From Lightnings to Migs: From Cold War to Air Speed Records 9781399007474, 1399007475

Table of contents :
Cover
Dedication
Book Title
Copyright
Contents
Chapter One: Pre-Royal Air Force
Chapter Two: RAF South Cerney
Chapter Three: RAF Acklington
Chapter Four: RAF Valley
Chapter Five: RAF Chivenor
Chapter Six: RAF Coltishall
Chapter Seven: No. 74 Squadron
RAF Tengah to RAAF Butterworth
RAAF Fiftieth Anniversary Air Displays
Engine Fire
HMS Eagle
Mirages v Lightnings Combat
No. 74 Squadron Disbandment
Exercise Panther Trail
Chapter Eight: Sultan of Oman’s Air Force
Dhofar Background
SOAF
Adoo Attack on RAF Salalah
The Field Surgical Team (No. 55 FST)
Medevac
Operation Sycamore
SNV Nasr Al Bahr
Wolf Patrol
South of Manston
Strikemaster Bomb Aiming
Iranians
A Visit to Op Simba
Oman National Day
Iranian Helicopter Resupply Flight
Chapter Nine: RAF Lossiemouth
Plate Section
Chapter Ten: Edinburgh to London
Chapter Eleven: No. 6 Squadron and RAF Coltishall AAFCE Tactical Leadership Programme
Chapter Twelve: The Empire Test Pilot School
Chapter Thirteen: A Squadron
Chapter Fourteen: The Bangladesh Air Force
Chapter Fifteen: The Sultan of Oman’s Air Force
Chapter Sixteen: Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA)
Chapter Seventeen: Cathay Pacific Airways
Chapter Eighteen: Hong Kong Sailing
Chapter Nineteen: Extension to Cathay Contract andRacing Cars
Postscript
Author’s Note
Glossary
Recommended Reading
Acknowledgements
Picture Credits
Index
Back Cover

Citation preview

FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

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For Carly and Ryan

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs A Cold War Pilot’s Operations, Test Flying & An Airspeed Record

SQUADRON LEADER RUSS PEART AFC WKhM

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs A Cold War Pilot’s Operations, Test Flying & An Airspeed Record First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Air World An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd Yorkshire – Philadelphia Copyright © Squadron Leader Russ Peart AFC WKhM, 2021 ISBN 978 1 39900 747 4 The right of Squadron Leader Russ Peart AFC WKhM to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Typeset by SJmagic DESIGN SERVICES, India. Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY. Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport, True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime and White Owl. For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Or PEN AND SWORD BOOKS 1950 Lawrence Rd, Havertown, PA 19083, USA E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.penandswordbooks.com

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Contents

Chapter One: Pre-Royal Air Force .............................................................. 1 Chapter Two: RAF South Cerney................................................................ 4 Chapter Three: RAF Acklington ................................................................. 8 Chapter Four: RAF Valley ......................................................................... 12 Chapter Five: RAF Chivenor .................................................................... 16 Chapter Six: RAF Coltishall ..................................................................... 18 Chapter Seven: No. 74 Squadron .............................................................. 22 RAF Tengah to RAAF Butterworth .................................................... 30 Lightning Accident RAAF Fiftieth Anniversary Air Displays............................................ 34 Engine Fire .......................................................................................... 36 HMS Eagle ......................................................................................... 38 Mirages v Lightnings Combat ............................................................ 39 No. 74 Squadron Disbandment ........................................................... 41 Exercise Panther Trail ......................................................................... 44 Chapter Eight: Sultan of Oman’s Air Force .............................................. 47 Dhofar Background ............................................................................ 49 SOAF Ops ........................................................................................... 53 Adoo Attack on RAF Salalah ............................................................. 73 The Field Surgical Team (No. 55 FST) ............................................... 76 Crop Spraying-Salalah and Khasab Medevac .............................................................................................. 88 Operation Sycamore ........................................................................... 90 Wadi Darbat SNV Nasr Al Bahr .............................................................................. 92 Wolf Patrol .......................................................................................... 94

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs South of Manston ................................................................................ 96 Strikemaster Bomb Aiming ................................................................ 98 Iranians ............................................................................................... 99 Salalah-Rescue Attempt-Directing Artillery-Beaver Medical Flight A Visit to Op Simba .......................................................................... 111 White City Oman National Day .......................................................................... 116 Iranian Helicopter Resupply Flight................................................... 118 Strike Khantor Force-Seeb Chapter Nine: RAF Lossiemouth............................................................ 125 Chapter Ten: Edinburgh to London ......................................................... 132 Chapter Eleven: No. 6 Squadron and RAF Coltishall ............................ 137 AAFCE Tactical Leadership Programme Chapter Twelve: The Empire Test Pilot School ....................................... 147 Chapter Thirteen: A Squadron ................................................................ 156 Chapter Fourteen: The Bangladesh Air Force ......................................... 193 Chapter Fifteen: The Sultan of Oman’s Air Force ................................... 213 Chapter Sixteen: Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) ...................................... 227 Chapter Seventeen: Cathay Pacific Airways ........................................... 230 Chapter Eighteen: Hong Kong Sailing.................................................... 242 Chapter Nineteen: Extension to Cathay Contract and Car Racing ......... 248 Life After Flying Postscript ................................................................................................. 254 Author’s Note .......................................................................................... 256 Glossary .................................................................................................. 258 Recommended Reading ......................................................................... 265 Acknowledgements ................................................................................. 266 Picture Credits......................................................................................... 267 Index ....................................................................................................... 268

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The Lightning climbed vertically in reheat into the darkening sky, and the reheat extinguished at exactly the same time that the music stopped. It was a very poignant moment, and a few tears were shed… …But before then a few things would have to happen, if I was to fly a Lightning.

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Chapter One

Pre-Royal Air Force

I was born in the small village of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, in my grandparents’ house. My father, Ken Peart, had spent the war in the RAF Regiment. He met my mother, Marion, at a local village dance while he was serving at Byley Airfield nearby. He was posted away, and among other adventures he drove a truck onto the beaches of Normandy, via the Mulberry floating harbour, on day two of the D-Day landings. By the end of the war, he had reached Berlin. He returned to Holmes Chapel, married my mother and became a baker in the village. I joined the local Wolf Cubs and then moved on to the Boy Scouts. The nearest scout group was in Chelford, a short journey by steam train from Holmes Chapel. The meetings were once a week. In particular I enjoyed the trips we went on, camping at Alderley Edge near Manchester and visiting the Boy Scout International Jamboree at Sutton Coldfield. The railway line going through Holmes Chapel was one of the main routes to the north. Friends and I would stand on the bridge to watch the express trains hurtle underneath us and through the station at what seemed tremendous speed. The smoke, noise and flames were an inspiring sight. I wanted to be a train driver. From my grandparents’ rear garden which faced north, I sometimes saw a white, delta-shaped aeroplane. It was a prototype aircraft flying from Woodford and was the forerunner of the Vulcan. I now wanted to be a pilot, as well as a train driver. My father became a marshal for the Mid Cheshire Motor Club at Oulton Park race track. He was a friend of Trevor Williams, who also lived in the village and who raced motor bikes. I remember going to see him race when my father was marshalling, and the time that my father went down to London with Trevor to help him to collect a new racing bike, a Gilera. We also went to watch car racing at Oulton Park and I remember seeing Stirling Moss race there, along with many other famous racing drivers of that era. After one of the race meetings my father, because he was a marshal, was allowed to drive us around the circuit in our

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs black Ford Zephyr Mk 1. I wasn’t interested in riding motor cycles, but I did now want to become a racing driver, along with being a pilot and a train driver. (I didn’t know at the time but I was to drive myself around the track about forty-eight years later while racing a Caterham 7 there.) I went to the local primary school, until age 11, and then on to Sandbach Grammar School. My parents moved to Southport, where I attended King George V School, played rugby and cricket, and was made the house rugby captain. But I never made the first fifteen. I joined the local Air Training Corps, learning drill with and without a Lee Enfield .303 rifle. We also got to fire the .303 on the nearby rifle ranges at Altcar. My first flight was in an Auster aircraft, a pleasure flight taking off from and landing on Southport Beach. I remember the final turn and landing in particular… I was hooked from then on. I knew then what I really wanted to do in life, if I got the chance. A little later I had an air experience flight in a Chipmunk from RAF Woodvale, courtesy of the Air Training Corps. For the next couple of years I helped my father in his bakery, especially during busy periods such as Christmas – I remember making hundreds of mince pies. I also played lead guitar in a local rock and roll band. This was at the time the Beatles were just about to become famous. A group of us in the ATC visited RAF Topcliffe and RAF Leconfield in Yorkshire. While at Leconfield we young cadets were allowed in turn to sit in a single seat Hunter, which was chained down on the engine running pan, and allowed to throttle up the Avon engine to around 6,500 rpm. The memory of this had implications later. I, and two good friends of mine, William McCain and Ian McConnochie, were very keen aero modellers. We built, flew and crashed many balsa wood and tissue-free flight and control line models. We built some gliders – quite big ones – which we towline launched. We flew our free flight models from a disused open area of land near to Hillside railway station and Hillside and Royal Birkdale golf courses. Sometimes a model would stray over and land on one of the courses, we were often shouted at by the greenkeeper when we ventured to retrieve it. One of my free flight models (obviously with the benefit of hindsight) had too much fuel on board. It was last seen as a speck in the distance at about 300 feet, heading over to the town of Southport. It was never seen again, so I lost not just the aircraft, but also my little .8cc ED Pep engine. We progressed to radio controlled models, but only with very basic single channel control. However, it was amazing just what type of manoeuvres could be achieved with just a crude left/right rudder only system.

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PRE-ROYAL AIR FORCE The secondary effect of rudder being roll was a great help here. Sometimes, when we were flying our models, we would see the English Electric P1 across the Ribble estuary. It was flying from their factory and airfield site at Warton near Blackpool. I didn’t know then that I would be flying a fast jet out of Warton in the future. The P1 was a supersonic research aircraft which was eventually developed into the Lightning. More of Lightnings later. At the age of 18 I applied for pilot training in the RAF and attended the Aircrew Selection Centre at RAF Biggin Hill. The selection process took around five days and included written tests (maths, science etc.), interviews and outside leadership-type exercises. For those exercises we were split into small teams of about five and given ropes, wooden poles and empty oil drums and such and given various tasks to complete, such as crossing a narrow river. A leader was nominated for each exercise. We were all being assessed on how well we could take orders as well as being able to plan, organise and lead and give orders. After three days some applicants were sent home and the rest of us continued on. During one interview, one of the interviewers was Wing Commander Brian Mercer, who had been the leader of the RAF aerobatic team, The Blue Diamonds – the equivalent of today’s Red Arrows. The Blue Diamonds flew blue Hunters. It perhaps helped my cause that I remembered the fact that the name of the pilot, written just below the cockpit sill of the Hunter we had sat in at RAF Leconfield, was Wg Cdr Brian Mercer. I recalled and mentioned this during the interview. I was to meet Brian Mercer again many years later in civilian life. Several weeks after the Biggin Hill visit, I received an invite to join the RAF for training as a navigator. I was, of course, pleased to be accepted, but disappointed that the invite was not for pilot training. I wrote back asking why I was not selected to be a pilot. The next communication I received gave me the choice of joining almost immediately for navigator training or waiting about ten months to join as a trainee pilot. It was a no brainer. I chose the latter option, and eventually signed on for nineteen years, until I was 38 years old. My friends all thought I was crazy to do that. It was, I think, the best decision I ever made.

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Chapter Two

RAF South Cerney

The Initial Flying Course I joined the RAF at South Cerney near Cirencester on the Direct Entry Scheme, along with a number of new entrants. Initially we had lots of classroom work and much physical training. The physical training, I found quite hard. The classroom work was a mixture of interesting lectures on basic aircraft technical subjects and, for me, quite boring and tedious subjects such as air force law and the administration and organization of the RAF. I was obviously never cut out to be a good staff officer. It was apparent I was not as fit as I might have been. Outdoor gym exercises, including running around the airfield carrying a medicine ball or, along with a partner, a gymnasium bench, and completing an assault course, I found hard going. We spent quite a bit of time on the parade ground learning drill, with and without rifles, with our drill sergeant, Sergeant Vic Greenop. In addition, we did parachute training by jumping off a gym horse and learning how to hit the ground properly. The most enjoyable, but probably the hardest physical exercise, was the escape and evasion training in the Brecon Beacons, in the same area as used by the SAS. A lot of the exercises were at night, including map reading and avoiding detection by the staff. During the day we were given tasks such as crossing rivers or streams with jerry cans, barrels and ropes etc. At the end of each day I felt absolutely exhausted, but there was something very satisfying about what had been achieved. Later in life, after retiring from flying, the memory of those exercises led me to walking the 100 miles of the South Downs Way from Winchester to Eastbourne, with full camping kit and sleeping in my tent each night. Then, a year later, the 205 miles of the Coast to Coast Path, from St Bees across

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RAF SOUTH CERNEY

A night camp in the Brecon Beacons during escape and evasion training, L to R are: Peter Smith, Alan Walsingham and myself.

A parachute, used as a tent during survival training.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors to Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea coast. I later walked 110 miles of the Offa’s Dyke path, which stretches from the North Wales coast to Chepstow on the Severn estuary. I only did the 110 miles from Welshpool to Chepstow due to time constraints, but I intend to go back and do the 75 or so miles from Prestatyn to Welshpool, which includes crossing the Clwydian Hills. The last part of the course at South Cerney, and of course the most enjoyable, was the primary flying course in the Chipmunk from the grass

Above: The Chipmunk in which I flew my first solo. Left: My instructor at South Cerney, Master Pilot Graham Forrester, 2nd from the left, and who was a WW2 Mosquito pilot.

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RAF SOUTH CERNEY airfield. This was 30 hours of flying. My instructor was Master Pilot Graham Forrester, an ex-Second World War Mosquito pilot, and a really lovely guy. He sent me solo after about 12 hours. I really enjoyed those first few solo flights, typically consisting of following the Stroud Valley to the River Severn, 5 minutes of aerobatics and then the flight back to South Cerney following the valley again. It was just such a great feeling to be up there alone. The sound of the Gypsy Major engine and the smell of an old aircraft, the whole atmosphere is something I shall remember always.

Self and Chipmunk at South Cerney.

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Chapter Three

RAF Acklington

The Basic Flying Course After passing the course, several of us were posted to Number 6 FTS (Flying Training School) at RAF Acklington in Northumberland, just a few miles north of the market town of Morpeth. Prior to heading off to Acklington there was time for some leave, which I took with my parents in Southport. During this time I bought my first car, a white Austin Healey 100/4. I purchased the car from Don McCain, the famous trainer of the horse Red Rum, and brother of the good school friend of mine, William McCain. I paid just £100 for the car.

Basic Flying. No. 182 Course and instructors. RAF Acklington.

