How Fast Can You Get Airborne?
 

Ok.. forget the walkaround, lose the non essential pre flight checks in the cockpit, and don't worry about getting info from the ATC...

How fast, from can you get from standing on the tarmac next to the a/c to getting in the air? - assuming you are positioned at the of the runway to start.

I only have experience of the Tutor but i think 2.5 mins could be possible.

It's a strange question but i want to know how fast people flying other aircraft can do it...

I can launch Mrs BT to 30000ft in about 0.5 nanoseconds!

Not military I know, but about 15 seconds, if not less. That assumes you check left, ahead and right is clear before lifting to the hover.

Out of the cockpit in the deckchair, ORP, for the hawk used to be 2 minutes.

On a Micky Finn two Vulcan crews went from readiness 15 to airborne in under 3 minutes. They were at, I think, Brawdy and sunning themselves under the aircraft.

We had a spectacular 10 minute launch once. We were in a Vulcan near the ORP at Cottesmore when we went u/s. We shutdown and piled out into a crew bus that had been summoned. We were then driven flat out to the engine running spare in one of the mid-airfield dispersals. Once there we sprinted to the aircraft. The start crew captain was holding the ladder to show his authority. His crew formed a chain and slung all our baggage from bus to jet. Cocks away, doors closed and taxy. I sorted out the heap of junk and set about helping the pilots strap in. Strapped in I lived their seats and strapped in to mine as we rolled.

At rotate we hit a wall of snow that the other aircraft in the stream had dumped at exactly the same point on the runway.

It was, as I said, about 10 minutes from u/s to airborne in another jet. It was on that sortie that we attacked a French airfield at low level at a shade over 400 kts.

Did a Q scramble once (like many, many others) from unconscious to gear up in 4 1/2 mins . The jet was cocked though and half my stuff was still unconnected/undone (boots etc).

It was worth the rush :-)

MT

Crewroom to bus to ac to airborne = 7 minutes.

VC10K....

Strewth Beags - that is probably the most impressive on here yet. Was that a specially trained racing crew? Slim and record-breaking? Or was there an Aeromed team waiting with oxygen (and pies) onboard? :E

I've seen a VC10 C1 launched nearly that quick on a training detail, but he had to dump fuel and come back to have his nose gear lock pin removed :p

I've seen Whirlwind HAR10's launched in around two and a half minutes, crew-room to airborne, but that was pretty routine and one supposes that practicing often, wearing full kit in the crew room and keeping ones flying machine outside the door is cheating...

Sitting on a catapult in a Scimitar - close to a minute! Ah the good old days.

The bus was outside pointing the right way, we ran to it , the driver had already got the engine running. The ac was at RS30, so was 'cocked'. The bus raced around the southern taxiway to the jet, GPU was running, the GE had his lads all ready for a rapid scramble start . Engineer started the APU, then steps, chocks, external intercomm all removed. Eng started engines, gennies on line and GPU away as we strapped in. "Brief - standard". Nav had re-checked V1 and was happy to go without the IN (being of the old school he could cope without!). All 4 turning, quickly through the checks, then a scramble taxy to RW26 short "Everyone ready?" "Yes", full power, turn on course at 500 ft.....

And we got our Bears!

In those days the squadron was fine-tuned and can-do...... We were more interested in sorting out the Soviets than bug gering about with IiP, H&S, EO Trg, 'I hear what you say' and all the other factors which have so wrecked real RAF squadron life.

Yours or the ground crews? :D

Eating dinner in the mess to a/b on SAR - 13 mins on the Mighty Hunter.

False call, dump fuel for 30 mins, hold to eat rations and resume normal handling of dinner in the mess.

The Herc tankers used to hold Q for the F4s/F3s down south. The aircraft would be prepped for a quick start - GTC (APU) on, turn all four, taxi. We's usually be ready for T/O before the fighters, but SOP was for them to go first.

Was once scrambled from Q to rescue an F3 after their tanker had gone US - less than 4 minutes from crewroom to airborne (and ony 2 minutes from arriving at the aircraft).

Took me 3 days to get a Tornado GR1 airborne once. Hawk was ready once the gyros were wound up, about 1 1/2 mins. Unless the sun was out, then you needn't wait that long, apparently. Never had that pleasure at Valley though.

OK, maybe we need to define the question a bit but we once got airborne in a Belfast from Dakar, Senegal, 25 minutes from the wake up call. And the hotel was 10 minutes from the airport.

Homeward bound of course.

Lynx 3 in the shed folded and stowed for night servicing when the balloon went up - out, started and airborne in 8 mins.

Lads still fastening panels as we started, Obs briefed on the hoof and me adopting old principle of "just move the shiny switches!" (Paperwork and other triv on return, but it was wartime servicing!)

Normal max times were AL15 with cab on deck/spread & crew briefed/dressed, or AL5 with crew strapped in ready to go.

Unconscious to Airborne, Nimrod, 17 mins.Vage Rot at dinner was only quicker because he had the advantage of being up and dressed.

Fast asleep to airborne in eight minutes. Aircraft-Victor, airfield- Kinloss, crew in caravan at end of runway, immersion suits to be donned. Result- nosewheel red, dump fuel and land back, noselock still in place. More haste, less speed !!!!!.

Don't know about timing but once saw a 4 Vulcan scramble at a Finningley 'At Home' day that almost went horribly wrong in front of about 100,000 people.

Bomber Controller was piped through the PA system - "Scramble, Scramble, Scramble". 4 aircraft lose themselves in a cloud of black exhaust as 16 Olympus are started up. No 1 starts rolling off the ORP and barrels down the runway. No 2 starts rolling almost as quick then puts brakes on and rocks a bit. No 3 starts rolling to take his place and has turned onto the runway when No 2 decides he can now go for it (had a transitory tech problem perhaps?). No 2 then sees No 3 about to cut in front of him and proves that the braking system on a B2 really does work fine. No 3 continues, followed by No 4 and then No 2 - finally!

I think that all the grockles thought it was normal but all the blue suits were getting ready to run the opposite way!!