A Weather-Guesser's Memories with the RAF
Although I was never in the RAF I am really enjoying these pictures of the service taken through the lens of those who provide their best interpretation of our fickle climate.
My story of RAF Met comes from the bottom of the food chain where I am sure that some of you intrepid aviators started your flying career. ATC gliding.
Early one Saturday morning I left home to drive the thirty miles or so to Old Sarum for my regular duty as a lowly Cat C gliding instructor. I started my journey from Poole in thick fog and it was even more foggy when I arrived. From the Gliding School office on the ground floor of the Control Tower I couldn't see the airfield but, as the first instructor to arrive, I called the nearest RAF Met Office at Upavon for the official RAF gliding forecast. What happened then was that whoever answered the phone would read off the data from his copy of the forecast. My job was to write the same data on my identical form. When he finished describing a really good forecast I said that it looks like our fog was going to clear very quickly. "Fog?". he asked. "You've got fog?"
My story of RAF Met comes from the bottom of the food chain where I am sure that some of you intrepid aviators started your flying career. ATC gliding.
Early one Saturday morning I left home to drive the thirty miles or so to Old Sarum for my regular duty as a lowly Cat C gliding instructor. I started my journey from Poole in thick fog and it was even more foggy when I arrived. From the Gliding School office on the ground floor of the Control Tower I couldn't see the airfield but, as the first instructor to arrive, I called the nearest RAF Met Office at Upavon for the official RAF gliding forecast. What happened then was that whoever answered the phone would read off the data from his copy of the forecast. My job was to write the same data on my identical form. When he finished describing a really good forecast I said that it looks like our fog was going to clear very quickly. "Fog?". he asked. "You've got fog?"
The loose nut behind the stick?
Thread Starter
No, that was a hangar fire with a/c destroyed? Not guilty as charged.
A vignette:
We lived in Bessacar, nice 5 bed det. funded by overseas tours.
From the kitchen my wife could see the Rossington Pit area [Not Sir Rossington-Pitt, the bounder].
The evening shifts were movable feasts, in that the last night astro landing released LB for home.
Frequently "you'll not be kept this evening, the clag is thickening towards the Pit!" [Gin clear to the skilled met. man]
"Shall I bother with the snap-tin / pack-up [Yorkshire for food box]"
"Of course, please".
She was right 9 times out of 10. Toasted sarnies beckoned.
Footnote: I wonder. On a marginal evening with no snap, might I have cast the runes towards stack? Integrity v. empty stomach.
A vignette:
We lived in Bessacar, nice 5 bed det. funded by overseas tours.
From the kitchen my wife could see the Rossington Pit area [Not Sir Rossington-Pitt, the bounder].
The evening shifts were movable feasts, in that the last night astro landing released LB for home.
Frequently "you'll not be kept this evening, the clag is thickening towards the Pit!" [Gin clear to the skilled met. man]
"Shall I bother with the snap-tin / pack-up [Yorkshire for food box]"
"Of course, please".
She was right 9 times out of 10. Toasted sarnies beckoned.
Footnote: I wonder. On a marginal evening with no snap, might I have cast the runes towards stack? Integrity v. empty stomach.
Last edited by langleybaston; 7th Apr 2024 at 19:18. Reason: for **** read shot
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In Praise of Met Men
Met Men (or should I now say people?) - as I can't think of any alliterative term for both sexes to please the 'woke inspectors'.
Most enjoyable read of all these reminiscences from LB and other contribtors.
They say that there is no other job in the world where you can be wrong so often and yet still keep your job, as that of a Met Man. Be that as it may it was always a pleasure visiting the Met Offices down route and getting the verbal person-to-person wx briefings eastwards to Kai Tak and south to Gib too.
Just one 21st century question now........ The USA is probably the only country in the world still using Fahrenheit and even they went over to Celsius for aviation, a long while back...... (was it in the nineties?)
My question is, why oh why, do certain tv and radio Beeb weather presenters still persist in giving out fahrenheit temperatures in their broadcasts? Don't tell me it's for oldies who never converted when we went metric in the UK in about 1972. Even I learnt celsius/centigrade when educated back in the sixties. Presumably that classifies me as an 'oldy'? And .....
adding another Victor Meldrew whinge, why do they waste valuable seconds in their broadcasts telling us what the weather has been like earlier that day when, if we are still alive and breathing , we know already? It's like knowing how much fuel you've used, rather than concentrating on how much you've got left.
