No military experience, and no aeros worth talking about, but experience in the Shoreham area a long time ago, where the (very experienced, Ex RAF) CFI and CAA examiner spent some time briefing me in significant detail about the local issues on the 20 approach that could cause "brown trouser" moments in certain winds, and he was right to do so, over the following 6 months of twin training, I had several moments where his briefing meant I knew instantly what was happening, rather than having to try and work it out at a critical stage of the approach.
There is 700 Ft High ground to the north of Shoreham, and the valley of the River Adur cuts through it very close to the final approach segment of Runway 20. The result is that there can be very unpredictable wind changes in terms of both direction and speed during the base leg and final approach to 20, especially if you are flying a faster aircraft than others in the circuit, so have to position outside them in order to pass, so you're closer to the high ground than would be normal for the circuit.
In South West winds, it was common for a significant head wind component to suddenly and instantly become a strong cross wind in the middle of the turn from base to final, so if you were a bit slow, the consequences could be significant! It would have been rare to be using 20 in easterly winds, but the warning was that the high ground could and did cause down draughts and direct tail winds.
The flight on Saturday was descending through the area that is most noted for this, and with the wind being Easterly, there was the potential for both down draught and tailwind during the descent and exit from the loop, or clover, or whatever you want to call it, and in my albeit limited book, a downdraught and tail wind at that stage of the manoeuvre would not have been helpful, given all the other restrictions that are in place, like the TMA base.
I know what the effects of these winds were on a light twin, but I have no way of knowing how dramatic they might have been on an aircraft like the Hunter. Am I barking up the wrong tree? If my experience 20 odd years ago was anything to go by, I'm not, but I am open to any corrections or updates from those who do have specific experience of the type.
I'm asking this here, as I've tried discussing it in the R & N thread, and it's impossible to work in that thread any more as so many posts are being removed en masse, so the thread continuity is completely broken, my computer here keeps losing track of where it is in the thread.
Last edited by Irish Steve; 26th Aug 2015 at 17:50.
Reason: typo