Global Aviation Magazine : 60 Years of the Hercules
Coff,
the probe does look close. Perhaps the telephoto lens makes it seem closer than it is. Perhaps.............
Of course my famous high(ish) altitude ULLA did make a large hole in Knighton Down. The APFC with a detonator would make an improvised LZ creator. !
the probe does look close. Perhaps the telephoto lens makes it seem closer than it is. Perhaps.............
Of course my famous high(ish) altitude ULLA did make a large hole in Knighton Down. The APFC with a detonator would make an improvised LZ creator. !
I do not think this pic has appeared before. This is the aft face of the MSP and you can see the main parachute risers attached to the block. Note the Condec is the same colour as those in the daisy cutter video., before the RAF went 'green' !
Daisy cutter? How about airdropping a Minuteman ICBM? 
Not from a C-130, I grant you (so hopefully you'll forgive), but as airdrop loads go it must have been a hell of a thing.
(The shots from inside the aircraft look more like a C-141 than C-5 to me - I wonder if there was a Starlifter proof of concept as well?)
There's more on the story here.
Not from a C-130, I grant you (so hopefully you'll forgive), but as airdrop loads go it must have been a hell of a thing.
(The shots from inside the aircraft look more like a C-141 than C-5 to me - I wonder if there was a Starlifter proof of concept as well?)
There's more on the story here.
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wiltshire
Age: 59
Posts: 903
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
tracked Rapier
I was on the team that loaded the first tracked rapier (TR) out of Lyneham . It was being taken on a sales tour of the US by BAe(?), driven and operated by some soldiers.
Our Cpl had it lined up perfectly with the ramp and turned his back to check that everyone was in position to start to get it up the ramp. While he did that, the Army bloke in charge of the TR / Escorts, thinking he was being helpful, got the driver to slightly skew the TR. Our Cpl realigned it but the Army bloke skewed it again. In the end the Army escorts were told "to go away" and the driver was told in no uncertain terms to follow our Cpl's marshaling exactly.
You had to get the TR lined up perfectly as the steering was not precise to enough to allow for any slight change in direction without potential damage to the Hercules.
Our Cpl had it lined up perfectly with the ramp and turned his back to check that everyone was in position to start to get it up the ramp. While he did that, the Army bloke in charge of the TR / Escorts, thinking he was being helpful, got the driver to slightly skew the TR. Our Cpl realigned it but the Army bloke skewed it again. In the end the Army escorts were told "to go away" and the driver was told in no uncertain terms to follow our Cpl's marshaling exactly.
You had to get the TR lined up perfectly as the steering was not precise to enough to allow for any slight change in direction without potential damage to the Hercules.
So now we begin to see evidence that "in between" the lucrative route flying, aircrew, AD, MAMS et al did do productive work As a GE I rarely saw anything big depart the back of the aircraft, so it must have been something to see these loads going out. I'm sure, things like fast trim changes etc must have made great demands on the crews, both pilots and the rest in that a hang up of any kind could lead to disaster. I wish I had seen a little more of this stuff for real, for me it tended to be watching the "self unloading" freight depart the ramp. But then, the aircraft did need to be able to support the load of my wallet
Smudge
As a GE I rarely saw anything big depart the back of the aircraft, so it must have been something to see these loads going out. I'm sure, things like fast trim changes etc must have made great demands on the crews, both pilots and the rest in that a hang up of any kind could lead to disaster. I wish I had seen a little more of this stuff for real, for me it tended to be watching the "self unloading" freight depart the ramp. But then, the aircraft did need to be able to support the load of my walletSmudge
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wiltshire
Age: 59
Posts: 903
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A couple of years ago, some photos came into my possession from the archives when MAMS moved to Brize. These are photos of printed images so apologies about the quality.
The first few are of Hercules being loaded with other aircraft
TACEVAL....pallets of cluster bombs built on the Calne strip, loaded and flown to Brize, offloaded, driven back to Lyneham on trucks, broken down and rebuilt on the Calne strip, loaded.....you get the picture!
The first few are of Hercules being loaded with other aircraft
TACEVAL....pallets of cluster bombs built on the Calne strip, loaded and flown to Brize, offloaded, driven back to Lyneham on trucks, broken down and rebuilt on the Calne strip, loaded.....you get the picture!