Most enjoyable read of all these reminiscences from LB and other contribtors.
They say that there is no other job in the world where you can be wrong so often and yet still keep your job, as that of a Met Man. Be that as it may it was always a pleasure visiting the Met Offices down route and getting the verbal person-to-person wx briefings eastwards to Kai Tak and south to Gib too.
Just one 21st century question now........ The USA is probably the only country in the world still using Fahrenheit and even they went over to Celsius for aviation, a long while back...... (was it in the nineties?)
My question is, why oh why, do certain tv and radio Beeb weather presenters still persist in giving out fahrenheit temperatures in their broadcasts? Don't tell me it's for oldies who never converted when we went metric in the UK in about 1972. Even I learnt celsius/centigrade when educated back in the sixties. Presumably that classifies me as an 'oldy'? And .....
adding another Victor Meldrew whinge, why do they waste valuable seconds in their broadcasts telling us what the weather has been like earlier that day when, if we are still alive and breathing , we know already? It's like knowing how much fuel you've used, rather than concentrating on how much you've got left.
Last edited by Jetset 88; 8th Apr 2024 at 07:47. Reason: punctuation & title
adding another Victor Meldrew whinge, why do they waste valuable seconds in their broadcasts telling us what the weather has been like earlier that day when, if we are still alive and breathing , we know already? It's like knowing how much fuel you've used, rather than concentrating on how much you've got left.
In-Flight Met Observations
On the subject of aircrew reports of met conditions experienced whilst in flight, I have attached a sample drawn my my father (I recognise his style) of a flight he made from Digri to Pyinmana on the 26th of November 1944 whilst leading a formation of 12 Liberators. This was made 20 years before the flights I made around the northern part of Sumatra that gave rise to the 'Botticelli' depictions I described in an earlier post. This sample is page 3 of a 4 page chart, but contains the most interesting embellishment!
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I remember two met men at RAF Bovingdon in the early sixties. One was very short of hair and had a lump on top of his head. We called him Cu Nim Charlie and he was very optimistic in his forecasts. The other was a miserable type who tried to put us off flying anywhere in our old Ansons. If you managed to talk to both forecasters and took a line down the middle of there predictions you got a reasonably accurate forecast.
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Curiously, for an ATCO, I seem to have lacked any interaction with MetOs. Indeed, the only Met aspect I can recall was in Singapore, when our resident Lightnings used to call Tengah Local for a quick "How is it looking" before deciding whether to head for home or divert to Butterworth!
In the late ‘70s, we had a very good Meto at Güt who had two lovely daughters - and went on to gain stardom on the TV. On one Friday afternoon, he rang the Squadron and advised an immediate stack to the bar. This we duly did and 30mins later there was a half-inch of ice over everything and the tops breaking off tall trees. No one could get into their cars, which were then covered in a foot of snow, so we had to remain in the bar for hours! First time I had seen rain ice - and it didn’t melt for a week. The roads were absolute carnage until the gritters managed to get out.
On another occasion, I asked said Meto what he would consider to be a good forecast. He thought for a second and said “about 40% correct”. It was pointed out that we might be better to invert the complete forecast - something he readily acknowledged!
Mog
On another occasion, I asked said Meto what he would consider to be a good forecast. He thought for a second and said “about 40% correct”. It was pointed out that we might be better to invert the complete forecast - something he readily acknowledged!
Mog
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Thread Starter
Initials BF?
A massive improvement on the two previous prats.
The second prat had zero sense of humour. A new young Greek lady cleaner arrived: little German sprach, no English.
She cleaned well and early, before prat S Met O arrived, so I taught her carefully. "When prat arrives, you must say GOOD MORNING BLOODY BILL !"
We rehearsed it carefully. Next morning "GOOD MORNING BLOODY BILL !".
"Langley, my office, now"
How did he know, I wonder?
A massive improvement on the two previous prats.
The second prat had zero sense of humour. A new young Greek lady cleaner arrived: little German sprach, no English.
She cleaned well and early, before prat S Met O arrived, so I taught her carefully. "When prat arrives, you must say GOOD MORNING BLOODY BILL !"
We rehearsed it carefully. Next morning "GOOD MORNING BLOODY BILL !".
"Langley, my office, now"
How did he know, I wonder?
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Thread Starter
The Long Hot Summer.
