Winter Ops
On another Marines det in Norway we bimbled up to Gardermoen from our temperance hotel in Oslo in a hire car with studded tyres. All seemed O.K. until we set foot on the dispersal which had thawed and refrozen overnight. We knew that it was a bit dodgy as we skated out to Albert doing a couple of toe loops and triple axels on the way. We weren't helped by a stiff breeze. An airframe icing check showed no probs so the beast was fired up. On removing the chocks Albert set off sideways in the wind like a golfball at St Andrews. The nosewheel didn't steer and only asymmetric power brought it back into wind assisted by the weathercocking of the tailfin. There followed a very gentle slide back to the dispersal 90 deg to the way we were pointing when we left and shut down. The Norgies were less than sympathetic.