November4,
very nice pics of the MRCA (Multi Role Capable Aircraft) with a variety of loads. The heli pic looks like the Puma which had to be taken apart and then shoehorned into the 'K'. I was at JATE when we did the trials and a great deal of head scratching went on. One of the big 'gotchas' involved part of the tail boom assembly. It was squeezed up the front on the starboard side. If you were not careful it was very easy to hit the booster hydraulic system and break the sight glass as the tail assembly was moved into position. Yes we did it on the trial. But it was also done later on when those who 'knew' better did not bother reading the pink (mandatory) tie down scheme.
The British Army was never intended to have tracked rapier. When we did the trials at JATE it was to demonstrate to the customer (Iran) that it would be air transportable in the Herc. Before they could be delivered Iran had the revolution.
So they were not delivered or paid for. So the MOD bought them for the army to prevent a huge loss to the companies involved.
very nice pics of the MRCA (Multi Role Capable Aircraft) with a variety of loads. The heli pic looks like the Puma which had to be taken apart and then shoehorned into the 'K'. I was at JATE when we did the trials and a great deal of head scratching went on. One of the big 'gotchas' involved part of the tail boom assembly. It was squeezed up the front on the starboard side. If you were not careful it was very easy to hit the booster hydraulic system and break the sight glass as the tail assembly was moved into position. Yes we did it on the trial. But it was also done later on when those who 'knew' better did not bother reading the pink (mandatory) tie down scheme.
The British Army was never intended to have tracked rapier. When we did the trials at JATE it was to demonstrate to the customer (Iran) that it would be air transportable in the Herc. Before they could be delivered Iran had the revolution.
So they were not delivered or paid for. So the MOD bought them for the army to prevent a huge loss to the companies involved.
Last edited by ancientaviator62; 17th Sep 2014 at 07:31. Reason: correction
smudge,
a while back you mention a friend of yours who had a tale about someone going out with the heavy drop. I doubted it ! Any chance of an update on the story ?
a while back you mention a friend of yours who had a tale about someone going out with the heavy drop. I doubted it ! Any chance of an update on the story ?
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Syracuse
Posts: 196
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The pic of the harvard was taken at deci in the mid 80's. The Italian AF harvard had been rescued from the scrap compound and donated to a museum in UK, we set about building it on a double pallet and "devised" a suitable tie down scheme, boy did our chins drop when we saw the alm of the aircraft, none other that Macr Pa@@e who was a route checker at that time 😕.but to be fair he was more than happy with everything and the harvard was duly returned to lyneham. ☺
A trawl through my faithful friend, AKA my log book, shows that we took the tracked rapier to Hurn on 10 Nov 1976 in 'trembling two'. (this should trigger some memories of that esteemed frame)
The next day we went to Hurn to reload it and then flew it back to Brize via Filton. I have no idea why we did this as my log book is mute on the matter, but perhaps we were merely demonstrating that it WAS airportable.
The next day we went to Hurn to reload it and then flew it back to Brize via Filton. I have no idea why we did this as my log book is mute on the matter, but perhaps we were merely demonstrating that it WAS airportable.
dionysius,
your tale of the Harvard chimes with mine about the recovery of the London-Sydney Car Marathon cars. There is often a fine line between 'book' restraint of these worn out objects and trashing the very thing being restrained.
When I was an examiner I like to think that I would apply that commonsense.
your tale of the Harvard chimes with mine about the recovery of the London-Sydney Car Marathon cars. There is often a fine line between 'book' restraint of these worn out objects and trashing the very thing being restrained.
When I was an examiner I like to think that I would apply that commonsense.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Sussex UK
Age: 66
Posts: 6,995
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Just a thought Gents ... How about we spend a little time recounting "Mission Callsigns" for Albert and the reasoning behind why a particular callsign was chosen. That's Callsigns outside the more usual "Ascot" or "RAFAir" format
We've already had mentioned "Monti 66" ...
Might prompt a few more stories
Best ...
Coff.
We've already had mentioned "Monti 66" ...
Might prompt a few more stories
Best ...
Coff.
