PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - The development of Automatic Landing
View Single Post
Old 13th Aug 2012, 19:37
  #41 (permalink)  
10W

PPRuNe Bashaholic
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 1997
Location: The Peoples Alcoholic Republic of Jockistan
Posts: 1,442
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I recall an "I learned about flying from that" story in Air Clues from the 80s submitted by a Canberra pilot who was diverting from a midlands airfield after the weather got bad. On the way to the alternate, he was passed to Bedford Approach on the way to his diversion destination. He heard a callsign in the radar circuit staing that he was going to do an ILS to roll (touch and go). Obviously, the weather at Bedford was better than our hero though, so he changed his destination and asked for vectors to the ILS. The other aircrat rolled in front of him, so he was suprised that he didn't see the lights at 200'. He was fed in again and had to go round a second time despite the other aircraft doing another roller. Now he was desparate. He had to land off the next approach or jump out. So he flew past minimums and got the lights in the flare. He taxied in with difficulty, shut down on fumes just as the other aircraft taxied past. It was a Varsity with the words "Blind Landing Experimental Unit" written on the side!
The story, or a very similar one, appears in Neil William's book, 'Airborne'. IIRC he was in a Hastings (but you could be right about it being a Canberra) and the tale was pretty much as you tell. One of the other things that convinced him the weather was OK, was that the Varsity crew told the Tower to let Ops know the weather was suitable for training and they would stop at some point for a crew change.
10W is offline