I pass lightly over teaching at our college, an ex-RAF wartime HQ in beautiful grounds, with a club and a bar that served Breakspears ale, smelling of sewage and tasting divine. There was no specific military focus, fully 50% of end of course students went off to civil aviation or Weather Centres. The interesting course was the annual long ‘Stream One’. These were new recruits, none less well qualified than a 2:1 in a fully relevant subject, many with a First, and some Masters and Ph Ds. It is fair to say that as I taught, so did I learn. I also made friends with tomorrows’ leaders, which paid dividends in networking in the years to come. These folk went rapidly to PSO and 50% went beyond and disappeared in HQ.
Stream Twos were also on the SO, HSO, SSO, PSO greasy pole, but occupied most of the public-facing roles. LB was a Two, needless to say.
The summer of ’76 is famous for its drought, its longevity and its sustained heat. One of my perks was to nominate, host, wine and dine the guest speaker at the end of the Stream One course. By this time J S Sawyer was the top scientist in the Office, title Director of Research, and also the Director-General’s deputy. As his one-time gopher and fixer I dared to invite him, and he came and delivered. It was a marvellous summary of the progress made in producing better and better numerical models and predictions during the last twenty years.
He was asked “never mind that, when will it rain?”
“It will, but I cannot see it happening within the next week or so”. Two days later the heavens opened.
Weather keeps you humble.
RAFG next stop.
I pass lightly over teaching at our college, an ex-RAF wartime HQ in beautiful grounds, with a club and a bar that served Breakspears ale, smelling of sewage and tasting divine. There was no specific military focus, fully 50% of end of course students went off to civil aviation or Weather Centres. The interesting course was the annual long ‘Stream One’. These were new recruits, none less well qualified than a 2:1 in a fully relevant subject, many with a First, and some Masters and Ph Ds. It is fair to say that as I taught, so did I learn. I also made friends with tomorrows’ leaders, which paid dividends in networking in the years to come. These folk went rapidly to PSO and 50% went beyond and disappeared in HQ.
Stream Twos were also on the SO, HSO, SSO, PSO greasy pole, but occupied most of the public-facing roles. LB was a Two, needless to say.
The summer of ’76 is famous for its drought, its longevity and its sustained heat. One of my perks was to nominate, host, wine and dine the guest speaker at the end of the Stream One course. By this time J S Sawyer was the top scientist in the Office, title Director of Research, and also the Director-General’s deputy. As his one-time gopher and fixer I dared to invite him, and he came and delivered. It was a marvellous summary of the progress made in producing better and better numerical models and predictions during the last twenty years.
He was asked “never mind that, when will it rain?”
“It will, but I cannot see it happening within the next week or so”. Two days later the heavens opened.
Weather keeps you humble.
RAFG next stop.
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The Long Hot Summer.
The summer of ’76 is famous for its drought, its longevity and its sustained heat. One of my perks was to nominate, host, wine and dine the guest speaker at the end of the Stream One course. By this time J S Sawyer was the top scientist in the Office, title Director of Research, and also the Director-General’s deputy. As his one-time gopher and fixer I dared to invite him, and he came and delivered. It was a marvellous summary of the progress made in producing better and better numerical models and predictions during the last twenty years.
He was asked “never mind that, when will it rain?”
“It will, but I cannot see it happening within the next week or so”. Two days later the heavens opened.
Weather keeps you humble.
RAFG next stop.
The summer of ’76 is famous for its drought, its longevity and its sustained heat. One of my perks was to nominate, host, wine and dine the guest speaker at the end of the Stream One course. By this time J S Sawyer was the top scientist in the Office, title Director of Research, and also the Director-General’s deputy. As his one-time gopher and fixer I dared to invite him, and he came and delivered. It was a marvellous summary of the progress made in producing better and better numerical models and predictions during the last twenty years.
He was asked “never mind that, when will it rain?”
“It will, but I cannot see it happening within the next week or so”. Two days later the heavens opened.
Weather keeps you humble.
RAFG next stop.
Regarding progress in Meteorology, it is remarkable from a consumer's viewpoint. Met lectures at 242 OCU Thorney Island revolved around local phenomena, for instance prevailing winds. For instance, the Bora, we were told, once caused the Royal Navy to drag its anchors in Valetta Harbour. Any ideas of global air circulation was clearly beyond the imagination of aircrew in the 1960s, so we were spared such concepts. Presumably it was a concept shared amongst the cognoscenti though?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream
As neither an aviator nor a meteorologist, but a terrestrial client, I have to agree about the huge strides made in both technology and knowledge from the late '60s to now, that have led to the current accuracy in forecasting.
