Nimrod War Stories
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I remember it well. Got them in the loft somehwere. The Engineers wife got swept overboard and a Phillipino crewman jumped in after her - they actually used our rafts dropped. The rest of the crew boarded the ships rafts from the stern and a very clever Captain in a bulk carrier manouevred his ship such that they drifted into the side and then climbed up a scramble net.
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Sorry if the PE bit confused you Duncs,
it was reference a co on a crew some 20 years ago, not yourself... another ex crewmate reminded me of a funny story the other night which centred on what the co did at Uni during his PE degree, as imagined by our R4...
it was reference a co on a crew some 20 years ago, not yourself... another ex crewmate reminded me of a funny story the other night which centred on what the co did at Uni during his PE degree, as imagined by our R4...
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That's exactly why I've written my book Nimrod Rise and Fall to commemorate all the wonderful work that was done. Due out on the anniversary of the day the Nimrod project was stopped, 19th October 2011, and dedicated to:-
To the many Nimrod aircrews, some sadly no longer with us, who flew in the aircraft for over forty years protecting our shores, rescuing our sailors, supporting our armed services, both on land and sea.
To the many Nimrod aircrews, some sadly no longer with us, who flew in the aircraft for over forty years protecting our shores, rescuing our sailors, supporting our armed services, both on land and sea.
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mmm, yes, sorry for the confusion,
the co in question was a nice lad, it all centred on a discussion re academic qualifications, when the co chipped in that he had a PE degree, and the R4 (who I bet is lurking here) asked him what that entailed, and then proceeded to answer his own query...
"Putting out the mats in year one..."
etc
The ONE thing that nobody will ever take from Maritime, and will never be the same anywhere else, is the twisted, evil, hilarious verbal sparring that occurred on the average crew.
the co in question was a nice lad, it all centred on a discussion re academic qualifications, when the co chipped in that he had a PE degree, and the R4 (who I bet is lurking here) asked him what that entailed, and then proceeded to answer his own query...
"Putting out the mats in year one..."
etc
The ONE thing that nobody will ever take from Maritime, and will never be the same anywhere else, is the twisted, evil, hilarious verbal sparring that occurred on the average crew.
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* Mind you, for anything serious, we were usually more happy about the fact our eng's were enlisted scum with scabby knuckles.
For the record; A rib2 O/Heat sensor wasn't a fire warning....it was a Hot Gas leak detector.
Just a pity the designers didn't put a few more in the Tac area.
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'Anybody out there remember the pizzeria at Aci Trezzi getting torched by local mafiosi after the 42 crew party (Dogfish 83??)'
Indeed I do! Anvil and I had organised the duty free for the time out there. We couldn't take back the 3 crates of scotch we'd been unable to consume by the end of the det. so had made enquiries at said bar. They hadn't been interested though. However, the next evening, they had petrol poured through their letterbox and half the bar was torched. Apparently this was a 'slap on the wrist' for not informing the guys who needed to know that there was something for sale!
The next day, I was out shopping but Anvil was still at the hotel and took a phone call. It was a stranger who'd heard that we had something for sale. Anvil was invited to meet him at a local coffee bar. So Anvil sets off at 1pm to meet this guy and had put his flying knife inside his flying boots for the trip there - he said he didn't know who he was going to meet and he felt a bit safer.
He gets to the coffee bar and he's shown upstairs by a gorilla who offers him one of the 2 seats at a coffee table in a rather barren room. The gorilla stands with his back to the door and they await the 'Man'.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the deal is done and we haven't lost any money, 3 crates of scotch are now sold. At the end of the deal, Anvil says to the Man, "please don't take this the wrong way but as I didn't know who I was coming to meet, I took the precaution of putting this inside my boot and it's starting to feel rather uncomfortable" and puts his flying knife on the table. The Man smiles and says "I know what you mean - they're a bit heavy at times aren't they" and puts a revolver on the table. They both continued to smile as they finished their coffees.....
Indeed I do! Anvil and I had organised the duty free for the time out there. We couldn't take back the 3 crates of scotch we'd been unable to consume by the end of the det. so had made enquiries at said bar. They hadn't been interested though. However, the next evening, they had petrol poured through their letterbox and half the bar was torched. Apparently this was a 'slap on the wrist' for not informing the guys who needed to know that there was something for sale!
