Wattisham Q Sheds
Wattisham 1970, Bomber Comm....oops Strike Command V Force dispersal exercise and three Vulcans inbound when it was realised that in order to get to the ORP they would have to taxy past the Q sheds.
Problem! MPBW (precursor to the DOE) had recently erected a VERY large sign to the side of the taxiway carrying a warning about the possible sudden appearance of two shiny jets crossing your path and that weren't going to stop for you. So what? well as I said the sign was VERY large and would not have permitted the passage of a Vulcan wing. As a result Baseball (SATCO) scrambled yours truly in Rover 1 to lay said sign flat in the grass. Again, and, in accordance with sods law, yet another problem. In their wisdom, MPBW had not only built two sockets for the signpost legs, they had concreted them in!
A quick call on Pye to inform the tower of such and a reply from Baseball (Sqn Leader Jack Harrild, a man much respected by the tower staff) ordering me, in no uncertain terms, to move the offending sign.
With the first Vulcan already streaming his brake chute and the other two not far behind, I used the largest signpost retrieval tool I could in the time available - Rover 1!
Apparently there was amazed and amused laughter in the tower when, having taken out one leg of the offending signpost, I had to execute a swift reversal in order to attack the second leg.
The day was saved. Three Vulcans defending the nation and ready to go within 4 minutes, 1 Land Rover radiator replaced and the charge of deliberately damaging one of her majesties vehicles dropped on the orders of SATCO.
Last edited by ACW342; 31st Jul 2017 at 16:10.