While the BoM were responsible for rainfall forecasts, both the BoM and the organisations I worked for had responsibility for forecasting flood flows in rivers. During major floods, there were always bets made on the magnitude and timing of the flood peak. We always worked well together, though, and there was quite a bit of cross-flow with staff.
While the BoM were responsible for rainfall forecasts, both the BoM and the organisations I worked for had responsibility for forecasting flood flows in rivers. During major floods, there were always bets made on the magnitude and timing of the flood peak. We always worked well together, though, and there was quite a bit of cross-flow with staff.
Thread Starter
Since it had been widely known about for many decades before that date it might appear that the 'cognoscenti', ie the Met establishment were somewhat slow on the uptake.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream
Tabs please !
I was at Brackers with an occasional spell at 03772 and Shinditz in the 80's. If you were at Dunstable at an earlier point then you may have met the redoubtable Mrs D Rand. A lovely lady and a force of nature who I had the immense pleasure of working with. I was a mere youngster in those days however without the usual shift pay and allowances to boost the bank balance, I noted the influx of high tech industries along with rising house prices and quickly figured out that "he who hingeth aboot getteth hee haw". Met 19 wanted me to become a programmer so I pointed out how much 3M were paying for that sort of skill. It was a very brief conversation. I was sad to leave as the work was usually interesting.
Thread Starter
I was at Brackers with an occasional spell at 03772 and Shinditz in the 80's. If you were at Dunstable at an earlier point then you may have met the redoubtable Mrs D Rand. A lovely lady and a force of nature who I had the immense pleasure of working with. I was a mere youngster in those days however without the usual shift pay and allowances to boost the bank balance, I noted the influx of high tech industries along with rising house prices and quickly figured out that "he who hingeth aboot getteth hee haw". Met 19 wanted me to become a programmer so I pointed out how much 3M were paying for that sort of skill. It was a very brief conversation. I was sad to leave as the work was usually interesting.
My BF reference was to Bert Ford .......... as I have only nice things to say about him I dare to name him, as I am fairly sure he was indeed S Met O at the relevant date. In the Seventies he was one of a younger, better educated and better trained staff coming through, replacing the old war-time drongoes.
LB.
Enjoying all this reminiscing, all thanks to you starting this thread.
Question for you.... I presume that in 1976 your posting was at 'The College of Knowledge' ?
Although I was not blue-blooded enough to have gone through there myself in training days, I did attend the College in April that year for the first CFS course after it'd moved from Rissie. Just my luck as I lived at Brize and was then at Sleaford Tech as an enforced retiree from Britannias thanks to the Govt Defence cuts.
After the College CFS ground school, we left after a couple of months for Leeming, where the transition to the Bulldog took place. That summer of no rain and heat was spent inside the greenhouse canopy of a Bulldog or my tatty Mini flogging up and down the A1 back to West Oxon, where I'd just bought the first two layers of bricks in a house before the defence cuts changed my life somewhat. Grrh.
We must have bumped into each other that summer somewhere I'm sure.
Looking at a course photo recently I see that Flight Magazine's David Learmount was also named at the end of my row, so he must have gone on to the JP and remained in Lincs for the whole course.
Not so happy days I'm afraid. How had I ever flown before with knowing about Reynold's Number ?
Enjoying all this reminiscing, all thanks to you starting this thread.
Question for you.... I presume that in 1976 your posting was at 'The College of Knowledge' ?
Although I was not blue-blooded enough to have gone through there myself in training days, I did attend the College in April that year for the first CFS course after it'd moved from Rissie. Just my luck as I lived at Brize and was then at Sleaford Tech as an enforced retiree from Britannias thanks to the Govt Defence cuts.
After the College CFS ground school, we left after a couple of months for Leeming, where the transition to the Bulldog took place. That summer of no rain and heat was spent inside the greenhouse canopy of a Bulldog or my tatty Mini flogging up and down the A1 back to West Oxon, where I'd just bought the first two layers of bricks in a house before the defence cuts changed my life somewhat. Grrh.
We must have bumped into each other that summer somewhere I'm sure.
Looking at a course photo recently I see that Flight Magazine's David Learmount was also named at the end of my row, so he must have gone on to the JP and remained in Lincs for the whole course.
Not so happy days I'm afraid. How had I ever flown before with knowing about Reynold's Number ?