HTP was nasty stuff. It would combust in contact with clothing, which made it bad news. Each dispersal had a galvanised steel bath, heated to a comfortable temp and covered with table tennis balls to keep in the heat.
I once saw a groundcrew lad splashed with HTP – the crewchief grabbed him and ran him to the plungebath, totally immersing him. He came up coughing and spluttering before being run to the dispersal hut.
We had designated airfields around the UK which were ‘Hot Water’ offload bases. We would land and taxy to a dispersal with an exit path. The co-pilot would get into a protective suit, the AEO would stand on the aircraft steps to act as liaison between co-pilot and nav plotter and 1st pilot. The nav plotter would pump out the HTP, the Co pointed the hose at tthe grassy area, whilst the 1st pilot would be sitting with the inboard engines running ready to dump the missile and taxy away. The fire wagons flooded the grass which neutralised the HTP.
We did it at Kinloss once, and before long the aircraft was surrounded by the important all and sundry. When we advised them of the dangers of rubber necking, you have never seen such a flood of VIP’s race away from a spot on the airfield!
We regularly flew runs against Gernish Range in NW Scotland where we would practice freefall release of the missile – which involved a climb to 15,000 ft before release, followed by a smart turn 180 deg to get the hell out of the way!...