More happy GW1 memories have been brought back by the CONDEC pic. We were driving in to KKIA in Saudi about to start a day of the 'spoke' bit of 'hub and spoke' ops. Our skipper, a Sqn Ldr with a reputation for being taciturn (but in actuality possessed of a fully functional and particularly wicked sense of humour), was behind the wheel when we spotted a young movements officer of the blonde and female variety who was well aware she was drawing admiring glances from the male contingent. Waving at us and adjusting her Ray-Bans to BEST effect she drove straight into a large stack of cable drums which seemed delighted to obey Newton's second law of motion and start off all over the ASP on a series of exciting adventures.

Our trusty minibus swerved to a halt as the skipper (who was now doubled-up laughing in the driving seat) temporarily lost the ability to operate mechanical transport i.a.w. aircraft handling area local procedures and I fell out of the passenger door with similar breathing difficulties. It was just one of those utterly priceless detachment moments that made life on the Albert fleet such a joy.

J has a CVR also, which records take off and landing periods I believe. Gone are the days of ripping through the Sqn Social register en route.

S** V**** by any chance? Or was it his Uncle that you took down route?

I came across an article produced by Lockheed Martin as part of the 60th celebrations ... some interesting stuff ... I thought fellow PPRuNe Albert Threaders might appreciate the link :ok:

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/conten...8055231553.jpg
Image Credit : Lockheed Martin : Prototype YC-130 Tail No : 33397

Hercules by the Numbers · Lockheed Martin

There are other Herc links off this header page ...

Also footage of the 1st flight of the prototype YC-130 ... 23rd August 1954.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sGxuu1XpbAA

Best ...

Coff.

Ex-Ascoteer, it was deffo his uncle. Without a single doubt in my mind, the finest officer I ever had the privilege of serving with!

I'd agree with you there Mal Drop. He was one of the finest Flt Cdrs under which it has been my pleasure to serve.

Ah S.. V....,
did lots of trips with him, especially tanking. I had reached the stage of who I went flying with was more important than where I went. Being in a position to choose that is what I did. S.. and I got on very well indeed.

Smudge three people on here that I respect, Ancient Dengue and you mentioned Kiwlhang a man who convinced me to go aircrew. S-- V---- was a fine pilot to fly with as well.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps4afed322.jpg

When loading heavy drop we always had someone watching the top of the load.
Lots of clearance in this training load but a high frame war load was MUCH closer to the cargo door when loading. We sometimes had to have the elevators in the up position. This for me was the most nervous bit of the whole trip.
The CONDEC was designed to to air transportable by the Herc as was most of the US supplied ground equipment. Not always the case with UK kit especially that for other a/c. For example loading the RR Conway with the very low transporter called for a special technique. It would be winched up the ramp until it reached the start of the cargo compartment floor. Then the ramp would be VERY carefully raised to reduce the angle between the two. By this time the nosewheel was off the ground ! As the engine was winched into the a/c the nosewheel would settle back down where it belonged. All those years trying to avoid this situation and here is an authorised scheme to do just that.

As someone who only did a mere two tours on the K (Co and Capt) in the mid nineties I am unable to contribute to the tales of the Changi Slip with the old and bold here. My subsequent 11 years (and indeed ongoing as a reservist) on the J puts me firmly in the other camp too.

That said I believe the picture below (taken whilst I was on the K) sums up the RAF C130 experience, whatever the variant....

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...92CFA8288B.jpg

:ok:

StopStart,
great pic and it does indeed generate many (blurred) memories.
There is no 'other camp' as far as I am concerned, this thread is about the 'K' as it has now like some of us been retired.
Seeing the pic reminds me of the Turkish invasion of Northern Cyprus. We were doing refugee evacuation back to the UK (27 different nationalities). The Turkish AF had bombed the Keo Brewery in Limasol by error when targeting a Cyprus National Guard post. This 'war crime' meant no beer at Akrotiri.
The UK breweries came to the rescue and we flew beer out and evacuees home.
However after a short while the breweries refused to send any more beer.
The empty aluminium kegs were not being returned and they took a dim view of this fact. So a couple of specials were laid on whose sole task was the repatriation of empty beer kegs. The beer supply resumed and it was happiness all round.

Bombing the Keo brewery a war crime, really! Medals should be awarded to services to mankind. Now if it had been the Carlsberg factory............

The picture makes it look like you had an early night, empty seats and still dark :E

S-D

AA62: re your picture in #1269:

what is the ac in the background? It looks like a Typhoon to me? (Not current Typhoon, but older vintage..)

I was always a Keo man myself... especially the 'reasonably priced' brandy for poor attempts at making brandy sours in UK...

