Nimrod MR2 Out of Service Magazine - Stories, Photos & Dits Wanted
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One occasion few years back we were doing a sortie on our way to an airshow in Holland, being a groundie was always interesting in the Kipper fleet , eating, sleeping and boredom 3 things we all got used too.
Anyway we were over the North sea buzzing around some naval ship as they do, I had the head set on and listening to the crew nattering away. All of a sudden as we passed down the Stbd side at what must have been 200 odd feet somebody piped up that the ship had a red flag raised, that was quickly followed by a power up and a sharp exit. Only later on the skipper came down and said red flag means live firing of small arms.
Going to miss them days of deployments and the stories.
Anyway we were over the North sea buzzing around some naval ship as they do, I had the head set on and listening to the crew nattering away. All of a sudden as we passed down the Stbd side at what must have been 200 odd feet somebody piped up that the ship had a red flag raised, that was quickly followed by a power up and a sharp exit. Only later on the skipper came down and said red flag means live firing of small arms.
Going to miss them days of deployments and the stories.
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MR2
made me smile to see stories about the mighty hunter here. As avionics groundcrew at KSS and then that "other place", I was fortunate to have had the experience of being on the small team working up the new MR2 (XV236) when it was delivered in (Aug?) 1979.
I think the crew captain was Sqn Ldr Larthe de Langladure (Lat Long...) - one crew and a dedicated band of lineys to figure out how we were going to make the new jet work.
For the first time we were grappling with an ever increasing number of snags on computer systems. Nightmare. That's when we decided to "invent" a new section in the F700 one evening - the Software Fault Log - A4 paper, biro and a ruler... to my utter amazement we didn't get in trouble, rather they thought it terribly modern and ran with it.
I think the crew captain was Sqn Ldr Larthe de Langladure (Lat Long...) - one crew and a dedicated band of lineys to figure out how we were going to make the new jet work.
For the first time we were grappling with an ever increasing number of snags on computer systems. Nightmare. That's when we decided to "invent" a new section in the F700 one evening - the Software Fault Log - A4 paper, biro and a ruler... to my utter amazement we didn't get in trouble, rather they thought it terribly modern and ran with it.
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Not Long Here/BATS
I came across an article in the August 1988 edition of Air Clues about the first Polex in May 1988 (naturally, I was looking for something else which I still haven't found). The Air Clues had been in my Resettlement Folder as, having been on AEDIT and responsible for fitting the Carousels, I thought it may come in useful for any forthcoming employment interviews.
As I remember, there was another Polex some years later which may have been the one you were on.
For the first Polex we were going to deploy to Norway, which would have been nice, but it was later decided to fly direct from Kinloss. I declined the offer to go on the flight, on the principal that if I was going to have to spend 16hrs in a Nimrod the least I expected was to land somewhere different and preferrably hot!
Interestly the FIN 1012 INs, dispite the assurances from Ferranti that they would merely "freeze" at the pole, indicated a latitude of 94deg before falling over. The article also refers to using the HP97 calculator, which gave me flashbacks to magnetic strips and trying to program the thing.
The first I knew that the task had been declassified was some months later when watching the ITN news!
pm me if you want an acrobat version of the article.
I came across an article in the August 1988 edition of Air Clues about the first Polex in May 1988 (naturally, I was looking for something else which I still haven't found). The Air Clues had been in my Resettlement Folder as, having been on AEDIT and responsible for fitting the Carousels, I thought it may come in useful for any forthcoming employment interviews.
As I remember, there was another Polex some years later which may have been the one you were on.
For the first Polex we were going to deploy to Norway, which would have been nice, but it was later decided to fly direct from Kinloss. I declined the offer to go on the flight, on the principal that if I was going to have to spend 16hrs in a Nimrod the least I expected was to land somewhere different and preferrably hot!
Interestly the FIN 1012 INs, dispite the assurances from Ferranti that they would merely "freeze" at the pole, indicated a latitude of 94deg before falling over. The article also refers to using the HP97 calculator, which gave me flashbacks to magnetic strips and trying to program the thing.
The first I knew that the task had been declassified was some months later when watching the ITN news!
pm me if you want an acrobat version of the article.
I came across an article in the August 1988 edition of Air Clues about the first Polex in May 1988
YS
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Sorry to disappoint you Yellow Sun but if I may quote from the 1st sentence in the article:
"at 0100 hours on 4th May the second of a pair of Nimrods, each flown by a crew of No 206 Squadron, landed at Kinloss; this brought to a successful conclusion RAF participation in a co-operative endeavour with two Royal Navy nuclear submarines, which had surfaced at the North Pole some hours earlier."
Perhaps that nimrod was late because someone had earlier nicked its INs
.
"at 0100 hours on 4th May the second of a pair of Nimrods, each flown by a crew of No 206 Squadron, landed at Kinloss; this brought to a successful conclusion RAF participation in a co-operative endeavour with two Royal Navy nuclear submarines, which had surfaced at the North Pole some hours earlier."
Perhaps that nimrod was late because someone had earlier nicked its INs
.
