Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyP57
Nearly as much as a Vulcan at a similar height 
I get the feeling I should know you. Halton in the 70's? Life of sitting under big (and not so big) jets. I was an Appo in '76 in 123 entry. |
If you were an Appo you'd probably have just left Halton when I got there in January '79. I was an armourer and my entry was AWD 24, one of the DE courses - AC to JT in nine months and then time promotion to Corporal three years later. How the time served trade mechanics and FLEMS respected us...
What fun we had marching up and down the hill to the sound of bagpipes, fife and drum every morning after breakfast! And who can forget the bracing cross-country runs through the Chilterns. In February. In Stanley Matthews shorts, vests and
plimsoles. My feet still hurt just thinking about it.
My first posting out of training was to the MU at St Athan so I got buzzed by everything that had their majors there- Vulcans; Victors; Canberras; Phantoms; Buccaneers; and even Sea Harriers when the Station growbag did the final shakedown flight before the aircraft was returned to its operational unit.
I can't remember our test pilot's name, he was Sqn Ldr something or hyphenated other, but he had bad eyesight and kept being grounded because of his reckless fly-pasts at extreme low level over the heads of the ground-crew.
He finally lost his flying ticket after doing a high sub-sonic 30' high beat up of Rhoose Airport (Cardiff International) in a Phantom after mistaking it for St Athan fifteen miles away. Some posh executive jet filed a near miss at hand to hand combat distance, so that was the end of his flying days. He was about 35 though which seemed really old at the time...
Once I got onto front line Squadrons I was lucky enough to be on 5 Squadron at Coningsby when BBMF moved in across the airfield. So I've also had the pleasure of being buzzed by Spitfires, Hurricanes and the legendary Lancaster.
The Buccaneers at Lossiemouth probably take the cake for the most extreme low level flypasts though - they would come in during Taceval from below the cliff line and pop up at the last second, doing their 500mph attack run over your head with no warning. I've seen people physically lift off the ground from the shock wave.
We also had a Jag come back from a sortie with twenty feet of cable hanging out of the fin, which was barely hanging on. I asked the pilot (our Wing Co) if he'd been under some power lines to which he replied "No. I think I went over them while I was upside down..."
Ahh, those were the days, and apologies to any non RAF types who don't understand some of the acronyms, forces slang and other banter above.
