bral:
The Argosy always had a LOX tank. In fact, I think I am right in saying that the Britannia and the Comet and possibly even the VC-10 in Transport Command also had LOX. The thinking at the time was that a small LOX tank could supply oxygen more efficiently than carting dozens of 750 lt bottles around the world.
The big problem was that there were not too many places in the world that had LOX replenishment trolleys. I can tell a funny story of getting to Lajes one night having been down to Ascension Island and various West African destinations. We needed LOX. The flight engineer stayed behind to sort the problem out. It was usually a USAF problem but this night he got the Portugeuse Air Force trolley. After 30 minutes, it had gobbled up the last of the LOX left in the aircraft tank!
The USAF came to the rescue with one of their trolleys but with typical Health and Safety zeal, they left the F/E in charge of the trolley! The inevitable happened and when the safety valve blew and he wanted to run, he found his shoes very firmly frozen to the ramp so he had to stand there and watch everything happen under his nose.
My favourite LOX story involves a famous Argosy Master Loadmaster. He had at one time been in the Navy as a gunner, but apart from his great loadmastering skills, he made "legendary sandwiches".
One day we were at Firq with two other Argosys moving troops and their bangers for Sultan Qabus down to Salalah. I would imagine that the OAT was around 40* degrees celsius. We had been on the ground for about three hours.
We finally got airborne and Tatty Bill asked me if I would like a sandwich. To do this I had to go downstairs and sit at the ALM's table duly decorated with a checked tablecloth and silver cutlery etc.
The sandwich duly arrived surrounded by the usual finery. I congratulated your man and asked him how it was that the butter in his sandwiches was always beautifully cold and crisp and not running like it usually was in that part of the world.
"It's easy, said Tatty Bill, I just put my butter on top of the frozen tank in the nose".
Now those of you who know the devastating results of liquid oxygen coming in contact with any form of grease will raise your eyes to heaven!
I can remember in later life hearing about the AA DC-10 co-pilot who had a moustache. He took a breath of O2 after his lunch and the butter remnants on his moustache caught fire and he burned 50% of his lungs out.
Finally, the most dangerous thing that we ever carried on the Argosy was a mobile LOX Plant. Every time the Hunter squadrons went on detachment to Masirah etc from Aden or Bahrain, a mobile Liquid Oxygen plant had to be delivered.
They were mounted upon MSP platforms sitting on a roller conveyor floor with side guidance complete with extractor chute etc. The LOX plant was vented to atmosphere through two fuselage points considerately provided by MOD and the manufacturers.
In order to carry a mobile LOX plant we were required to visit the station gas plant where we were given demonstrations about what happens to a banana or a hammer when it has been immersed in liquid oxygen. They freeze very rapidly and shatter into a million pieces.
So the big problem with a mobile LOX plant was that if it started to malfunction, the whole floor of the aeroplane would very rapidly crystalise and fall out of the bottom of what was left of the aeroplane.
So it was that we had the bloody things mounted on an MSP so, if the LOX expert that we carried with us said "Go" then whoever happened to be below the aircraft found themselves the proud possesser of a fully malfunctioning mobile LOX plant!
I wonder how many LOX plants BEA carried in their Argosys?