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Rich, I too have a copy and you're quite right, it is called "Then and Now", a classic by a real character. (ask Pyro about Lotte's bar in Gib....IF he cares to remember).
TPD
TPD
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Gone to the printers
Thank you to everyone who gave me stories and photos for the magazine. The magazine went to press this week and will be available to those who attend the many events marking the OSD of the Mighty Hunter.
KB
KB
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Confirm
Been trying to answer this for some time, but for some reason Firefox doesn't recognise my posts, so here's hoping. Been a long time lurker on pprune, finally something crops up that I can contribute to.
So, I can confirm that the first flight was undertaken on the 3rd May 1988 and was known as Operation Pollinium (sp). How am I sure? I have a certificate in front of me which states that I successfully circumnavigated the geographic north pole, onboard one of two mighty hunters, on that date. The certificate is signed by Wg Cdr Mike Sweeney, OC 206 Sqn at that time. It was almost 22 years ago guys, so OPSEC/PERSEC no longer figures, I maintain. The mission was 15+hours in duration, ably assisted by two friendly VC10's and multifarious DCS. I was a mere ground pounder, but was able to convince the SINTO, my boss, one GM, that we needed a video record. Unfortunately the white balance on the camera was u/s, so everything has a lovely pink tinge. Very apt for this day and age I guess. Halcyon days gentlemen, halcyon days.
James, the plugged nickle.
So, I can confirm that the first flight was undertaken on the 3rd May 1988 and was known as Operation Pollinium (sp). How am I sure? I have a certificate in front of me which states that I successfully circumnavigated the geographic north pole, onboard one of two mighty hunters, on that date. The certificate is signed by Wg Cdr Mike Sweeney, OC 206 Sqn at that time. It was almost 22 years ago guys, so OPSEC/PERSEC no longer figures, I maintain. The mission was 15+hours in duration, ably assisted by two friendly VC10's and multifarious DCS. I was a mere ground pounder, but was able to convince the SINTO, my boss, one GM, that we needed a video record. Unfortunately the white balance on the camera was u/s, so everything has a lovely pink tinge. Very apt for this day and age I guess. Halcyon days gentlemen, halcyon days.
James, the plugged nickle.
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Fellow Ppruners,
The magazine is primarily designed, and costed, for Kinloss MR2 personnel. If we have spares, which I fully expect, I will try to get them around the stations. Sending them to individuals via the post will be problematic as I have no budget for that.
More details when I have them.
KB
The magazine is primarily designed, and costed, for Kinloss MR2 personnel. If we have spares, which I fully expect, I will try to get them around the stations. Sending them to individuals via the post will be problematic as I have no budget for that.
More details when I have them.
KB
Ahem!!!....
....Keith, I fully understand your budget constraints, but did not senior management consider that there is a large body of EX-Kinloss folks who will have an interest in the magazine, and who, Heaven forfend, might even be prepared to PAY something towards it? I, for one would. I'm sure I'm not alone.
The Ancient Mariner
The Ancient Mariner
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...especially given the trawl on here for contributions to it... I would imagine there's quite a lot of stuff in there from people who won't (apparently) be able to see what else is included, which seems a bit stand offish.
Perhaps, at least, there might be a scanned copy made available electronically if the print run if too small to allow past kipper fleet types to obtain one?
Perhaps, at least, there might be a scanned copy made available electronically if the print run if too small to allow past kipper fleet types to obtain one?
And another thing.....
.....does ANYONE know what the arrangements are for getting to the hangar party? Or is that for Kinloss MR2 peeps only as well?
The Ancient Mariner
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I for one would be willing to cough up for a copy of the magazine, just reading the posts on this thread brought back many happy? memories of my time on "The Mighty Hunter" both as groundcrew (203) and later as an air eng (CXX)
A pdf of the magazine would certainly be appreciated at this end of the world and is surely not beyond the resources of Kinloss to produce and perhaps place on the Station website
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Ppruners,
I want the magazine to get to all those who were involved with the Mighty Hunter. Many of them will make the journey up to ISK for one of the OSD events and will get a magazine there. For those who cannot make it up I have been working on getting a PDF version but that has some copyright issues for the publishers, which I am still trying to resolve. I will also have a number of spare copies for posting.
Please bear with me and I will distribute them as far and wide as possible inside of the resources I have.
I appreciate all of the response from Ppruners. Every one of the direct contributors has been offered a magazine, which will be posted out when I receive them. As a reminder for me can you please resend your name, address and contact number to the email I replied from.
Many thanks
KB
I want the magazine to get to all those who were involved with the Mighty Hunter. Many of them will make the journey up to ISK for one of the OSD events and will get a magazine there. For those who cannot make it up I have been working on getting a PDF version but that has some copyright issues for the publishers, which I am still trying to resolve. I will also have a number of spare copies for posting.
Please bear with me and I will distribute them as far and wide as possible inside of the resources I have.
I appreciate all of the response from Ppruners. Every one of the direct contributors has been offered a magazine, which will be posted out when I receive them. As a reminder for me can you please resend your name, address and contact number to the email I replied from.
Many thanks
KB