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RAF ACKLINGTON The basic flying course would consist of 145 hours of flying the Jet Provost, the RAF’s basic jet trainer. I drove the 100/4 from Southport up to Acklington and Number 6 FTS, and joined Number 182 course in August of 1966. Number 6 FTS had been formed by the renaming of No. 39 Training School at RAF Spitalgate. The school moved, via a stay at RAF Netheravon, to RAF Little Rissington in August 1938. It would be the first flying training unit to be at Little Rissington, and was flying Audaxes, Furies, Harts and Ansons at that time. In April 1942 it was re-designated as Number 6 [P] AFU (Pilot-Advanced Flying Unit). From April 1946 the unit was based at RAF Turnhill and was equipped with Harvards, then Percival Prentices were added to the fleet in late 1948. From July 1953, both types were replaced by Percival Piston Provost T1, piston engine training aircraft. On 24 July 1961 the school moved to RAF Acklington, and began operating its Jet Provost T3s. The design of the Jet Provost had begun in 1951 by Hunting Percival. It was to be a follow-on to the Piston Provost. A number of major and minor parts were carried forward into the design of the new jet-powered version to keep the costs down. The prototype flew on 16 June 1954 from Luton Airport, where the factory was located. The pilot was Dick Wheldon. After 123 hours of flying, the aircraft was submitted for trials at Boscombe Down, near Salisbury. Some modifications were recommended and incorporated. Further trials using three aircraft took place at the Central Flying School (CFS) of the RAF. There were further modifications to the engine and airframe and then the RAF ordered 201 of the Jet Provost T Mk.3s. Number 182 course would be learning to fly on some of those aircraft. The course was mainly flying, but it did include further officer training, more classroom work on air force law and RAF organization, and also more outside exercises on escape and evasion training, this time on the Otterburn range areas. The course took almost a year. It started with instruction and a check out to fly the basic manoeuvres and fly the aircraft solo. We then moved on via instrument flying and then dual and solo flights in the skills of close formation, low-level and highlevel navigation and aerobatics. I found myself naturally quite good at close-formation flying, but initially I had difficulties with instrument flying. This was quite a worry at the time, and caused some stress – if I couldn’t get a grip on the problem, I could quite easily have been chopped… to use the expression of the day. Because of my difficulties

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs I was programmed to fly with our senior instructor, Squadron Leader David Mullinder. Fortunately David was a very skilled and perceptive instructor. He analysed and sorted out my problem in just one flight, for which I was very grateful. During the course we had the occasional few days leave, during which I headed off to see my parents in Southport. I shared transport with a good friend Michael Rigg. Mike and I had started our training at the same time at South Cerney, and Mike’s parents were in Wallasey, not far from Southport, so we often shared transport, either his car, a black MG Midget, or my white Healey. One epic journey I remember in my Healey, which wasn’t exactly in pristine condition, had us heading over the hills of Northumberland in heavy snow showers, and the car had no hood at that time, only a tonneau cover. We therefore wore our service-issue aviation goggles. Furthermore, the windscreen wipers were not working and required the passenger, Mike, to pull alternatively on two pieces of string attached to the wiper blades via the ends of the windscreen to keep the screen clear of snow. In addition most of the exhaust system fell off, or was scraped off due to little ground clearance while crossing the moors. We drove down the M6 putting out flames from the exhaust under the passenger side door while wearing goggles and operating the wipers via the two strings. It must have been a fearsome sight, and a fearsome noise too, to those other road users we overtook. We were not travelling slowly! At the end of the course we were streamed for further training in fast jets, transport aircraft or helicopters. I was delighted to be chosen for fast jets. This meant heading off to RAF Valley on the Isle of Anglesey, North Wales, to fly the Folland Gnat. But first, our RAF Wings were to be presented at a formal parade, to which we were allowed to invite friends or family. My parents attended the presentation and also a lunch in the officers’ mess afterwards. The next stage of our training, the advanced flying course, was to start in late September 1967. In the meantime I was able to fly a Chipmunk at RAF Leuchars in Fife. These flights were mainly taking young ATC cadets, both boys and girls, for thirty to forty minutes each. I remembered well that air experience flight I had at RAF Woodvale, and was aware just what such a flight could mean to a young person. I felt it was important to put in the effort to make the experience as beneficial as possible.

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RAF ACKLINGTON

Sometimes when doing Air Experience Flying [AEF], if lucky we would have a pretty passenger. This was at RAF Leuchars.

In addition I was able to meet pilots of 11 and 23 Squadrons, the resident Lightning squadrons at RAF Leuchars at that time. Watching their aircraft taking off and landing was always a very impressive sight, a sight and sound I would enjoy today if only Lightnings were still flying. I remember a story which was repeated to me some time ago by a friend, Jock Reid. It was from a children’s book. A young boy was saying, ‘My friend and I used to go to Coltishall and watch the Lightnings taking off and landing. We used to go nearly every day. But they have Jaguars at Coltishall now, so we don’t go there anymore.’ I could well understand.

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Chapter Four

RAF Valley

The Advanced Flying Course The advanced flying course took place at RAF Valley on Anglesey Island, and the aircraft used was the Folland Gnat. This was a two-seater derived from the original single-seat light fighter version. It was a very small aircraft, with very compact cockpits, particularly the rear one for the instructor. When standing alongside the front pilot’s position, one’s eyes would be just about level with those of the pilot. The Gnat may have been small in size, but it was a big step up from the Jet Provost. It had more complex systems, was swept winged and much faster than the Jet Provost. The longitudinal flight control system was particularly complicated. Just before we arrived to start Number 36 advanced flying course, we heard that a Gnat had crashed very near the airfield. A control problem, caused by a loose article in the tailplane hydraulic system, had caused the all-flying tailplane to become frozen in a nose-up commanding position. The crew had tried hard to maintain control by banking to 90 degrees to maintain airspeed as much as possible, but eventually had to eject. The student pilot, Paul Adams, was OK, but the instructor suffered some spinal injuries. I met up with Paul some time later, as I was posted to the same squadron. After the usual technical ground school of a couple of weeks, I was introduced to my instructor, Lieutenant Pete McManus, a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot. Twelve dual flights later, I was sent solo. Swept wing flying is very different to flying with straight wings. The stalling and handling at the manoeuvre limits have particularly different characteristics. Overall I would say the Gnat was a very good advanced trainer for preparing a pilot for a front line aircraft such as the Lightning. In the normal operation of the complex longitudinal control system, the control column would drive, by hydraulic power, an all-moving tailplane.

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RAF VALLEY

Advanced Flying Course RAF Valley.

If the hydraulics failed, it was necessary to use the power of an electric motor, via two switches on the cockpit combing, to position the tailplane at a suitable angle before unlocking the built-in small elevator. The elevator could then be moved manually by the conventional control column to effect pitch control, but with a much reduced authority. And that wasn’t all. There was another mode of operation called follow-up tail, which was achieved by unlocking the elevator with a fully serviceable hydraulic system. This would allow the elevator to be moved by the control column, but the tailplane would follow the movement to take out any trim forces. Years later, I flew an American fighter which also had a system for trimming out stick forces automatically. On 15 January I flew my first night solo flight, and on returning to Valley I joined for a radar approach. On lowering the gear I had a hydraulic failure. The gear stopped in the half-down position and the tailplane froze. I unlocked the elevator, motored the tail to a sort of in-trim position, and selected the gear down on the standby lowering system. The gear lowering actually changed the longitudinal trim by quite a bit, so it was then necessary to again adjust the tail position with the electric trim. I flew a slightly shallower than normal approach, and landed OK.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs During the course all seemed to be going well, until I came to the low-level navigation phase. Things did not go so well. After one particular flight, Pete McManus my instructor said, ‘Well you were spot on track twice during that flight, when you crossed it at right angles.’ Not so good. However, the rest of my flying was satisfactory. I produced a good standard of formation flying and general handling, and aerobatics. I finally got a grip on the low-level navigation. Basically, I had been over-navigating. The solution was to relax, concentrate more on maintaining an accurate heading, and look further ahead for the next check feature. It seems obvious now. In fact the experience of having that problem was in some ways a good thing. Later, when instructing low-level navigation, I was able to better help several students as I quickly recognised the problem. The course finished in February 1968. I was very happy to be told I would be going to Lightnings. The Lightning, by comparison to the Gnat, was a mighty beast. Much larger in size of course and with a massive amount of thrust. Another large step. This was mitigated by a pre-Lightning course, which was about seventy hours of basic fighter tactics, flying the Hawker Hunter at Chivenor in Devon. Those of us posted to the Lightning were told the pre-Lightning course would start in February, but not this coming February – it would be in one year’s time, due to a hold up in the system. This was, of course, very frustrating. We were sent to different holding units in the meantime. I was posted for four months to the MOD in Main Building, to join PR 3 (RAF), the public relations department dealing with film and television PR. At this time they were very busy dealing with the making of the Battle of Britain film, which was released in 1969. They just wanted an extra person in the office to answer phone calls, take messages and rush out into the corridor to grab tea from the tea trolley that passed by from time to time. Although, I did get a trip out to Singapore to escort two ladies who were local radio station presenters. During that four months I was living in the officers’ mess at RAF Stanbridge and commuting by train each day. I was keen to get in some flying, so on the recommendation of an engineer at Stanbridge, who did some gliding, I presented myself at RAF Bicester, to learn to fly a glider. However, when the instructors found I was a qualified pilot, and had experience flying Chipmunks, I was immediately asked to do glider towing. This was fine by me, I just wanted to fly. It started as weekends only, but there was an inter-services gliding championship coming up and the air commodore who was organising it managed to get me away from the MOD

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RAF VALLEY for about ten days so I could help with the towing duties. It was a very busy time. I spent hours in the cockpit towing one glider after another. If I wanted to get out for something to eat or drink they would just say, ‘stay there’, and would fetch me a bag of crisps or similar and a can of coke. But at least it was flying. After the MOD job, I was sent to RAF Wyton in August 1968 to fly cadets on more air experience flights. After that, I was posted to RAF Turnhouse near Edinburgh to do yet more air experience flights. My friend since joining the RAF, Mike Rigg, was there doing the same, so we had a lot of fun in many ways, along with the flying. It was then deemed necessary to return to Valley for some refresher flying on the Gnat, prior to starting the pre-Lightning course at Chivenor.

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Chapter Five

RAF Chivenor

The Pre Lightning Course We were all looking forward to flying the famous Hunter. I decided to drive, with all my chattels piled up in the car, down to Chivenor from my parents’ place in Hertfordshire, during the night. About half way, I saw in my rear view mirror a flashing blue light and heard the wailing of a siren. I slowed a little to allow the ambulance, or whatever it was, to get passed easily. It was a police car. It shot past then braked hard in front of me and forced me to stop. Two police officers jumped out, ran to my car and shouted for me to get out, which of course I did. It transpired after a couple of minutes of: “Who are you? Where are you going? What are all those things in your car?”, that I had been mistaken for a thief who was trying to escape from the scene of his crime. It seemed the said thief had a getaway car identical to mine, a Ford Zephyr Mk 3. and apparently in a similar colour. When they saw my car piled high with stuff, they thought they had him, and looked disappointed when they found they had the wrong car. The course consisted of the usual couple of weeks of technical ground school, to explain the inner workings of the Hunter, and then a dual check out in the two seater T7 version. The real highlight came with the first solo in a single seat Mk 6. It was an absolute delight. It was so much faster than the T7. I remember heading off eastwards over the northern part of Dartmoor and turning north towards the coast. My memory was of a very smooth flight with lovely controls and great acceleration. I was quickly up to an airspeed well in excess of what I had intended. And it was my first flight in a real single seat fighter aircraft. The course consisted of lots of battle formation, when aircraft fly well spaced out but in good visual contact, to achieve mutual tactical support. Also, many flights of cine weave flying, basically gun sight tracking of another aircraft while it flew various manoeuvres. Then on to air to air firing

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RAF CHIVENOR of the 30mm Aden cannons, against a flag towed behind a Meteor. This was great for friendly rivalry. Counting the holes in the flag, after it was brought back to base and dropped, was always a highlight. We were also always on the lookout for Sea Vixens of the Fleet Air Arm. They were based at RNAS Yeovilton and were frequently seen in the same area that we used. It was unforgivable if one of them got the drop and successfully bounced a Hunter without being seen. Similarly, we would, although this was not officially sanctioned, attempt to get some film tracking on a Sea Vixen if the opportunity arose. I did some of my dual flying with a French exchange officer, by the name of Captain Steinmetz. His claim to fame came from the time he flew Douglas Skyraiders in the war in Algeria. Apparently he was flying at ultra low level on a recce mission and was looking out behind or to one side. On looking forward, he saw his whole windscreen filled with the sight of a wooden house. He had no time to avoid it and flew through it, demolishing not only the house, but also his Skyraider. The aircraft was built on a single long and strong steel girder, on the front end of which was mounted the very large radial engine with the pilot’s seat immediately behind it. It seems the engine, girder and pilot’s seat with pilot, were all that was left of the aircraft. I suspect the story had ‘matured’ a little with time. But he was obviously saved by sitting behind, and being protected by, the huge engine. All good things come to an end. I had really enjoyed the course and loved flying the single seat Hunter, but I was also keen to get onto the Lightning. Little did I know, I would be flying a single seat Hunter again many years later.

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Chapter Six

RAF Coltishall

The Lightning OCU The Lightning Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) was split into two sub units, one flying the two-seat T4 and the single-seat F1As, and the other the two-seat T5. The T4 and F1A aircraft had similar flight instruments to the Mk2s used in RAF Germany based at RAF Gutersloh. The T5 had the same instruments as the MK3 and MK 6 versions, which were operated by the squadrons in the UK, Cyprus and Singapore. Everyone on the course started on the T4 and F1A, and then about halfway through the course, those going to MK 3 or Mk 6 squadrons would go over to fly the T5s. The first flight in a T4 was always a demo only, when the instructor would show off the amazing performance of the aircraft compared to anything we had flown to date. It really was an eye opener. My allocated instructor was Flight Lieutenant Nick Galpin. A full reheat take-off was followed immediately by a very steep climb out and then a descent and demonstration of the acceleration from around 220 knots to 600 knots at low level and a vertical climb. It used a whole lot of fuel very quickly, but the performance was sensational. After that flight it was quickly down to some serious work to learn to fly the mighty beast. It was going to be great, but it would need a lot of concentration and hard work to fly this thing safely. The schedule called for a solo flight after another four dual flights. After the next two, I was convinced there was no way I was going to be going solo after just another two. However, it did happen as to my surprise my instructor, Nick, said, ‘OK Ace,’ (he called everyone Ace), ‘you can go off now and enjoy yourself.’ My first solo in the two-seat T4 was just a session of general handling and a couple of aerobatics and some circuits, but was memorable because I had a brake parachute failure on landing. The procedure for a normal landing was to touch down, stream the brake chute, test the brakes to ensure

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RAF COLTISHALL

Lightning OCU Course RAF Coltishall Back row L to R: Dave Trick to the OCU, Self to 74 Sqn, Mike Rigg to 74 Sqn, Ken Jones to 5 Sqn, John Bryant to 92 Sqn, Front row: L to R: Pete Debney to 11 Sqn, Wg Cdr Jones to OC 11Sqn, Wg Cdr Holmes to OC Ops Wing at RAF Leuchars, Dick Bell to 23 Sqn.

they were working and then release them, allowing the aircraft to slow under chute only to a lower speed before using the brakes to bring it to taxi speed. This was to avoid excessive brake temperatures and wear. In the event of a touch down and a chute failure (mine just fell out on the runway) the procedure was to apply full dry power and go round for another landing. The gear was to be left down to cool the tyres. This meant keeping the speed back to 250 knots, the limit for the gear. When air traffic called the chute failure in my case, I applied power to go around. Unfortunately, I overdid it and pushed slightly too hard on the throttles. The engines went into reheat, albeit minimum reheat. This was a lot more thrust than was required or desirable. The aircraft leapt into the air, but cancelling the reheat wasn’t straightforward. In order to pull the throttles back into the dry range, it was necessary to push down on the two small levers which were out of sight in front of the throttles. These were called the piano keys, because that’s what they resembled. It took several

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs seconds to achieve this, by which time the aircraft had reached 250 knots and I had raised the nose to a very steep angle to stop the speed increasing further. By now I was far too high to fly a normal circuit, probably around 4,000 feet by the time I recovered to level flight. I turned onto the downwind leg with very little fuel remaining due to that unplanned use of reheat. It was now necessary to get down to a sensible height and judge a very wide and initially quite steep final turn. It was essential to get this right as I certainly didn’t have enough fuel for a second attempt. I can’t imagine what my heart rate would have been. But it all worked out OK, and for the final 200 feet of the approach the only thing I had to worry about was doing a no-brake chute precautionary landing. This consisted of a normal touchdown but then immediate moderate braking without worrying about brake or tyre temperatures. It was just necessary to stop the aircraft, which I did, parking it on the ORP (Operational Readiness Platform), where the overpressure relief plugs in the wheels blew out, due to the high temperatures, and the main gear tyres deflated. Six days later my next flight was in a single seat F1A, and that was an even greater feeling. The course then concentrated on the use of the intercept radar, the AI 23. This was to be the bread and butter of Lightning flying, as it was essential to be able to carry out interceptions day and night and in cloud. The time came for our postings to be announced and I was very happy to hear I had been allocated to No. 74 Squadron in Singapore. It was a dream posting, and my friend Mike Rigg was also posted to No. 74 Squadron. So now we moved across to the T5 aircraft to learn to fly on the different instruments and to convert to the AI 23B radar, which was slightly different to the radar in the T4 and F1A, and a little more advanced. During our training on the T5, we were woken one night at around 3.00 am, when an alert was called. This was an exercise called ‘Quick Train’. It required all personnel to report for duty immediately. Basically it was an exercise to practice getting ready to defend the UK against a conventional air attack. The first part was for the engineers to generate as many serviceable aircraft as possible, and as quickly as possible, and get them armed with live missiles and ready to go. All pilots reported to their crew room. After we had been all suited up and ready to check the aircraft as they became ready, we were told this was not an exercise. It was the anniversary of the Czech invasion by the Soviet Union, and much Soviet air activity was being observed in Eastern Europe by NATO. I was crewed up in a T5 with my instructor at the time, Flight Lieutenant Bill Gambold. At one

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RAF COLTISHALL stage we were at five minutes’ readiness in the cockpit and listening to the telebrief from our radar station at RAF Neatishead. A steady flow of news on the movements of Soviet aircraft in Eastern Europe was quite a sobering experience. Nothing more came of the situation, and eventually we were stood down and went back to routine training. The course finished and there was a little time to have a short leave, before catching the RAF VC 10 for the flight out to Singapore.

