Sleepy Hollow
Thorney generates many stories, not all Herc orientated as I got there when Bevs, Hastings and Argosys were the incumbents along with the SAR boys at the other end of the Airfield.
The Herc element started in traditional style with nobody on the techy side having done a course on the Herc, they all went to the Colerne guys so when the first frame arrived ( my first aircraft marshalled after training at Halton, a bit of in the deep end ) the after flight servicing was carried out using the flt servicing notes which meant you had to find the bit mentioned in the book if you knew what it was before you could check it. In this I had a bit of a head start as having torn a ligament on the football pitch, my light duties consisted of two weeks in Air Pubs doing all the amendments to the Herc A.Ps before the aircraft arrived so at least I knew where to look for things. Terminology was a challenge, as quantities were in US pints, quarts etc ., but eventually experience built up to the point that when we were sent on the Herc course we knew most of what we to be taught.
There were still things to be learnt that were new, for a sooty used to working on the Blackburn Oilspill a dry prop did not mean it had all leaked out and a small weep really did need looking at! The first prop change was again done to the A.P. and this was when we found out that although the A.P. said the prop oil quantity was so many quarts it already had some in it in transit so filling with the stated quantity did produce rather an extreme case of over filling and subsequent evidence of such!
One of the best non Herc moments there was the arrival of the Red Arrows in their Gnat days, a very impressive run and break followed by a stream landing closely spaced, with a high speed taxi to the end of the runway, application of brakes followed by Gnats going in all directions as it appears the threshold at Thorney was a low friction surface to reduce the rubber build up from Hercs doing circuits , result was various Gnats with speed tape holding things together for the display. Lots of sympathy all round!
There is lots more to tell and maybe I will in the fullness of time, just one for smudge the illustrious Eddie Botham was a SAC lecky with me at Thorney both of us working on the Farms dispersal of which more later.