-QRA lunchtime and Voyager support from the ‚Hall
 

Never thought I would see a QRA launch nor did I think tanker crews scrambling. Always seen footage of USAF AMC / ANG / AFRES Kc-135R crews race to the ready when the klaxon goes off don’t matter if it shall a century ago under SAC or ACC. I imagine our Valiant, Victor and VC-10 And Tristar crews did a the height of the Cold War ...

Wandered over to the ‚Hall today and saw one of BRize’s finest parked up supposedly on alert. It’s not the first time Voyager has been in East Anglia in support of Fightertown Lincs finest and north of Hadrians Wall Typhoon assets.

Apparently today’s catch up in the Scottish isles was not Bear but Sukhoi SU-27/30/33. Anyhow here are my photos below.




https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....065099106.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....99aa81c52.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1e924c774.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6f461fade.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c550e1fd1.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5dc364201.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b716d1747.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f65b222ec.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b47e7bf9a.jpeg

Intrusions on a weekend?

what a shocking lack of decency those Russians exhibit..... :=:=:=

Hadrian's Wall's in Northumberland. Which assets are you referring to?

wherever the RAF Typhoons are this month I guess.

But, “The Hall”, “Fightertown”, really? Spotter talk I suppose

as a minor diversion from the topic. Q1 and Q2 would normally hold RS10 With the odd period when one would slip down to RS30 whilst they rotated a jet from the line for routine flying scheduling; The VC-10s would normally hold RS60 to 3hrs from the Sqn or home etc.

But I remember one exercise when 216 declared on state at RS30 and I asked how long they could maintain on state.

After a short pause they replied that they’d set up stretchers in the back and were set up to empty the toilets and resupply rations - but one of the crew had leave booked in two weeks time.....

(I know, I know, the amount of time any aircraft could remain “cocked” at a certain RS varied for many reasons. But it was a good line)

Actually the so-called 3 hrs really meant 61 minutes! SOC would have preferred us to hold RS60 but that would have meant considerable expense on 'Q' accommodation at the squadron, particularly overnight. I've certainly been scrambled from '3 hrs' at 0-dark-00 and been airborne in 40 minutes, including getting into flying kit (5 min), driving to Brize (20 min) and over to the squadron, cranking up and launching off...

I think the best time we did was crewroom to airborne in 7 min, including driving down to the old 'R U S T' bays and taking 26 short!

Sometimes orders could be confusing. We were once at RS60 on the squadron when, in response to a query from Ops, SOC replied "OK, let them go". Which Ops took to mean "Let them go home" - whereas it was in fact a scramble order.... Fortunately we always used the '20 minute rule' - leave it for 20 min after a 'revert to 3 hours' instruction as it wasn't unknown for SOC to have a sudden change of mind! So we got airborne in time!

Please can someone tell me what "The Hall" is?

Thanks

Mildenhall presumably?

Guessing the V-22 gives it away...

Cooch

Coningsby perhaps?

Or Lakenheath down the road.

The enthusiasts I encounter around country dub Coningsby Fightertown. Then again thought in the old days of Det 4, the Blackbird crews may have dubbed EGUN as ‚The Ranch‘ when calling up returning. I know ‚The Ranch‘ is Predominantly referred to Groom Lake.

cheers

Fightertown, shows how young many are getting that it may seem incomprehensible to some that there were at one time three or four along the East Coast, purely for the purpose of intercepting intruders etc. What I could never understand was the weight of action on the shoulders of the Leuchars squadrons while Binbrook, Coningsby and Wattisham shared the Southern Q between them. In 1979, it was essentially down to 43 Sqn's Phantoms detached to Kinloss while runway resurfacing and ASM (hope the initials are in the right order, I know what it means just not what it stands for) programme went ahead at the Fife Aerodrome. 111 were sent to Coningsby.

FB

FB, not strictly true. It was 1975, not 1979 and during the three months we were at Kinloss we had the assistance of crews from the southern squadrons. They arrived current and understood that they would get the bare minimum of flying, just enough to maintain currency. I think they did a week at a time but I'm prepared to be corrected. They were known as Q slaves (very non-PC).
Gzorn

At Marham in Victor days I could hold 3 hours readiness at my house in King's Lynn. I would often receive a phone call telling me I was now at RS 60. No use me muttering that in fact I might not be at RS 60 for another hour at least,depending on the traffic, the execs didn't think along those lines, you were just expected to work miracles.

What do they call this operation these days, by the way? In my time it was Dragonfly, which later changed to Tansor. No doubt there is a new name for what is essentially the same job.

gzomenplatz,

I trust you were on 43 and I won't argue that you deployed to Kinloss for three months in 1975, I bow to your better recollection. However, Leuchars went on Bolthole from the end of 1978 to the end of 1979. 43 to Kinloss, as before, and 111, with their Phantoms, to Coningsby. My own personal recollection. 1975, 43 were operating alongside 23's Lightnings and 892's Phantoms and the PTF's Phantoms. Am I correct sir?

FB

I know Leuchars were at Kinloss late 70's as my brother came up with them, and quite a few of them were accommodated at Lossie. Leuchars runway must have been pretty ****e, as I recall them also being up at Lossie on Q in either 84 or 85. Got some slides somewhere of them.

Are you sure about that? I was stationed at Leuchars from Jul 1974 until October 1979 and I don't recall a second Bolthole. Leuchars was always very busy and toward the end of my tour there, the station nearly ran out of AVTUR during one period of intense flying operations. Leuchars held an Open Day in September 1979 with both flying and ground displays, something that wouldn't have happened if they were on Bolthole.

I can't get hold of anything currently to prove otherwise, but there was no Leuchars airshow after 1978 until 1981. Honest.

