PPRuNe Forums - Al Udeid air base

In answer to some of the spiteful venom slung at me (and I DO recall saying it was rumour and that I personally didn't buy into it!!):

1. To the best of my current knowledge (no, not Google Earth!) there are NO Gulf Air aircraft that ever use the area on the Western Apron where the VC10's used to park.

2. I never claimed to be an expert on VC10's/ 10 Sqn/ 101 Sqn/ 10/101 Sqn or whatever the current name of it is. My experience of VC10s stops purely at a couple of hundred flying hours on them, the same amount trying to get comfortable on them, and more than quadruple that in being delayed by them.

3. Please do not be as crass as to suggest that any VC10 aircrew spend as much time away or seperated from their family when you do not know others service history. For the record my days away (according to my latest pay statement) stands currently at 1329 days and counting - but this isn't a pi*sing contest as EVERYONE is stretched and spending a lot of time away from home.

4. The claim that no posts have been removed from Bahrain since the VC10 Det left for the Sandpit is dependant on your viewpoint. The Comms Fleet have no need for nearly as many personnel due to their size and the fact they don't break down nearly as much. As for the rest of the support personnel I think you may find the Supply section has shrunk to a one-man band, Ops is smaller, the RAFLO have relocated to pastures new etc etc Maths isn't my strongpoint but when I saw the nice framed photos from the VC10 era there seemed to be a lot more people than currently inhabit the place.