To one who knows very little about this period can anyone tell me if the (4 minute ?) QRA was regularly achieved ( from hooter to take off) ?
QRA aircraft carried a live weapon, and
never left the ground. A QRA alert, Exercise Edom, would get the crews in, engines started, and then a fast taxi to the runway. Systems checked and then back to QRA.
Lancelot's mention of
crews living in "caravans" at the end of the runway ..... The a/c had been DI'd and locked with a key 'till the "alarm" went off. The crew ran to the a/c and took off on a mission (practice) ...... This didn't apply to QRA aircraft. He's talking about the Operational Readiness Pans cut into the side of the runway end. These were never used for QRA but would have been if 'tensions' increased. They were routinely used to demonstrate 'QRA' scrambles - but with unarmed aircraft.