101 Squadron Op Granby (Gulf War I) statistics
The RAF also refuelled the Italian Tornado GR1s, but that may have only been the Victor force, they also refuelled from the Canadians.
Some of the RAF Tornado GR1s were GR1As.
Some of the RAF Tornado GR1s were GR1As.
Photo of the Nimrod R1P banking away after refuelling can be seen on p.57 of AFM Gulf Special.
On the same page, there is also a photo of the 'nose art' applied to XV235 'Muscat Belle'.
On the same page, there is also a photo of the 'nose art' applied to XV235 'Muscat Belle'.
I would be amazed if any TriStar prodded a VC10K during OP GRANBY.
Like BEags I would be amazed if there were any prodding by a Tristar against a VC10 during Granby. Only 2 pilots on the sqn ever did it (AB and DF), one had already left by the time Granby came along and the other would have been way out of currency -since we didn't have an AARI on 216 for that how could he get back in currency?
The other thing I noticed is that the 2 lots of hours don't match!
The other thing I noticed is that the 2 lots of hours don't match!
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I was the ALM on the Tristar receiver training at Brize with a pilot from the test pilot school I think, I am not at home to check my log book.
The Tristar pushed the nose of the VC10 down as we approached and made contact and after the flight it was said it would only be done in dire emergency.
I was on the Sqn during GW1 and I do not remember any other receiver training being done.
The Tristar pushed the nose of the VC10 down as we approached and made contact and after the flight it was said it would only be done in dire emergency.
I was on the Sqn during GW1 and I do not remember any other receiver training being done.
I was the ALM on the Tristar receiver training at Brize with a pilot from the test pilot school I think, I am not at home to check my log book.
The Tristar pushed the nose of the VC10 down as we approached and made contact and after the flight it was said it would only be done in dire emergency.
I was on the Sqn during GW1 and I do not remember any other receiver training being done.
The Tristar pushed the nose of the VC10 down as we approached and made contact and after the flight it was said it would only be done in dire emergency.
I was on the Sqn during GW1 and I do not remember any other receiver training being done.
Thread Starter
Based on all this, I guess it is safe to leave the Tristar off this particular list. vascodagama, thanks for pointing out that the hours don't match, that's another strange thing. I'll have a look at that one too.
Thread Starter
I did a quick calculation using Excel and the numbers on that insert do not match up completely, but they're pretty close:
Adding up all the sortie numbers for the different airframes I get a total of 382 sorties, which is a lot less than the 981 sorties from BEagle's RAF Yearbook. Perhaps the Yearbook total includes all the flights carried out while this just lists the sorties where fuel was dispensed to aircraft engaged in combat operations. In his VC10 bookazine from 2015, Stephen Skinner mentions that the VC10Ks flew 381 sorties during OP GRANBY, dispensing 6000 tonnes of fuel with 100% serviceability. That is pretty close to the numbers I'm seeing on this overview. In his article for Air-Britain's AeroMilitaria about the VC10's RAF career, John McCrickard lists 381 sorties, nearly 1,400 flying hours and almost 8,000 tonnes of fuel dispensed. I will see if I can check some other books and magazines, but that is all secondhand information of course.
- Adding the Day and Night hours gives 1359 hours 20 mins
- Adding up all the hours for the different airframes comes to 1352 hours 45 mins
Adding up all the sortie numbers for the different airframes I get a total of 382 sorties, which is a lot less than the 981 sorties from BEagle's RAF Yearbook. Perhaps the Yearbook total includes all the flights carried out while this just lists the sorties where fuel was dispensed to aircraft engaged in combat operations. In his VC10 bookazine from 2015, Stephen Skinner mentions that the VC10Ks flew 381 sorties during OP GRANBY, dispensing 6000 tonnes of fuel with 100% serviceability. That is pretty close to the numbers I'm seeing on this overview. In his article for Air-Britain's AeroMilitaria about the VC10's RAF career, John McCrickard lists 381 sorties, nearly 1,400 flying hours and almost 8,000 tonnes of fuel dispensed. I will see if I can check some other books and magazines, but that is all secondhand information of course.
The VC10K had proved to be highly reliable and over the seven month period the squadron achieved a sortie success rate of over 99%. A total of 600 sorties (2300 hr) were flown prior to 16 January, off-loading 14000 tonnes of fuel; after 16 January 381 sorties (1350 hr) were flown with a further 6800 tonnes given away.
Thread Starter
Thanks! I guess the 981 in post #25 was a typo.... 
We'll go with 381 sorties as that number keeps turning up. Seeing as the various sortie numbers don't match up with the mission markings on the various aircraft anyway... at least we can have an agreement on the total.
We'll go with 381 sorties as that number keeps turning up. Seeing as the various sortie numbers don't match up with the mission markings on the various aircraft anyway... at least we can have an agreement on the total.
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You can also add C130P to the list!
I think it was on 21st February and we were both in the hold at KKIA waiting for the weather to improve. The C130 was going to be very late for his next mission if he had to refuel on the ground, so we offered to refuel him instead. That meant he could then be on time for his next trip after an engines-running load change. So much to the surprise of the air traffickers, he plugged in and round the hold we went together!
The weather then picked up; we both landed and off he went after a quick load change.
I think it was on 21st February and we were both in the hold at KKIA waiting for the weather to improve. The C130 was going to be very late for his next mission if he had to refuel on the ground, so we offered to refuel him instead. That meant he could then be on time for his next trip after an engines-running load change. So much to the surprise of the air traffickers, he plugged in and round the hold we went together!
The weather then picked up; we both landed and off he went after a quick load change.
