Shades of That Cranwell Flypast

[Gainesy]

US Marine Reservist,apparently, couple of years ago.:uhoh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUIO1nJesYk

[The Helpful Stacker]

Ah but in the US many like that kind of thing, over here you'd have some NIMBY writing to their MP to complain or the HSE warning that ear protection must be worn by all next time.

[airborne_artist]

What people fail to realise is that it takes as much fuel to do it down in weeds as at 5,000', so you might as well do it properly, or not do it at all.

Anyway, it's the sound of freedom :E

[Gainesy]

Quick response there David.:ok:

[ShyTorque]

Two and a half years after the event is far too late to start complaining, anyway.

[BOAC]

But he's ABOVE the grandstand - at least the Reds get in down low.:)

[Don'ttouchthat!]

They sure do - or did. I have a set of now fading snaps taken from my old school playing field in the late 1970s when the Reds paid us a visit. The school is located on the slopes of a small valley to the south east of Bath and most of the shots are looking down on the passing Hawks. Stunning stuff. The singletons passing either side of the mill chimney in the middle of the valley were particulalrly impressive!

I suspect it wouldn't be allowed today!

[A2QFI]

That is so sad! It isn't even close to low!

[foldingwings]

Shades of That Cranwell Flypast:=

I don't think so! Nobody was shaken by the roar and no hats were blown off!

Foldie

[MrBernoulli]

The Helpful Stacker,
..... over here you'd have some NIMBY writing to their MP to complain or the HSE warning that ear protection must be worn by all next time.

I do recall standing on parade as Sqn Standard Bearer with 3 other sqn standard bearers, outside the Officers' Mess at RAF Marham, when the flypast Tornado came boring over the top at roof height and plugged in the burners as he pulled to the vertical. One elderly guest needed helping up, and the 4 of us, unable to let go the ceremonial flags (and therefore unable to stick fingers in ears), were subjected to the full noise, the like of which I have never experienced again! It was extremely painful and ,I'm sure, damaging. Somewhat inconsiderate of the flypast crew? :hmm:

[teeteringhead]

late 1970s when the Reds paid us a visit....... looking down on the passing Hawks.

late 70s would be Gnats surely???? Who it is admitted were .... how you say .... more interesting ....:E

[Mungo5]

I love the way youtube shows up this sort of thing.

The lowest (now there's a challenge) I've ever found is this one..

YouTube - very low fly past (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmOiF4FppYI)

Watch left of screen at about 25 seconds in. :D Now that looks like a 6' fence, so I'd reckon he's about 8-10' or so..:cool:

[Gainesy]

Yep, Belgian Alphajets.

[60024]

Mr Benoulli,

Was that the one where the band got covered in pollen blown off the Silver Birch trees and the spectators got covered in blossom about 3 or four years ago?:D

[BOAC]

Don'ttouchthat! - if it was Dauntsey School, 19 May 1978, it was definitely Gnats and I deny everything.

I have told this story before, but a team 'predecessor' of mine was quite taken aback at a French military airfield when the auto arrester barrier popped up in front of him as he passed through the 'speed trap'.

[Don'ttouchthat!]

Monkton Combe, 9th May 1980 (so not the 70's - sorry). I'm looking at the photos now and they're definitely Hawks.

Story goes that a visiting brass - dropping in to take the salute at the annual CCF parade - said to one of the Masters as he left: "If there's anything I can do for you, do ask..."

Said Master cheekily asked for the Red Arrows.

A few months later, we were suddenly turfed out of lessons and herded up the hill for what we presume was a pre-season practice session. Glorious.

If anyone up there on the day (or perhaps I should say "down there" on the day) is out there - thank you. You made 325 young men and women very happy - a rather deaf !

[Jobza Guddun]

60024,

Not to mention the tops of the cherry blossom trees smoking....

Best flypast I ever saw, by a couple of top blokes from a top Squadron!:ok:

[MrBernoulli]

60024,
Was that the one where the band got covered in pollen blown off the Silver Birch trees and the spectators got covered in blossom about 3 or four years ago?

Nope! Was at least 16 to 17 years ago!

[advocatusDIABOLI]

I understand that 'The Pilot' would never have got that low at Cranners, if 1. He Could See (Bobble Hat in the way)
2. He could hear his back seater.

Still, He was probabaly quite busy at the time.

A TRUE Gentleman Aviator, for whom I have a great affection. A Legend FlyBy, with lasting lessons. And Very Funny To Boot!!

Let us all take heed mind, he got away with it....... we probably won't.

Be Safe All,

Advo

[blimey]

Where can one view the legendary Cranners fly past - I haven't seen it for a while and need a good laugh.

[Lono]

Not Cranwell, but the Thunderbirds in Paraguay, early sixties. Unimaginable by today's regulations ...

kwLrGshMQlw

[Capt Pit Bull]

A few months later, we were suddenly turfed out of lessons and herded up the hill for what we presume was a pre-season practice session. Glorious.

If anyone up there on the day (or perhaps I should say "down there" on the day) is out there - thank you. You made 325 young men and women very happy - a rather deaf !

<grin>

As I recall, that was their first season in the Hawk, and we were basically one of the first groups (maybe the first group?) of civilians to see them.

And as a direct result of that display, here I am 29 years later with half a life time spent in aviation.

pb
(an ex-MCS lad)

[Don'ttouchthat!]

Now that I didn't know - or if they told us on the day, the passage of time has erased it from the fading grey cells.

