OK chaps,
As our attention has turned to dropping things from Albert. And we seem to have some very knowledgeable operators contributing, I wonder if anyone can solve this one from my walk with my fellow ex AGE yesterday. He related this story;
It seems, as rumour had it, that an RAF team were taking part in an Air drop exercise in the USA (could it have been Volant Rodeo or similar), they had two participating crews and a reserve, plus the ground support of course. So they had been doing the work up to the day of the big drop competition and all was going well. Meanwhile, out at the main DZ the safety officer, who had seen it all, over the years, had as he always did, parked his station wagon on the centre of the DZ, where never once in his experience had a load landed, despite it being the actual target. On the day both aircraft were readied and the fully loaded MSPs were set up in each aircraft. Unfortunately one of the two main crews pulled out through illness (it's rumoured), leaving the reserve crew to fly the second aircraft in the competition. We all know what's coming, the reserve crew achieved maximum points by hitting the turning points on time, and putting their MSP smack bang in the middle of the DZ. It made a mess of the DZ Officers nice car, apparently.
So, my questions for today are, did it happen ? And is my fellow ex GE correct that there was a photograph around of the said vehicle with its newly added MSP? And once again, if there is a photograph, any chance of posting it ? Perhaps if anyone who was on that det remembers the incident he could explain it better than I have, you have to excuse me, these are the ravings of a couple of old blokes, after a pint or two. Cheers in advance to anyone who can help out. Judging by the breadth of coverage through the years, someone will know.
Smudge