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Chapter Seven

No. 74 Squadron

No. 74 Squadron first formed as a training squadron on 1 July 1917 at Northolt. The unit operated Avro 504k two-seat trainers, as part of the RFC (Royal Flying Corps). In February 1918 Mick Mannock arrived as flight commander of the squadron and the operational work began. They received their first fighter, the SE 5a, on 20 March and were deployed to St Omer in France on 30 March. This was also the headquarters of the RFC. Their first action was a dogfight near Melville, when Mick Mannock shot down a German Albatross Scout. In the following seventy days the squadron achieved 100 kills for the loss of only one aircraft. It was an incredible achievement, and thanks to the tactics they had developed. In February 1919 they returned to Lopcombe Corner in Hampshire and disbanded on 3 July that same year. In a total of seven months of operational service, the squadron had scored 140 enemy aircraft destroyed, plus eighty-five ‘driven down out of control’. Seventeen members of No. 74 were aces, including Mick Mannock who was awarded a VC. No. 74 were re-formed in strange circumstances in 1935. Units detached from Nos. 3, 23, 32, 56, 65 and 601 Squadrons were on board a troop ship, the Neutrailian, en route to Malta as part of the response to the crisis in Abyssinia. These units were formed into No. 74 Squadron. Arriving in Malta, the squadron operated Hawker Demons, two-seat fighters, but were prohibited from displaying their squadron number for security reasons. They were called, in the meantime, ‘Demon Flight’. In July 1936 the squadron and its aircraft were shipped back to the UK, and formed up at RAF Hornchurch in September. In February 1937 it had its badge, a tiger’s face, officially approved by King George VI, and was now operating Gauntlets as part of Fighter Command. In 1939, after the outbreak of the Second World War, the squadron received Spitfires, but a tragic accident occurred on 6 September. Two No. 56 Squadron Hurricanes

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NO. 74 SQUADRON had taken off as airborne spares for one of their squadron’s operations. They were misidentified as enemy, intercepted by No. 74 and shot down. One of the pilots survived, but one died. It was the first RAF fatality of the war. The engagement was referred to as the Battle of Barking Creek, but it actually occurred near to Ipswich. The official report of the inquiry determined it to be an unfortunate accident. The squadron’s first combat of the Second World War was in May 1940, covering the evacuation of Dunkirk, but it took a heavy toll on both aircraft and pilots. Next came the Battle of 74 Squadron Crest. Britain, and the squadron was heavily engaged in June, July and August. On 11 August, No. 74 achieved twenty-four kills and fourteen probables. A telegram from the chief of the air staff read: ‘A magnificent day’s fighting 74, Mannock started it and you keep it up.’ On 14 August, surprisingly perhaps, the squadron moved to RAF Wittering for a rest, and then moved, after a brief stop at Kirton in Lindsey, to Coltishall, where they changed from Mk1 to Mk11a Spitfires. They then moved to Biggin Hill for the end of the Battle of Britain, when in November and December they shot down thirty-eight German aircraft before moving to Manston in February of 1941. They further moved on to Acklington in July and also received a present. The Governor of Trinidad and Tobago, Sir Hubert Young, donated several Spitfires to the squadron, which in turn led to the official name change to: No. 74 (Trinidad) Squadron. In June 1942, No. 74 moved to Egypt, but they had no aircraft and moved on to Palestine in July. With the absence of any of their own aircraft, they were used to maintain the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) B-24 Liberators. Eventually, in December their Hurricane IIbs arrived and they became part of No. 219 Fighter Group and operated out of the very large base of Habbanyia in Iraq. They also operated out of Iran, and then moved to Egypt in May 1943. The squadron took part in large offensive actions against Axis forces in Crete, attacking barracks and RDF (Radio Direction Finding)

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs stations. They changed back to flying Spitfires in Sept 1943 (this time MkVbs and MkVcs), and moved to Cyprus. After only a month in Cyprus they moved to Egypt again and received Mk IX Spitfires, followed by Mk XVIs in 1944. They moved back to the UK and to North Weald, and then on to Lympne in time to support Operation Overlord, the allied invasion of Normandy. They flew air defence and escorted bombers on raids on V-1 sites, moving to Tangmere and then on to Sommervieu in Normandy. Tasks were supporting advancing allied forces in the fighter bomber role until Germany surrendered. On 11 May the squadron moved back to the UK. Arriving back, No. 74 re-equipped with Gloster Meteor Mk 4s and were initially based at RAF Colerne in Wiltshire, and then moved on to Horsham St Faith, near Norwich, in August 1944. By November 1950 they were operating Mk 8s and the tiger stripe markings had been applied, the first time since the days of the Gauntlets. In March 1957 Hunter Mk 4s arrived, and then in the November Hunter Mk 6s. In 1959, now under the command of John Howe, No. 74 moved to Coltishall and received English Electric Lightnings, becoming the first squadron to receive the Lightning. In 1962 they formed the RAF’s official aerobatic team, taking over from No. 92 Squadron’s Blue Diamonds, and became the first aerobatic team to operate Mach 2 capable aircraft. In 1964 the squadron moved to Leuchars in Fife, and received the Mk 3 Lightning. They operated the Mk 3s in the air defence role, intercepting many Soviet bombers over the North Sea, until receiving Mk 6s and moving to Tengah, Singapore in June of 1967. They were now operating as part of FEAF (Far East Air Force), along with No. 20 Squadron Hunters, No. 45 Squadron Canberras, and No. 81 Squadron reconnaissance Canberras. The squadron’s responsibility was the air defence of Singapore and mainland Malaysia. The VC 10 flight out to Singapore was via a refuelling stop in Bahrain. We arrived at RAF Tengah and joined No. 74 Squadron. The Commanding Officer was Wing Commander Dennis Caldwell. I was allocated to A Flight under Squadron Leader Peter Carter, and my friend Mike joined B Flight under Squadron Leader Chris Peele. The first problem was that the squadron two-seater T5 was unserviceable. It was forecast by the No. 74 SENGO (Senior Engineering Officer), Squadron Leader Tony Craig, to be fixed within a few days. In the meantime, there was a great deal to learn about the new environment. We had lots of procedures to read up on and maps of the area to be studied. Of course I was keen to fly the Mk 6, but the news on the T5 wasn’t good, and it kept being further delayed. Eventually it was decided that we would skip

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NO. 74 SQUADRON

74 Sqn pilots, from the left: Russ Peart, Nick Buckley, Paul Adams, Dave Roome, Mike Rigg, Nigel Holder, Roger Pope, Ian McIver, Tony Ellender, Wg Cdr Dennis Caldwell, Sqn Ldr Barney Bullock.

74 Squadron RAF Tengah.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs the usual check out flight in the two-seater and go off in the single-seat MK 6. Fortunately we had the flight simulator, run by Flight Lieutenant John Rochfort, and accompanied by Flight Lieutenant Peter Boothroyd. (John Rochfort was later posted to Harriers, and took part in the Falklands War thirteen years on.) The visual system of the simulator was extremely basic by modern standards. It consisted of a roller blind mounted vertically, which was about 18 feet in length and 8-feet wide. It was wrapped around two horizontally mounted rollers spaced about 8 feet apart. The blind had been covered by a model terrain, fields, houses, trees and such. A camera was mounted on a bar near the foot of the blind and showed a picture on a screen mounted in front of the cockpit unit. As the aircraft flew, the blind would rotate and produce a picture giving the impression of flight at low level. The camera could move horizontally across the blind and up and down a little in response to pilot inputs. The ground scene would repeat itself every thirty seconds or so. This was a little help as the pilot could ‘fly visually’, while carrying out various actions. One has to remember, we had no digital computers in those days. The rest of the ‘sim’, as it was usually called, was much more realistic, despite being run by analogue computers. Its real value was allowing us to practise checks, procedures, emergency drills and instrument flying. It was particularly useful in the case of Mike Rigg and I, as we were not going to have a two-seater check flight before jumping into a single-seat Mark 6, and neither of us had flown for over a month by the time those flights came along. So, on 24 October 1969 in XS 921, I finally got to fly a front line single-seat operational fighter. The flight was uneventful, just a one-hour local area familiarization sortie with Flight Lieutenant Tony Ellender flying chase, in case I had problems. It would now be a long series of pre-operational flying, spread over several months and many flight hours, to achieve operational status. It took only five or six hours to fly solo in the Lightning, but over 200 more to learn to be a capable and effective operational Lightning pilot. The difference between being able to just fly the plane and being operational was akin to comparing someone who had just passed his driving test to a Formula One racing driver. My mentor on A Flight was Kevin Mace, our IWI (Intercept Weapons Instructor). Kevin was a highly skilled and dedicated pilot. He worked hard, and made me work hard to get me up to an acceptable standard. All interceptions were recorded and thoroughly debriefed using recordings of the radar screen. It was essential that the maximum possible benefit was

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NO. 74 SQUADRON

74 Sqn Lightnings, pairs take off at RAF Tengah, Singapore.

F Mk 6 Lightnings of 74 Squadron with Red Top missiles, over Singapore.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs achieved from every flight. This was a common theme I found throughout the RAF. The operational ‘work up’ included high and low-level interceptions day and night and in cloud, and supersonic intercepts with both rear and head-on attacks. Close and battle formation, combat manoeuvring in 1 v 1 and 2 v 2 engagements were flown along with AAR (Aircraft Airborne Replenishment, the rather long-winded official term). We just called it ‘in-flight refuelling’ or ‘tanking’. We practised this day and night and in cloud whenever we had a Victor Tanker available. Victors did pass through Tengah on a fairly regular basis, stopping over to give us ‘tanking’ practice. One night, while climbing out of Tengah in a pair of aircraft to join up with a Victor, I experienced a very severe case of disorientation. This can happen to a ‘fully serviceable’ and medically perfectly fit pilot. On this occasion, we were climbing through a layer of cloud above the straights of Malacca, to the northwest of Tengah. Hundreds of Malaysian fishermen used the straits for night-time fishing. This produced a myriad of small pinpoint lights scattered over a wide area, as the fishermen used lights to attract the fish to their nets. As we climbed up towards the cloud base, which was around 10,000 feet, we could see these lights below us. On entering the thin cloud layer these disappeared from view, but a few seconds later, as

74 Sqn Lightning about to refuel from an RAF Victor tanker.

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NO. 74 SQUADRON

74 Sqn Lightning in contact with the port hose of a Victor tanker. Photo taken through the periscope of the Victor, hence the quality.

we popped out of the cloud layer into a clear sky, millions of stars appeared above us. This rapid reversal, of one moment many lights below and then suddenly apparently the same mass of lights above, caused a feeling of flying upside down. It’s perhaps hard for a non-pilot to understand just how severe this sensation can be, and how hard it is to overcome the feeling. I checked the instruments and knew, beyond any doubt, that I was flying the right way up, but the feeling was still there and I couldn’t shake it off. By now I was beginning to sweat and found myself gripping the control column hard and telling myself all was OK – after all, the instruments proved it. To a degree it was a help that this phenomenon was well known and we had had briefings during aviation medicine training that it could happen. Nevertheless, I just couldn’t overcome that feeling of being upside down. It was now time to join up with the Victor. This felt very much like upside down formation flying, and it wasn’t easy. Eventually the sensation slowly corrected itself and the ‘tanking’ session went ahead without further problems. We went on to practise interceptions using our now topped-up fuel load. At last, I was declared as operational.

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RAF Tengah to RAAF Butterworth

From time to time we did exchange visits with the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) squadrons at RAAF Butterworth, in North Malaysia. Sometimes they would send a detachment of several of their Mirage 3s to Tengah, and sometimes we would send a detachment of our Lightnings to operate out of Butterworth. The aim was for us to practise operating together in the role of the air defence of Singapore and the Malaysian peninsula. These detachments generated friendly rivalry in various ways. One such rivalry was the time taken to fly from past the control tower at Tengah, to past the control tower at Butterworth. The record changed hands a couple of times. In March 1968 the Aussies had reduced the time to 27 minutes 30 seconds. OC 74, Wing Commander Ken Goodwin, retaliated immediately with a run in afterburner with fuel disappearing at an alarming rate but failed to regain the record. Obviously a more scientific approach was needed and as commander of the April detachment Norman Want was ordered to retrieve the record for 74. He was summoned by the boss and told to put the time out of reach once and for all. There were various factors to consider, not least that Malaysia was tired of having sonic booms dropped across it. The squadron didn’t have much information on fuel consumption figures so given they were taking four aircraft, Norman decided to send them individually. Clive Mitchell went first and was told to run at a relatively conservative M1.3 and to call back his fuel states. Ian McBride and then Tony Doidge were to follow, each basing their runs on the results of the former and pushing up the speeds and continuing to call back fuel and distance to Norman. But the plot got out and the Boss was told to ‘bin it’ by Phil Lageson, the Station Commander. But Ken Goodwin accompanied Norman to his aircraft and uttered his immortal catchphrase ‘don’t worry about a thing,’ just get on with it. Norman then received a personal directive from Phil Lageson on the R/T as he taxied out not to attempt any records. But Norman was having

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RAF TENGAH TO RAAF BUTTERWORTH ‘trouble’ with his R/T that morning and got airborne and went for it. The aircraft behaved beautifully and he landed with enough fuel to taxi in and 74 had the record! The distance was c.330 miles, the date was April 18th, the aircraft was XR768 and the time from tower to tower was 24 minutes 17seconds in a run which saw acceleration to M1.6 and then to M2.0 at which the aircraft was on far from full throttle. M2.0 was the limit speed applied to RAF aircraft even though the safe limit stated by English Electric was M2.2. That limit due to wing leading edge heating and softening of the aluminium. The record had finally been put to bed in favour of 74 Squadron. Just as I was finishing the Lightning OCU I met Ken Goodwin in the mess at RAF Coltishall after he had left the squadron. Someone introduced us and told him that I was on my way to join No. 74. Ken thumped me hard in the chest and said, ‘You lucky bastard.’ It seems he was, indeed, that sort of pilot. One of our pilots, Paul Adams (the same pilot who ejected from the Gnat at RAF Valley during his advanced flying course), was again involved in an unfortunate and serious incident. During start up, after the number one engine was running, fuel venting occurred from the wings and it seems this fuel was ignited by the exhaust from the AVPIN starter during the start of the number two engine. It produced a very spectacular fire, with flames leaping high in the air. Paul exited the cockpit very quickly, after first shutting down the engines. I believe he climbed over the front of the cockpit and dropped to the ground by way of grabbing onto the pitot tube on the way down. The fire was extinguished fairly rapidly by the fire crews, but serious damage was done to the airframe. The aftermath of this incident, and the enquiry into it, resulted in a modified procedure during start being introduced by HQFEAF (Headquarters Far East Air Force). Basically, the new procedure was to start the engines with the flight refuel switch selected from the normal position to the flight refuel position. This caused the tanks to remain depressurised and for the ventral fuel pump to be inhibited from running. This would no doubt solve the problem of fuel venting during start. Unfortunately it had further, and very serious, implications. The F6 Lightning, when fully fuelled with the large ventral tank full, started with the centre of gravity of the aeroplane at its aft cleared limit. Under normal circumstances, with the tanks pressurised, the fuel would be transferred to the engines from the wing tanks, but this would be immediately and continually replaced by fuel from the ventral tank, keeping the centre of gravity within the aft limit. With the flight refuel switch selected to

