Is that a smartphone Dougie?

Ahead of their time in so many ways!

:ok:

Good spot JTO.
Original Airmen's Mess pics since lost so artistic license employed. Sad though that an inanimate object takes your interest.

With you Doug, nothing on the table offers anything other than "distraction" from the "Main course" , surely a little poetic licence is acceptable here ?

Smudge:ok:

Bird Strikes
 

Going back to birds bums. Ksimboy, was this the turkey vulture you were talking about?


http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4xnqwfcd.jpg

That'll be the one, misidentified bird type, which landed me in so much trouble in the Hotel Gander on l(o)adies nights !!!

Anybody remember Cathy and Gail?

I remember Jackie and Bridie on FIBS - "Hookers at Kellys want our knickers for a windsock!" in a broad northern accent

Certainly the most catastrophic in flight structural damage that I have known, where a recovery to safe landing was carried out, was the collision in the S.A. with the Sea King. A very tragic event in poor weather which left mental scars but superlative airmanship saved the situation from a total disaster.


http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psfiqpkknl.jpg

The day i learnt one should NEVER promise the passengers (all RN from RFA Reliant) that we would try and make the mundane MRR sortie as interesting and exciting as possible for them.

Poor old 206.
Fully restored to service only for D**o to run over a landmine in it whilst landing on a strip in Afghan. All photographed from 200 yards upwind as briefed.


http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pshptewq4y.jpg

It was also 206 that had a rather heavy landing in Sarajevo when Da*e Hu***ll porked up the approach. Poor old Albert !

Ksimboy,

With respect to all who have damaged 206, it never really had the class of 205, which somehow always had my complete confidence as a frame to go anywhere in. Now, that's a mere pond life opinion. What about those who flew the fleet regularly, any faves in there, who enjoyed taking 222 (trembling two) down route ? Must be a few "preferred" frames from years gone by, and stories to substantiate the claims.

Smudge :ok:

I always liked going to the States in 222. You knew there was no way in the world would you get home on time lol.

Smuj
 

Good idea! But in my case, having left the mob after just over 6 years on the Herc' in late '73 I guess it was too early for individual airframes to have developed their own idiosyncrasies.

But under special memories:-

202, Dec' 67 - one of the crew that took it to Changi - now at Cosford.
205, Jan 29 1968 - first time I was let loose on my own to find somewhere away
from base, Labuan. Not too difficult to find Borneo!
201 Feb 29 - off to Oz, Edinburgh near Adelaide via Darwin and return via Perth
night and day Astro for real and I remembered things were different once
in the southern hemisphere.
199 May 23 '68 - a Westabout!
206 Jan 69 - we picked up a Kiwi soldier who had been wounded in Vietnam and
took him home.
204 April 22nd, the day I became a dad - returning from Kathmandu with the
great Shaun Fielding ( sadly RIP last month ).

Worst memory:-

290 9/11/71 Seeing the red flash as 216 hit the sea off Pisa!

See what you are saying Brian, my question really was whether a particular airframe was favoured by our many posters. I know that for me, 200 had to be the aircraft that my service seemed to follow. I was a member of a team that did a Base 3 (Major) on the beast circa 1972. A lift to Aldergrove, and operation "Motorman" followed. And it was the prime SF airframe that I supported throughout my time as an AGE up to my leaving in 95. I believe it visited me once again when Blue team AES (I was the team manager at the time) completed a Minor servicing shortly before I was declared "medically unwelcome" and became promoted to Mister. So, for me XV200 holds special memories. Now, I bet there's some drivers airframe that can tell us about the fleet banana's that they would rather not have taken away from Lyneham.

Smudge :ok:

Does this remind anyone of a crew meal following an infamous Ascot Shuffle in insert country of your choice

http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/a...sikmreyjp.jpeg

TBT,
great pic. That is definitely aa62 on the far right !

Ascot Meals
 

Great pic TBT.
A variation on a theme occurred on the floating restaurant in Aberdeen harbour Hong Kong. A rather gobby flight commander was on the crew and he commanded that we all order one dish each from the menu and that all should be recognisable to the British palate. Then we would have a spoonful of each. We all dutifully gave our choices to the waitress. Several San Migs later the vast repast arrived. It was going well till one dish was placed before the flt. cdr. It resembled ladies parts in brown Windsor soup. Which one of you b**stds ordered this he shrieked. It wasn't me we all said. I distinctly said that all the dishes should be recognisable. he hissed.
At that point a Chinese businessman at the next table burst out laughing, showing lots of gold teeth.
It was me! he said. I hear your boss man give orders so I ask the waitress to bring fish lips in duck sauce for a joke. He did buy a round of San Migs for us but curiously the fish lips remained uneaten.




http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psgnn4ayet.jpg

Dougie,
that pic brings back memories albeit very hazy ones ! I can remember drinking the San Migs but as for eating ? I suppose we must have done !

Top Bunk Tester

Captured perfectly. It got so much easier when I flew civvy and had a three-man flightdeck (well two and a junior . . . ) only because the argument didn't take as long.

Happy days . . .