What's going on at 72?
 

via "Ronnie Biggs"

Rumours that studes on 72 are wearing the FOLA badge. Now that's OK and in line with tradition etc...but not when the stude is a graduate!
FOLA always has been a non graduate organisation from its inception in tha good/bad old days at Aldergrove. QFIs sort it out!

Floppy "Ah... Wessex..." Link
Green Shielder and proud of it


"Orange Whip?"

Orange Whip

Ex FOLA only please - lets see how many of us are left!

Thought you were a member of FLANGE!

Trouble with the youth of today.....................Could this be blamed with allowing an FTS use the Sqn standing. Would it have been better to let FOLA rest until the Troubles started again?

In Linton bar one happy hour and had the pleasure of some young FOLA Badge-wearing stude telling me where the badge came from - he got it totally wrong of course - that's the trouble when non-wing'd personnel are allowed to wear the badge of truth!!

Roddy was there long enough to shoulder some of the blame, sort it out, otherwise we may have to sort it out for you.

Do not forget that it will be noted on your F5000, such lack of understanding of Sqn history is indicative of the lack of attention to detail prevalent in todays society...........blah blah

Ooh a badge, I want one, don't know the reason, will probably look good next to my mobile phone..................

We even had to check the files of some Scrapers after they were found wearing the Badge, I'm glad to report that no rules were infringed.

Senior member of FOLA, in conjunction with your traditionally closest ally, OC 72 - SORT IT OUT!!!!!

SFOY - Senior Flying Officer Yorkshire

Orange Whip......

"Have you seen my death dive?"

Sloppy Fink....have the piccies somewhere of you chopping up some bog roll over Y453.....and the infamous tea pot run over the Lake near Killsomewhere-or-other.

Have just found my FOLA Badge...and the one EESDL designed....wine, ardour, gambling and song, with a wessex on the top where the crown should be!

Them's were the days...

God, now I sound like some sad old WIWOW....

There was an even more exclusive club - POLA - in the good old days you could (and I did) make to LCR on 72 as a pilot officer - I had to be promoted into FOLA!

The joys of spending 2 years in the Emerald toilet trying to stop greenshielders (who were being paid twice as much) from killing you was the true apprenticeship that made FOLA what it was. Oh.. and being able to do it after a night on the lash...

Faster nought to 60 than a Lamborghini Diablo and you can get your ironing board in sideways...didn't you just love Shef and his MG Maestro!!

Happy days. I recall Huey was a member of POLA, along with me, Shef, Spud and Bertie.

Used to love bunting until that fateful day with Charlie Huke and Phil Caudle....only lost 188 rounds of GPMG ammo out of the door!

HPT

Getting too old now as I can't even remember what the acronyms stood for. But happy times on 72 when we did 6 week detachments.

JK getting hit by an RPG 7 at Xmaglen which failed to explode. Waiting in the bar for the 1st 747 to land - expected lots of noise so surprised when this large shadow fell across the bar window.

F.O Thirkell was invented who always flew on peri checks but was never available for his interview with W/C NI - he only found out he was figment of our imagination as we were about to board the Herc to go home.

Shame to see the old Sqn is reduced to its present incarnation.

HF

Who can forget Reggie Mental's bonkers cannons...I blew I hole in the bar with a tennis ball. HPT windowed himself during happy hr and broke his collar bone! JJ's infamous cocktails..the GPMG (gin pernod & more gin) and the life threatening STARFISH...god I barfed alot on that concoction!!!

Or being raftered....and having your chest hair set alight...Matt Nivens eye brows going when Scara-Langer set him on fire. Scott Weir "when I want your opinion, I'll tell you what it is..." Stroby Tode partially dislocating his own shoulder, pissed as a fart on Mad Dog 20/20, trying to pass the the Broom around his body without letting go...and bicycle jousting...the sport of kings...and the SH Force dinner when Fauch disappeared in a puff of talc, OC Eng (hater of aircrew esp FOLA) got 2 litres of water in his lap during Niv's Speech, courtesy of Vera's aeromodelling airbrush sprayer!!!!Nivs (Stn Cdr) then gave him the death stare when he had the temerity to moan!!

