How many UK Typhoons?

[London Mil]

From the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5262120.stm

[GlosMikeP]

Interesting. I wonder if MOD will broker a cut in its numbers for the RAF on the back of it?

[Saintsman]

One of the reasons I PVR'd was that BAES had just sold lots of Tornados to the Saudis and they took priority over the RAF orders.

We were training up loads of people for them who suddenly found they had no where to go. Promotion died. Not long after I'd left they were paying people to leave.

A touch of deja vous?

[Flatus Veteranus]

Saintsman - "vu", s'il vous plait! ;)

[trilander]

! had the dubious pleasure of being with 2sqn RSAF at Tabuk in jan 1986 and helped prep the lightnigs for final trip,

Will uk be obliged to buy back the RSAF tornadoes to complete this deal and if so who may be a buyer for them.

[BEagle]

Ah yes - 22 Jan 1986, OP DHONANYI. The recovery of the RSAF Lightnings to the UK. I was the co-piglet on the last VC10K taking the last jets home.....

The beat-ups were getting ever lower and ever faster as the jets left, each one outdoing the previous. 'Our' Lightnings took off and did their 'visual circuit :E ' whilst we roared off in ZA141 ('The Lizard'). The air-to-air TACAN spun down at an astonishing rate as the Lightnings caught us in the climb..... If they weren't supersonic, they must have been very close to being so!

Handed them over to a Victor over Sicily and popped into Palermo to refuel, then on to Brize.

It must have been a heck of a long time to be strapped to a Lightning!

It will be interesting to see how the RSAF cope with the EuropHoon.... Incidentally, what happened to the investigation into the alleged BWoS back-handers to various Saudi princelings?

[Green Meat]

Well, very nearly me in 1990 for a Lightning at £1 a pop! Couldn't quite fulfil the then contractural agreement for having one at the time :(

I can see the Tornado line up now in my mind's eye (yes, I know, funny place to have an eye, too many mobile calls!), then rapidly dispersing to masquerade as RAF a/c in far flung museums around the country. It was quite interesting to park next to Samlesbury's gate guard in 1990 when it was in the car park and split into two sections...

[GlosMikeP]

One of the reasons I PVR'd was that BAES had just sold lots of Tornados to the Saudis and they took priority over the RAF orders.

We were training up loads of people for them who suddenly found they had no where to go. Promotion died. Not long after I'd left they were paying people to leave.

A touch of deja vous?Then you'll smile at the entries on the thread 'What is the true state of defence finances'. I got out ahead of the game some years back.

[GeeRam]

Ah yes - 22 Jan 1986, OP DHONANYI. The recovery of the RSAF Lightnings to the UK. I was the co-piglet on the last VC10K taking the last jets home.....
The beat-ups were getting ever lower and ever faster as the jets left, each one outdoing the previous. 'Our' Lightnings took off and did their 'visual circuit :E ' whilst we roared off in ZA141 ('The Lizard'). The air-to-air TACAN spun down at an astonishing rate as the Lightnings caught us in the climb..... If they weren't supersonic, they must have been very close to being so!


A quick look at the crew lists says the last two Lightnings to leave taxied out at 0920 and was Jim Howe and Chris Jenkinson in a T.55 and the very last to leave in a somewhat spectacular fashion was Dave Hart in an F.53.
The following 2 x ship low level buzz of the empty flight line raised a sand storm wake.....:cool:

Quoting the crew list for ZA141 is a bit pointless.....;)

[North Sea Tiger]

Hmmmmm:hmm:

[A2QFI]

SFAIK the Lightnings all arrived at Warton serviceable. There was a move afoot to sell them to Nigeria - that would have been a challenging training package!