The next day, I was out shopping but Anvil was still at the hotel and took a phone call. It was a stranger who'd heard that we had something for sale. Anvil was invited to meet him at a local coffee bar. So Anvil sets off at 1pm to meet this guy and had put his flying knife inside his flying boots for the trip there - he said he didn't know who he was going to meet and he felt a bit safer.
He gets to the coffee bar and he's shown upstairs by a gorilla who offers him one of the 2 seats at a coffee table in a rather barren room. The gorilla stands with his back to the door and they await the 'Man'.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the deal is done and we haven't lost any money, 3 crates of scotch are now sold. At the end of the deal, Anvil says to the Man, "please don't take this the wrong way but as I didn't know who I was coming to meet, I took the precaution of putting this inside my boot and it's starting to feel rather uncomfortable" and puts his flying knife on the table. The Man smiles and says "I know what you mean - they're a bit heavy at times aren't they" and puts a revolver on the table. They both continued to smile as they finished their coffees.....
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Vulcan: Can anyone help me? I need a story or stories of Nimrod dropping dinghies to good effect! My book Nimrod Rise and Fall goes to the publisher very shortly but so far have not communicated with anyone who dropped a dinghy.
I remember being on radios this one particular trip, we were in D001 I seem to recall. Feeling a bit bored, I started flicking through all of the distress frequencies in an effort to brighten up my day when I intercepted a mayday.
It was being sent by a guy in a light aircraft who was in some difficulty.
Well I rogered his mayday and our conversation went something like this:
Me "What's your current height and position?"
Him "Over a large expanse of water, descending"
Me: "Can you give me a clue on your position?"
Him: "Well, I took off from Paris heading for East Anglia"
Me: "What time did you take off and what was your height and airspeed?"
Him: (passes info)
Well by now, everyone on board has got into the act and the nav's been plotting where he thinks this guy may be. At about 100 miles we pick up a contact and head straight for it. It was him. He was sat astride the cockpit of his light aircraft which was now floating on the surface in the North Sea. We carried out a Linholme drop which straddled both him and the aircraft - perfect. He pulled in the dingy and stepped into it just as his aircraft sunk underneath him. He didn't even get a foot wet.
The box of wine he personally delivered to the Squadron a few weeks later went down very well....
I remember being on radios this one particular trip, we were in D001 I seem to recall. Feeling a bit bored, I started flicking through all of the distress frequencies in an effort to brighten up my day when I intercepted a mayday.
It was being sent by a guy in a light aircraft who was in some difficulty.
Well I rogered his mayday and our conversation went something like this:
Me "What's your current height and position?"
Him "Over a large expanse of water, descending"
Me: "Can you give me a clue on your position?"
Him: "Well, I took off from Paris heading for East Anglia"
Me: "What time did you take off and what was your height and airspeed?"
Him: (passes info)
Well by now, everyone on board has got into the act and the nav's been plotting where he thinks this guy may be. At about 100 miles we pick up a contact and head straight for it. It was him. He was sat astride the cockpit of his light aircraft which was now floating on the surface in the North Sea. We carried out a Linholme drop which straddled both him and the aircraft - perfect. He pulled in the dingy and stepped into it just as his aircraft sunk underneath him. He didn't even get a foot wet.
The box of wine he personally delivered to the Squadron a few weeks later went down very well....
Last edited by PingDit; 23rd Jun 2011 at 13:33.
Somebody DID say thankyou...
....120/6 lucked in, as did the crew of Rescue187 when they coordinated the rescue of a member of the Agnelli family flying his a/c from the states to Europe.
Long story short; the two crews get invited to Lucca in Tuscany where there was a civic reception; tower of PISA was opened just for them and all in all very well thanked.
Crewman from R187 made an address and concluded by saying " When you next fly across the pond with your new a/c you might want one of - THESE!" and inflated an MS10 behind the curtain at the back of the top table. Cue cardiac arrest by the security detail!
As I said before, there's bound to be someone here who can flesh out the bare bones I've set out.
The Ancient Mariner
Long story short; the two crews get invited to Lucca in Tuscany where there was a civic reception; tower of PISA was opened just for them and all in all very well thanked.
