Never lacked a strip of sand, shale or gravel to land on in 90/91. Not sure if I've told the tale before, but will happily recount a memory of some serious Pilot/GE interface (as they say today) and a positive result.
An SF Det circa October 1990, during the build up to GW1, when Saddam had already done his dirty deed. Smudge and fellow GE Kev are deployed to Minhad in support of a crew from "the flight" captained by a chap known as "stingray". The det followed its usual course of MFF, infil/exfil, NVG and FARP training. As always with such detachments, for the GEs a high workload, but one that could usually be accommodated by one flying, the other meeting the aircraft on the ground on return, ensuring both GEs were available on every landing.
On the day in question, I was the "flyer" and Kev was the greeter. Off we set for a meeting with OC Hereford at a shale strip "somewhere" in the desert (as a minor player, yea, a hangar on, I had no "need to know"). Having landed, and being the ever consistent GE, I bimbled around the aircraft, as a sort of informal "turn round". I was drawn to the hissing emanating from the RH MLG bay, and, on my own initiative (I was only a Ch Tech
) raised the MLG Door and stuck my head in. What a surprise, stereo hissing, both RH gear Mainwheels punctured, and visibly deflating. The Captain was busy talking to His Herefordshireness, so I was loathe to interrupt, but did anyway, and directed his attention to the rather flatter RH Mainwheels than the LH side.
We had spare Mainwheels back at Minhad, but for some curious reason, Lyneham Eng wing had failed to foresee our using them, and therefore had not sent out a jack, necessary to do a tyre change. We headed back to Minhad "tout de suite" sending a message ahead to Kev to prepare for a double mainwheel change. On landing, the Captain not only kept the weight off the RH side, but his fast taxy back to our parking slot, with the RH wheels clear of the ground must have raised a few eyebrows in ATC and the F16 dets we passed. We got to our "Bay" and Kev and myself got down to replacing the wheels. Kev had been to the F16 det on the next parking area and borrowed a bottle Jack that "looked OK" for doing the job, Kev was a trade based fairy GE, and to him, a jack was a jack. We gave it a try, but, as the weight of one bogey came on, the relief valve on the jack functioned and refused to lift the wheel. With nothing bigger (jack wise) available, we offered the boss (stingray) an option to re inflate the RH mains, and fly to the nearest C130 det (who would have the required ground equipment) to replace our RH mainwheels. It was accepted, we borrowed some N2 and overinflated the RH mains and flew to a USAF C130 det in Saudi, where they had all we needed. Unless you were there, you could never appreciate the quality of flying that ensured that the aircraft was "nurtured" to an eventual fix, it's an enduring memory of mine of the fast taxy with the RH wheels off the ground, serious ability.
Sorry for the long post, I hope it might jog a memory or two. Meanwhile let's have some more of your fantastic pictures R4H, serious competition for Chickenlover now I think ! Though I hope Chickenlover is holding his cards tight, and has a few more to offer.
Smudge
