Dans la Merde......
Pontius:
The "soil" for JEJ's garden at Steamer Point was flown from Nairobi to Khormaksar in a Beverley.
It would not have been possible to have got so much crap in a Canberra!
The "soil" for JEJ's garden at Steamer Point was flown from Nairobi to Khormaksar in a Beverley.
It would not have been possible to have got so much crap in a Canberra!
I was returning from domcol leave in Rhodesia in 1965. I was routed Salisbury-Nairobi-Khormaksa and then trooper back to the UK. I certain VVSO with a BofB background was flying it. Everything stopped at Nairobi and I was offloaded and had to wait two days for a trooper back to Gatwick.
I wonder why?
I wonder why?
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JW411, quote:
Pontius:
The "soil" for JEJ's garden at Steamer Point was flown from Nairobi to Khormaksar in a Beverley.
It would not have been possible to have got so much crap in a Canberra!
Likewise lots of it in the Argosy, 105 Sqd Gardening Centre for VSO's
Pontius:
The "soil" for JEJ's garden at Steamer Point was flown from Nairobi to Khormaksar in a Beverley.
It would not have been possible to have got so much crap in a Canberra!
Likewise lots of it in the Argosy, 105 Sqd Gardening Centre for VSO's
Great thread about the 'good old days'. But am I the only one who suspects (knows!) that there some even better stories that still cannot be told quite so publicly as this?!
There is always a need for training and just ticking boxes and turning the spreadsheet green often achieves little, and some variety in sortie profiles is actually good value. And if there just happens to be some additional benefit to the crew ...
When I was at Lossiemouth about 1983, we once had an emergency compassionate return from Akrotiri on a VC-10 into Brize. I flew down to Brize in a Hunter to collect the pilot and fly him back to Lossie. It was winter so I was in an immersion suit. I walked into the passenger terminal from the ASP and handed a holdall of flying kit to my passenger and off home we went. From him getting an airborne recall in Cyprus to being home in Elgin was only about 8 hours which we thought was a great job well done. However, there was then an official complaint against me for 'scaring the passengers in the terminal at Brize' by virtue of going in there wearing an immersion suit!
There is always a need for training and just ticking boxes and turning the spreadsheet green often achieves little, and some variety in sortie profiles is actually good value. And if there just happens to be some additional benefit to the crew ...
When I was at Lossiemouth about 1983, we once had an emergency compassionate return from Akrotiri on a VC-10 into Brize. I flew down to Brize in a Hunter to collect the pilot and fly him back to Lossie. It was winter so I was in an immersion suit. I walked into the passenger terminal from the ASP and handed a holdall of flying kit to my passenger and off home we went. From him getting an airborne recall in Cyprus to being home in Elgin was only about 8 hours which we thought was a great job well done. However, there was then an official complaint against me for 'scaring the passengers in the terminal at Brize' by virtue of going in there wearing an immersion suit!
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And if a cab needed only a couple of hours before a major service at a training base - much better to burn them off on a jolly before the next flying term. I managed to 'oblige' on a couple of occasions.
Compassionate cases were an exception. In 1975 at Aldergrove, a young army lad wandered in to my unit in a state of shock. His father was about to pass away in Newcastle General Hospital and he was due out on a Viscount to East Midlands Airport for onward road transportation to Newcastle. Unfortunately he had been dropped off on the wrong side of the airfield. A phone call then confirmed that the Viscount had had to depart.
Luckily we were collocated with the Army Air Corps Beaver detachment. A quick chat resulted in a Beaver being immediately tasked back to Great Britain, taking the lad on a direct flight to his father.The Beaver landed on the hospital sports field and he was at his father's bedside earlier than if he had been on the Viscount. I still have a tankard from his regiment on my bar shelf.
Luckily we were collocated with the Army Air Corps Beaver detachment. A quick chat resulted in a Beaver being immediately tasked back to Great Britain, taking the lad on a direct flight to his father.The Beaver landed on the hospital sports field and he was at his father's bedside earlier than if he had been on the Viscount. I still have a tankard from his regiment on my bar shelf.
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My father had a heart attack in the 90s while I was serving in NI with 72 Sqn. The boss and HQNI just said "get the Stby Wessex to fly me direct to the Hospital on the mainland." I was climbing out of the aircraft - rotors running at the Hosp - 1 hr 50 mins after the decision and less than 2 hours after Dad had arrived at the Hosp. Yes the immersion suit caused some questions as I entered the ward but he survived okay and lived for many years to come. Never did really thanks the Boss properly for that one - cheers Bryn
Kbc
Kbc
Flokati Rugs and C5A
I had the pleasure to work in Ops during NATO exercise Hellenic Express in 1971/72 at Thessaloniki. The USAF had a spare C5 conveniently parked up, just in case...
Toward the end of the proceedings the American exercise commander ordered the crew to take a training flight to Incirlik AFB as his wife had been told by a friend that the Flokati Rugs on the base were the very best to be had! I was fortunate enough to ride along too.....and yes, a number of said rugs found the way back to Thessaloniki.
