which were normally covered with a flap.

Other pax would sit on the floor and belt themselves in for take off/landings.

This area, which is situated under the wing spa, was for the huge APS-20 radar. The antenna was situated under the floor (where the wood is) and all the equipment to drive it was mounted in the racks pictured. The power supply, which required a huge 80 amps DC just to light the valve filaments, was a huge piece of equipment, weighing in at about 120kg. To remover it, the bomb loading crane was poked through the flap at the back of the bay and used to lift it out - as well as the antenna if/when it required servicing.

The whole equipment must have drawn buckets of current from the engine generators

and it's a wonder that turning on everything at once didn't shock-stall the motors.

Back in 10 Sqn's radio section, which was called by all and sundry "the brick shouse"  they had 5 Hobart DC generators all paralleled up to provide the huge DC current required to bench test the equipment.

One of the first (and worst) jobs in the morning was to fire up these generators which was a terrifying task

as they used to sound like there were going to explode into a million bits.

Looking towards the rear of the aircraft, this section was usually used by any visual observers.

Kev Rosser, who used to fix the radios that were broken by Col and his mates,

says the aircraft's toilet used to be behind the two seats down the back

and when one was seated and was blissfully unaware of most things,

one could see both wings of the aircraft at the same time.

And there's not a lot of big aeroplanes in which you can do that....

This area of the aeroplane was also the only spot in which you could stand up, and so, was very popular with all on board.

On many occasions there would be so many people down the back the aircraft would fly nose up, causing it to drop 3-5 knots.

With a cruise speed of only 160 kts, 5 knots was important, so the call would go out from the pilots

for someone to come back to the front.

From the rear of the aircraft, looking back towards the front, the sonobuoy racks can be seen around the walls.

The aircraft normally carried 64 sonobuoys and just to the left of the bottom yellow fire bottle (in the pic)

there was a sonocanon that used to fire them backwards at the same speed as the forward speed of the aircraft.

This ensured they dropped straight down.

The small white circular hole a bit left of and above the fire bottle was the bomb bay inspection window. Not long after take off, one of the crew would check in here to make sure everything was ok - most importantly to ensure the rubber 300 gallon fuel tank was not leaking. On one occasion it was found to be doing just that and was hastily jettisoned and unfortunately, while still carrying its load of 300 gallons of 130-145 octane, landed smack bang in the middle of a turf farm. Needless to say, it didn't do the turf much good.....

On long trips, if you could, you would slip back here and try and get some shut eye and the favourite spot to doss down was over the bottom escape hatch. It was felt if anything went wrong while you were asleep and everyone had to leave the aircraft in a hurry, you wouldn't miss a thing.

Just to the right of the paper towel was the aircraft's galley and being as it was a long endurance aircraft, it carried a considerable stock of rations. The AEO's (called Airborne Eating Officers by the aeroplane fixers) would spend a lot of their time cooking up bacon and eggs etc, and as the aircraft bounced around a lot, quite of bit was spilt down the back. This is what gave the Neppy its distinctive smell.

Kev Rosser also says, "As a Radtech, one of the trips which we used to do was to Cocos Island and back. I did the trip at least 4 times and it consisted of flying for 10 hours to get to Learmonth where we overnighted before flying for another 10 hours into the Indian Ocean to Cocos.

After a week of operating out of Cocos we would return home. All told, 40 hours in the air per trip!"