Military AircrewA forum for the professionals who fly the non-civilian hardware, and the backroom boys and girls without whom nothing would leave the ground. Army, Navy and Airforces of the World, all equally welcome here.
Way back in the 1980’s I was told that 8 Sqn Shackletons had a sticker attached to them which looked like a brass plaque, saying something like “Avro Shackleton, on loan from the RAF Museum Hendon, please fly carefully.”
Any R.A.F. aircraft flying today that would qualify for such a sticker — or have some squadrons already affixed similar stickers to some of the geriatric aircraft they are expected to fly?
Flew in a Hastings in 1973 as the lead-in to #1 AD course on the F-4 and there was a plaque over the rear entry hatch that said something like, "When this airframe is time-expired, please preserve it as it flew in the Berlin Airlift, 1948".
Needless to say the NBS kit when t1ts-up halfway through the radar prediction sortie and all I got was 4 hours bimbling round one of the LFAs saying what I thought I expected to see on the tube. Waste of time!
8 Sqn used to have a semi-professional cartoonist on its strength (Air Pictorial etc) and many of his creations ended up as stickers/T-Shirts etc. We had the 8 Screws (one of his) and "Old Age and Treachary will Triumph over Youth and Skill" was also popular. I also remember just after the John Nott cuts of '81; "Join 8 and Get Notted".
The Sqn owned its own Sreen-Printing Press, and T-Shirts/Sweat Shirts were mass produced in the days before Air Shows to the considerable profit of the Bar Fund. We even had our own line in 8 Screws Skimpy Knickers which "went down well" with the punters. I once traded my tatty 8 Screws sweat shirt for a USAF cold weather flying jacket at an Air Show at Ramstein.
I have to confess though that I do not remember the "Brass Plaque" sticker. May have been after my time...
Maybe this "eight screws are better than two blow jobs" was not aimed at the nimrod ?
it was anyway very appropriate when 8th squadron organised a big show for the end of the shackleton on 8th august 1988 (8.8.88) inviting all other NATO 8th squadrons which were all twin jet fighter equiped.
I believe that the 4 blow jobs version came about in the last year of the Shackleton (1990-91) when there were 2 x 8 Sqns: 8 Sqn North at Lossie with the Shackleton and 8 Sqn South at Waddington with the work-up to the E-3D takeover.
Up 'til then the 2 blow jobs was to signify that all the other aircraft at Lossie were twin jets (Buccs and Jag OC). It was certainly 2 blow jobs during the early 80s.
W
PS. I did have a google to see if there were any images on the interweb, but couldn't find any.........had to look for the whole phrase though.
I'd guess its a toss up between the VC10 and Dominie,
I think the Dominie entered service in 1965, the year before the VC10, so leaving aside BBMF and Boscombe, which may have a Sopwith Camel on its books for all I know, I guess it is the oldest in regular RAF service. Some chat about it on the 55 Squadron visitor to NCL thread below. Funny, I still think of it as a shiny new aeroplane, which it certainly was at Strad after Gaydon's Varsities, but time marches on.
The US Navy have a tradition of 'redecorating' any aircraft that landed by mistake on the wrong carrier. The attitude of the Airboss when one was noted on approach was, 'keep it comin in, we'll catch a live one'.
The Royal Navy had one of their F4s rebranded during a det to the States in the seventies.....
