"Always wondered how the 2-man principle was enabled in ops with single crewman aircraft."


The Nuclear Safety Committee was persuaded that the use of HF satisfied the requirement as far as the Jaguar was concerned, including recall capability.


We never got it to work in Germany, so we accepted that, once released from the HAS, we would be going all the way to the target.

Seem to remember the HF was only useful for listening to Radio Two on a long transit to Deci! It was never questioned whether we would go to the target once released but it was certainly not for the faint hearted as we all knew there would be little left to return to!:ok:

Wotcha newt.

In no particular order:

DH - Depthbomb High Yield
DL - Depthbomb Low Yield
LW - Laydown Water
LL - Laydown Land
GP - Groundburst Primary
GA - Groundburst Alternate
AP - Airburst Primary
AA - Airburst Alternate
RP - Retarded Airburst Primary
RA - Retarded Airburst Secondary

This is the correct and full sequence from left through clockwise to the right.

Thanks for that PN. An interesting web site with lots of photos and info on the WE.177 and other British buckets on instant sunshine can be found at nuclear-weapons.info. The WE.177 section has photos of most (if not all) of the aircraft types trialed with the carriage or release of the weapon.

Thanks for the translation, pontius. Interesting answers but some of the may as well be written in binary.

Some shocking reminders of just how dangerous the thinking was during Cold War. I appreciate that swapping a Wasp and a Subbie for a SSBN would be a good deal. As someone amusingly pointed out, at least the water would be warm...but two "Davy Crockett" nuclear strikes to support a company level advance? Their boots would have been glowing!

Normal Harrier pylons were removable but on the SHAR the requirement to use the WE177 meant the inboard pylons were non-removable so that the wiring to the store did not have a break at the wing/pylon interface.

2-man rule for the single pilot Wasp was upheld by the Helicopter Controller (HC) in either a surface ship or a dipping helicopter (Wessex 3 or Sea King) running through lengthy challenge/response checks between controller and attacker, whilst also directing the Wasp to the correct release position. Quite a busy time and practised ad nauseum in the simulator! Appropriate Stand-Off Ranges were calculated taking into account windspeed and direction, and escape instructions were given to the dropping a/c (which could also have been another Sea King or Wessex) to try and give it a survival chance...

Any single pilot operated aircraft only paid lip service to the 2-man principle.

Once alone he can enable or disable the system. Even a 2-crew aircraft like the Buccaneer was not immune, although it was probably safe from an unauthorised release.

I once monitored a crew where the Nav got all the correct light reactions to the check list but ended up with the weapon safe and not armed. The simulator had side-by-side seats so the pilot intervened. As the aircraft was tandem that crew failed the check.

I have amended my post above to show the proper sequence and all 10 weapon delivery and yield options.

When WE177B first entered service only LL was authorised for selection and we understood the radar was not operable at that time. Later we were given one target where the DGZ was in the bottom of a ravine and the attack track on the normal to the ravine. It would have been impossible for the aircraft to descend to 500 feet and deliver the weapon and getting out again would have been impossible too. We told the crew to use RP. Now whether that would have worked we have no idea.

Beadwindow!

Operation Rhino on the Wasp flight :mad:

Oaf

A sign exists to the "secret bunker" on the road to it that says, wait for it:-

"Secret Bunker" ! :rolleyes:

Interesting place, Hack Green. When I visited there was a 177 in the foyer, and a video of a Wasp on 177 release trials, however I suspect the most interesting part of the complex is in those lower floors locked to public access.

PM;)