Exchange pilots
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Gentleman Aviator
There used be a rumour of a mover and some air persons based in Hawaii - Hickham? - who were there for a once-a-week truck.
Now THAT would have been a tour .........
Now THAT would have been a tour .........
As ever PN posts authoritatively. As Beags says there was always a USAF major on the Vulcan OCU, culminating with the unforgettable J---- n H----ng--n, with whom B--l D--t and I memorably shared a snowhole on Cairngorm in Jan 1980. For the reasons PN details I don't recall squadron exchanges, but certainly some of our guys filled tanker slots and appointments on their equivalent of the GSU, Central Evaluation something or other.
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There was a German pilot on exchange with the C130s, Wolfgang X***** who declared after an overseas Op where he was not allowed to proceed beyond the Bahamas: "I now understand how you won the War. You practice chaos in peacetime!"
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
TH, there was a nav rad at Lindholme, circa 1963/64, whose name escapes me, but every week he would announce his posting to Hickham. Of course just wishful thinking.
One day he made the same announcement to the same derision only to say"No, I really am" and he was as the RAF man on the ground for the FEAF Western Reinforcement route.
One day he made the same announcement to the same derision only to say"No, I really am" and he was as the RAF man on the ground for the FEAF Western Reinforcement route.
There are some great EO stories. One captain, who landed in Jersey for an air display, was first off the aircraft, and announced to the assembled senior gathering...'Good to be back'! You can guess his nationality....which is not always renowned for humour.
They were a good bunch.
Hope all is well Doug; I'm holding any stories about you until you cannot remember any about me!
They were a good bunch.
Hope all is well Doug; I'm holding any stories about you until you cannot remember any about me!
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Bunta, or the nav at Finningley at the BoB cocktail party who, when someone apologized for the insensitive invitation responded, "ah, but without us you would not have an excuse for a party.
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Invariably in the early 90's on 30 Sqn, when the a/c was captained by the Luftwaffe Exchange pilot, as we passed above Dover on a channel crossing route, one of the crew would call 'feet wet' and request permission to test the guns and by the time the a/c was 'feet dry' the Eng would have fashioned a gunsight from a paper cup and placed it on the front left instrument cowling. This was the same Hauptmann who entered a restaurant whilst night stopping Gutersloh (off base) and in broken English requested a table for himself and crew until we pointed out to him that he'd probably have more luck speaking Deutsch 
I think the EO in the Jersey incident was wearing his full uniform when he left the a/c. When OP Corporate was building up the Luftwaffe EO one Udo S. manage to get a trip to ASI before the system decided it was not a good thing !
A certain USAF exchange Victor pilot managed a couple of trips to ASI, even managed a short slot on a Black Buck trip. He had clearance, allegedly. Whether he got a SAM or not I couldn't say.
The USAF also had NOFORN and US Eyes Only ... but I found they didn't always seem to work:
1. The annual Ground Training refresher began with a reminder that it was classified NOFORN and I just sat there quietly each year.
2. I was sent to the first briefing on a new ADIZ procedure - and a week later had my name removed from the list of those who had attended as it had emerged it should have been NOFORN.
3. When the standing ban on flights into/over Vietnam was eased in late-71 and I went for my first brief at Clark ACP, I was told it was NOFORN so I had to wait outside whilst the rest of the crew heard about potential SAM sites etc. But as I was the Nav and the man with the maps, they just passed on the info outside and we got on with it.
1. The annual Ground Training refresher began with a reminder that it was classified NOFORN and I just sat there quietly each year.
2. I was sent to the first briefing on a new ADIZ procedure - and a week later had my name removed from the list of those who had attended as it had emerged it should have been NOFORN.
3. When the standing ban on flights into/over Vietnam was eased in late-71 and I went for my first brief at Clark ACP, I was told it was NOFORN so I had to wait outside whilst the rest of the crew heard about potential SAM sites etc. But as I was the Nav and the man with the maps, they just passed on the info outside and we got on with it.
10 SQN and, either 22 MAS or 75 MAS (Travis AFB, CA) always exchanged pilots, VC-10 and C-5. The SQN LDR on exchange during Desert Storm flew regular, albeit, cargo ops.
GF
GF
There used be a rumour of a mover and some air persons based in Hawaii - Hickham? - who were there for a once-a-week truck.
Now THAT would have been a tour .........
Now THAT would have been a tour .........
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We p*ssed off the rest when we were on shift together, comparing notes.
We never did decide which of us got the short straw.
When I was on 267 Sqn Argosies at Benson, we always had an RAAF exchange captain, co-pilot and navigator. The other lot (114 Sqn) usually had a USAF exchange captain. In my time on the Belfast we always had a USAF exchange navigator. Over the years friends have done a USAF exchange on KC-135, C-5, C-141 and C-130 plus one who did an exchange with the Canadians on the 707. I also knew a chap who did an exchange at Edwards and flew such interesting machines as the U-2 and the A-12. I was once offered a Luftwaffe exchange on the C-160 Transall but it didn't suit at the time so I turned it down.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Once read a secret report on an exchange officer's tour on the Clemenceau. Can't remember if he was dark blue or light blue. What sticks in my mind though was the limited endurance of the Clemenceau. Her wine cellar was limited to 14 days.
I almost forgot the wonderful Major Bonzo Von Haven, USAF who did an exchange tour on the Beverley. Quite what he thought of the Beverley after the C-130 would have made for an interesting lecture. I only ever managed to share a few beers with him down route but he was a lovely man; sadly no longer with us.
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Bob Tanner once promoted to Gp Capt did an exchange posting to the USA involving flying the B52. I asked him which he preferred and to my surprise he said the B52 rather than the Vulcan.
ACW
ACW