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Luftwaffe escort for the Queen

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Luftwaffe escort for the Queen

Old 24th Jun 2015, 14:32
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It was Concord that Sharpend mentioned earlier that overshot the red carpet, had to fit the tug and push it back. Guess BA Captains don't have a chinagraph in their nav bag to make marks on the DV window on departure to line up eye with position of said carpet.

They should have left the job to the guys who did it all the time. No disrespect, like anything else it takes training and practice.

The whole operation is only like a timed bombing run. The IP is landing then you have to get the dividers onto the taxiway charts and work out the time for taxying and of course know even which way you are parking on the stand to get to target. It took 30secs to turn a VC10 gently through 180°.
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 15:26
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Multi millionaire celebrity hires biz jet.
Why is this news?
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 16:30
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The Royal Family aren't entitled to abated cost travel by 32(TR) Sqn assets due to a grant they receive each year from DfT for their travel. They thus have to pay full cost (the cost of airfield, wages, fuel, gate guards etc etc) which makes it cheaper to rent a civilian jet.

Plus they're less likely to break down.
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 16:37
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The Royal Family aren't entitled to abated cost travel by 32(TR) Sqn assets....
So in that case, why are 32 still 'TR' Sqn?

I did like the tale of the Princess Royal who, when travelling somewhere by CivAir, was told of an ATC strike which would delay her. With a twinkle in her eye, she simply said "Off with their heads!", before waiting patiently for the flight to depart.
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 16:50
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Ascoteer. It is 20 years since I was last in this game which was for most of my time in the Royal Air Force. We never broke down, as you put it, on a Royal or VVIP flight.

Costings were very complex and involved 'creative accountancy'. Even then the PM would sometimes use another 'company'. Good PR of course for the lower tender.
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 18:11
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Last edited by Ascoteer; 27th Jul 2015 at 12:45.
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 18:37
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Ascoteer. It is 20 years since I was last in this game which was for most of my time in the Royal Air Force. We never broke down, as you put it, on a Royal or VVIP flight.

Costings were very complex and involved 'creative accountancy'. Even then the PM would sometimes use another 'company'. Good PR of course for the lower tender.
Blimey, I remember a few that cut it close, like fitting the VIP fit on the spare on route to pick up the VIP, it was pulled out of the primary and thrown across to the secondary aircraft freight door to freight door.

Maggie came back on two, I suppose that wasn't really broken down, only slightly
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 19:48
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We VVIP chaps have many tales to tell.

At the top of drop, the Nav set his watch time exactly from his comprehensive nav kit. He then advised the pilots of timings, distance and even down to where to turn off the runway and what speed to taxi at, always remembering the phrase 'Safely, Smoothly and On Time'. In that order.

I remember taking Prince C to Riyadh once and we opened the doors exactly abeam the red carpet and to the second. Shortly after HRH departed in the Limo a very irate British colonel appeared on the flight deck to demand why we were 10 minutes early. I asked him what time he had on his watch and when did he last set it. His face went bright red and that was that. Stupid man.
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 19:54
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We also NEVER BROKE DOWN.

At Saudi, with HRH, my slats failed to extend on finals. Sadly we did not have the tools to fix the problem before departure the following day; with HRH. The rules were thus a single fight back to home base with crew only. Sadly, BZZ could not get the spare VC10 to us in time due to the lack of diplomatic clearances.

But we had to take HRH to Bahrain the following day.

My solution? Make Bahrain my home base and make HRH crew. It worked, though HRH did appear on the flt deck to ask if he was getting crew pay.

True!
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 20:13
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Great photos, and great elan from the Luftwaffe. I'd love to have been a fly in the cabin and hearing Philip's comments!

The Royal couple are the same age as my parents, if they were still alive. As was pointed out by observers during the recent State Opening of Parliament, requiring nonagenarians to travel on such a regular basis and to carry out a pretty arduous programme would be tantamount to abusive behaviour! Well done that they can do still do so.
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Old 24th Jun 2015, 21:43
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Aren't there restrictions on how close to a Royal Flight another aircraft can get? Guess not looking at the picture but it seems a bit strange.
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 04:02
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Was Prince Philip holding on to a pair of imaginary Brownings and shouting "Dagga Dagga Dagga !" out of the window at the Luftwaffe pair ?
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 10:53
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So G-THFC stands for "Tottenham Hotspur Football Club" as it is/was Daniel Levy's aircraft?
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 11:03
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my slats failed to extend on finals.
Hope you are better now Sharpend
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 11:53
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A quote:
The UK is the only G20 nation not to have a dedicated long range Head of State/Government aircraft like France's A330 or Germany's two A340s.
From:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_tr...and_government

Sad
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 11:54
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Hard times for the Monarchy indeed - a luxury private jet to Berlin, and I hear also that the Queen might have to move to one of the 4 other stately London abodes while Buckingham Palace is refurbished (which, incidentally, those dastardly Scots might refuse to help pay for). Oh, the humanity!!
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 12:25
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Enjoy your time in the Tower as raven fodder, melmothtw....
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 12:30
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 13:28
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the Queen doesn't travel enough by air these days to warrant a specific "Queens Flight".

I'm sure some of the army of lesser Royals would love one tho'

Cameroon travels by BA and they rent a 777 so they can get the journo's on and charge them squillions for the ride

Harry Lee always used to fly SQ scheduled when he could
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Old 25th Jun 2015, 13:53
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For her Frankfurt daytrip from Berlin HM today uses Luftwaffe's A340 "16+02" a former Lufthansa aircraft.
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