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs flight refuel, the ventral fuel pump would not run and the tanks would be depressurised, and therefore the fuel burnt from the front of the wing tanks would not be replaced, and this would put the centre of gravity outside the aft limit. This, in turn, would make pitch control more sensitive by reducing the static longitudinal stability. A number of flights took place, including some by myself, when no problems occurred. However, if a maximum performance stick input in pitch was applied, then the danger was that the aircraft would over pitch. Tragically, this happened to Frank Whitehouse, who had just returned from RAF Coltishall having completed the IWI (Interceptor Weapons Instructor) course. Frank was tasked with completing a rotation take-off, for which the Lightning was quite famous. The reason for doing it was for the benefit of a local reporter who was visiting the station and the squadron. To make matters worse for Frank, after start required a long taxi out to the threshold of the south runway, and in addition a further delay to his take-off was caused by air traffic delays. All this time added to the adverse centre of gravity situation, as more and more fuel was being used from the front of the wing tanks. After unstick, Frank applied the ‘usual’ force on the control column, which he had probably done several times before. On this occasion the aircraft rotated, not reasonably progressively to around 60 to 70 degrees nose up, but snapped very viciously, according to eye witnesses, to almost 90 degrees. This would have caused a dramatic loss of airspeed, from which the aircraft was probably not recoverable. Frank stayed with it far too long, obviously trying to save it, and ejected eventually but far too late to survive. He hit the ground still strapped into the ejector seat. Of course we were all devastated. Frank was an easygoing, popular and very valuable member of the squadron. One morning, while having an early breakfast in the mess, a fellow mess member asked me if I’d heard that we had lost another Lightning during the night. I hadn’t, and said, ‘Oh no, who this time?’ The response was, ‘Mike Rigg’, and several seconds later, ‘but he’s OK, he was picked up by the Changi Helicopter.’ It was a very unpleasant several seconds. The story unfolded that Mike had returned to land, but one of the main gears would not lower. He offered to try and land without it to save the aircraft, but was ordered, quite rightly, to take the aircraft to the bale out area over the South China Sea, near to Changi, and eject. An attempt to land a Lightning without both of the main gear legs locked down was considered very dangerous for the pilot, and even in the unlikely event it was successful, the airframe was likely to be damaged beyond repair. Mike had been picked up and suffered

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RAF TENGAH TO RAAF BUTTERWORTH no injuries, but this wasn’t the end of the story. During his parachute descent he found that the harness locking box, which should have been on his lower chest, was in fact riding up to under his chin. He held on to it and pulled it down to keep it in a more comfortable position. After reporting this at the subsequent board of enquiry, it was suggested by the president of the board, an Australian Air Force officer, that he perhaps hadn’t strapped in correctly and had failed to include the negative G straps. This he denied and was adamant that he had strapped in correctly. While this point was still under consideration, Mike noticed he had bruising in the groin area, either side of his most important bits. He saw this as evidence that he had strapped in correctly, and the negative G straps had caused this bruising during the shock of the parachute opening, before failing. He then asked me if I would take some pictures of the said evidence to show to the board, as proof that he had strapped in correctly. This I did, using my newly acquired and tax-free Nikkormat camera. It wasn’t the most pleasant job and I was acutely aware that I really didn’t want anyone else to see me taking these photos. It might have been quite an embarrassment. Later, it was proved beyond doubt what caused the problem. A fisherman had recovered the parachute and harness from the sea and handed it in to the RAF. It showed clear evidence that the stitching of the negative G elements of the harness had failed and the straps had become detached. All other harnesses fitted in our seats were checked and several more were found to be in an unsafe condition. Of course, the problem was rectified. Martin Baker, the ejection seat manufacturer, sent Mike a tie pin. Many years later I met the young lady, Elizabeth, who, while in the employment of Martin Baker, had mailed him his tie pin. She was now my sister in law, married to my brother, Malcolm.

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RAAF Fiftieth Anniversary Air Displays 1971 was the fiftieth anniversary year of the Royal Australian Air Force. Many air displays were scheduled around Australia in celebration. No. 74 Squadron received an invitation to take part by sending Lightnings to RAAF Edinburgh, near Adelaide. It was decided to send four aircraft, and to use three of them to fly a short display at RAAF Edinburgh and RAAF Laverton near Melbourne. One restriction was Laverton having only a short runway, far too short for a Lightning. We therefore planned to fly the display from Edinburgh, using in-flight refuelling. Squadron Leader Peter Carter, the flight commander of A Flight, was tasked with organising a short display routine using three aircraft. Peter would lead the formation and Robin Hargreaves and myself would make up the numbers. It was decided to do a ‘performance demonstration’, type of display. This was the most appropriate for the occasion, as it would not have been sensible to attempt low-level aerobatics. The sequence was basically a stream rotation takeoff, at five second intervals, climbing to around 3,000 feet. This would be followed by a descent and a hard low-level 5G 360 degree turn in a tail-chase formation in front of the crowd, and then a slow flypast in close formation with the gear down. Finally, a high-speed flypast at around Mach .95 to a vertical reheat climb. All this was geared to make lots of noise, something at which the Lightning was very good. The flight to Adelaide was via a stop at Darwin, using a Victor tanker aircraft for both the Tengah-to-Darwin and Darwin-to-Adelaide sectors. A C130 Hercules of No. 48 Squadron, based at RAF Changi, was employed in support to carry our ground crew and spare parts etc. I was to travel all the way to Adelaide in the Hercules. In the meantime we had to get in some practice for the display, which we did at Tengah and also with one practice at RAAF Butterworth during a detachment there. The transit flying to Adelaide went without a hitch and we then faced briefings by the RAAF officer in charge of the air displays. One of the

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RAAF FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY AIR DISPLAYS most important points he made was to stress the absolute importance of not flying supersonic during the display. This could easily happen if one got carried away or made a minor misjudgement, even by just a little bit. One example he gave, to stress the importance of his point, was that of an RAAF F4 Phantom which was being flown on an air display practice. I believe it was at RAAF Amberley. The aircraft went supersonic during a low pass. The shockwave caused a hanger door to be lifted off its runners and the whole door fell on top of a couple of parked cars, flattening them. Luckily no one was hurt by that. It was also fortunate that many office staff were outside watching the practice. A large number of glass windows were shattered, and on returning to her office, one secretary found a large piece of glass embedded in the back of her chair. The point had been very well made. The Adelaide display went as planned, but the one at Laverton was going to be more demanding. With the weather forecast being total cloud cover with a base of around 5,000 feet and tops at 12,000 to 15,000 feet, we descended with the Victor into a four-aircraft close formation flyby. The Victor then commenced its climb up to 20,000 feet, ready for our return flight. In the meantime we spent the next few minutes making lots of noise as planned, with Mike Rigg giving a commentary on the public address system. The final reheat climb saw us bursting out of the cloud tops at a steep angle, and deselecting the reheat, as fuel was now a valuable commodity. We scanned the sky above to get visual contact and to join up with the Victor. It was now quite urgent that we made a successful hose contact to top up the tanks. Failure to get fuel now would mean a descent and diversion to Melbourne’s Tollermarine International Airport. All went well, we received the fuel and returned the 400 miles back to RAAF Edinburgh. Before leaving at the end of the detachment, there was of course a party to attend, which I remember as being particularly enjoyable for all the ‘usual’ reasons. For the return flight to Singapore, I was again in the C130, but only for the leg to Darwin. I flew a Lightning, for the Darwin-to-Tengah leg. We left our Victor about 200 miles from Singapore, and went on ahead. The whole detachment, including the air displays, had been a great success, and as always and as expected, we were very well supported by our Victor crews and their ground crew.

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Engine Fire

Towards the end of a subsonic interceptions flight, myself and Robin Hargreaves were about to return to base when I suffered an attitude indicator failure. This was no big deal as the weather was good and it would be a visual recovery into Tengah. We approached the airfield in a steep descent at 450 knots and then I had a main radio failure, so called air traffic on the standby set. We turned separately onto the downwind leg. The engines had been at idle for some time, I then applied some power and selected the gear down. The number one engine fire warning light illuminated, so I shut down the engine, increased power on the number two and operated the number one engine fire extinguisher. This was a well-practised Lightning simulator exercise. The fire light remained illuminated and I realised the gear was not lowering, I had three red lights, not the hoped-for three greens, and the hydraulic services pressure gauge indicated zero. I informed ATC of the situation and said I would be going around again. The fire light was still on, and knowing the history of the Lightning and fire warnings, I tightened my straps in case of a short notice need to eject. The gear had not lowered due to the services hydraulic failure, caused by a leak from the pump attached to and driven by the number one engine. The fire was caused by the leaking hydraulic fluid. I selected the gear down on the alternate system, but that produced nothing. The alternate system was powered by another hydraulics pump on the number one engine, which was now shut down due to the fire. This was a case for flying to a suitable bale out area. I chose an area over the sea to the south-west of Tengah, and informed ATC of my intentions via a Mayday call. By now Robin had joined in almost close formation on my right side, but he wasn’t fully in the picture due me being on a different frequency on the standby radio. He eventually called me on that standby frequency. I told him about the fire light, and that it was still on, and he immediately banked and turned hard away, obviously worried that my aircraft might blow up at any moment. Shortly after, the fire light went out,

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ENGINE FIRE and a few seconds later the gear began to slowly lock down, one wheel at a time. As soon as I had both main gears down I turned back towards Tengah, but realised I had very little fuel remaining. Decision time! Should I attempt to get back for a landing or not? I flew towards Tengah as I decided. I was aware of the dangers if I failed to make it. It flashed through my mind about the danger on the ground of a Lightning flaming out and crashing short of the runway. There were locals living in close proximity to the base. However, I decided to return and landed with the fuel gauges showing zero on the number one left side, because I had been transferring fuel from that side, and just 100 lbs on the number two right side. The landing was without a chute, as that too was operated by the same hydraulic pump that lowered the gear on the standby system. The gear had finally come down because the hydraulic pump was being driven, very slowly, by the wind-milling engine. I stopped on the ORP and climbed out via a ladder provided by the crash rescue crew. The flight had ended rather like one of our monthly emergencies simulator exercises. Perhaps it proved the value of those simulator sessions.

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HMS Eagle

During July 1971, the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Eagle was visiting the area and cruising in the South China Sea to the north-east of Singapore. We had joint mini exercises with the ship’s Buccaneers, practising intercepts at low level against them. The Fleet Air Arm crews flew very low and fast, and were difficult to detect and intercept. However, they were not as fast at low altitude as a Lightning, and it was possible, if we could get visual contact, to get into a simulated killing position with our stern shot missile capability, either with the Red Top or the older Firestreak. We also had the opportunity to practise some air-to-air refuelling, as the Buccaneers were capable of carrying an air refuelling pod. Whether or not this had been officially cleared by the MOD was another story.

74 Lightnings refuelling from a Buccaneer of HMS Eagle over the South China Sea.

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Mirages v Lightnings Combat

Towards the end of another detachment to Butterworth in June 1971, it was decided to have a final 2 v 2 combat, i.e. two Mirages of No. 3 Squadron versus two Lightnings. The set up would be a standard head-on pass, with the combat starting from when the aircraft passed each other. The difference, this time, was that the losing team would pay for the end-of-detachment barrel of beer. Pilots were chosen by lottery and myself and Tony Ellender were picked out for No. 74 Squadron. Of the two Mirage pilots chosen, one had a reputation for being extremely good in combat, and hadn’t been beaten in a 1 v 1 combat for two years or more. The combat started in the usual way with hard turns made towards the enemy. This resulted in the two pairs on opposite sides of a level turn. A common initial situation. From then on, various manoeuvres were made by both sides with the result being that two individual one v one fights developed. I decided to just let the superiority of the Lightning win the combat. At all low and medium altitudes, the Lightning had a clear SEP advantage over the Mirage. Only at very high altitude did the Mirage equal or better the Lightning, due mainly to its delta wing planform. This combat started at 20,000 feet, so the Lightning should have the advantage. (Note: SEP is Specific Excess Power. This is a measure of how much excess power the aircraft has in any particular specified manoeuvre at that altitude, e.g. if both aircraft fly at the same airspeed, and hold the same G in a level turn, then the aircraft that can best maintain its airspeed or accelerate most quickly, has the better SEP in that set of circumstances.) I decided to avoid trying any smart manoeuvres to achieve a quick kill, and to more or less just tail-chase the Mirage by following all its high wingovers, giant barrel rolls etc. while maintaining full reheat. The result was as I hoped. After three or four minutes of high G manoeuvring, I was closing up behind it. The Mirage pilot then flew a high G barrel roll, a manoeuvre aimed at making the aircraft behind overshoot and fly in front. It was a very predictable tactic and I merely flew a bigger high G barrel roll and so stayed behind, and

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs closed up to very close. I noted the pilot was wearing an orange flying suit as I pulled the trigger to take a burst of film to prove the kill, and called on the radio, ‘Fox 3’ (a guns kill). A photo, printed later from a frame of the cine film, allowed the individual flames in the reheat ring inside the jet pipe of the Mirage engine to be counted. It was definitely a very close guns kill. On walking back into the combined crew room, I claimed, ‘a guns kill on the guy wearing an orange flying suit’. That statement caused quite a commotion, as the pilot wearing the orange flying suit was their best combat pilot, at least by reputation. The kill was confirmed when the film was assessed by an Australian weapons instructor. But it wasn’t by any great skill on my part, or by any smart manoeuvres. It was a case of letting the Lightning win the combat by using its greater SEP available. I would use the same tactic if I had to fight a MiG 21 at or below that altitude. Tony had achieved a stalemate with the other Mirage. That evening, the last of the detachment, we did what fighter pilots have always done: we got together and drank beer, on this occasion with all our friends on Nos. 3 and 75 Squadrons. After all, we were all on the same side, and responsible for the air defence of Singapore and the Malaysian Peninsula. The most important thing was, that on this particular evening, the beer was on the Australians.

74 Sqn Lightnings with RAAF Mirages of numbers 3 and 75 Sqns.

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No. 74 Squadron Disbandment

Sadly, No. 74 Squadron was to disband on 25 August 1971, and would be one of the final British military units to withdraw from the Far East. This meant all squadron members were due for posting at the same time. It became time to put forward our preferences for our next tour. I wanted to do an operational tour, and on the appropriate form, which gave space for 3 choices, I put:

• USAF exchange tour Vietnam flying F 105s. • Anywhere where there’s a war. • No third choice. I was called into the boss’s office and given a good talking to, and told I couldn’t put down those choices. However, I don’t remember changing them. The boss suggested I should apply for CFS (the RAF’s Central Flying School) to become a QFI (Qualified Flying Instructor). He said it would be good for my career, and he might have been right, but this was in fact just about the last thing I wanted. Sitting in a slow two-seater teaching take-offs and landings etc., was not my idea of excitement, even though it was an important job. Later some application forms for CFS came around the squadron, with orders that they were to be filled in by all pilots. This we did, but most of us wrote, in large capital letters in red ink across the top of the form: NON VOLUNTEER. After this episode I was talking to Tengah’s Officer Commanding Operations, Wing Commander Erik Bennett. I knew the Wing Commander well. As members of Tengah Yacht Club, we sailed an Osprey dinghy together in races held by the club. He was the helm and I was the crew. We had sailed on the Round Singapore Island Race together, as well as many other shorter races. I discussed my future posting with him, and he came

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs out with the information that he knew of a small war that might suit me well. He told me of the counter insurgency war being fought by the Sultan of Oman’s Forces against Marxist-inspired rebels in the Dhofar region of Oman. I knew about the SOAF (Sultan of Oman’s Air Force), but didn’t realise it was engaged in regular operations against a well-armed opposition. SOAF were using some pilots seconded from the RAF. The wing commander said, ‘You’ll do best at what you enjoy doing.’ I applied immediately, and it was great news when I found my application was successful. I was to meet up again with Wing Commander Erik Bennett later in my career. After disbandment, the squadron’s Mark 6 aircraft were to be allocated to No. 56 Squadron, who were based at RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus. This would be an upgrade for them, as they had Mark 3s at that time. We were to fly the aircraft to Cyprus after the disbandment parade. The parade was quite an emotional affair. After all, No. 74 Squadron had a very proud and long history, including very distinguished service during the Second World War. It was attended by many of our friends from the Mirage squadrons at Butterworth, with whom we had had so many good

74 Squadron Lightning F6s.

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NO. 74 SQUADRON DISBANDMENT times. The parade included music by the band of the Royal Marines, and a flypast by a lone Lightning as the sun went down. The Lightning, flown by Squadron Leader Barney Bullock, climbed vertically in reheat into the darkening sky, and the reheat extinguished at exactly the same time that the music stopped. And that was the moment that No. 74 Squadron ceased to exist. It was a very poignant moment, and a few tears were shed, even by some of the Australian fighter pilots. They were well aware of No. 74 Squadron’s history, especially in the Battle of Britain. Now it was time to plan the details of Exercise Panther Trail, the ferry of the aircraft to Cyprus, and for four of them on to the UK for major servicing. We had, in the meantime, been told to clean off all our squadron markings before the ferry flights. On the orders of the boss, our ground crew did just the opposite. The markings were touched up where necessary, and the exposed aluminium areas were polished to a high shine. The aircraft would be looking superb in their No. 74 Squadron markings for their arrival at Akrotiri.

