....Anyone else remember those jet engine contraptions that were all noise, mesh guards and clouds of snow that used to sit in the MT yard for 362 days a year?...
MRD - Mechanical runway deicer .... 2 Derwent engines strapped to the front of a fuel bowser ... and for some reason Lyneham decided in the 70's that only an Air Eng could operate them ... so you sat between these two extremely noisy things .. with a bolt through the thottle mechanism to stop you putting too much power on and blowing your self backwards .... a MAJOR warning from OC Ops about not melting the runway ... and a piece of string that went back to the bowser as the emergency fuel shutoff ....
For some reason it was the secondary duty of a new Air Eng on the Sqn .... and you just prayed that it didn't snow before the next guy got posted in !!