The FG1 mates would frequently ask us for a position check if they had to leave the tanker and set off towards a Sov. unaccompanied. So, just for the hell of it, we'd often include a spoof second decimal in the decimal minutes value.....
Having completed my 500 hr pre-VC10K course on the F-4
, I held in Wattisham Ops for a couple of months whilst waiting for a slowing-down course on the woeful Jetstream. It was interesting to see QRA from a different perspective.....
....such as on the day we were quietly minding our own business discussing Page 3 girls (they were still pretty back then), beer and sports cars as you do when there was a sudden loud 'BURRRRRRRR' sound over the telebrief circuit. Which
could have been a BMEWS alert....
We immediately flashed Bluntishead to ask WTF - they too were equally perplexed. Just about then, there was a breathless call from Q1 and Q2 stating that they were at cockpit readiness requesting scramble details. This had now become somewhat interesting!! Another flash call to the Master Controller, to advise that Q1 and Q2 would be scrambling in 30 sec to a fallback CAP unless he could hold them.
Fortunately the MC approved holding them at cockpit readiness, then after a tense couple of minutes ordered them to revert to RS10. The Ops phone just about jumped off the hook when the DFC rang from the Q-shed to demand an explanation; I told him we were investigating, but that the ADOC had been mightily impressed by the speed of their reaction!
The cause? It seems that some GPO numpty had carried out a line check somewhere in the system, without having been given the usual approval. So the line had still been 'live' -and when he inserted his test signal, off went the alarm...
It certainly brightened up an otherwise dull day!