In the days when we were allowed to train our VC10 crews properly, we used to fly the 'States Trainer' to give them experience of cold/hot/high/mil and civil aerodromes. 2 crews, 5 legs each including a pond hop for each crew. Met all the overseas training objectives and only took a week to achieve.
But we were told 'Not California', then 'Not New Orleans' - and then a list of politcially correct aerodromes was actually published in GASOs..
Why? Because the SASO didn't want to have to explain why one of his a/c was tits-up in New Orleans, Miramar or wherever. ****sville USA, no problem - but if there was the slightest sniff of it being somewhere nice, the idiot fun detectors' antennae would start twitching.
Of course, the concern wasn't at the unreliability of the knackered old things (that's the a/c, not just the instructors!) - but at the thought of 20 aircrew basking in the sun waiting for the supply system to raid a museum for the appropriate bit and then send it via the slowest form of transport known to man into the waiting hands of the 6 groundies who always travelled with us!
Once heard tell of a Vulcan whose hydraulics had given up in Hawaii. They asked whether they could use local USAF-sourced hydraulic fluid, but were told to remain where they were until a few tins of the approved RAF fluid could be sent out. Which, being DAC, had to go by Herc. It takes quite a while for Albert to bumble his sedate way out to Hickalulu - but I'm sure no-one in the Vulcan crew asked twice!
Last edited by BEagle; 12th Jan 2005 at 08:03.