Blimey, that mention of the London-Sydney Marathon dislodged a log in the memory jam - one of the navs on 360 crewed one of the Hillman Hunters - Carrington was his surname, cannot remember his first name
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: UK East Anglia
Age: 66
Posts: 678
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
AA62,
I must apologise if I made your task on the Puma more difficult than it could have been. Back in 82/3 I designed the radome for the RWR that hangs under the tail boom. The one thing I found out later was that the tail boom had to come off. (obviously not in your scheme) The problem was that the cables to the front and rear were a matched pair and hellish to remove. I don't believe it was as simple as just disconnecting the plug and coiling the cable up in front of the joint.
I must apologise if I made your task on the Puma more difficult than it could have been. Back in 82/3 I designed the radome for the RWR that hangs under the tail boom. The one thing I found out later was that the tail boom had to come off. (obviously not in your scheme) The problem was that the cables to the front and rear were a matched pair and hellish to remove. I don't believe it was as simple as just disconnecting the plug and coiling the cable up in front of the joint.
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: wiltshire
Age: 65
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Coff
El Centro diets brought out some rather unusual call signs, dependent on amount consumed the previous evening. We did 2 days dropping as "Giver 1", then changed when the lady controller was on to " Slipper 1). When the land speed record was broken "Thrust 1" reared its head. The classic comment another day was just prior to chopping to El Centro approach the r/t call of "LA control , Elvis has left the DZ" (used once ).
El Centro diets brought out some rather unusual call signs, dependent on amount consumed the previous evening. We did 2 days dropping as "Giver 1", then changed when the lady controller was on to " Slipper 1). When the land speed record was broken "Thrust 1" reared its head. The classic comment another day was just prior to chopping to El Centro approach the r/t call of "LA control , Elvis has left the DZ" (used once ).
dragartist,
apologise not. The Puma had all the characteristics of an Airfix kit when it was presented to the a/c. It was not uncommon for a bit of kit to be cleared for air transport early in its career only for problems to arise later when it had been modded whilst in service.
In exactly one week I will be off to Ozz for three weeks and will be absent from this thread. So I thought I would get my OP Vigour posts in before I went. It will be an unfolding story. Op Vigour (originally called Op Plebeian, can you imagine that ) was the Somalia relief op during 1992/3. The USA called it 'Provide Comfort and Provide Hope. If you have sen the pic 'Blackhawk Down' this is the same operation. Our participation was jointly funded by MOD and the Ministry for Overseas Aid. This was to cause problems later.
We were based at Mombasa in Kenya with two a/c, four crews, G/Es, groundcrew and other support trades. We also had six RAFP two of whom flew, armed, on all the relief sorties.
Pic above is part of our camp on the airfield. And yes I know the a/c in the pic is not a Herc. The GAF were next door to us with their Transalls. We envied then as they airdropped (we airlanded all our supplies) and they were well set up with a bratwurst and beer stall . We used the small PX that the USAF had brought in. They ran the flying program decided the loads etc as theirs was a far larger commitment of personnel and machines.
More next time.
apologise not. The Puma had all the characteristics of an Airfix kit when it was presented to the a/c. It was not uncommon for a bit of kit to be cleared for air transport early in its career only for problems to arise later when it had been modded whilst in service.
In exactly one week I will be off to Ozz for three weeks and will be absent from this thread. So I thought I would get my OP Vigour posts in before I went. It will be an unfolding story. Op Vigour (originally called Op Plebeian, can you imagine that ) was the Somalia relief op during 1992/3. The USA called it 'Provide Comfort and Provide Hope. If you have sen the pic 'Blackhawk Down' this is the same operation. Our participation was jointly funded by MOD and the Ministry for Overseas Aid. This was to cause problems later.
We were based at Mombasa in Kenya with two a/c, four crews, G/Es, groundcrew and other support trades. We also had six RAFP two of whom flew, armed, on all the relief sorties.
Pic above is part of our camp on the airfield. And yes I know the a/c in the pic is not a Herc. The GAF were next door to us with their Transalls. We envied then as they airdropped (we airlanded all our supplies) and they were well set up with a bratwurst and beer stall . We used the small PX that the USAF had brought in. They ran the flying program decided the loads etc as theirs was a far larger commitment of personnel and machines.
More next time.