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Exercise Panther Trail

Our Lightnings were to be flown to Cyprus via an overnight stop at RAF Gan in the Maldives. Prior to the exercise we had a SAR (Search and Rescue) briefing by a crew member from No. 205 Squadron, the Shackleton maritime reconnaissance squadron based at RAF Changi. His opening comment was, ‘Indian Ocean, fifteen different types of man-eating sharks. But don’t worry, you can swim through water much faster than a shark can swim through s**t!’ The squadron would be flying their Shackletons carrying Lindholm Gear (basically an air-dropped cannister which opened automatically, with a large multi-seat life raft containing survival gear and rations), and they would fly along our route, between Singapore and Gan, during our flights. Each day, three Lightnings took off along with two Victor tankers. One of the Lightnings was an airborne spare and turned back to Tengah once the primary pair had successfully achieved their first airborne refuelling. One of the Victors, after filling up the two Lightnings, would then transfer some fuel to the other Victor, before also turning back to Tengah. The primary pair and the now topped-up Victor would fly the remainder of the four-hour flight to Gan, with the Lightnings refuelling several times as required. I was one of the second pair, along with my flight commander Robin Hargreaves, departing Tengah on 2 April, in XR761. My flight was uneventful until the actual landing on Gan Island. I was the number two and after landing, as I was slowing down through about 80 knots, a main wheel tyre deflated, and the aircraft slewed to the right. I had no problem keeping it on the runway, but unfortunately I was not able to taxi it clear. We now had a Victor tanker, fairly low on fuel and unable to land because of a blocked runway and with no diversion airfield available within range. This possible scenario had been foreseen, and a Victor had taken off from Gan and was orbiting in the overhead. It was a normal procedure, and it was referred to as a TAT (Terminal Airborne Tanker). The captain of our Victor

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EXERCISE PANTHER TRAIL from Tengah now joined up with the TAT to take on some fuel, while my Lightning was removed from the runway. But not before he said to me, over the R/T, in his very broad Scottish accent, ‘This is going to cost you a few beers, laddie.’ He was right, it did cost me a few beers. Our ground crew later reported that the Maxaret unit (a type of mechanical anti-lock braking device) on that main wheel had been faulty. This helped to get me off the hook. The next leg of the flight to Cyprus was the most demanding, taking over eight-hours and many contacts to refuel. To take two Lightnings non-stop to Akrotiri took four Victor tankers. But the next day after our arrival, I flew just the airborne spare out of Gan and back once the first fuel transfers had been completed. As I turned around to return to Gan on that flight, it was quite a lonely feeling, with just Indian Ocean as far as the eye could see. No GPS, no Tacan lock or even a radio compass lock. I needed to steer a very accurate heading to find Gan, just a very tiny island, but I picked it up on the A1 radar at about 60 miles. My turn for the long leg to Akrotiri came the next day, 4 April. Again it started with the take-offs of two Victors and three Lightnings. The flight went without a hitch, we received our first transfer of fuel and our spare turned back towards Gan, followed a little later by one of the two Victors, after the first Victor-to-Victor fuel transfer was complete. We first headed to Masirah Island, Oman, and then turned right towards southern Iran. Two Victors departed Bahrain, and our tanker from Gan landed there. We joined up with the new tankers as they were transferring fuel, and then we received our transfers from the same tanker before it returned to Bahrain. We then proceeded over Iran to Lake Van in the north, refuelling from the Victor as required, and finally over Turkey before descending into and landing at RAF Akrotiri. Our total flight time was eight hours and five minutes, and the total fuel transfer was 38,000 lbs. So about forty minutes was spent in contact. Although all of our Mark 6 aircraft were destined for No. 56 Squadron, four of them needed to have a major service, and so needed to be flown on to RAF Leconfield in Yorkshire. However, due partly to the heavy duty of Panther Trail, there would be a shortage of available tankers for over a week. A further complication arose because of a disagreement between the Maltese government and that of the UK, resulting in RAF aircraft not being allowed the use of Luqa on Malta. So four of us had eight days to kill on Cyprus while the rest of the squadron flew home in a VC 10. We hired a Morris 1100 and went on several days’ tour of the island, driving clockwise round and taking in Paphos, Kyrenia and Famagusta. A particular highlight

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs was Kyrenia. We stayed a couple of nights right opposite the lovely harbour, before continuing on via Famagusta back to Akrotiri. This was before the separation caused by the Turkish invasion of the north. We flew one air check flight on each of the aircraft on the day before the leg to Leconfield, during which I remember flying an approach and overshoot at Nicosia Airport. I led the first pair, flying XR 725, with Nick Buckley flying the other aircraft. Because of the unavailability of Luqa, our tanker filled us up a couple of hundred miles out from Cyprus before returning there, so it was available to refuel the next pair of Lightnings the following day. We then flew on along the Med, passed Italy and were due to join up with a tanker out of RAF Marham. Sure enough, exactly on schedule, we got an air-to-air tacan lock and the miles counted down as we flew north towards Nice. The tanker crew flew an immaculate rendezvous turn, finishing precisely on our nose at about 1 mile. It had only been necessary for us to hold an accurate heading and airspeed, and transmit a few times, for the tanker navigator to organise the rendezvous. We always had great admiration for the tanker crews for their skill and professionalism. They were super reliable and very efficient. This was just another example of how they operated. We flew on, refuelling over France, which was a bit naughty as it was not strictly allowed, so we did it in radio silence, using just the light signals on the refuelling pods. When the Victor crew said goodbye as they commenced their descent into RAF Marham, we flew on to RAF Leconfield. Our arrival was flown as quietly as possible. It was a very subdued, what I thought would be my last ever flight in a Lightning, because the local court was in session in the very nearby town of Beverley. The flight had taken five hours and fifty minutes. My parents were there to meet me and that was great, as I hadn’t seen them for more than two years. We didn’t have Skype or Facetime in those days, or even e-mails. The only direct contact had been a very occasional, and quite expensive, telephone call. So we headed to my parents’ home, which was now in Stevenage, and I had a few weeks leave.

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Chapter Eight

Sultan of Oman’s Air Force

A Brief History The success of the use of air power by the RAF in supporting the sultan’s ground forces in the Jebel Akhdar campaign, provided the impetus for forming the Sultan of Muscat and Oman’s Air Force. It was formed on 1 March 1959, and Wing Commander Barry Atkinson took command, having arrived on 19 August 1959 along with other RAF aircrews. The first aircraft to arrive were two Scottish Aviation Pioneers, which were provided by No. 78 Squadron, RAF, and flown up from Aden, and then three Hunting

SOAF Piston Provost, at Bait Al Falaj.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs Provost T 52s, delivered directly from the manufacturers. In total, four Pioneers were operated and then replaced by De Havilland Beavers. As well as RAF personnel, Air Work Services Limited provided maintenance support, many of their staff being ex-military. In 1968 SOAF received the first of its order of Strikemaster light attack aircraft. It was a development of the Jet Provost trainer used by the RAF for basic flying training. Upgrades included underwing hard points for the carriage of bombs up to 540 lbs, fuel tanks and 80 mm Sura rockets. It was also fitted with twin GPMGs (General Purpose Machine Guns), and had an uprated version of the Rolls Royce Viper engine, basically the same engine as fitted to the Dominie. At one stage the four Beavers were retired, but then taken back into service after being totally refurbished, in turn, by Airwork Services. When I arrived in January 1972, the last of the refurbishments, on Beaver 216, was complete and it was almost ready for its air tests. Most of the Strikemasters were down in the south at RAF Salalah to support the ground troops in the Dhofar War. At this time the SOAF also had several Skyvans, two de Havilland Caribou, and several AB 205 and AB 206 helicopters and a Viscount.

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Dhofar Background

The Dhofar region of Oman consists of a narrow coastal strip from the PDRY (People’s Democratic Republic of the Yemen) in the west, to east of the town of Mirbat, a distance of approximately 120 miles. It is very much separated from the rest of Oman by around 350 miles of desert. The Salalah plain, approximately 60 miles from the PDRY border, surrounds the town of Salalah and the RAF base, with a backdrop of mountains which stretch to the less mountainous desert to the north. The plain is fertile due to the Khareef, a wet season when it, and the surrounding mountains, are covered

Above and overleaf: Maps of Arabia, Oman and Dhofar.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

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DHOFAR BACKGROUND

in a low cloud with wet misty conditions for three months of the year, from May to early September. The change, from a brown and dry sandy appearance, to one of lush green vegetation during those three months, is remarkable. The Dhofar War started with a minor rebellion in 1962. While the Americans were fighting in Vietnam, a conflict with much greater strategic significance for the Western world was taking place in the Sultanate of Oman, which guards the entrance to the Arabian Gulf and controls the movement of oil from that region. In the 1970s the communists were trying to gain control of this important artery. Had they succeeded, the consequences for the West, and for the Middle East, would have been disastrous. By comparison, the loss of the Vietnam War by the Americans had little effect on the rest of the world. The conflict began in the early 1960s with low key attacks on the RAF base at Salalah and some government units. At that time Oman was a very underdeveloped country ruled by a regressive sultan, Said Bin Taimur, and this was causing, or at least contributing to, the unrest. By 1964, a band of guerilla fighters calling themselves the DLF (Dhofar Liberation Front) was attacking oil company vehicles and installations as well as government buildings and the RAF base. In the very early stages they were supported by Saudi Arabia.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs The old sultan, Said Bin Taimur, against advice from the British, launched a full-scale attack against the DLF rebels at a location called Deefa, but his forces were heavily defeated. The Dhofar Liberation movement then adopted a Marxist ideology and so gained growing support from several communist countries for their effort to overthrow the sultan and liberate the region. Most important of all, the supporting communist countries wished to gain control of the Straits of Hormuz, and so it was very much in their interests to give support to the so-called liberation front. The DLF expanded during 1968 and was transformed into PFLOAG (The Popular Front For the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf). This leftwing Marxist movement was receiving ever-growing support from South Yemen, Russia, and China. Many of the rebels received training in Odessa on the Black Sea coast and in China. They were being increasingly supplied with AK 47 rifles, light machine guns, 82 mm mortars, RPG 7s (Rocket Propelled Grenades), and anti-personnel and TM 46, anti-tank mines. By 1970, almost all the jebel surrounding the Salalah plain was in the control of the rebels, and by now the RAF base was defended by units of the RAF Regiment, by way of hedgehogs. These were small fortified positions surrounding the base equipped with light machine guns, 81 mm mortars and mortar-locating radar (ZB 298), usually referred to as ‘Zebedee’. In 1970 Sultan Said bin Taimur was deposed in a coup organised and carried out by the British, in consultation with the sultan’s son, Qaboos bin Said. The old sultan put up a fight against the young British officer tasked with arresting him, while Strikemaster jets buzzed back and forth over the palace. He managed to slightly wound the British officer, and was himself wounded in the confrontation before he was finally overcome. He was then evacuated by an RAF transport aircraft to a hospital in the UK, and probably didn’t realise that the British officer who had wounded him was on the same flight. He remained in exile in England for the rest of his life. His son, Qaboos bin Said, who had been educated in the UK and had attended Sandhurst, took over. It was to this backdrop that I arrived to join the SOAF.

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SOAF

The First Few Months I travelled out to Muscat, Oman, to join the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force during January of 1972. The air force was based at an airfield called Bait Al Falaj, very near to Muscat. A rough translation being: Home on the Stream. It was a very basic airfield with a bent, banana-shaped runway. The whole atmosphere at the base, and in particularly the headquarters unit which was housed in a white washed medieval fort, was very Beau Jeste like. There was an officers’ mess with separate buildings arranged in a sort of loose courtyard layout. The accommodation was basic, but it had a welcoming feel about it. I met Flight Lieutenant Sean Creek, the squadron QFI (Qualified Flying Instructor), who was in the north away from the Dhofar region. He was here to air test a Beaver aircraft that had just been totally rebuilt by Airwork Services and then to check me out on it, as well as on the Strikemaster. He would then show me how to fire Sura 80mm rockets and the twin GPMG machine guns. In our first meeting he told me SOAF didn’t really want me, because I was an ex-Lightning pilot. They would have much preferred to have an ex-Hunter pilot or Jet Provost QFI, but I was the only applicant at that time. Ex-Hunter pilot, because of the ground attack experience, or QFI because they could fly a Jet Provost. Being ex-Hunters, in the ground attack role, I could well understand as being ideal, but Jet Provost QFI? It only takes about ten minutes to convert to a Jet Provost from a Lightning! Well, I was determined to prove to them that their reservations were unfounded. However, Sean turned out to be a good friend and an excellent instructor. I had flown quite a lot of tail wheel flying in the Chipmunk, with the glider towing and air experience flying, which helped with the Beaver flying, and I had done the Jet Refresher course at Manby, on the Jet Provost, and the Strikemaster was just a Jet Provost with a bit more

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

The Officers’ Mess at Bait Al Falaj in 1972.

thrust. It was now a case of learning to fire the 80 mm Sura rockets and the twin GPMGs at targets on the nearby Hajar Range. Learning to drop bombs would be done once I was down in Dhofar, as the SOAF had no practice bombs at that time. I would learn the technique by doing dry practice runs and then get on with the job using live weapons against real targets. I settled in to my bait, a single room with its own en suite shower, in a singlestorey, very old whitewashed block. The whole place had a feeling of being very casual. I tried to put my empty suitcase under the bed, but there was something there stopping me. It turned out, to my great surprise, to be a pile of about ten Sura rockets! They weren’t the ones with live HE (High Explosive) warheads, but they were practice rockets with fully operational rocket motors. I had them cleared out straightaway. Goodness knows who put them there or why. I spent the next couple of weeks flying around the north of Oman with Sean in the Beaver. This was good, because I was learning to fly the aircraft with its large Pratt and Whitney supercharged radial engine, and learning my way around northern Oman and all the various strips at the same time.

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SOAF I was enjoying myself already. Eventually we got on to firing practice rockets and the guns on the range. Altogether I was to fly sixteen Strikemaster flights and twelve Beaver flights in the north, mostly with Sean. I then travelled down to Salalah and joined No. 1 Squadron there. The squadron crest depicts a Peregrin Falcon, because it not only dives from the sky at high speed and with deadly accuracy to attack its prey, but also flies to northern climes for mating. The squadron flew mainly their No. 1 Squadron Sultan of Oman’s Air Strikemasters, but also operated a Force, SOAF. A Peregrine Falcon, because it swoops from the sky with high speed and single Beaver at Salalah. The Strikemasters in SOAF deadly accuracy and travels to northern could carry various weapon loads. climes for mating! In Dhofar, the most common load was 2 x 540-lb British bombs, plus 12 x 80mm Sura rockets, loaded in three tiers of four, and with the inbuilt GPMGs carrying 500 rounds each, about thirty seconds of firing time.