FB

In the early days of the VC10K, if scrambled it was very necessary to get to the jet asap to avoid having your trip pinched by the Boss!

The standard from Brize was to turn at 500ft direct for Wallasey, climbing to about FL310, then pedal to the metal towards the play area. Some interpretation of 500ft was a bit liberal and after the late G**g M**K****n had, with the help of a strong easterly wind, managed to turn between Stn Ops and where the C-17s now live, we'd had a bit of a finger wagging from on high. Shortly afterwards, in the early hours of a hot, humid and airless summer morning we were scrambled with the Boss flying. The wind was just within limits for a downwind take-off on RW08(Short), so off we thundered at full power. Rather than climb at V2+20, he accelerated straight to min flap retract speed, then remembering the edict, waited until 500 ft before he turned...... (High ISA dev, tailwind, diurnal effect, shallow climb angle...) As a result, we roared over west Witney at rather low level, waking up most of Thorney Leys and the Windrush Valley Estate - a mate who lived in Thorney Leys later said that the 'sound of freedom' was quite indescribable! Radio Oxford's switchboard was jammed and the Stn Cdr wasn't best pleased. Strangely enough, no-one mentioned early turns after that....

The spotters might not have seen a Q-launch back then, but they probably heard it!

O the roar of 4 mighty Conways at military power!

Mrs 4ma, who was also stationed at Leuchars, is sure there was an airshow in 1979. We were posted not long afterwards to - in her words - "warmer climes".

I'll plead advancing years if I've got that wrong.

Brilliant!

We had very different names for the place when we boltholed there. Don’t remember any of them being in any way complimentary.

We (111 Sqn) arrived at Leuchars from Coningsby in late 1975, replacing 23 Sqn's Lightnings so Leuchars became a completely Phantom Unit; 892 NAS (FG1), PTF (FG1), 43 Sqn (FG1) and 111 Sqn (FGR2). I don't know about a Bolthole in 1975, but I don't dispute it.

In the spring of 1979 (I remember, because I was just married), Leuchars began a Bolthole. 111 Sqn (me included) deployed to Malta for a month of annual APC and recovered to Coningsby post-ex for a detachment of at least 6 months. Date of return to Leuchars I don't know, because I was posted from 111 Sqn to the OCU in late 1979.

During the same period, 43 Sqn detached to Kinloss. The Naval Units? I don't know, but during early 1979, and throughout Bolthole, 111 Sqn was exchanging its FGR2s for FG1s, implying that Naval aviation was going subsonic.

DuncanDoenitz,
Er, whilst not wishing to muddy the waters anymore with nit picking pedantry etc, but you say you deployed to Malta for a month of annual APC in the spring of 1979? Are you sure this wasn't Akrotiri on Cyprus, because I am pretty sure the RAF left Malta in 1978...

pr00ne; I tip my hat Sir.

I'd originally typed Cyprus, then reconsidered and amended it to Malta for some reason. Should have twigged, we were the last squadron to do our APC in Malta the previous year.

Closing Down sale, as I recall.

4mastacker,
Are you sure you don't mean 1978, glorious weather, Phantom 9-ship which over flew Edinburgh Castle before returning, to open the afternoon Tattoo? Also, a Dutch F-104 with a Red, White and Blue Fin? Apologies but I am not so much a spotter as a complete anorak with double zip and fur lined hood!

FB

Why do the Q support Voyagers stand by at Mildenhall and not Brize or Coningsby? TIA

RW work at BZN?

CGY not suitable?

FB, you could be correct although I didn't think my memory was that bad. Could have sworn it was '79. Myself and the, then, brand new Mrs 4ma remember standing in front of 111's hangar looking down into a Buccaneer's cockpit as it done a very low fly-by.

I must have confused '79 with the 1978 show. After having done four or five shows, I preferred to remain in the tea-bar so I'll accept your recall of the flying display. However, I do recall the crew of the Victor in the static display being called to Ops during the display and being launched as the public were leaving. Q had been scrambled during the display and this led to a weekend of intense QRA flying due to Red Star Airlines activity oop north. We were due to receive 4 Victors for EX Northern Wedding by Monday lunchtime, but because of the Q activity, there were 11 thirsty Victors sitting on the airfield by late Sunday evening. I was the duty petrol pump attendant that weekend; QRA's flying and the Victors' uplifts had caused us to reach a very critical figure with our AVTUR stocks, so I had to call-out OC Supply at 04FS. He pulled a red book out of his safe, rang a couple of numbers and activated a plan which caused surprise and alarm at HQ Army Scotland and the stackers at HQSTC. As a result of the call, British Rail diverted extra fuel trains from Grangemouth supported by road tanker convoys from Forfar; AVTUR destined for Edinburgh and Glasgow airports was diverted to meet our needs. Our fuel off-take that week was way in excess of a normal month's usage. Someone decided to throw in a TACEVAL that week for good measure. HQ Army Scotland sent a red tab to find out "What the bloody hell is going on?" - he left quietly reflecting that "He didn't realise such things were happening".

DuncanDoenitz - The 1975 Lossie bolthole had just started when a Jaguar (XX831) planted itself in the ground not far from the dispersal where our guys were working - IIRC it was before 111 arrived. 892/PTF departed in 1978 for the Ark Royal's final commission. The departure of the last of the RN Phantoms was marred by the sad loss of XT868 - I was on the BFI behind the Q shed when the accident happened - coincidentally, I was working on the same BFI when the Sidewinder went walkabout.

4mastacker,

I do recall Exercise Northern Wedding, I'm sure that was toward the end of 1978. I was a scarcely old enough to drink Scopie at Boulmer then!

FB

It was two Russian Navy Tu-142 Bear F.