Oh woe is I
Oh woe is I as another of my precious Tooms goes to the knackers yard which must leave us close to single figures now for complete(ish) airframes and after serving this lovely lady on 111(F) for 8 years as a Flight Line Maniac, it leaves me cold that MOD can treat the remains of our Phantom Phleet with such callous disregard. After leaving the squadron I went onto the F4 engine test bed for 5 years at Bruggen and was posted kicking and screaming away from the F4 Phleet to the Tonka fleet. One abiding memory was the Pharewell to the Phantom party at RAF Whatashame and after a great night I was woken bleary eyed in the morning by one of the aircrew on the tigers who drove me to the far side of the airfield and there abandoned in a muddy pit was my squadron. All of 111's F4's being smashed to bits by a gang of workers who looked on amused at the sight of a grubby man sobbing quietly in the rain.
I am currently writing a hefty tome on the F4 from the engineers perspective but I also need to write about fighting and flying the F4 and need the patience of ex F4 aircrew who flew the aircraft during my time which was from 1973 to 1982, but preferably during the years 1975/6 at Leuchars. Anyone interested would they please contact me? Thanks
I have though kept contact with the F4 drivers and GIB's of the Luftwaffe and have spent two separate weeks as the guest of 74 and 71 Geschwader at Hopsten and Wittmund over the intervening years. They are to have their Phinal celebration in June of 2013 and I have been cordially invited by the CO to attend the 40th year celebration of operating the F4, 50 years of ops at Wittmund, the last ever Phlight of an F4 and the introduction somewhat belated into service of the Typhoon and all in one Phabulous week. Details are yet to be promulgated but I am sure if interested parties contacted the CO at Wittmund he would look kindly on ex RAF F4 people. He can either say yes or no and I would bet on the answer being yes as he is impressed with the passion with which we still hold the old girl. See you at Wittmund in 2013?
Yours in anticipation
Spook