Global Aviation Magazine : 60 Years of the Hercules
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Copywrite belongs to the Crown.
Cover photo attributed to Sgt Rick Brewell. The pilot is said to be Flt Lt Simon Thompson (I think he was on JATE flying section when I was there at the time of MM being grounded)
The article is attributed to David Hutchinson. I wonder if he is still around or even lurks on PPRuNe. Other contributions from MALMs Holland (I knew Dutch from the HOEU), Wright, and Ferries.
Apologies for the poor text on the previous pages. I hope those who want to can read it.
I had a lot of time for the ALMs during my 12 or so years involved in airdrop. I hope the article gives them the credit they deserve.
The reason I kept the mag all those years was the article on Snoopy. I had done some work on Snoopy in the 80s. If there is demand I will have a go at uploading it.
BR Drag
Copywrite belongs to the Crown.
Cover photo attributed to Sgt Rick Brewell. The pilot is said to be Flt Lt Simon Thompson (I think he was on JATE flying section when I was there at the time of MM being grounded)
The article is attributed to David Hutchinson. I wonder if he is still around or even lurks on PPRuNe. Other contributions from MALMs Holland (I knew Dutch from the HOEU), Wright, and Ferries.
Apologies for the poor text on the previous pages. I hope those who want to can read it.
I had a lot of time for the ALMs during my 12 or so years involved in airdrop. I hope the article gives them the credit they deserve.
The reason I kept the mag all those years was the article on Snoopy. I had done some work on Snoopy in the 80s. If there is demand I will have a go at uploading it.
BR Drag
dragartist,
what memories that pristine role fit brings back. Keep the pics coming. In general service it soon looked worn but the role equippers did a great job of taking care of it.
On a double MSP drop it was not uncommon for the ramp set of HD rollers to jam after the first platform departed. The second platform would then cut flats in the roller as it departed. Sometimes the HD rollers would be spun up so fast that the grease would melt and you could smell it.
what memories that pristine role fit brings back. Keep the pics coming. In general service it soon looked worn but the role equippers did a great job of taking care of it.
On a double MSP drop it was not uncommon for the ramp set of HD rollers to jam after the first platform departed. The second platform would then cut flats in the roller as it departed. Sometimes the HD rollers would be spun up so fast that the grease would melt and you could smell it.
Paras crossing over behind the Herc has always been a problem whatever parachute was used. It is the nature of the beast. On sim sticks with a full load of paras in war config it was impossible to maintain a stagger despite what the armchair experts claimed. We tried every which way to do it, to little avail. Once the 'train' started moving it was very difficult to control as the paras only ambition in life was get out of 'that bloody aircraft' !
Drag,
many thanks for posting the article. It sounds such a good job I may just apply ! In this PC dominated world my age should be no bar. Despite my time as an ALM I have never seen this article before . Yes please for the Snoopy article any any others you have found in your shed turnout.
Welcome to the club of Coffman's converts. He has a lot to answer for !
many thanks for posting the article. It sounds such a good job I may just apply ! In this PC dominated world my age should be no bar. Despite my time as an ALM I have never seen this article before . Yes please for the Snoopy article any any others you have found in your shed turnout.
Welcome to the club of Coffman's converts. He has a lot to answer for !
aeroid,
as requested I have consulted my faithful friend and it informs me that I set of for Belize via Lajes on 17 Jan 72 in XV 211. We appear to have only got as far as Bermuda before coming home.
On the 29 Jan we did the round trip via Santa Maria, Bermuda and Nassau in what my log book says was Exercise Cadnam. It was obviously a slip by then as the a/c number changes for every leg. Looks like we spent three days in Nassau !
as requested I have consulted my faithful friend and it informs me that I set of for Belize via Lajes on 17 Jan 72 in XV 211. We appear to have only got as far as Bermuda before coming home.