SOAF Strikemaster.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Beaver over RAF Salalah.

Other options were: 32 x Sura rockets, or 4 x 540-lb bombs, always with the guns loaded of course, and a long-range option was 2 underwing tanks, and 16 Sura. Most of the Strikemasters were single seaters, i.e. the right-hand seats were not fitted. This saved weight, cost and servicing time. A couple, usually one kept in the north and one at Salalah in the south, had two seats, and they were normally the ones fitted with the long-range external fuel tanks. I learned more about rocket attacks and dropping of 540-lb bombs after going down to Salalah and flying in the two-seater there on operational sorties with various pilots. Squadron Leader Bill Stoker, who was destined to be our squadron commander, had arrived just a short time after me. He was to be a great boss, whom I got along with well. So did everyone. Eventually I was declared operational and flew as number two in the pair. We almost always flew as a pair. The leader would always decide how any attack would be made, and the weapons used. It was a feature of this particular war that a good deal of experience was required in theatre. There were many aspects of the operations to learn. One of the basic tactics we used when attacking a target was for one aircraft to give covering fire using

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SOAF

Strikemaster with long range external fuel tanks fitted.

Strikemaster with 2 x 250kg Pakistani bombs fitted.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Strikemaster with Sura rockets only, up to 32, in 8 tiers of 4.

the GPMGs, while the other delivered either rockets or bombs. Either the leader or the number two could be the one delivering the primary weapons. The one firing the rockets or dropping the bombs would announce his intended attack direction and the time to tip into the attack. The other, providing the covering fire, would then position to attack more or less at the same time but from a different direction. A different direction was most important, as it caused the maximum distraction to those aiming to shoot back at either of the aircraft. Feedback from surrendered enemy confirmed the value of this tactic. My first operational flight was on 17 February 1972, and first operational strike was a Hawkeye strike, on which I fired 26 Sura rockets. A Hawkeye strike was the term used when enemy fighters defected to our side and information from them was acquired in the following way. Captain Jack Sullivan, the Dhofar Intelligence Officer, would debrief them thoroughly. Often this would reveal information on enemy positions, and locations of stores. This in turn sometimes led to a Hawkeye strike. Jack would come along to the Strike squadron crewroom/operations room with the SEP (Surrendered Enemy Person), and brief us on a possible target. One of

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SOAF us would then take Jack and the SEP in the Beaver to the approximate location of the target. Jack and the SEP would sit side by side in the back, and the SEP would hopefully point out and describe to Jack the exact position of the target. This was all conducted in the local Jebali language, in which Jack was fluent. He would then pass that information to the Beaver pilot, and the decision to return to base and launch a pre-planned strike later, or call straightaway for a pair of Strikemasters to come and do the strike as soon as possible, would be made. If an immediate response was required, then the Beaver would stay in the target area and the Beaver pilot would direct the attacking jets on to the target location. We did a fair number of these types of operation. At other times we carried out pre-planned strikes, based on information acquired by our intelligence officers. To give the reader an idea of the intensity of the conflict, during the first month from that first strike, I flew 33 sorties, dropped 6 x 540-lb bombs fired 26 Sura and 6,000 rounds of 7.62 mm from the GPMGs. During the second month, 4 bombs, and 131 Sura and 16,000 rounds. A total of 37 strikes, over those first 2 months.

The author on standby at Salalah.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs Mostly we carried out routine recce flights but were often called to assist ground troops. Sometimes these were local Omani units and sometimes units led by our SAS, who were referred to as the BATT (British Army Training Team). Their official task in theatre was to train local Dhofari tribesmen/soldiers, known as the Firqats. They seemed to do this training mostly by example! On 27 April, our operations officer called a Startreck (the term used for a Strikemaster scramble) for a location near to Akoot, a position in the west. An enemy patrol had been spotted by one of our patrols, and they had decided an air strike would be the most effective way to proceed. I was flying number two in a ‘rocket ship’, i.e. with 28 Sura but no bombs. The aircraft could carry 8 tiers of 4 rockets, but in that fit it was not possible to fire a single rocket. There were just 4 switches to select the rails, so one switch would select a rail, but also its opposite number on the other wing. In order to make it possible to fire just a single rocket, the aircraft was usually loaded with one inboard pylon empty. The reason being that quite regularly, when trying to determine an enemy’s precise position, a single ‘marker’ rocket would be fired and the ground control FAC (Forward Air Controller), etc. would give a correction based on where that rocket hit. It would have been wasteful to fire a pair of expensive rockets to mark a target, when a single would suffice. In the engagement near Akoot, I fired 18 of the rockets and emptied the guns. It was a very successful strike with 10 enemy KIA (Killed in Action). There had been return fire, reported by own troops, but I didn’t see any, and neither of us was hit. On 1 March I flew as number two in a pairs recce flight, and then landed at Midway, an airfield north of Salalah by about 20 miles and out in the desert beyond the jebel. It had a very long sand runway but with little or no infrastructure. It was necessary to deploy all our Strikemasters away from Salalah to Midway, as the main runway at Salalah was being sealed with a layer of tarmac. We had been using the north-south sand runway for the last few weeks, as the work on the main runway was underway. Now it was time to complete the intersection, so the airfield was temporarily unusable by Strikemasters. We could if necessary still operate the Beaver in and out. Bombs, rockets, tents, food and all necessary support equipment had been pre-positioned to enable us to continue operations from Midway. We had a problem putting up the tents which were to be pitched near the main runway, as unfortunately the ground was so hard it was impossible to get the tent pegs to penetrate it. Consequently, some bombs were rolled

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SOAF across and the guy ropes were tied to them to keep the tents up. At this stage the bombs were not fused. We were temporarily minimising operations by not flying routine recce flights, but the third day of the deployment was a busy day with several pairs of aircraft being scrambled to assist own troops. By the end of the day, our tents had all collapsed as our armourers had taken the bombs to rearm the returning jets. It was at times quite windy with blowing sand. I had taken to wearing a shemarg, a type of local headdress made from a large triangular piece of material, as worn by all the soldiers. Different coloured shemargs signified the different regiments. Wearing this prompted Captain Jack Sullivan to produce a watercolour painting of me climbing out of a Strikemaster. The scene was somewhat of an exaggeration, as Jack had included a camel, and it also depicted our helicopter squadron commander, Neville Baker, and commander SOAF Salalah, Peter Hulme talking. The caption on the painting said, ‘Five days in a tent at Midway, and he thinks he’s Lawrence of Arabia.’ Jack later presented me with that painting. On one occasion, when I was flying the Beaver for a Hawkeye strike, the two Strikemasters failed to hit the target on successive attacks. Apparently

Midway with tent guy rope tied to 540 lb bomb.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Guard on a Strikemaster during our 5 day detachment to Midway [now Thumrait].

Guard on our Beaver at Midway.

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SOAF

Bill Cooper, an RAF air traffic control officer from Salalah, giving mobile ATC support during our Midway detachment. [He lost a leg a few weeks later].

Stand by at Midway.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Midway detachment.

Midway detachment Operations tent, incl. Nigel Wilkinson and Bill Cooper.

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SOAF

Water colour by Jack depicting the author during the Midway detachment. Supposedly making the comment is either Peter Hulme or Neville Baker.

I had said to them on the r/t, ‘If you can’t hit it, I’ll do the bloody strike myself.’ Jack, sitting in the back of the Beaver, heard this comment and remembered it, and the incident was recorded in another of his excellent watercolour paintings, for which he was becoming famous. He later presented me with that painting, also. I now had two of his watercolours, and they wouldn’t be the last. I will always treasure them. On 23 March, the task was to escort a Skyvan with the Sultan on board. He was visiting an up-country strip called Karlsberg. For security he was only on the ground a short time, as we circled overhead in case of trouble. It was all quiet. Six days later I flew a two-seater Strikemaster with an SAS officer, Shaun Brogan, in the other seat, to recce the area of his current location near Jib Jat to the north-east of Salalah. We drew some ground fire and the tracer rounds were easy to spot, due to the early evening failing light, as they whistled past the canopy. We couldn’t see where the fire was coming from precisely, so I just dived in and fired a couple of rockets and then emptied the guns on a likely position, as suggested by Shaun. We saw

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Water colour painting by Dhofar intelligence officer, Jack Sullivan, this one depicting a Hawkeye strike. [Jack was usually in the Beaver interpreting during the Hawkeye strikes].

some return tracer on each of the attacks. I think Shaun enjoyed his flight, but we probably hit nothing. On 5 May forces from the PDRY (People’s Democratic Republic of The Yemen) attacked our forces in their fort at Habarut. Habarut Fort, about 70 miles north-west of Salalah, was on the border with the South Yemen, and across a narrow wadi from the Yemeni Fort. In between there was a short gravel strip for use by Skyvans, Caribou and the Beaver. Up until the surprise attack, all had been very quiet and peaceful, with the soldiers of the two sides often having a get-together in the wadi for a meal. It was thought a hard line Marxist-inspired senior person had arrived and ordered the action. The attack was fierce and prolonged with much mortar and heavy machinegun fire. Our soldiers were forced to evacuate the fort and retreat to a wadi about 2 km to the east for cover. From there they were calling on the radio for assistance. We listened in on the radio at Salalah. They were pleading for

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SOAF help, but as the fire was coming from the other side of the border we were in no position to do anything without permission from higher authority. The next morning, 6 May, they were still being pinned down and could not evacuate further. I remember the voice on the HF radio repeatedly saying, ‘Please send the jets, please please, send the jets.’ All of us Strikemaster pilots were ready to go, life jackets on etc. It seemed our senior officers were having to wait on the authority of the Sultan. Eventually, it came. Firstly a Skyvan was sent to drop leaflets over the enemy fort. However, this proved difficult as it needed to be high to avoid ground fire, and the wind was strong and blowing towards the Oman side. It is highly doubtful the enemy received any of them. The firing and shelling continued. Bill Stoker led the five-aircraft formation and I went along in the right seat with him, the plan being that I would then lead the second wave. The first attacks went quite well, two aircraft were hit by ground fire but not too seriously. In our aircraft we felt a loud thump as we recovered into a climb from the first attack with two bombs. All the systems seemed OK so we continued with a rocket attack on a fortified position near the fort. The others did much the same. None of our bombs were a direct hit on the fort, but some very near misses did some damage to it. However, much damage was inflicted

.50 cal holes in the wing of a Strikemaster. Probably from Soviet Shpagin.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs on the various positions around it. All aircraft joined up and we returned to Salalah. On inspection of our aircraft we found two holes in the tailplane. We had been hit by a 0.5-inch medium machine-gun round and a smaller 7.62 round. Our .50 calibre hole was in the tailplane and caused no problem. However, such a round did on occasions cause more serious damage. I led the second wave of five as planned, but en route we were called to help a unit near the Jinni waterhole. I elected to divert there with my number two, leaving Nigel Wilkinson to lead the remaining three aircraft to Habarut. On arriving there, Nigel proceeded to hit the Yemeni fort with his bombs, seriously damaging it, and the three aircraft attacked several more locations of mortars and guns with rockets and bombs. All returned safely to Salalah. The firing on our soldiers stopped for a while, but then resumed. The diversion to Jinni turned out to be a waste of time and a very unfortunate distraction from an important action. Afterwards, an official statement was issued, as follows: On the 5th May the garrison of the forces of the Peoples Republic of Yemen stationed in their fort at Habarut opened a heavy fire with mortars and machine guns on the small garrison in the Sultanate fort on the Sultanate side of the border. This criminal attack was started by PDRY forces and had without doubt been carefully prepared. This act of aggression against the Sultanate was totally unprovoked. His Majesty Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman and his government at once informed the member states of the Arab League and the United Nations of this criminal act by the forces of the PDRY. On the orders of the Sultanate government leaflets were dropped on the aggressors warning them that unless they ceased firing immediately heavy retaliatory action would be taken against them. The aggressors however continued to fire at the Sultanate fort. In consequence a series of successful air strikes was made by the Sultan’s Air Force against the PDRY fort and mortar positions. It is known that heavy casualties and severe damage were inflicted on the aggressors. The Sultanate forces in the area’…etc. etc. After the attacks, during a lull in the enemy firing, our forces which had been forced to evacuate the fort, were picked up by helicopter and flown to safety. A few days later, forces from the South Yemen crossed the border and

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SOAF

2 bullet holes in the fin of a Strikemaster.

laid explosives to the Sultanate fort and completely destroyed it. The Sultan was, apparently, absolutely furious. Later intelligence reports indicated that twelve enemy were KIA (Killed in Action) and twenty-five WIA (Wounded in Action), in addition to considerable damage done to the fort and to gun and mortar equipment. On 12 May, I was hit by ground fire for the first time (except for the two hits when flying in the two-seater with Bill Stoker at Habarut). It was only a single small hole, probably a 7.62 round from an AK 47. It was rare that we received feedback from a strike, but again on this strike, intelligence told us that two adoo were KIA and three WIA, and that we had damaged a mortar tube. On this occasion I had fired four Sura rockets and 1,000 rounds of 7.62. On 25 May, an attack on PFLOAG targets in the town of Hawf, across the border in the South Yemen, was ordered by the Sultan in retaliation for the destruction of his fort at Habarut. This was a very political hot potato. The British government had issued orders that no seconded RAF pilots were to cross the border. It was therefore very frustrating for us that only our contract officers were allowed to carry out the attacks. The targets within the town were very specific. These four targets were in a strip which was referred to as ‘alleyway feature’. They were two

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs PFLOAG stores buildings, the front political house and a vehicle parking area. (See the photo which was used for the briefing.) It was thought that a high-level meeting was due to take place in the political house on or around the date of the strike. As I remember, the first attack by Peter Hulme hit the political house with a pair of 540-lb bombs. The photos show the alleyway feature and the results immediately after the first wave of attacks, clearly showing the removal of the political house. Nick Holbrook was flying the standby rescue helicopter during the strike and watching the attacks. I remember his words when he returned, saying, ‘Peter’s bombs went through the roof of the political house’. On 7 June I flew as safety pilot with Charlie Brown (no, not that Charlie Brown) in a Caribou doing resupply to Mainbrace, the airstrip at Op Simba. Mainbrace was on a high cliff-top position near the border with the Yemen and overlooked a narrow thickly vegetated strip between it and the coast. Because the airstrip sometimes came under attack by RCL

Hawf [in the PDRY]. The photo used in the briefing for the Strikemasters attack.

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SOAF

Hawf immediately after the attacks.

Hawf after the attack.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs (Recoilless Launcher) rounds, it was considered prudent to have a second pilot in the cockpit. We made four round trips from Salalah in Caribou 801. The RCL fired a rocket-propelled warhead similar to a mortar round, but the weapon had a range of about 7 km, compared to a typical mortar of about 4 km, and usually fired on a lower trajectory. On 8 June I was not so lucky. During that day I had flown three sorties. The first two to Simba to engage an RCL and a heavy machine-gun firing at Mainbrace. In total I used 2 x 540-lb bombs, 10 Sura and 2,000 rounds of 7.62. The third flight was a scramble to try to locate an enemy RCL group near Salalah, but we failed to spot them and just put down some 7.62 harassing fire. The events of the early evening were a different story.

