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Old 22nd Oct 2020, 12:52
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ShyTorque

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Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
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The 104’s “spirited” departure from Gutersloh after the 1982 NATO Tiger Meet was spectacular to say the least. I stood on the ops block upper balcony to watch, alongside was a certain forum member who was in those days an ATC assistant (later a LHR controller and now an ATCO trainer, I believe). We were adjacent to the tower, it was part of the same building.

The aircraft was in reheat and was level with the roof. It came in at 90 degrees to the runway. Total separation from us paled Tom Cruise’s flyby in Top Gun into insignificance. I estimated that it was about twenty feet above us and very, very close to supersonic. I’m surprised the tower windows stayed in place.
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