Anyone seen the RAF Voyager at Waddington.
Often it was a case of previous tasking for aircraft and crews - could the aircraft position up from Brize, refuel and load pax and get to the destination within the Crew Duty Time requirements? There were often factors affecting the flight of which the passengers were unaware, but of course it must have been infuriating to have to travel down by bus seemingly 'to suit the Truckies'. Back in 1979 I had to be at Waddington by 10:00 for a 32-seat coach ride down to Brize before we left for Washington....at 12:00 the following day. The Movers wanted our bags when we got there, but were told to ***k off as there would be plenty of time the following day - as after a wretched night in the infernal Gatepost there indeed was.
In the days before the leaden hand of Ar$eCoat Ops AT/AAR overcontrol, it was often possible for VC10K crews to bring 'role support personnel' back to their bases rather than them having to suffer the bus ride from Brize. I've certainly taken ground crews back to Marham, Teesside (X-wind out of lims at Leeming!), Leuchars, Lossie, Wittering during trails back from Cyprus etc - which was always agreed by the AARC, provided that we didn't have to refuel.
The best was bringing some F-4 mates back from ASI. In my brief time on the F-4 I'd suffered the joys of waiting for the bus ride back from Brize, so I checked with them about what was planned for them as we didn't have the fuel to drop them at Wattisham and get back to Brize. They told me that they'd be going by bus, but MT wouldn't send it until they'd heard that the jet had landed at Brize... No problem..."Artichoke, Artichoke, request phone patch with Wattisham ext NNN"...."Go ahead, your party is on the line"...."MT Ops? OK, the VC10 is about to land, please send the bus"..."Thanks, we'll send it now". Which was great - we were just passing the sticky-out bit of Africa at the time! Which meant that the bus arrived just as the mates were coming out of the Pax Terminal....
In the days before the leaden hand of Ar$eCoat Ops AT/AAR overcontrol, it was often possible for VC10K crews to bring 'role support personnel' back to their bases rather than them having to suffer the bus ride from Brize. I've certainly taken ground crews back to Marham, Teesside (X-wind out of lims at Leeming!), Leuchars, Lossie, Wittering during trails back from Cyprus etc - which was always agreed by the AARC, provided that we didn't have to refuel.
The best was bringing some F-4 mates back from ASI. In my brief time on the F-4 I'd suffered the joys of waiting for the bus ride back from Brize, so I checked with them about what was planned for them as we didn't have the fuel to drop them at Wattisham and get back to Brize. They told me that they'd be going by bus, but MT wouldn't send it until they'd heard that the jet had landed at Brize... No problem..."Artichoke, Artichoke, request phone patch with Wattisham ext NNN"...."Go ahead, your party is on the line"...."MT Ops? OK, the VC10 is about to land, please send the bus"..."Thanks, we'll send it now". Which was great - we were just passing the sticky-out bit of Africa at the time! Which meant that the bus arrived just as the mates were coming out of the Pax Terminal....
Agreed, better to spend the time doing GH and aeros! Oh, no, you don't do that either!
Seriously though, the visual circuit is so much more than demonstrating that you can be the master and put the aircraft exactly where you want it. It combines handing skills, CRM, awareness, flexibility. Even if you choose to initiate a GA at 50ft to save wearing out the tyres, flying in the real visual circuit (not in the sim!) is an essential part of being a military pilot.
Seriously though, the visual circuit is so much more than demonstrating that you can be the master and put the aircraft exactly where you want it. It combines handing skills, CRM, awareness, flexibility. Even if you choose to initiate a GA at 50ft to save wearing out the tyres, flying in the real visual circuit (not in the sim!) is an essential part of being a military pilot.
You are correct sir!
OAP
