2. Then, on another occasion, there's all of us reading the Sun, (ok, looking at page 3), and drinking coffee in the mess waiting for the transport to go to the Sqn when the whole mess begins to shake, (pictures on the walls, light fittings, tea shaking etc.). But there's no sound of a large jet and Shawbury probably couldn't handle a jet the size needed to create that amount of shaking... It stops and we go to the Sqn a little puzzled but thinking about the days flying. On the radio at the Sqn is the news... There was an earthquake..
3. Flying my first mountain trip out of Shawbury with a certain Crewman Instructor with a patch over his eye. Somewhere deep in north Wales just short of Snowdonia the young pilot asks for his lumpy box. Crewman Instructor replies that he'll get it. A minute later, when I'm intently trying to navigate and not get lost, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to find myself looking down the barrel of a 1" signals pistol with "Take me to Cuba" written on the top of the lumpy box in chinagraph. I
nearly fell out of the kite laughing... I
did get lost!!!
4. Waking up in my house in Ash Vale and opening the curtains to find that all the little trees planted along the road are all damaged and debris is all over the street. "F$king Vandals" methinks. Go to bathroom and open curtains to find a 100' tall tree in my yard that wasn't there the night before, (horizontal). Wife asks "didn't you hear the wind last night?" Nope. Try to get to Odiham. Can't, trees down everywhere. Go home and call the Sqn only to be told I must get to work ASAP because they need crews. I finally get there after cross country motorcycle riding to find I am the first crewman in and the wind I slept through the night before was a Hurricane!!!
5. A week after said hurricane Michael Fish, (BBC weatherman), while trying to defend the BBC Weather Service after dropping the ball on predicting a hurricane, proudly announces that they get it right 48% of the time...
6. Mid November Monday morning. The Monday Met brief is done by the Met Man at Odiham who has to drive all the way around the peri track. We're all sat there and he is giving the brief about 10k vis, 1/8 cloud at 3500', zero precip etc. etc. etc. while we are all looking out of the windows watching the dense snow. Sqn Cdr clears his throat loudly a couple of times and, when he has Met Man's attention, flicks a look towards the windows. Met Man pick up all his nice slides, throws them over his shoulder and, as he departs, says "Of course, you could just look out of the window... Classic!!!
