Originally Posted by
Blacksheep
We ground crew travelled in style in the tail boom of a Beverley. At least we had a toilet and could wander about. The general idea was that half of us would deploy and prepare the dispersal site while the other half generated all the base aircraft. Once we finished the "Combats" they would fly off and be received and re-generated at the dispersal. The base party followed in the Beverleys and Hastings. That could take a long time in a Beverly if there was a headwind!
Once our aircraft scrambled, we had about five hours to pack up, fly back and receive our aircraft at Waddington, where we'd do all the post flight servicing and rectifications. It wasn't unusual to spend 50 or 60 hours without a formal break which is probably where the 'Mickey Finn' title of the exercise came from.
As I remember the worst ground crew dispersal I experienced was Marham to Kinloss in the old 32 seater Bedford coaches, by the time we got there, the flying crew chiefs had turned them round and they were back on state. We launched the the following morning, packed up and then travelled back in the same coaches.