76Fan,
In the early 1980s I was flying RAF helicopters in W. Germany. One summer I was providing a week’s support for an army exercise on the North German Plain (Grenadier Guards, who were the Berlin Regiment at the time). On the final day I was told by the Major in charge that he wanted me to fly his Land Rover as an underslung load to the location of the final exercise battle “Coup de Grace” which was on a bridge. That was no problem until he said he would be sitting in the vehicle so he could view the build up from height and he would point the way to the bridge for us! I told him that I couldn’t do that on safety grounds. He replied that he intended to wear his seat belt, a helmet and goggles! My first reaction was that he was trying to wind me up, but it became obvious that he was being perfectly serious! Trying to let him down as politely as could, I advised him that from experience, Land Rovers spun round and round when underslung and that we would be able to navigate to the battle location without him pointing the way. That didn’t put him off so I advised him that in the event of an engine malfunction I’d have to jettison the Land Rover. He thought about that for about two seconds and said he’d better drive.
I never heard anything more but in any case, our Squadron Commander was very supportive of his staff so it would have gone no further - the mad Major would have been laughed out of court.
Last edited by ShyTorque; 25th January 2025 at 14:56.