On the 29 Jan we did the round trip via Santa Maria, Bermuda and Nassau in what my log book says was Exercise Cadnam. It was obviously a slip by then as the a/c number changes for every leg. Looks like we spent three days in Nassau !
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A couple more from the box
From JATE - the date 1998. Auto Gravity Ejection. Goodness me so many TLAs. We had ILP (In Line pairs) B4s (Block 4s) and various other permutations and combinations.
A barrier rigged from chains and the infamous 10K tensioners was rigged to stop the load going forward. A flagellator connected the drogue parachute strop to a set of separator boxes. Overhead chains kept the load on the floor till P-quite a time. On Green on the drogue released from the bomb rack, some shear pins broke in these boxes which left the aircraft followed by the loads trundling out under gravity (due to floor angle and a climb.
There was several other methods for despatching one tons. It was not until the J came along did we get any harmonisation. The Buffer stop replaced the chain barrier. The retrieval winch was used to pull a pin out of a strap.
From JATE - the date 1998. Auto Gravity Ejection. Goodness me so many TLAs. We had ILP (In Line pairs) B4s (Block 4s) and various other permutations and combinations.
A barrier rigged from chains and the infamous 10K tensioners was rigged to stop the load going forward. A flagellator connected the drogue parachute strop to a set of separator boxes. Overhead chains kept the load on the floor till P-quite a time. On Green on the drogue released from the bomb rack, some shear pins broke in these boxes which left the aircraft followed by the loads trundling out under gravity (due to floor angle and a climb.
There was several other methods for despatching one tons. It was not until the J came along did we get any harmonisation. The Buffer stop replaced the chain barrier. The retrieval winch was used to pull a pin out of a strap.
As I mentionedd in an earlier post I always regarded AGE drops as being in the laps of the gods especailly when the captain leveled the a/c with part of the load still inside.
In respect of the article I knew all the loadmasters mentioned and Hutch was on of my troops on 30 before he was commissioned. We lost Dave Ferries at far too early an age a number of years ago.
In respect of the article I knew all the loadmasters mentioned and Hutch was on of my troops on 30 before he was commissioned. We lost Dave Ferries at far too early an age a number of years ago.
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Dave Ferries - didn't he have a brother Ian Ferries, a Nav on 30 Sqn?
PS, the skipper does look a bit like Simon - sad he's not standing up, you'd know for certain!
Simon relatively recently retired from Handling Squadron and I hear he's happy as a sandboy - best of luck to him.
PS, the skipper does look a bit like Simon - sad he's not standing up, you'd know for certain!
Simon relatively recently retired from Handling Squadron and I hear he's happy as a sandboy - best of luck to him.
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Brian, Simon probably was standing up (or had his seat fully up!). I remember IFF as a flight commander on XXIV what a bundle of laughs he was , although he did get a career debrief from one of the Sqn loadies on a day out at the Guinness brewery at Park Royal.
When IFF was a Flt Cdr on 24 Sqn, I may have sent him a 'weather lovely, wish you were here' postcard from Trondheim.
/More accurately, from near Trondheim.
//Later found out that there might have been a bit of a witch-hunt on 24 to find the guilty party.
///I was on 30 Sqn.
/More accurately, from near Trondheim.
//Later found out that there might have been a bit of a witch-hunt on 24 to find the guilty party.
///I was on 30 Sqn.
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Brian, Simon probably was standing up (or had his seat fully up!). I remember IFF as a flight commander on XXIV what a bundle of laughs he was , although he did get a career debrief from one of the Sqn loadies on a day out at the Guinness brewery at Park Royal.
But, yep THAT was the Dave Ferries you meant . . . sorry for the thread drift - but it's all Hercules related. Lets not go into the Nav Flt Cdrs on 30 - RG and AG who served with JH (living proof that "living without a sense of humour" is not a terminal disease).
