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The BRIXMIS Story

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The BRIXMIS Story

Old 20th Jul 2017, 09:07
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Wander00
Probably had too much money for his own good. I remember my first purchase . 27s 6d for a pair of jeans and feeling guilty at being so profligate!
Getting back on track, may I again recommend "Looking Down the Corridors" by Kevin Wright and Pete Jefferies. Pete was instrumental in getting MoD to approve the UK release of much of the material in the book about the airborne missions ( including those of the USA and Fr) up and down to Berlin and around the "chukka".
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 10:01
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I was in the OM bar at Valley once in late 1975, chatting with an ATCO who had a nav brevet. He mentioned that he'd been on 60 Sqn at Wildenrath "Flying Air Marshals to NATO pi$$-ups and golf competitions".

"But didn't you also fly those Pembroke C(PR) Mk1s I saw when I was holding there in the summer? Must have been useful when pottering up the Berlin corridors!"

He went very pale, grabbed me by the shoulder and took me over to a quiet corner. "I don't know how the hell you knew about that, but never mention it again to anyone - it's VERY classified!"

"I didn't know anything, just guessed. But you've now confirmed my guess. I will keep schtum though". And I did!!
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 10:59
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I first went to Berlin c1968 when I 'indulged' from Benson and managed to get a room in Edinburgh House. In the bar I met (the late) Tom Slatter who was with Brixmis. He'd been aked to speak to a padre about the padre's experience. There'd been some sort of Padres' Convention with lots of Army and RAF padres who'd come up from the 'zone' as those stationed in W Berlin still called the FDR. Apparently several shandies had been consumed and one of the padres had fallen asleep on the S Bahn and woke up in E Germany proper. He got off the train and had absolutely no idea what to do, whether to give himself up to the E German police, Russians or whatever. However, at 5pm lots of factory hooters sounded and streams of workers came to the station and boarded the trains. This padre joined them on a train towards W Berlin and got back without being checked by anybody. Tom had been asked to ascertain exactly where this guy had ended up and to see whether this method could be used in future.

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Old 20th Jul 2017, 11:01
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Indeed Beags. It was absolutely bleeding obvious to anybody who could put two and together. However as it was then so highly classified (Mission "S", platform "TS") those in the know weren't then in a position to stifle open gossip.
To have downgraded the classification would have possibly let the other side have the excuse of having "Semi-Officially" got hold of information supporting the fact and thus given them full excuse for creating political mayhem. As it was , of course they would have known, but would have had a problem proving it. In fact both sides benefited in a way as it kept tensions down by removing a degree of unknowns.
They also played games with us on occasion, just to let us know that they were fully aware of what was going on.
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 13:15
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Originally Posted by BEagle
I was in the OM bar at Valley once in late 1975, chatting with an ATCO who had a nav brevet. He mentioned that he'd been on 60 Sqn at Wildenrath "Flying Air Marshals to NATO pi$$-ups and golf competitions".
"But didn't you also fly those Pembroke C(PR) Mk1s I saw when I was holding there in the summer? Must have been useful when pottering up the Berlin corridors!"
He went very pale, grabbed me by the shoulder and took me over to a quiet corner. "I don't know how the hell you knew about that, but never mention it again to anyone - it's VERY classified!"
"I didn't know anything, just guessed. But you've now confirmed my guess. I will keep schtum though". And I did!!
Details here
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 17:11
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BEagle


"Not just 16/8 per day though, didn't we also have free haircuts from the Mad Slasher?"

There was nothing free about the haircuts! It was the ultimate insult - we were charged for 4 haircuts a month on our mess bills, whether you had them or not. After you swanned off to a life of leisure at university and we moved up to College Hall, there was a revolt by the cadets at an AGM, as virtually everyone went into Sleaford or Grantham for a haircut rather than suffer the indignities of College Hall Slasher, who therefore spent most of his days reading the paper. We demanded that we should only pay for haircuts taken. Shock horror from PMC and staff - mutterings about mutiny. Overwhelmingly voted for by cadets, and then vetoed by PMC. However, the staff later relented and we just paid per haircut. Amazingly, the quality of the haircuts improved no end....
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 17:23
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Originally Posted by BEagle
I'd love to know whether a BRIXMIS tale I was once told actually happened...

Some boffin wanted to know how thick the armour was on some new Sovietski tankski. So they gave a chap a boffin-jobber device and told him to find one of said tanks, hold the device against the tank's turret, press the tit and it would take a reading.

