1955 - Tangmere - Meteor F8. On the squadrons we always did our own "banner party" consisting of three pilots, one driving the landrover and the others helping with laying out the banners etc. So this brave aviator waited about 150 yds along the runway from the threshold. Landrover arrives from airfield having recovered previous banner, pulling towline beside runway. By this time there were a couple of others laid out there. Having left the front end of the towline with me they then drove back to the threshold side paying out the line as they went and parked. Meteor tug arrives and halts on my signal whereupon I take the tow rope and attach it to the aircraft, look back to see the others lay the banner on the runway, give me the thumbs up, and get back into the vehicle. I then signal to the Meteor to move forward to take up slack when notice the landrover begining to move backwards, the doors fly open and the two guys leap out and run away. The banner stayed firmly in place on the runway. Oops ! Wrong towline connected to aircraft. Oh, how we laughed!
In a later life met and flew with brave aviator whose claim to fame, or should that be notoriety, was to have concentrated so much on the flag at Sylt that he shot it off and in doing so also hit the Tempest tug, whose enraged middle european hairy pilot managed to dead stick it on the beach, threatening to murder said young pilot officer. He couldn't be trusted with a BAC 1-11 either.
Last edited by 26er; 29th Apr 2013 at 08:45.