II(AC) Typhoon off-roading...
 

Following one of II(AC)'s Typhoons recent off road excursion, this has popped up on a well know social media page... :ok:

https://scontent-ams2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...b6&oe=5677737A

-RP

Excellent - glad to see they are keeping up with the squadron tradition. Will there be daffodils planted in the tyre tracks left by this one as well....?:E

A few more images of the subsequent recovery operation...

Typhoon Overrun at RAF Lossiemouth ? FighterControl ? Home to the Military Aviation Enthusiast

-RP

The comments are priceless.

Bit soon for the Typhoon to be put out to grass, I should've thought. :*

D.

Aborted takeoff?

Typhoon gardening
 

I remember Bill Freeman having a similar outing in an F4 at Aldergrove
I was one of the many up all night trying to get it back on the concrete.
The biggest worry as usual was to avoid doing more damage.
We used PSP as a road and air bags to lift it to surface level
That one was more knocked about as the nose leg had folded and come up through the cockpit floor
Of course we had rain and snow just to make things more interesting

I remember being extremely pi$$ed off one day at Coningsby, I think in 1978. One of the OCU F4s had aquaplaned off the end of the runway and we were working busily to get it back onto the tarmac. Heard an aircraft noise, looked round and there was a Vulcan just finishing its landing run, thankfully not aquaplaning. There had been no warning from ATC that they were allowing an aircraft to land. Pulled my guys off the job and stomped off to Stn Ops to tell them they were welcome to recover the F4 themselves if they were not able to get ATC to consider the safety of people working in the overshoot.

For whatever its worth, USAF's Red Horse crews routinely do runway work on active runways in Afghanistan, with large aircraft both taking off from and landing on the same runway they're actively working on.

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/554ceshr...-17_Launch.jpg

And on the subject of "off runway" excursions: here's another Red Horse crew digging up a MiG off runway.
http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/origina...BuriedJet2.jpg

I took the view that since one aeroplane had just aquaplaned off the runway, there could be a strong chance that another could do the same. I expect that the red horse crews in Afghanistan had radio communication with ATC, at Coningsby in 1978, we did not.

I totally agree with your concern. The tower was totally in the wrong for clearing a landing while you guys were busy in the overun. But I assume your's was a peacetime event. The Red Horse crews were working in the middle of a war. Big difference. These guys accepted it as part of their job description to take such risks during war. To me, it's unacceptable to impose such risks on others in peacetime, especially without even informing you of the risk before hand. Good for you that you got pi$$ed and good for you that you chewed them out. They deserved it.