They didn't quite tell him everything though.

Chap finally found out where one of these tanks was parked, crept out in the dead of night with the boffin's toy, pressed it against the tank and pressed the tit as briefed.

A loud 'BOOOOOIIIIINNNNG' came from the device, which was obviously some sonar system. Chum legged it sharpish and about half-a-heartbeat later the turret hatch flew open and a dazed tank mate peered out in terror holding his head in his hands wondering what the hell had just woken him up..... It seems their crews sleep with their horses and/or tanks!

No doubt the touring team nearly wet themselves with laughter once safely back inside their Opel Senator or whatever...

I have to say that I had never heard of this, although that isn't surprising, as many things dreamed up by mad scientists were tried out and then dropped. The daftest one I can remember was when I got a call from some boffin on the secure line who said he understood that we could wander round the DDR at will, and he had an electronic device that he wanted tested against a particular Soviet piece of equipment. I said that it might be possible - how big was the kit? Oh, says boffin, we've been working hard to really miniaturise it. How miniaturised? says I, thinking of something no bigger than a small briefcase. Oh, says boffin, it fits very nicely into a 2-wheel trailer, and the antenna only needs to go up 12-15 feet! End of conversation.
I have to say, though, that we did have some stunningly good kit developed by really smart scientists for specific tasks.
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 17:46
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Old Bricks. A slight thread drift which you might like to comment on. An earlier poster on this thread ( Teeters #19) refers us to the " Spyflight" site .
According to this site 2 Sqn Phantoms in RAFG "were only equipped with the (EMI recce) pod for barely a year".
So were you only mainly showing ATC cadets around apart from when 41 were visiting?
I think we should be told.

P.S. Re:Slasher.
One of 99A's Cadets ( A. H...s) was a former male model who arrived with well sculptured hair and a magnificent set of sideboards.
Having slaughtered the guy's barnet, Slasher then looked closely at his sideboards .
" Very nice sir ,would you like to keep them?"
"Yes please!"
Zip! Zip! and Slasher handed them to him.

Last edited by Haraka; 20th Jul 2017 at 18:54.
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 19:05
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Many years back when the Flight Checking Force re equipped with the mighty Argosy there were still a number of Varsities around and Navs had to be dual capable, so very often we had to calibrate landing aids using a balloon theodolite which put the aircraft upside down and the receiver aerial was in the wingtip. Anyhow there was one Varsity which went to Berlin...a lot. Navving this beast down the corridor on a decca flight map was challenging with occasional interceptions from the GDR Migs. I wasn't happy one day and announced that I would go aft and take a drift reading. Don't step behind that curtain I was advised if I still had prospects for a family. It was all worth it for a night on the Kdamm and the Munchener Hofbrauhaus.
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 19:46
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ricardian,

I know something of the provenance of at least one of 6o Sqn's Pembrokes.

When in the 1950's my father took over as flt commander of 267 Sqn in KL amongst the steeds he inherited were several Pembrokes. One of these he used to collect my older brother from Singapore, he having flown there from the UK en route to KL, to join us for summer hols. I think dad had to kiss hands with the AoC, who was stationed in Singapore, for permission for that flight.

One of those Pembrokes, WV701 C.1, it appears, was ultimately shipped to 60 Sqn in Berlin.

Percival Pembroke - RAF Seletar - Singapore
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Old 20th Jul 2017, 22:35
  #31 (permalink)  
 
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Old Bricks, I'd forgotten that we were actually billed for Slasher's handiwork! He was a mean s.o.b too - "How would sir like it cut?" followed by the usual hack and slash.... After leaving Towers for the more civilised life of University, it was months before I needed another haircut.

Another quaint Flt Cdt requirement was the ridiculous 'civilian hat' which we had to wear in Cranwell village, Lincoln, Sleaford or Grantham. Come the day of our commissioning, we all burnt the wretched things on the JMPG! Fortunately this was before 'the troubles' became rather serious, otherwise it would have been dead easy for anyone with evil intent to spot a Cranwell cadet - the shave-headed prat in the hat!

Toward the end of my first tour, my boss (rather an unconventional character for a V-bomber Sqn Cdr) told me that a couple of interesting posts might be coming up, if I was interested, one of which was to fly the Chipmunk from Gatow. I really wish now that I'd taken up his offer; I still remembered much of my 'O' level German, which I'm sure would have been handy. But I was desperate to try to get back onto fast jets.... Looking back on that now, it was rather mistake - although it took a few hundred F-4 hours before I realised that!