GGR
Toward the end of the proceedings the American exercise commander ordered the crew to take a training flight to Incirlik AFB as his wife had been told by a friend that the Flokati Rugs on the base were the very best to be had! I was fortunate enough to ride along too.....and yes, a number of said rugs found the way back to Thessaloniki.
GGR
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I remember being tasked by the station commander to take the Meteor T7 from Chivenor to, I believe, Hawarden, to collect his son for the school holidays. The boy was in the CCF so that was OK. I imagine I wasn't to only guy to make this trip over the years ! It was some time in the sixties.
Not quite the same - but there is this:
Following the D-Day landings, Battle of Britain hero Tom Neil was assigned as an RAF liaison to an American fighter squadron. As the Allies pushed east, Neil commandeered an abandoned Spitfire as his own personal aeroplane. Erasing any evidence of its provenance and stripping it down to bare metal, it became the RAF's only silver Spitfire.
Alongside his US comrades, he took the silver Spitfire into battle until, with the war's end, he was forced to make a difficult decision. Faced with too many questions about the mysterious rogue fighter, he contemplated increasingly desperate measures to offload it, including bailing out mid-Channel. He eventually left the Spitfire at Worthy Down, never to be seen again.
Following the D-Day landings, Battle of Britain hero Tom Neil was assigned as an RAF liaison to an American fighter squadron. As the Allies pushed east, Neil commandeered an abandoned Spitfire as his own personal aeroplane. Erasing any evidence of its provenance and stripping it down to bare metal, it became the RAF's only silver Spitfire.
Alongside his US comrades, he took the silver Spitfire into battle until, with the war's end, he was forced to make a difficult decision. Faced with too many questions about the mysterious rogue fighter, he contemplated increasingly desperate measures to offload it, including bailing out mid-Channel. He eventually left the Spitfire at Worthy Down, never to be seen again.
I was a 'Comp A' on VC10 tanker refuelling Lightnings back to the UK from Akrotiri. My father died before I arrived at the Hospital but the RAF had pulled out all the stops. IMHO they always did in those circumstances.
Some years ago I was on a deployment where change over dates had been arranged so that everyone had either Christmas or New Year at home. The only exception, in a Camp of 300 people, was me!
I was a long way down the pecking order and had made no comment, but on my return date,07 Jan, the Boss tasked an A/C back to 'home'. No reason was given for the trip, but it had an empty 'back seat' and it was suggested I might like to occupy it.
Now that's leadership.
I was a long way down the pecking order and had made no comment, but on my return date,07 Jan, the Boss tasked an A/C back to 'home'. No reason was given for the trip, but it had an empty 'back seat' and it was suggested I might like to occupy it.
Now that's leadership.
Likewise lots of it in the Argosy, 105 Sqd Gardening Centre for VSO's
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As a sooty and usually ending up doing the refuels we never went out of Embakasi with high fuel, did the short trip to Mombassa where tanks were topped up (I still have various Shell receipts in my folders for the uploads) for the flog back to K/Sar, and yes the Argosy could carry enough of the "red stuff" to fill the back of a couple of 1 tonners, it was ok at Nairobi where local labour loaded the aircraft but it was us "erks" at K/Sar who had to unload it, I was there and did it on more than one occasion !!!!.
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Also not forgetting our celebrated VSO who served in WW2 used the Argosy in very posh internal fit (carpets, curtains and very comfy seats) on quite a few times for him, family and hangers on for his holidays down at "Treetops", exclusive use, I did the white overall dishing up refreshments duty a couple of times myself.
Although it was supposedly a 'nav trainer' around the South Pacific, a VSO from FEAF made use of a 48 Squadron Herk for his (ahem) farewell tour of his domain prior to the RAF's East of Suez withdrawal. His own VIP Andover was either unavailable or unsuitable for this trip.
The VIP preparations on the Herk included a posh bog, in a Portakabin-style enclosure that was complete with its own water tank, situated in the forward right of the cargo compartment. Several other comfort and convenience mods were carried out including a carpet on the floor and a liberal application of polythene sheeting in the roof of the cargo bay to catch any escape of hydraulic fluid that exceeded the aileron booster pack's drip tray capacity. Other refinements included a bespoke set of steps (with handrail !) to facilitate the said VSO's enplaning and deplaning via the para door. A laborious clean of both the interior and exterior of the aircraft was enjoyed immensely by all concerned!
Age has limited my memory's capacity to further expand on these notes. If he was still on the squadron at the time, perhaps a certain ancientaviator62 could possibly add to my recollections?
The VIP preparations on the Herk included a posh bog, in a Portakabin-style enclosure that was complete with its own water tank, situated in the forward right of the cargo compartment. Several other comfort and convenience mods were carried out including a carpet on the floor and a liberal application of polythene sheeting in the roof of the cargo bay to catch any escape of hydraulic fluid that exceeded the aileron booster pack's drip tray capacity. Other refinements included a bespoke set of steps (with handrail !) to facilitate the said VSO's enplaning and deplaning via the para door. A laborious clean of both the interior and exterior of the aircraft was enjoyed immensely by all concerned!
Age has limited my memory's capacity to further expand on these notes. If he was still on the squadron at the time, perhaps a certain ancientaviator62 could possibly add to my recollections?