I've just stumbled on this thread and believe I can dispel a few myths here. I was SNCO i/c Visiting Aircraft Support Section (VASS) 27 Apr 81 to 11 Nov 83. During that period the first year was spent with having the odd Sea King from HMS Gannet and the twice daily Loganair schedule.
AR1 #45. Nothing about blindfolds etc in the "VAS" crewroom old chap, it was usually so boring that the lads cooked burgers to order for the rest of the station, and delivered by the section Land Rover. For a seven man section, we had a very healthy tea bar fund.
Chopper 2004 #54. I believe the exercise you refer to was a major push by a US Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service (ARRS). HH53, MC130, CH47 and A10 were all involved. The A10 boys, 509 Tactical Fighter Squadron, were great fun and we enjoyed some beer calls with them. I still have the disarmed round from the gun, presented to me at the time with the squadron patch. The HH53 guys managed to lift most of the families on the station for a day on a beach on Islay, Jura, Gigha or Colonsay. As usual a hardworking, but rewarding exercise.
Throughout my time at Machrihanish I held the inventory for both the Gaydon Hangar and all the dispersal buildings. We saw plenty of RAFG Buccaneers visiting to collect Salmon for their dining in nights. Nimrods and P3s for Loadex. But no Aurora, no F117 and no B2 sadly.
Nutloose #61. I suspect your BSH built Sgt was a Master chief Petty Officer SEAL, known as Tony. He was an Explosives specialist. We had an old Victor fuselage (XH588 comes to mind) that needed moving about 40 feet back on to the newly built Fire section burning area. Having "connections" with crash and smash we borrowed some trac jacks etc to do the job. All the kit arrived and we only had one problem, the nose leg was down, and would be a problem with the move. I explained our problem, and asked Tony if he could "surgically" remove the nose leg. No probs he said. The "controlled" explosion was tannoyed on the Monday morning followed by a large bang. I was allowed to press the firing button and was amazed as the whole fuselage did a precision back flip and landed square in the middle of the burning area, my prowess with the trac Jack was never to be needed.
The only visitor of note during my time at Machrihanish was a certain Mr Paul McCartney. He owned, and still does I believe, a farmhouse behind Rhanachan Hill, to the north East of the station. During my time there we had the pleasure of meeting Him, his wife Linda, Yoko Ono and many other "pop stars". None resembled secret weapons or aircraft, I was never required to don "see nothing" eye patches and perhaps its remote location might easily allow such surmises to be made, but not during my time.
Sorry for the lengthy post, hopefully it helps with the posts I've mentioned. Machrihanish gave me something I will always be grateful for, an 11 Handicap from never having hit a golf ball in 6 months, but that's another story.
Smudge
