Smoketoomuch
14th Jan 2002, 18:24
Someone tell me this is nonsense please.
<a href="http://yorkshirepost.co.uk/scripts/editorial2.cgi?cid=4&aid=431629" target="_blank">http://yorkshirepost.co.uk/scripts/editorial2.cgi?cid=4&aid=431629</a>
How gardener's alert saved spy-plane crew
IT began as a quiet day in the garden for Peter Bew. It ended with him being hailed after he detected a potentially devastating fault in an overhead plane, simply by the noise of its engine.
The RAF spy plane carrying 17 crew escaped catastrophe when Mr Bew, of S****horpe, heard a fault in an engine 5,000ft above him.
Former steelworker Mr Bew immediately telephoned nearby RAF Waddington to alert staff to the distinct "glitch" in the sound of the engine. They took his details and the control tower at the base near Lincoln radioed the plane.
After checking his instruments, the pilot immediately aborted the mission and landed safely. Teams who have since examined the plane found that two of the main rotors had cracked and there had been a real danger of total engine failure.
Engineers and expert aviation teams were stunned to learn the fault had been detected purely on sound and Mr Bew, 68, has now become the first civilian to receive an RAF safety award.
The lifelong aviation enthusiast said he was "doing his bit for the Forces".
He said: "All of my adult life I've been interested in military aircraft and we get a lot of traffic overhead where we live. This particular plane just didn't sound right, like a car with something wrong with the radiator. I got the binoculars out and watched it and decided that if it didn't turn back I would have to phone up and tell somebody. It kept going and I realised that the crew probably couldn't hear it from their position.
"I had no problems ringing the air base. It was better to be safe than sorry and a few hours later I got a call to tell me that the plane had landed safely when the pilot had found faults that could have led to a crash. It was good to know I'd made a difference and it came as no surprise there was something wrong with the plane. I just had this feeling and it turns out I was right to make the call."
In a "thank you" gesture, Mr Bew was given the award and a tour of the air base.
He added: "I would have loved to have been a pilot and am proud to have done my national service. I have great respect for the Forces and it was good to know I'd done my bit for them. It would have been awful to lose the plane but the lads on board were my first concern."
A spokesman for RAF Waddington confirmed that Mr Bew had probably averted disaster.
He said: "From listening alone, he detected a real problem that some of the world's leading aviation teams are now looking at. He had the courage to call and act on his instincts and he was proved right."
<a href="http://yorkshirepost.co.uk/scripts/editorial2.cgi?cid=4&aid=431629" target="_blank">http://yorkshirepost.co.uk/scripts/editorial2.cgi?cid=4&aid=431629</a>
How gardener's alert saved spy-plane crew
IT began as a quiet day in the garden for Peter Bew. It ended with him being hailed after he detected a potentially devastating fault in an overhead plane, simply by the noise of its engine.
The RAF spy plane carrying 17 crew escaped catastrophe when Mr Bew, of S****horpe, heard a fault in an engine 5,000ft above him.
Former steelworker Mr Bew immediately telephoned nearby RAF Waddington to alert staff to the distinct "glitch" in the sound of the engine. They took his details and the control tower at the base near Lincoln radioed the plane.
After checking his instruments, the pilot immediately aborted the mission and landed safely. Teams who have since examined the plane found that two of the main rotors had cracked and there had been a real danger of total engine failure.
Engineers and expert aviation teams were stunned to learn the fault had been detected purely on sound and Mr Bew, 68, has now become the first civilian to receive an RAF safety award.
The lifelong aviation enthusiast said he was "doing his bit for the Forces".
He said: "All of my adult life I've been interested in military aircraft and we get a lot of traffic overhead where we live. This particular plane just didn't sound right, like a car with something wrong with the radiator. I got the binoculars out and watched it and decided that if it didn't turn back I would have to phone up and tell somebody. It kept going and I realised that the crew probably couldn't hear it from their position.
"I had no problems ringing the air base. It was better to be safe than sorry and a few hours later I got a call to tell me that the plane had landed safely when the pilot had found faults that could have led to a crash. It was good to know I'd made a difference and it came as no surprise there was something wrong with the plane. I just had this feeling and it turns out I was right to make the call."
In a "thank you" gesture, Mr Bew was given the award and a tour of the air base.
He added: "I would have loved to have been a pilot and am proud to have done my national service. I have great respect for the Forces and it was good to know I'd done my bit for them. It would have been awful to lose the plane but the lads on board were my first concern."
A spokesman for RAF Waddington confirmed that Mr Bew had probably averted disaster.
He said: "From listening alone, he detected a real problem that some of the world's leading aviation teams are now looking at. He had the courage to call and act on his instincts and he was proved right."