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Adoo Attack on RAF Salalah

After my three flights on 8 June I was with a group of about ten. It was early evening and was now getting dark. We were enjoying a drink on the patio area, just outside the officers’ mess. The siren sounded warning of a potential adoo attack on the base. It was now too dark to scramble Strikemasters. The siren sounding wasn’t anything unusual, it happened on a fairly regular basis but was normally the result of a mortar or RCL attack on one of the hedgehog defensive positions. However, on this occasion, a few seconds after the siren sounded a 75 mm RCL round crashed into ground just a couple of feet from the edge of the concrete patio on which we were all standing or sitting. The round hit the earth surface just beyond the edge of the patio and beyond a large metal box about 4 feet long and 2 feet deep and wide. This box contained earth and some plants. We were in some ways incredibly lucky, as the earth and this container absorbed a very great deal of the shrapnel from the weapon. There was a seat on the patio side of the container on which Peter Hulme, our OC of SOAF in Salalah, and an RAF air traffic controller, Bill Cooper, were sitting. They both suffered extremely serious leg injuries. The whole area was a scene of horror. Blood and broken glass from the mess windows were all over the patio. A thick smoke reeked of cordite or similar, and injured people were lying on the ground… including myself. One hero of the occasion was our barman, an RAF corporal who I remember was called Geordie. He rushed out of the bar and tended immediately to both Bill Cooper and Peter Hulme, wrapping tea towels around their legs to hold the flesh together to try and slow down the bleeding. Fortunately we had the British Army Field Surgical Team, No. 55 FST, on site, and so Peter and Bill were taken straight there for treatment. Bill had to have one leg amputated. I remember lying next to Taffy Hinchliff, another Strikemaster pilot (and also ex Lightnings), who explained he’d been hit in the leg. In fact he had a neat hole right through a lower leg. I stood up and walked into the bar area

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs and sat on a bar stool. I felt a stinging feeling and assumed I had been hit by a piece of flying glass. I then noticed a hole in my flying suit near my right knee, and my right desert boot was completely soaked in blood – not too surprising, considering the devastation all around, and the blood splashed about. On inspection I discovered a deep square hole, about the size of a postage stamp, just below my right knee cap. On putting my little finger in it, I could feel a piece of metal with my finger nail. I suppose for me it was adoo payback time. Fair enough, I suppose, one shouldn’t be dishing it out if one can’t take it, I guess. I told Bill Bailey, a helicopter pilot who was standing next to me about this, and said perhaps I should walk over to the FST. He said, ‘No way should you walk anywhere, Dave and I will take you on a stretcher. Do not move your leg.’ Dave Duncan was also a heli pilot. I protested that was not necessary, but he insisted and he was absolutely right. In due course we set off, with Bill and Dave carrying me on a stretcher. The FST unit was about 250 yards away, but after we had gone about 100 yards the siren sounded again and more rounds came in, one landing close by and right next to mine and Nobby Grey’s rooms. So the adoo had two goes at me in the space of a few minutes. Shrapnel in my knee and then holes in my bedroom wall. But I was one of the lucky ones. At the hedgehogs, RAF Regiment guys were returning the fire with guns and mortar rounds. It was a very noisy affair. The stretcher was put down and we all lay flat on the ground. I found myself sheltering behind a stone about the size of a football. After a few minutes things subsided and we continued on to the FST tents. These were surrounded by burmails (old 50-gallon oil drums) which were filled with sand and stones and stacked two high for protection from flying shrapnel. I sat in there for some time as the medics were dealing with the seriously injured. After a couple of hours I went for an x-ray in another nearby tent and then sat back on my chair. After a while I started to feel nausea, and hot, cold and sweaty. I realised this was just shock setting in, but I was unable to do anything about it. I obviously looked terrible as someone told me to lie down on a bed that was nearby in an alcove. This I did, but after a couple of minutes a medic came past and asked me if I was there to give blood. I said ‘No’, and he said, ‘Well get off that f***ing bed then.’ I went back to my chair and felt fine from then on. In due course I arrived on the operating table. The anaesthetist, Bill de Bass, gave me a jab and said, ‘I bet you can’t count to ten.’ I got to seven and said, ‘You win.’ The next thing I remember was waking up in a ward with several other wounded, including Mike Tucson, Taffy Hinchliffe and Vin Nadin.

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ADOO ATTACK ON RAF SALALAH

X-Ray of my knee taken in the FST facility, after the RCL attack.

Accommodation building showing the shrapnel damage to the walls of my and Nobby Grey’s rooms.

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The Field Surgical Team (No. 55 FST)

The next few days consisted of painful antibiotic injections in the bum every six hours. Our surgeon, Major Joe Johnson, called in regularly to check our wounds. On one evening he called in with a can of cold beer for each of us. This was extremely welcome and much enjoyed, and he gave me the piece of shrapnel which he had removed from my knee. It had a cross section of about a half an inch by a quarter of an inch and was just over an inch long. It had been very close to causing very severe knee damage, so I owed special thanks to Bill and Dave for stopping me from walking on it. I was instructed not to put any weight on it for at least a month, so crutches were the order of the day for quite a while. Joe took great care to take away the empty cans, and had us promise to not tell the sergeant nurse. After a couple of days, Vin Nadin found a piece of glass stuck in his flesh which he hadn’t so far noticed. He went to the loo, and while using the loo paper he suddenly cried out in pain. We heard it from the ward. He’d cut his fingers on the piece glass which was embedded, very near the centre of action, in his bum. He then came waddling back into the ward like a duck, as he was unable to straighten his right knee, so you can imagine why we all found it hilarious. The FST personnel, Joe Johnson, Bill de Bass and the others had done a fantastic job, working more than twenty-four hours straight and dealing with many severe injuries. We were all of course very grateful, to say the least. After some time we were flown to Masirah, and after a night stop in the medical centre, flown on in an RAF Hercules to Cyprus and the Princess Mary’s RAF Hospital there. After several days, with continued large doses of antibiotics (by now administered orally, thank goodness), we were allowed out to the officers’ mess on RAF Akrotiri air base. After promising we would not return late, on the second evening out we severely misjudged the time. We had been carried away chatting to guys we had known previously, and stopped at a fish and chip van on the way back to the hospital. Also, of course, we were walking very slowly. However, realising the potential trouble we would be in, we had a master plan. On arriving back we tried

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THE FIELD SURGICAL TEAM (NO. 55 FST)

FST [Field Surgical Team] cartoon water colour, by Jack Sullivan.

to sneak into the ward very quietly and unnoticed, but the ward sister on duty saw us. She took us into an office and gave us a good telling off and, as it was the second time we had returned late, said she would inform the air commodore. This sounded like serious trouble. We then employed the master plan. We handed her the fish and chips we’d bought for her. There was silence for several seconds, and then she said, ‘OK just this time, please get into bed now… quietly.’ The master plan had got us off the hook. Eventually, after about two weeks in Cyprus we were flown to the UK, and I started a month’s sick leave at home with my parents The now famous adoo mass attack on Mirbat fort and town east of Salalah took place on 9 July. I was unable to take part, being at my parents’ home and still on crutches after the RCL attack. However, I think it is worth repeating two quotes from SAS Secret War, by Major General Tony Jeapes CB OBE MC: I have made frequent mention of the magnificent support given to the campaign in general by SOAF and a special relationship seemed to develop between the pilots and BATT.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs It went without saying that if an SAS patrol was in trouble, SOAF would come and get them out of it, if it was humanly possible, and quite often when it appeared not to be. And with reference to the adoo attack on Mirbat: Suddenly Chapman saw it, a brown blob streaking towards him at roof top level coming in from the sea, not a helicopter but a Strikemaster. He clicked on his Sarbe radio. ‘Hello Strikemaster this is Tiger four one. Enemy are north and east of the fort, over.’ ‘Roger Tiger four one I have it visual. How far from the fort?’ ‘One hundred metres and closing’, he replied. This was the strike that prevented Kealy and Savesaki from being overrun. Chapman ran back up to the roof of the BATT house and passed the Sarbe to Bradshaw who took over control, directing the jets down the wire towards the fort and on to the enemy heavy support weapons on Jebel Ali. Watching a brave man risk his life produces a breathless feeling almost akin to love. You feel intense admiration combined with an aching fear that his luck would run out. So the two men told me they felt as they watched the jets flying in under the mist straight and level to give greater accuracy to their guns, while the enemy threw up a curtain of machine gun and Kalashnikov fire until the sky seemed an impenetrable mad network of criss-crossing tracer. Then came the ripping sound of the aircrafts’ guns before they pulled up and disappeared into the mist. Some jets were hit but none badly enough to prevent them limping back to Salalah. The Strikemaster pilots involved at Mirbat were Sean Creak, Dave Milne Smith, Nobby Grey and Bill Stoker. For a full description of the events at Mirbat, and the story of SOAF in the Dhofar War, I would recommend the reading of Storm Front, by Rowland White. It’s a great book and tells the story accurately. Back in Stevenage, my mother believed my story that the knee injury was caused by me falling on a broken beer glass in the bar, for which, of course, I got a good telling off. I’m not sure my father believed it, though. I told them the truth after my tour in Oman was over, but in the meantime I was going back there and didn’t want my mother thinking I was in any

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THE FIELD SURGICAL TEAM (NO. 55 FST) kind of danger. I had to take great care of the knee, not putting any strain or weight on it for a few more weeks. But, thanks to the great work of the FST guys, and the excellent after care I had received, I was back in a Strikemaster after only nine weeks from receiving the injury. The second half of August was spent in the north mostly flying the Beaver on short-range transport jobs, visiting Bid Bid, Nizwa and Saiq (a village with a short strip, on the top of the Jebel Akhdar). A new pilot, Flying Officer Mike Stephens, arrived and I took him on two area familiarization flights in a Strikemaster around the north of Oman. I finally returned to Salalah for my next operational sortie on 30 August, flying top cover for a Skyvan going into Mainbrace. The next month saw more attacks on Salalah. On 2 September, a scramble for an RCL attack from the Wadi Jarsis, using 2 x 540-lb bombs; a scramble on 6 September for an attack from the Wadi Thimrin, no weapons used; and on 7 September (my birthday), yet another scramble for an attack from Wadi Jarth, on which I used seven rockets. All these wadis were just north of Salalah, running down north to south to the Salalah plain. We had an intelligence report that the RCL operator

The author in the Strikemaster Squadron’s ‘scramble’ Mini Moke.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

540 lb bomb exploding on Salalah plain, probably in response to an RCL or Katyusha attack.

who had fired on the mess at Salalah on 8 June was killed during one of these subsequent attacks, either by a jet strike or mortar fire from the hedgehogs. On 12 September I took Viv Rowe, an officer on loan from RM, and now with NFR, on a forty-minute low-level Salalah plains recce flight, as he was very interested in trying to figure out the probable adoo firing positions. It was then time for me to head north and do some crop spraying with the Beaver, just for a change, and it would be something new for me. I flew up to Muscat in a Skyvan piloted by Barry West. The plan was that Bob Ponter, one of our contract pilots, and I would use the Beaver to spray date palms with Malathion. Bob was an ex-Fleet Air Arm pilot, and our job would be to test the newly installed Micronair installation which our engineers in the north had fitted to Beaver 216. This installation consisted of two large tanks positioned immediately behind the two pilots’ seats, and an air-driven pump mounted under the floor in the free air stream. A multi-bladed propeller would then drive the pump to provide a suitable

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THE FIELD SURGICAL TEAM (NO. 55 FST) pressure for spraying. On each wing was a Micronair spray unit, which also had a small propeller on it to aid dispersion of the fluid into droplets. Our first job was to do test flights to ensure it all worked and to measure the droplets’ size and spray pattern. By adding or removing small washers in the wing spray units, the droplet size could be adjusted. Also we had to fly at the correct height which turned out to be about 6 feet, or as low as possible. Altogether it took four test flights. Once we had the system set up, we started spraying the date palms. The spray fluid, Malathion, was used to kill the Dubas bug which was causing havoc with the date palm crops. It wasn’t very pleasant stuff, had a sickly smell and acted on the nerve system of the bug. We flew together for the first two flights and then flew solo in turn. We flew several flights spraying the date palms of the Batina Coast, which runs north from the International Airport at Seeb. In fact, we went as far as Khasab on the most northern tip of Oman and sprayed the palms there and at nearby Bukha, and a couple of other locations in the Massendam peninsula. Once, I got a bit low and touched the top of a palm tree. We heard later that the locals who had initially had severe reservations about the spraying were in fact very happy with the results. Not only had the spraying killed most of the bugs, but also most of the flies which were a real pest at times.

Beaver with crop spraying equipment fitted.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs On 11 October I set off from Bait Al Falaj to spray some palms to the south, near to the village of Sur. The propeller on the under-fuselage pump was held stationary, until pressure was needed, by a sort of handbrake device. As I lined up for the first run and released the handbrake, there was a loud pop and the inside of the cockpit was sprayed with Malathion. A hose connected to the tank had disconnected. I reapplied the brake to stop the pump, but it was now necessary to get on the ground as soon as possible. My eyes were stinging and my flying suit was soaked in the stuff. I opened the side window fully for ventilation and looked for a flat bit of wadi. There was a patch which looked maybe OK, so I landed on it. It was a bit rough but the Beaver seemed undamaged. I jumped out and ran a few yards upwind. Soon some people, mostly kids, came running and I asked for water which they quickly produced. By now the fluid was leaking out into the cabin and running down through the fuselage, through the radio bay, and exiting via the hole next to the tailwheel. I rinsed my eyes and the stinging stopped. It took a while for all the fluid to drain away, but by now the tailwheel had sunk into the ground as all around it became a soft muddy patch. I tried to use the HF radio to call ops, but got no joy. The Beaver had a trailing aerial facility which allowed the pilot, by way of a ‘hold to operate’ switch, to wind out a long aerial wire for efficient operation of the radio, and by the same switch the aerial could be wound back in. The original fit included a very small parachute-type of drogue to generate the pull force required to deploy the wire. We didn’t have any of them in SOAF, so a Carlsberg beer can, with the ends removed and a steel pin through it, was used, the drag in the airstream being sufficient to deploy the aerial. So our Beavers each had a beer can dangling under the fuselage. Obviously the aerial could not be used with the aircraft on the ground, and perhaps the Malathion had rendered the set u/s (unserviceable), anyway. So, now what? I couldn’t just stay there. On inspecting the strip of wadi I’d landed on, I thought it would be possible to take-off provided some stones were removed. The growth in the wadi only amounted to large weeds, which would be no problem. I started to clear the stones and soon several of the kids joined in to help. They seemed quite happy and enthusiastic. My flying suit was now getting caked in sand due to the sticky Malathion, and I was somewhat less happy than the children about the situation. In short, the bigger stones were moved away and I explained with difficulty to a young adult that he would have to keep everyone well away from the aeroplane and the strip. The smell of the Malathion was still very strong when I climbed

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THE FIELD SURGICAL TEAM (NO. 55 FST) back in the aircraft. I started the engine, used a lot of power to get the tailwheel out of the hole it was now in, lined up on my new runway and took off. On landing back at Bait Al Falaj I was met by an engineer who was quite alarmed when he saw the state I was in, and the state of the aircraft. The rear fuselage and the tailplane were covered in the sticky fluid and sand. The duty ops officer just said words to the effect of, ‘Where’ve you been, we thought you’d got lost?’ Some support! I went off to have a long shower and throw away the flying suit. It was then decided, on taking medical advice, I would not do any more crop spraying because exposure to any type of nerve agent would be accumulative, so a further risk of exposure would be very unwise. I was also advised to report any signs of after effects. I didn’t notice any. I was happy to be returning to Salalah and the Strikemaster. I would rather be shot at occasionally, from a distance, than sprayed with a nerve agent – and the Strikemasters didn’t smell of Malathion. A week later I was back at Salalah and sitting in the crew room on standby. Another scramble was called to support a patrol near to the Hornbeam line, west of Salalah; I was leading a pair and we were directed onto some adoo who were, by the time we got there, starting to escape to the west along the bed of a steep sided wadi. They had been detected by the SAF patrol which had called for jet support. On given a position in the wadi by the patrol commander, I attacked using just a single rocket as a marker, hoping to be given a correction. I saw no movement during that attack. The response was ‘Good shooting, on target’. We then did some guns strafing further along the wadi if I remember correctly. I later met the army officer who had directed the attack, who came over to our mess and told me that I had actually hit a single adoo who was running down the wadi away from our soldiers. He said it had boosted the soldiers’ morale, as they thought it was tremendously good shooting. Of course, it was just a very lucky shot (or unlucky for the enemy). The soldiers then searched the wadi bottom and found several weapons and some ammunition left behind by the adoo. He then presented me with the AK 47 and leather magazine case which had belonged to the unlucky adoo whom I had hit. The gun had a deep score mark on the butt, probably caused by shrapnel from the rocket, but was otherwise as new. As was the magazine case with four apparently new magazines. So now I had my own AK, with which I practised from time to time on the small arms range we had near to the air traffic control tower.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

My room at RAF Salalah, small but comfortable, with my AK 47 and Browning 9mm.

