SAS imposter rumbled

[teeteringhead]

Apologies for thread drift and being late on parade, but for some reason I've only just seen the last few posts here, despite them being 3 years old! But here goes.

As for the war zone only going up to FL100, that was before SAM7b appeared on the scene - I believe (teeteringhead will be able to confirm) that forced things up to around 12000 feet agl. More like 14 000 IIRC, (which may have included a few extra feet for Mum) but a better option was to fly around the threat or to go ULL :eek:

FL 140 was of course without oxygen, and possibly (probably!) with a curry, chappati and chai precariously balanced on the centre console!

The 7B arrived unexpectedly fairly late in the day, not long after that we were able to access the Western Jebel either from the sea or over friendly land. The Hunters could (allegedly) outturn the SAM, we just pickled the load, banged off the flares (only Schermulies, not proper "Lionels") wound off the throttle and spiralled down - it then went past us........ inshallah (I think "220"'s Strikie was lost to a 7A)

Don't know anything about height levels but my old chum John "Hector" Heathcote got shot down by a SAM and so did a chap called Peter Davis (unusual in that he had an MC from the Gurkhas, a DFC from the RAF and another gallantry medal from the Sultan).
"Hector" was indeed a victim of the 7B along with Roger Boyce in the same 205 (Huey).

Peter Davis was not "SAMmed", but shot down by small arms (or maybe a 12.7) in a 206 (Jet Ranger) in the central area IIRC (the area that is - deffo not a SAM).

Better late than never.

[Ijahman]

This one is a classic, about 5 mins of video is a must see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXNjE-aNFLU

[iRaven]

Oh, my. Why do they do it? :ugh:

Anymore info on who, where and what?

[Twon]

For some reason, I only feel sorry and embarrassed for them. Not sure why they do it though?

[reynoldsno1]

Firq being the landing strip at the bottom of the Hill and Saiq being the very, very short landing strip and "accomodation" 2/3rds of the way up the 3500'(?) Hill.

In the 80's the Skyvans would do a resupply shuttle from Firq to Saiq, consisting of four return flights - thus was born the 4 Firq Saiq tie ... honestly :ok:

[parabellum]

Regarding the Walts, I think they must be a few sandwiches short of a picnic to think they can pull that off! To not understand how easy it is to discredit a Walt suggests to me an IQ failure.
The only blue sash I've seen is the R.Sigs and none of them ever went to church! ;)

[teeteringhead]

In the 80's the Skyvans would do a resupply shuttle from Firq to Saiq, consisting of four return flights - thus was born the 4 Firq Saiq tie ... honestly Not quite. Pre-dates the 'Vans certainly and goes back to RAF in the Gulf days - I got mine (tie) in 1970 and they weren't new then - so late 60s at the latest.

IIRC - which I might not! - it was Argosy to Firq, and then Andover (in Winter) or Wessex (in the Summer) between bottom and top. Not enough bernoullis for the Andover in the Summer - 6300 ft amsl and +50 C at Saiq didn't leave the Wessex with much performance.

Something like a max speed of 65 kts and a minimum of 30-35 kts made for interesting handling ....... :eek:

Last went back a coupla years ago - and drove to Saiq!!

[ricardian]

Another Walter Mittie goes to jail (http://www.forces.net/news/sas-walter-mitty-conman-jailed-fraud)

[sharpend]

I pretended to be a pilot once :)

[Dan Winterland]

One of my sisters old boyfriends ran the tale that he had been in the RAF as a pilot and even gave me some JP5 pilots notes with 'F/O ******' (his name) written on them.

I suspected he was telling porkies and some time later his Mum confirmed during general conversation at a party that he had been an airframe fitter!


I know of a guy who was commissioned from the ranks and started pilot training, only to fail. Looking at the other branch options available, decided he would rather go back to his old job and resigned his commission. This would have been in the early to late 80s.

[pkam]

All this time I've missed my chance. Back in 1959 I was on Bradbury Lines, only snag I was 11 years old.
The lines backed onto a field at the back of our house, just walked through the wire (non barbed) and watched the goings on, no one bothered us. Different times.

[kamanya]

Half a wannabe….

Here in Cape Town, recently I went to a Western Cape Canopy Club meeting. It's a monthly get together for all jump certified ex and current soldiers. There are many ex-soldiers from all over - Bats, Recce's, Americans, UK & Rhodesians. I wasn't in the Bats or jumped but did my time at 101Bn. I was invited because I let some of my buddies, who know that my Dad and a fellow soldier close friend of his, were going to be in Cape Town.

My father was a career soldier for 22 years and at one time the OC C-Squadron, Rhodesian SAS. He lives in the UK and was visiting.

As we walk in, he sees a guy with a beautifully embroidered gold and red SAS badge on his blazer. He's intrigued and walks straight over and good naturedly, with a bit of envy, points to the badge saying, "Hell, where'd you get that?" In less than a minute, the guy is blown out the water with a few questions. I was standing watching this. It was embarrassing.

Subsequently, it turns out the guy is a long-time member of the club and no-one had questioned his credentials. The reason he wasn't caught was that he did serve with the Rhodesian forces and then was a Parabat with the South African Defence Force. During his Rhodesian stint, he must have applied for SAS selection but didn’t pass and now chose to wander around with that badge on. He didn't need to, he'd got his spurs and served his time. Later, once he was outed, some guys said his story always got a bit vague at the SAS bit, but as he was legit and vouched for, for the rest, they let it lie.

Of all the places in the world where you’d think twice about doing this kind of stunt, this particular club would be the last place to rather not?

The Club Chair was given a quiet word. I don’t think he’ll be wearing that badge again soon.