Ahh the days!!

Reading about the young 'uns "good old days" makes me feel really old as I'd long left FOLA. :{

Scott Weir was probably on his second or third go at being a FO by then :p

P.S. I thought the "phantom" pilot's name was "Thirkettle"; is my memory going as well as the eyesight and hearing?? Eh?

ORANGE WHIP


We've been here since '69, map and compass doin fine. etc etc

ST

It might well have been Thirkettle - told you my memory is not what it used to be:confused:

The old 25pdr was also well used in my time!!.

The old Seco? huts behind the Mess were the haven of the junior pilots though I think the Mess president got a little red about the face when he discovered one of us had decided to turn one of the rooms into a "motor bike repair centre":ok:

The Navy, at Aldergrove, were also good for a laugh even when one broke his leg playing croquet:{

The Boss (Ryle?)was also a good egg as he offered to lend me his landrover to unload my Wessex of various plants, boxes and a washing machine, belonging to my soon to be wife, brought over from Gutersloh:ok: (Don't think he wanted ATC to see me staggering across the pan with a rubber plant)

Happy Days

HF

I'll have one of those.

More memories:

Mr Blobby, who was a known to be quite religous, unhappily found that a crewman had replaced the insides of RAF Wives with Reader's Wives in the crewroom when showing people around the Sqn and the day when the 2ic (Nobby) told him that he had a black mark on his forehead only to be told that it was a sign of Ash Weds, caused lots of chuckles!!!

AJ looked down and the TANS had dumped....
Ooooh, sh1t, where the fock are we

Where's the Puma gone,
He's gone to Monaghan, far far away.

I hear AJ's working Police Ops at Woodvale...........................

...Wangs pension for diamond white...went to one of his infamous parties where his brother-in-law complained he had hiccups...I told him to stand on his head...he did and promptly deposited his supper and 8+pints on Chrissie's kitchen floor..not happy!!

Sevs driving his (actually it was Heather's)2CV through the Barmy Hair Corps' Mess Bar French Windows.....it got stuck, he carried on with all the predigious power of the 2 hp and took the doors out+frames...

Banana House parties....

Where's Sponge Woodley these days?

Drinking with Langers and Nivs next weekend.

p.s. Hueymeister ref the PM, night Palma was crap - only 40 more days as a airline pilot, can't wait!

Mules:ok:

FLANGE may have been powerful but the true power rested with CLANG!!!!

Poteen Harvey Wallbangers anyone, awesome especially the day after - IIRC after one critical mass party, we were Wx 7 tasked with the usual VCPs at W553 and I had Langers barfing into his flying jacket - in true FLANG spirit we carried out another 1 hr of VCPs before he could head home for an LCJ, flying suit, jacket and underwear change.

Sadly I can't remember much due to the Becks and GPMG poisoning.

Zic :yuk:

Sponge was at Colerne with the UAS last time I heard. Still in touch with John Webb, Adders, Fanstop, Wang and Fauch. Perhaps its about time we made a bit of an effort and got together somewhere convenient for a few pints of MACHRIHANISH or STARFISH.

HPT

We ought to go to the next old boys night....if there is such a thing. Who runs the Sqn Assoc?

STARFISH..... Oh God :yuk: We invented it at EFTS and JJ took it on to 72. One of my coursemates made 3STAR, the doc reckoned he should have died. Sherry, Tequila, Advocaat, Rum, Fruit Juice, IPA Bitter, Southern Comfort and a Harvey Wallbanger times three. He flies for Virgin now and is a reformed character.....

Mmm STARFISH, go heavy on the fruit juice and light on the IPA it was almost drinkable, less than a minute to Rapid Character Change, I was very happy with that. Managed to avoid the JJ inspired 'full set' (GPMG, SLR, SAM etc) of which STAFISH was the finale.. thank god.