Crewman from R187 made an address and concluded by saying " When you next fly across the pond with your new a/c you might want one of - THESE!" and inflated an MS10 behind the curtain at the back of the top table. Cue cardiac arrest by the security detail!
As I said before, there's bound to be someone here who can flesh out the bare bones I've set out.
The Ancient Mariner
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120/6 - hey, that's my first crew! I expect Fergineer will be along when NZ hours catch up to reiterate the claim.
Torching the pizzeria for omitting to mention three cases of scotch seems harsh (especially if it was the usual Glenfarclas). I loved Sig dets!
Torching the pizzeria for omitting to mention three cases of scotch seems harsh (especially if it was the usual Glenfarclas). I loved Sig dets!
Ah but ah but ah but ....
......you were only a lad then Dave.
On another occasion, having overseen the winching off from a German stern trawler of the skipper with a heart attack, on our return to ISK from StM there was a bottle of Bristow's own bottled malt from the chopper crew with a note that read "It was comforting to be looked after by the professionals" waiting for us. Warm glow time.
(On the other hand - when I rang Stornaway Hospital after landing, to find out if our man had survived, I was told by the night sister that she'd spoken to the captain, who was now much better, but he didn't wish to speak to us and not to call asking about him again!!) Funny old world, innit?
The Ancient Mariner
On another occasion, having overseen the winching off from a German stern trawler of the skipper with a heart attack, on our return to ISK from StM there was a bottle of Bristow's own bottled malt from the chopper crew with a note that read "It was comforting to be looked after by the professionals" waiting for us. Warm glow time.
(On the other hand - when I rang Stornaway Hospital after landing, to find out if our man had survived, I was told by the night sister that she'd spoken to the captain, who was now much better, but he didn't wish to speak to us and not to call asking about him again!!) Funny old world, innit?
The Ancient Mariner
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I was with on 42 Sqn doing a fly past for the town show at Plymouth and diverted to SAR for Virgin Atlantic Challenger which sank off Bishop(?) Rock on 15 Aug 1985. We dropped a liferaft to the survivors and homed the Geest Bay Banana Boat in to pick them up. They were subsequently picked up by a RN seaking and flown to Culdrose. I have photos, the back of one is signed by R Branson, Chay Blythe and John Ridgeway. Vulcan PM me if you would like to see them.
Morning davejb all this talk about grog makes me remember after carrying the film crew when the Alexander Kielan went down and a box of whisky appeared for that too. Seems that grog and 120/6 go together , not that we drank much did we!!!!!
Jayand: As was the problem ....
....with maritime; most of the really interesting tales were so classified that if one talked about them outside the ops block one's collar would be felt by the plods.
The knock on effect of this is that a lot of the high paid help in the RAF never really knew what the "kipper fleet", as they always referred to it, DID. On more than one occasion I remember a visiting fireman saying at the conclusion of the capability brief "Why didn't I know that??"
"You may well ask" was my usual internal mutter.
The Ancient Mariner
The knock on effect of this is that a lot of the high paid help in the RAF never really knew what the "kipper fleet", as they always referred to it, DID. On more than one occasion I remember a visiting fireman saying at the conclusion of the capability brief "Why didn't I know that??"
"You may well ask" was my usual internal mutter.
The Ancient Mariner
There is the apocryphal story of the Little Jet (LJ) pilot who became CAS. "Great" he said, "I can now find out what 51 does!" So he called in his PSO and told him he wanted a brief on 51's operations. A couple of days later his PSO returned. "When's the briefing?" enquired CAS. "I'm sorry sir" replied the PSO, "But I can't find anyone who knows what 51 do!"
YS
YS
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I am quite sure there must be some Gulf/Afghanistan stories that dont need any classification?
You may get hints of some of the jobs done in other peoples books about those theatres, but not even they are that accurate when they mention the airborne support to the guys on the ground - for example one book discusses a certain high-profile Op that I was involved in and the author can't even get the type of the supporting aircraft correct
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You may get hints of some of the jobs done in other peoples books about those theatres, but not even they are that accurate when they mention the airborne support to the guys on the ground - for example one book discusses a certain high-profile Op that I was involved in and the author can't even get the type of the supporting aircraft correct 