Hi MrB - shame you couldn't make TBs last week, there was quite a gathering, as Tengah Type will no doubt confirm.
Glad to know that you bought those beers for Max and Nige, mate!
In 1990, the RAF had the luxury of aircrew in various QFI posts or on ground tours. I'd been at the UAS long enough to have passed my B1, had my first summer camp and block leave and was just starting the 'pre-Trappers' week' work-up session at Abingdon. I'd just got my jaws around a large G&T at home when the Boss rang to tell me that I was 'vulnerable for recall' for the Gulf. "Great", I thought, "no doubt as some wretched Ops officer or somesuch....".
The following day the Boss told me that I was that, if I was needed, it wouldn't be as an Ops Off, but back as a VC10K captain. Then the fun started - off to sick quarters to let them know that I'd be needing some inoculations, followed by a quick SCT trip. Next day I had some 1:1 GDT refresher training including lots of time with the 9mm and less fun with the S10. Off to sick quarters immediately afterwards for the anthrax and meningitis jabs - and a 24 hr flying ban. I did 4 more trips that week of 'RMCS air experience', then off to AMTC at 06:00 on Friday morning for an AR5 refresher.
There was still no definite news of any need for a 'retread' crew, so it was back to the UAS for CFS week, then the start of 'Freshers Fair' recruiting - until a signal arrived ordering me to report to 241 OCU the following day to start VC10K refresher training with the rest of our 'retread' crew - a Chipmunk QFI, an F3 simulator nav and an air eng from Boscombe Down. 2 days groundschool, then a morning sim trip, but I nipped off back to Abingdon in the afternoon for some more SCT in the 'dog. Same thing the following day, but my afternoon trip in 'my' XX546 was the last UAS trip I'd have for the next 5 months.
I hadn't flown the VC10K for 17 months, but 2 sim sessions, a couple of GH/IF refreshers, an AAR trip including some jousting and then an a combined AAR Cat and IRT, landing at Wildenrath and we were all deemed ready to deploy - all in 7 working days! They allowed us a 'crew' AAR trip on 16th Oct, then the next day we flew ourselves to Muharraq!
I started back on the Bulldog on 15th March, but it was back to the stubborn ways of Learning Command. It had taken 7 days to regain my Op Cat on the VC10K, but it took Learning Command required an FAT, 4 mutual SCT trips with the CFI and Boss before they allowed me to fly with students again!
Which only goes to prove that the level of BS is inversely proportional to the size / importance of the aircraft / job!
An amusing postscript to my time in the Gulf came a few months later. In the station post there came a note from someone deep and blunt at Binnsworth or wherever, notifying me to sign for my potential 'general war appointment' slot as a UAS QFI - something involving flying Bulldogs around south east England looking at nuclear bomb craters or whatever. So I rang and politely told them what they could do with that idea - as I'd just had a real war appointment! The Fg Off(W) at the other end giggled at that, but she sounded so nice that I did agree to sign her piece of paper.
With the RAF having imploded to its current state, augmented by civilian contractors and FTRS, one can but wonder how any surge training would be managed 25 years later? Currently they are trying to find around 13 FTRS pilot to fill UAS QFI slots...... Door, stable, horse?
Last edited by BEagle; 17th Jan 2016 at 09:00.