[ix_touring]

The lowest on You tube, have you seen this A10 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kgusd1rN6E) (may not count as just after take off) and the Harrier here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRfDsSnLtE4) or the TV presenter who says "F£@k-me" as the Spitfire goes over/past (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S61zLcMFp1A) his ear.

iX

[Gainesy]

A-10 and Harrier don't count, standard tactical departures.

For the record Alain de Cadenet, chap in the Spitfire vid getting wired by Ray Hanna is about 5ft 8in.

Getting back to the cranwell incident, did anyone ever obtain a copy apart from IFS, or whatever yer man Spry is called these days?

[CirrusF]

Not Cranwell, but the Thunderbirds in Paraguay, early sixties. Unimaginable by today's regulations ...

Not least, because even Reagan decided twenty years later that Albert Stroßner's human rights record was unpalatable.

[hum]

My wife was ADC to the reviewing officer - an interesting conversation in the back of the car on the way home...

JT: 'What did you think of the flyby?'.....

ADC: .. What flyby?

JT: 'The one that blew the parade's hats off and nearly deafened the Princess...'

ADC: 'Oh... I thought she loved it....'

JT:. 'Hmmmm...'

:}

[Gainesy]

Who is JT?

[A2QFI]

the late John Thompson perhaps?

[hum]

Yes, he was C in C support Command at the time IIRC... Sad loss, a very good guy, ex Jaguars and US exchange F4's I believe. He died suddenly of natural causes as a serving 4* The current air warfare centre building at Wadington is named after him.

[Gainesy]

Ah, yes, had forgot about him. Good bloke.

[harrier]

As a young Airman at Cranwell in the late 50s early 60s we had lots of visiting ex Cranwell jet jocks visit us from the squadrons in their hot ships. The best at the time was usually the Hunter. When we saw them off after their visit it was usual for the strapper in to ask for a beat up down the pan. There was also a subtle hint that "so and so", who they would have known, had done one a little while before and had got below the fin of a JP.

This was like waving a red rag to a bull and had the usual effect on a jet jock and we were rewarded with some great beat ups.:ok:

Oh great days.

[Wander00]

That's dragged a trip out of the memory bank. Just after 360 got the first T17s (B2 with knobs on), as an ex cadet, and first tourist, I was programmed to take an aircraft to Cranwell for the students to see. In the hour before take-off I was taken aside by several of the more experienced (ie older) pilots and warned that "more pilots lose their flying badge for beating up their FTS than for any other reason". Suitable chastened, I set off for Sleaford Tech, parked our shiny "new" jet and went for coffee. A couple of hours later, having shown the studes what we could of the T17, we crewed up, did the checks and called for taxi clearance. Got that, and then the tower called "You are clear for a low fast run!" The T17 was limited to 250kts for fatigue reasons, but was allowed to go to 425 (as I recall) for trim checks, so we did a low trim check! Seems a lifetime ago now.

[Lone Kestrel]

Wander00

I am not sure that I would be proud of that! Despite having had some good sound advice from your mates you managed to get talked into doing something that you had not planned or really thought through. := You were no doubt lucky on that day and managed to survive (both as a pilot and a human being) to tell the tale. Fortunately we tend to be a bit more professional nowadays, but I suppose we will always get one or two who think that they can impress others by flying lower and faster than the last guy. Unfortunately it tends to be the less able aviators who want to prove themselves in this way but only manage to put their ac and fellow aviators into situations that they do not really have the skills to carry it off safely or competently. I wonder how many more ‘incidents’ we need before we all see the light, but perhaps I am getting too old?

[Wander00]

LK

Did not make a claim for it being "good" - looking back 40 years, the foolhardiness of youth - and we all (hopefully) learn from such experiences! Your plasitic ruler on the knucles well merited!

Cheers

Wander00

[Lone Kestrel]

Point taken, fly safe.

[Always a Sapper]

Do these count?

Jaguar

YouTube - Low Flying Jaguar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKME4EQDkIU)

The last few seconds on this....

YouTube - Sepecat Jaguars Flying in Oman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wXeKV7dLeQ)

[Brian Abraham]

Last minute requests. Tony Kern tells a story of a newly minted aviator in his F-15 being asked to do a beat up. Pulled up into a zoom at the end of the run and the wings came off. In his excitement had forgotten to tell the magic box that the aircraft had full drops and then pulled to the clean g limit. More poignantly, had also forgotten to strap in so no ejection.

[Old Ned]

Story goes that the RAFC graduation fly-past some years ago was to be done by the mighty Vulcan. This happened, one of the cadets was the son/daughter of the sqn CO. However, the first Vulcan was closely followed by a second with a light fuel load that did a low pass and an almost vertical climb over CHOM. The resulting turbulance caused a young lady's skirt to rise way above her waist, but she hung on to her hat. Afterwards she said "What you were all looking at is 20 years old, what I was holding onto is brand new!"

Maybe a myth, but I larfed.

Re the above post about John Thompson. As SO(UK) to the SHAPE COS (German 4*) in the early 90's, I had the extreme good fortune to escort Sir John and his American wife from their aircraft at Chièvres to SHAPE HQ. The cars (principal and chase) were driven by COS's German staff. They practiced escape and evasion, but COS would not allow them to do it while he was in the car. They wondered if Sir John would let them, I asked him and before he could reply Lady T said. "Sure, it could be fun." And it was!

I later had the sad task of breaking the news of Sir John's death to COS and he was very sad. "If only all your RAF seniors officers were like Sir John", he said. He never spoke a truer word.

Pip pip

ON