So was I until I drank a warm one in error. It tasted bloody awful, was just bearable when ice crystals were floating in the glass.

This really is an enjoyable thread. I read in every day, as do many others judging by the numbers.

1200 odd posts 102,000 views!

Well done Coffman, smudge, ancientaviator62 et al for keeping it going.

Looks like a Spit XVI to me.

Oh yes!

Chock in, send the Loadie and Eng to TAAS to collect 2 cases of Charlie.

Do paperwork.

Get bus via OM - send Co in to get keys to block.

Arrive at block.

Drink 2 cases of Charlie and tell meningi war stories.

Tac zzzzs

Shower.

Hit OM bar for as many Brandy Sours as you can drink.

Kebab on strip, mucho Cockingawful and flaming Filfars.


It was a hard life...

I think the a/c in the background of 1269 is indeed a Spitfire although what mark I leave to the more knowledgeable. I had always assumed that the Keo and Carlsberg brands of beer were brewed in the same place and only the labels were changed to protect the famous !
In respect of StopStart's remark about the Changi Slip I do not think it has had a mention. However the Changi TOURS, have. Whenever I mentioned that I had done a tour in FEAF, look in peoples eyes was not one of ennui but of envy!

Kings field and the Invasion
 

As a Co I was on the other crew when the Albert taxi-ed itself into the hangar (fortunately). However, not long after and shortly after my LHS conversion, I was invited to spend almost 3 weeks as OC Kingsfield (a Hercules Captain role specified by the BoI) for a free fall training exercise. The rest of the activation party included a WO(ATC) local qualified. Almost as a joke I suggested that this could just as well be a Flt Lt (W) ATC LOCAL Q (Mrs X was one such) Flt Cdr R.. L.... could not see why not, nor could the para major at Upavon. All was well until 2 days before we left when the Queen Bee at Epi heard there was to be a WRAF officer at KF - consternation and alarm there were no suitable facilities at KF. After much wheeling and dealing by others at Gp sanity eventually prevailed and off we went to a most enjoyable period in the sun.

During the exercise, the Major commanding teenie weenie airways at Dhekelia called in to ask if he and his troops could fly in to inspect Albert. I suggested that he wait and talk to the Captain. Imagine the scene - Major immaculately dressed, shoes bulled and not a crease out of place. Albert lands, shuts down and I and Major wait to greet Captain who came down the crew door steps clad in flip flops and bathers, towel slung over shoulder and shades on (we had promised to take the crew swimming between lifts).

Again v shortly after in June I was tasked with delivering 38G TCW to KF for a no-notice deployment. The only problem was their activation signal said deploy to Addis Ababa (in the middle of the rainy season). They all showed up at Benson with wellies, rainwear and umbrellas but we were not allowed to tell. It got a trifle difficult, however, when asking through Stn Ops for an overweight T/O to carry the extra fuel for Akrotiiri to KF to Akrotiri - all the loads had been very carefully calculated we were told They were not overly amused when the doors opened 8hrs later to see the sands of Cyprus.

The same 38G TCW exercise was just ending when the Turkish Army arrived and TCW was already in place for evacuations - luck or did somebody know something?. Anyway being Lyneham based we were no longer allowed into KF that being jealously guarded by and for NEAF. My main memory of the evacuation was being offered 6x45 gallon drums of water to bring our empty aircraft back in trim. It seemed absurd to be exporting water from Cyprus to the UK and I refused, saying get me 6 passengers instead. Some argument about proper processing ensued before finally bringing me the 6 who travelled back in an otherwise completely empty cargo bay. I also remember, though did not witness, the "no football, no fires" speech supposedly given by B... 'Wingeing will' K...

As has often been said - happy days now long ago.

On the Cyprus evac I seem to recall that some Brit women refused to fly home on 'Albert' and insisted on a VC 10 ! If it was up to me they would still be there now.
We all quickly cottoned on that when contacting French ATC it was useful to tell them we had French Nationals on board, whether we had or not. This resulted in VIP ATC treatment instead of the usual slide down the pecking order.

Operation Ablaut (if memory serves). I was holding for the Thorney OCU and went as an 'extra' loadmaster as Lyneham was short of crews (!) and were carrying oodles of pax.

I was drinking Keo a few months back in Paphos Harbour and brought a bottle of Commanderia home - ah, nostalgia. I do like that way of life.

Ended up chatting to a lovely French evacuee lass sitting on the ramp with a coat on over her bikini! We corresponded for several months, but didn't go any further than that . . .

'Chatting' of course was a bit of a euphemism on Albert - more like yelling in each other's ear (but she smelled good).