Who was 'the boss' on a Nimrod?
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I seem to recall on a GSU check ride, the nice GSU staff gave us a scenario and after some discussion went through the crew asking what each of us would do. When it got to the AEO he replied 'Whatever the Lead dry tells me to do!'
The perfect answer Dave!!
The perfect answer Dave!!
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We had a Sqn Ldr (ex wet) AEO who would saunter back to radar with a quizzical look on his face. If the radar looked like (as he termed it) a pizza, he would amble contentedly back to his beam window with a smile on his face, admire the view and monitor FM.
But it's just a rumour...
Gene
But it's just a rumour...
Gene
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I seem to remember that the AEO was there to sign for the secrets because neither the nav nor the pilot would (or couldn't be trusted to) so he did have a job after all..........
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In my mind a good AEO was a great asset. As a new lead dry it was comforting to have someone there with some experience to answer stupid questions.
I was lucky - I had a succession of good AEOs -the good ones seemed to be in short supply and great demand.
Rich
I was lucky - I had a succession of good AEOs -the good ones seemed to be in short supply and great demand.
Rich
Daf Hucker - the AEO/Mission Supervisor on the R1 was happy to let the double-winged master race take on the 'Captain' title and all the triv that went with it - meanwhile, they got on wth the mission (and coping with way more than 2 intercoms/radios....) - all history now though,
AEO Less!!
When I was a young dryman on 201 Sqn in the mid 70's my crew operated without an AEO for some months. The CO authorised us to fly with either the lead dry or wet acting as AEO dependant on what we were doing. We only got an AEO because we were deploying to Singapore on Mardet. The crew operated very well and in fact was selected for the Aird Whyte on return from Singapore.
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So winco, no flak from me.
the AEO would meanwhile would be wondering how to spend his PAS wages, having had the best of both worlds: i.e being a knocker while young enough to make the most of donny and being a zob while needing the extra income to pay off the first wife.....
Janda,
Ditto 206 mid 70's with a very well known MAEOp recce instructor taking on the role. But also in those days, AEO stood watches on the sensors, did the lead wets role (while the lead wet was on radio) and, as a dry man, I was a dab hand at the 1C sonics on which I tracked a foxtrot and a juliet on the same day.
So it was all just a little different back then. Wouldn't we all love to do it all again?
Last edited by The Old Fat One; 28th Sep 2012 at 14:23.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
blimey, yes at one point.
The transport force folded a lot of aircraft and had loads of loadmasters going spare (bit like Nimrod crews last year). We all got one each. No one worked out exactly what we were to do with them.
We muddled through and one, to be Fair, even got a commision through this service to maritime
. Our guy was worked up to load sonobuoys, load the retro, take photos, order the rations and cook pies.
He had b*lls of steel. He was taking pictures from the port beam when the May rolled in to us. The May pushed, we pulled, and the loadie got it all on film.
There was a processing error at the photo section and the negatives got destroyed. After we had seen the evidence
The transport force folded a lot of aircraft and had loads of loadmasters going spare (bit like Nimrod crews last year). We all got one each. No one worked out exactly what we were to do with them.
We muddled through and one, to be Fair, even got a commision through this service to maritime
. Our guy was worked up to load sonobuoys, load the retro, take photos, order the rations and cook pies.He had b*lls of steel. He was taking pictures from the port beam when the May rolled in to us. The May pushed, we pulled, and the loadie got it all on film.
There was a processing error at the photo section and the negatives got destroyed. After we had seen the evidence
PARALLEL - very true - amazing how much interest there was once the Nav brevet looked likely to become extinct... All one big happy family now, just don't mention the different PAS ceilings for those doing the same job / needing the same retention incentive...
Anyway, in the end, it was always the senior MACr everyone deferred to and that was for both MR2 and R1 
Anyway, in the end, it was always the senior MACr everyone deferred to and that was for both MR2 and R1
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There was normally a team of 7 what might be termed 'sensor operators' on the maritime Mk 2 Nimrods. These were split into a 3-man acoustics team (wet men) and a 4-man non-acoustics team (dry men). Each team was coordinated by a lead operator, hence 'lead dry' or 'lead wet'.
The leads were appointed by the squadron and in my day (mid-late 80's) a competent operator could expect a lead slot on their second tour, depending on how many people had been pissed off in the interim.
The wet team manned the acoustics system and the dry men rotated between the dry sensors, normally hourly. One dry man was dedicated to the radio position and the other three rotated between ESM, radar and 'spare' dry who normally did the sonobuoy loading, made the tea and generally did 'stuff'
As lead I tended to stay off the gear and monitor the less experienced guys, especially if it was a more dry orientated sortie.
Depending on the sortie type there would be a couple of bods kicking around to help out with the loading as the dedicated acoustic sorties could be quite hectic each time the nav changed his mind on which buys to drop.
Hope this helps
Rich
The leads were appointed by the squadron and in my day (mid-late 80's) a competent operator could expect a lead slot on their second tour, depending on how many people had been pissed off in the interim.
The wet team manned the acoustics system and the dry men rotated between the dry sensors, normally hourly. One dry man was dedicated to the radio position and the other three rotated between ESM, radar and 'spare' dry who normally did the sonobuoy loading, made the tea and generally did 'stuff'
As lead I tended to stay off the gear and monitor the less experienced guys, especially if it was a more dry orientated sortie.
Depending on the sortie type there would be a couple of bods kicking around to help out with the loading as the dedicated acoustic sorties could be quite hectic each time the nav changed his mind on which buys to drop.
Hope this helps
Rich
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Blow me - I always thought they were called wet and dry because when used together there was a certain amount of friction, but the task was smooth in the end
Last edited by Mend em; 30th Sep 2012 at 15:41.