Grey Ladies
I was talking recently to a friend who, like me, is a long retired RAF pilot (but not ex Coastal). We got onto the subject of the various formation aerobatics teams around in the '60s, and it turned out he had never seen or even heard of the Grey Ladies.
A shame really that so few people know of them. The twinkle roll with 4 Shackletons was quite something.
Of course, Fighter Command and Training Command claimed a monopoly on formation aeros, and the Grey Ladies were only allowed to do their displays at night.
If more people were aware of the 24 Shackleton loop at the Farnborough Air Show in 1966 (at 2 in the morning) they would not keep banging on about the 22 Hunters.
The sound of 95 Griffons at 2600 rpm ( one of the 204 Sqn aircraft had to feather No. 2 at the top of the loop - coolant leak as I recall) was incredible. So was the cursing from the galley.
Last edited by oxenos; 25th Jul 2011 at 09:08.