Nice to see a mention of Dave Ferries (I always thought it was Ferris). If he is the MALM I am thinking of I remember spending an evening in our hotel bar, and a few friendly beers, before his return to UK the next day. Our crew had just replaced his on a US Det. We were all shocked to hear that Dave had had a massive heart attack within hours of arriving home. It must have been a huge shock to his family. A great guy, who, I enjoyed many routes with, and one whose passing left a big hole in the fleet. RIP Dave. I'm sure Ksimboy can confirm that we are talking of the same man.
Smudge
Smudge
Day trip to La Belle France
On a similar experience with trips to French bases I was tasked with a day trip to somewhere in France to pick up a returning Captain who was finishing an exchange posting on the C160. The prep consisted of wear No 1 and don't worry about your toolkit! A rather motley bunch of Aircrew boarded the frame and off we went.
On arrival it was park up and leave the aircraft to the tender care off the crew who were to fly us back and off to the Squadron HQ where the hospitality began, drinkies all round, many rounds of toasts and the down to the cellar bar for lunch which was accompanied by more drinkies and toasts. Whether it was a deliberate choice or not lunch was Roast Lamb and this was at the time, you may remember it, of the lamb war with France. Memories start to fade after that but I do remember the pilot sitting next to me having his wings sawn off his jacket by a Frenchman with a steak knife.
The day finished with a visit to the local vintners where a considerable amount of tasting took part before purchases were made and a return to the base and aircraft followed. On getting everybody on board a head count revealed a shortage of one, the guy we had come out to bring home but he eventually turned up and a return to Lyneham ensued.
Who it was decided to park the aircraft right outside the Terminal gave the occupants the sight of a remarkable number of people very the worse for wear after a day of Entente Cordial falling off the aircraft and departing the scene quite quickly!
Not all day trips were quite as entertaining!
On arrival it was park up and leave the aircraft to the tender care off the crew who were to fly us back and off to the Squadron HQ where the hospitality began, drinkies all round, many rounds of toasts and the down to the cellar bar for lunch which was accompanied by more drinkies and toasts. Whether it was a deliberate choice or not lunch was Roast Lamb and this was at the time, you may remember it, of the lamb war with France. Memories start to fade after that but I do remember the pilot sitting next to me having his wings sawn off his jacket by a Frenchman with a steak knife.
The day finished with a visit to the local vintners where a considerable amount of tasting took part before purchases were made and a return to the base and aircraft followed. On getting everybody on board a head count revealed a shortage of one, the guy we had come out to bring home but he eventually turned up and a return to Lyneham ensued.
Who it was decided to park the aircraft right outside the Terminal gave the occupants the sight of a remarkable number of people very the worse for wear after a day of Entente Cordial falling off the aircraft and departing the scene quite quickly!
Not all day trips were quite as entertaining!
Master of the Hohourable Company of Air Pilots
Just read in " Pilot " that a certain Sqn Ldr C...s F..d MBE has been invested as the latest Master of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots, could this be the certain occupant of SF for more years than I can remember, the photo certainly looks like him if you visualise him as the lean green fighting machine of the seventies and eighties!
C...s managed to achieve fame as the first casualty of the Salisbury det for the Rhodesian independence monitoring when he dived in the pool at the Rhodesian AOCs place while there for the New Years day barbie, doing in his ear drum and being the OPs officer after that which resulted in N...l S......S crew having to bum a co-pilot when we flew. Memories!
C...s managed to achieve fame as the first casualty of the Salisbury det for the Rhodesian independence monitoring when he dived in the pool at the Rhodesian AOCs place while there for the New Years day barbie, doing in his ear drum and being the OPs officer after that which resulted in N...l S......S crew having to bum a co-pilot when we flew. Memories!
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Thanks for that AA62, the man will forever hold my respect. Gopher 01, C***s F**d is also someone I have "special memories" of. Good to hear he has been recognised for his abilities. Anyone like to hear about an Albert co pilot taking up the offer of a Fulton recovery ? If so, I will compile before posting as its a bit involved.
Smudge
Smudge