Presumably the only recce device available for the Chippie was something hand held by the other seat occupant?
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 11:11
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Phantom Recce Pod

Haraka
I was with II(AC) from Jan 73-Jan 76, and we had a full set of pods all that time. I seem to remember that the first ones were issued to II(AC) in 1970, and they finished in 76 when Sandy Wilson took over the first Jaguar recce II(AC). I don't remember much about the UK-based reserve 41 Sqn - I think they came out to Laarbruch occasionally to learn how to do it properly - but I could be confusing them with ATC cadets.
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 11:52
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Chipmunk Recce Fit

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The front seat observer had twoNikon F3 camera bodies, each with motor-drive, one fitted with a 180mm lens,and the other with a 500mm mirror lens. In addition, a 1000mm lens was carried, plus a large bag of films. The pilot in the back seat put the left wing onto the target and went round in circles around the target whilst the observer took as many shots as were required, changing film and/or camera body/lens also as required. When finished, pilot flew to next target, briefing en route whilst observer changed and wrote film number and ASA on each exposed film. Sorties generally were over 2 hours and, from my limited experience, the observer came back absolutely knackered, sweaty and clutching sick bags from the effects of looking down a 500/1000mm tube whilst going round in tight circles. The regular pilot and observer crew certainly earned their flying pay.
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 12:06
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Old Bricks Indeed: my recollection was that the original idea was to have a flight of Recce podded Phantoms per FGR2 squadron ,before common sense took over .
Mind you It didn't stop 41 winning all the trophies we were entered for recce and otherwise in 75. You may recall I hopped back from when were serving on detachment together to win that International Military Aircraft Recognition Comp. for the squadron as an additional 41 RIC contribution. I can't remember precisely what II(AC)( Air Cadets?) Squadron RIC won that year. Wasn't it the Laarbruch Station darts tournament?

Last edited by Haraka; 21st Jul 2017 at 17:45.
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 12:52
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Old Bricks, how ever did the observer cope with blur using 500mm or 1000mm lenses in the vibrating environment of a Chipmunk? You must have had some very high ISO film! For air-to-air I used a Canon T70 with a 35-200mm zoom, ISO 200 Ektachrome set 'Tv' and let the camera set the aperture after spot metering the target. But I was taking happy snaps, not sneaky beaky stuff.

And before any d*ckhead smart Alec comments, never when I was the operating pilot and always with the camera on a neckstrap well clear of the aircraft controls!

Regarding cameras, certain folks in London were rather pleased when I'd taken some Bear shots in my early days on the VC10K which I'd taken with my own camera (Olympus Pen-FT with 150mm telephoto lens). So much so that they immediately procured 4 x Canon SLRs with 300mm telephoto lenses for us to take along on tanker Q trips, plus LOTS of film. In fact the 'official' photos in 'The Secret Squirrel Book of Planes' of the Bear H were taken from the flight deck of a VC10K.

Always wanted to know what was on the tapes we sent off when listening in on the Bears' chat frequency - I did hear that certain night time frolics involving the Havana ladies, plus copious rum and vodka were occasionally discussed...

I always took a copy of The Sun calendar with me on Q, to hold up against the big window of the VC10K for the benefit of the Ivans in their little rubber hats. Little did Samantha Fox know the part her parts played in perestroika!
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 17:21
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Beags. I'll wait until Scrotum has wheeled Old Bricks back up from the conservatory on to his veranda ,so that he may shout a dictated reply to that one: before chiming in "meself " on the camera issues.
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 17:42
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Dougie M

Anyhow there was one Varsity which went to Berlin...a lot.

WJ916 perchance?
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 18:05
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Originally Posted by taxydual
Dougie M

Anyhow there was one Varsity which went to Berlin...a lot.

WJ916 perchance?
I saw it come in to Guterlsoh occasionally for a while post the beginning of 1977. I think that was the last time I saw one operationally. Obviously I initially expressed interest, before the penny dropped that it was sensitive: so that was that.
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 18:20
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Originally Posted by taxydual
Dougie M

Anyhow there was one Varsity which went to Berlin...a lot.

WJ916 perchance?
Role assumed by XS664. Started out in grey and green. Ended up camaflged to look like 115 flight checker. Only thing, the big egg under the belly gave the game away.
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Old 21st Jul 2017, 19:15
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XS644,methinks...

XS664 was going to be a TSR2....
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