Beeayeate pleased to help. Disregard later email - as my fix was right!
In answer to various points,
T&B has it right. We all had a free Corolla and free petrol (
N.Am: gas). Wouldn't want to waste one's pride and joy in that environment ------ after all, you never knew
who might drop in
. Actually, most of us in the north had one each, but I won't go down that route now!
T_richard, no tricks. That was the genuine plot. As an innocent bystander it wouldn't be right to detail the complete story, that's someone else's perogative. I only started out to clarify the location from
SD's earlier link, but my keyboard started running away! Actually, (here it goes again - I hate it when it does that) he didn't have to pull up to get over the car. They'd just passed the preceding one. Unfortunately, stick back=tail down, before climb. It was the stern that hit the car. A second later probably would have avoided contact.
As
witchdoctor surmises, it was standard practice to target the DP's car on the way back to base - indeed something of a ritual, I recall.
Fighter Affil with these guys was a splendid challenge for us "truckies" and I used to liken it to a gentlemen's grouse-shooting weekend. The Commander's principle was that he "didn't want us to start practising for war the day after it had started." Someone has emailed me a superb bunch of SOAF Jag shots. It includes one of my personal favourites - the one "that came off the range with more bits attached than when it started." I am just waiting to hear whether he wants me to post them, or use my host site as a link for his own posts. Watch this space.
Meanwhile, to show that the big boys (wingspan 132' 6" - for those unfamilliar) partook with equal vigour, here's one of my flypasts for a Para Regt graduation parade. Alas, poor qual, taken from video. Sedate 270 kts, of course - none of
Scroggs's Vne hooliganism
. Sadly, the shot of a pair of Hunters overtaking below the Herc, at another location, is not available.
Obviously had to keep it high to avoid blowing the pongos over - off-screen, left