On 21 October I was one of a pair who were scrambled in support of an operation in the west. I don’t remember the location, but my log book says it was a successful mission in that we received intelligence reports later that a number of enemy were killed in the ensuing attacks. I had used 1 x 540-lb bomb and 4 Sura rockets. On the 23rd I took the new pilot, Mike Stephens, on a top cover flight for a Skyvan going in to OP Simba, which was an ideal way to introduce him to the area as we spent about twenty minutes circling around Sarfait. Also on the 23rd was a Hawkeye strike, and on the 24th I took an SAS officer, Major Kerr, on another top cover flight over Simba. Between 24 October and 1 November was a quiet time, fourteen flights over the nine days without having to use any weapons. On 1 November I flew a Beaver, taking Sheik Issa on a recce flight for his benefit, to the western area. Jeff Harding, one of our contract officers, who had made out the flying programme for that day, labelled it as Operation Gold Watch. The Sheik didn’t say much, but was particularly keen to see certain areas and thanked me for the flight afterwards, but sadly there was no gold watch. On 5 November, in the morning, it was my turn to fly the Beaver on a Hawkeye strike in the Wadi Darbat, to the north-east of Salalah. This was the area from which the large force of adoo had travelled to carry out the attack on Mirbat four months earlier. The interpreter in the back was

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THE FIELD SURGICAL TEAM (NO. 55 FST) not Jack Sullivan as usual, but this time a very experienced Omani soldier and an intelligence officer, Captain Mohammad Suhail. I directed the two Strikemasters onto a cave which was said to contain stores. The jets fired rockets, a couple of which went into the cave mouth. The rest of November was operationally fairly quiet. On the 21st I was one of a pair who flew escort on a SOAF Viscount, flown by Squadron Leader Tony Boardman, into Salalah. The important passenger on board was Sultan Qaboos. But we stayed well clear of the Viscount, as we knew the Sultan was very nervous of flying and not at all keen on being in a close formation. On the 23rd I was in a Beaver, flown by Jeff Harding, on a recce flight near Habarut. Own troops near there reported we were being fired at by a heavy machine gun. We saw nothing, but beat a hasty retreat. Neither of us liked the idea of sitting on top of a tank full of petrol and being fired at with tracer rounds. On the 27th I was tasked with sitting in the back of the Beaver with the rear door removed and holding a very large TV camera filming, for the benefit of an ITV film crew, a pre-planned strike on a target near Simba. The Beaver was flown by Chris Ingle, who did a good job of positioning it so I got a good shot of a 540-lb bomb exploding. I understand the programme was shown on television in the UK. The next day I went north to Muscat, and the day after that flew Beaver 216 to Khasab, for the start of a detachment there which lasted until 20 December. This was to be a very busy period with a backlog of tasks to carry out. There were many short flights carrying various loads between Khasab, Bukha, Dibba, Rawda and Dubai. The trips to Dubai were usually to pick up 900-lbs of fresh food from the cold store there. I was sitting in the aircraft what felt like all day, for nearly every day. On 29 November the OC of Khasab fort asked if we could drop a message in a bottle to HMS Andromeda, which was anchored in the Straits of Hormuz, just a couple of miles offshore north of Khasab. Apparently he had been unable to contact the ship by radio and wanted to suggest they call on a particular frequency. We buzzed the ship and then dropped the bottle with a long streamer attached, and while flying about nearby we saw them launch a small boat to pick it up. Thanks to this flight, OC Khasab was able to contact the ship. Fuel deliveries to Khasab to support the Beaver flights were something to behold. A huge fuel supply ship would stop opposite Khasab Bay and drop 50-gallon barrels of avgas and engine oil into the sea. These would then be floated to the beach and pulled up as far as possible at high tide and held in position there. When the tide went out, a series of wooden planks would be set down on the beach and a 3-tonner driven on them to the position of the barrels. They were then somehow – and I don’t know how – lifted and put

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Above and below: Beaver at Khasab.

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THE FIELD SURGICAL TEAM (NO. 55 FST)

Above left and above right: Author with Beaver at Khasab.

on the 3-tonner, which was then driven back along the planks to dry land, and the fuel and oil drums delivered to the fort. Local soldiers were used to operate the manual pumps for each refuelling of the Beaver. The pilot would pump oil from the large oil drum into small 1-gallon cans and then pour it into the aircraft. This was a regular job as the Pratt and Whitney Wasp consumed quite a lot of oil. The filler nozzle was in the cockpit, just to the right of the centre line, next to the feet of the front-right seat passenger. The normal fuel filler for the underfloor tanks was in the fuselage side just to the rear of the left-side front door. If the wing tanks were required to be filled, then the fuel had to be poured in to the filler nozzles on the top of each wing. It was rare that it was necessary to fill the wing tanks. At the end of one flight from Khasab to Bait Al Falaj (and I don’t remember which flight or the date, as the details are not in my log book), I was informed by an Airwork Services engineer about an hour after landing that a rather large scorpion had been found under the pilot’s seat. Fortunately the engineer who discovered it was not stung by it, as a sting from a reasonable-sized scorpion could be quite severe, but it seems I had had a stowaway on board, and not far from my feet, for quite some time. It was lucky for me that it decided to ‘sit back, relax and enjoy the flight’.

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Medevac

While at Khasab, I was informed of a serious medical situation. A woman, living in a village near to an airstrip called Lima on the east coast of the peninsula, was in urgent need of medical attention due to severe complications with her pregnancy. Basically her life, and that of her baby, were in great danger if she didn’t get immediate professional medical attention. She needed to be evacuated and transferred to a hospital, and it was very urgent. The only hospital within a reasonable distance was in Dubai. In normal circumstances the plan would have been to evacuate the lady by boat to Khasab, and then fly her to Dubai. Unfortunately the weather and sea state were so bad that getting a boat ashore and away again was deemed to be impossible. I was requested to consider using the Beaver to pick her up. The complication was that the airstrip at Lima had been declared by CSOAF (Commander SOAF) as not to be used as it was too short and the approach and departure were too dangerous. It was quite a dilemma. I decided to get airborne and take a look at the strip which I wasn’t familiar with, and took along a local army officer. I overflew the strip and decided it was probably OK to land. It was long enough for a landing but I wasn’t sure, having safely arrived, that it would be long enough for a take-off. Even on the landing run I remember the propeller chopping up a small bush halfway along the runway and in the middle of it. I was concerned about the take-off, as the departure end of the runway had a stone wall across it. It was only about 3 feet high, but catching a wheel on it would, of course, be disastrous. Having arrived, the local officer sought out the lady and her friends, brought them to the strip and announced we were going to take her to a hospital. In the meantime I was inspecting the strip and hoping it would be firm and long enough for a take-off. I wasn’t at all sure. I calculated the amount of fuel required to reach Dubai and decided to drain off the excess. On finally getting the lady on board I explained that I could not risk

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MEDEVAC taking any extra weight. This caused quite a fuss as her friend (or family member) insisted on going with her. My local officer tried to explain about the take-off and the weight problem, but of course it didn’t really register. I insisted, and eventually I took off having left behind my local officer, and just the pregnant lady and myself set off for Dubai. The take-off was OK, but not by much. As we approached Dubai, by now it was just becoming dark, I informed air traffic control of the lady’s medical situation. Their response was absolutely as one would have hoped. As I touched down on the main runway an ambulance appeared. I was asked to stop on the runway while the patient was transferred to it and taken away. I never saw her again. She must have been a very frightened lady on that flight. It was possibly the first time she had seen an aeroplane, and was taken away in it by a stranger, and a male foreigner at that. I never had any feedback, but I hope all turned out well for her and her baby. I stopped in Dubai overnight and returned direct to Khasab the next day. In the meantime, I was probably in trouble with CSOAF for using Lima strip. Over the next two days I flew ten short flights and returned to Muscat on 21 December. By then I had flown, in three and a half weeks, 76 hours and done 194 landings, an average of about 7.7 flights a day, and a lot of time in the cockpit each day. I heard nothing from CSOAF so, luckily, he probably didn’t get to know of the flight. I avoided putting the details in my log book.

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Operation Sycamore

I was still in Khasab flying the Beaver during Operation Sycamore in December, so I wasn’t involved myself but the squadron was busy. I will repeat here part of one of the reports from the army headquarters. Recent SEPs were taken up in our light aircraft over the area and accurately pointed out five known enemy locations of camps and stores areas. When our jets engaged these areas with bombs and rockets, heavy small arms fire was returned from two of them. Groups of the enemy ran in panic; two who tried to escape our fire by climbing a tree were doubtless seriously injured when a rocket totally destroyed their hiding place. So bring out your chiefs and surrender Makes no odds if you fights or you runs You may do all you please; you may even climb trees But you can’t get away from the guns Kipling (or jets, as it happens) January started quietly for a few days, but we had Hawkeye strikes in the eastern sector on the 6th and 10th, and on the 11th we had a scramble for a group of twenty-five adoo seen by one of our patrols, in the Wadi Darbat. They were in no position to attack the adoo and believed the enemy had a heavy machine gun, so they called for jets. We both engaged the target position as directed by own troops. We didn’t see any enemy but I used both bombs and all my rockets. On the 13th I led a three-aircraft formation on a pre-planned strike in the Wadi Shabon, near Mirbat (that’s all my log book says, and I don’t remember the details). On 15 January I was flying as safety pilot in a Skyvan with Barrie Williams, on a resupply of Mainbrace. Barrie was an ex-Royal Navy Fleet

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OPERATION SYCAMORE

Wadi Darbat, NE of Salalah, looking south towards Taqa.

Air Arm pilot, who had been on our Strikemaster squadron. Unfortunately he was hit by ground fire while attacking some enemy on the Salalah plain. The bullet went through a fuel line and the engine flamed out. He had ejected, but hurt his back and was no longer able to fly on an ejection seat. On this flight we were hit by an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun. Fortunately it just made a rather large hole but didn’t take out any systems. The Skyvan, much like the Strikemaster, was pretty much all empty space inside – a very good feature when a lot of bullets are flying about.

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SNV Nasr Al Bahr

The Sultan’s naval vessel, Nasr Al Bahr, regularly patrolled along the coastline from near the border with the PDRY and up to 40 miles to the east. The vessel was a wooden dhow and carried only small arms and a light machine gun. On 27 January it was in a position about 15 km east of the PDRY border and about 5 km offshore. The coast here consisted of a narrow strip of low-lying land, varying between 2 and 5 km wide. The backdrop was a gentle slope, typically 1 km wide, and then with very steep high cliffs beyond. The terrain between the sea and the cliff face was very rugged, with thick vegetation and many large rocks and boulders. This narrow strip was the main adoo supply route. SNV Nasr Al Bahr was patrolling and using binoculars in an attempt to spot enemy using the route. They were 5 km offshore to be out of range of adoo mortar and machine-gun fire. On board was Jack Sullivan, who often went along on these patrols. On this day, an adoo RCL team tried to engage the boat and fired several rounds, but without hitting it. An RCL had a range of about 7 km, so the enemy presumably thought the dhow was in range. Jack spotted the firing position because of the flash and smoke generated during the launch, and decided it was worthwhile calling in a Strikemaster. I was airborne at the time and was instructed to call the boat. On arriving in the area, I contacted the vessel and spoke with Jack. He passed a grid reference, so I was able to locate the position, which was on the rising ground at the foot of the high cliffs. I flew low over the boat and attacked in level flight, firing a single marker rocket. I was then given a correction on the impact point, and on the next attack which was now a 20-degree dive, fired several more rockets and then strafed the target area with the GPMGs. It was impossible to see the target because of the many large rocks amongst which the adoo and their gun would be positioned. Although I had plastered the target position, it was quite possible that the enemy suffered no casualties or damage due to the protection available. A couple of weeks later Jack walked into our crew room and handed me the watercolour painting which he had done, depicting the engagement.

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SNV NASR AL BAHR

Water colour by Jack depicting myself supporting the Sultan’s Navy boat, Nasr al Bahr, by attacking an adoo RCL location, which had fired at the vessel. Jack was on board the boat, and directed the strike.

Three days after the RCL firing at the sultan’s dhow, there was another RCL attack on Salalah. I was on standby in the crew room so ran out to my Strikemaster, which was all checked, cocked and ready to go. It was a scary feeling. When the siren sounded others were taking cover, but the two standby strike pilots would have to get airborne as soon as possible. I felt very vulnerable, and quite scared, until getting safely off the ground. I suppose this was partly due to having previously collected a piece of shrapnel. On this occasion we were unable to determine the adoo position, so again had to just put down some harassing machine-gun fire on a couple of best-guess locations. The RCL rounds caused no casualties or damage, so the report would read: ‘nil casdam’.

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Wolf Patrol

On 5 February I was returning from a strike in the west and had used up my rockets and emptied the guns. I received an urgent request, via Salalah ATC, to go to the aid of Wolf Patrol, who were on the jebel to the north-east of Salalah. Wolf Patrol was a group of SAS positioned on the eastern banks of a wadi running north to south. This wadi was shallow, with sloping grass-covered banks and with a few well spread-out bushes and the very occasional tree (not the deep rock and stone type of wadi found more often to the west of Salalah). Wolf Patrol was trapped behind a rocky outcrop by a small group of adoo, who were across the wadi to the west and were also hiding behind some rocks, and a large bush or tree. It was mid-afternoon and the SAS patrol was unable to move, as a retreat up the hillside away from the enemy would put them in live ground (i.e. open to enemy gunfire). When night came they would be able to move away, but their main concern was the adoo bringing up an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) launcher, or mortar unit, in which case their position would be dire. I called them and they conveyed this information and described their exact position, along with that of the adoo. The precise adoo location was easily determined due to a very isolated and distinctive tree right in front of their position. I called SOAF Ops for another Strikemaster. In the meantime I explained that I only had 540-lb bombs and their position was too close to the target to use them safely. They asked me to go ahead and use the bombs as they had good protection from any shrapnel due to the rocks they were sheltering behind. I was impressed by their confidence in my bombing skills. I was then called by SOAF Ops to say no Strikemaster was immediately available for Wolf, as all were busy in the west. I decided to go ahead, and chose an attack direction of north to reduce the chances of hitting own troops, as the likely azimuth error when free-fall bombing in a 30 degree dive was less than the likely forward-throw error. The Strikemaster had just a fixed sight and no radio altimeter. The forwardthrow accuracy was very much dependent on releasing the weapon from the

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WOLF PATROL correct height above target. This was always an estimate as our altimeter indicated only height above sea level, so we needed to estimate the height of the target above sea level and allow for that when aiming the bomb or bombs, hence the chance of a significant error. I selected one bomb and chose an aiming point very slightly to the west of the enemy, to increase the safety margin for our guys. After bomb release and during the pull-out from the dive I called, ‘Keep your heads down,’ and felt the usual thump of the shockwave during the climb, after the bomb went off. On circling after the attack I saw there was the usual large mushroom cloud drifting and slowly expanding, so I was not immediately able to see the exact impact point. The cloud covered both the adoo and the SAS positions. I called Wolf several times, but got no answer. This was a worry. Eventually, I was mightily relieved to hear, ‘All good, on target, on target.’ I asked if they needed another attack but was very happy to hear that it wouldn’t be necessary. I heard some time afterwards that their initial lack of radio response had been due to the radio operator being temporarily deafened by the bomb explosion. A week later they were due to leave Oman at the end of their tour, and along with other BATT threw a drinks party, to which all SOAF pilots at Salalah were invited. During the party a young SAS trooper came up to me and said, ‘Are you the pilot who dropped the bomb near to Wolf Patrol five days ago?’ I risked saying, ‘Yes’. His reply was something like, ‘Thanks, you got us out of the s**t, here’s my helmet as a thank you. Your bomb got them all, we think there were five of them.’

Invite from an SAS detachment to drinks on the evening before their return to the UK.

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South of Manston

On 6 February I was scrambled as a single jet in the only Strikemaster available. A patrol of the Jebel Regiment was in serious trouble. The group had moved south out of Manston, a position about 40 miles west of Salalah, towards the tree line. They had come under heavy fire from guns and a mortar. Unfortunately they were not able to move forward due to lack of cover, and although in reasonable cover at the moment, were not able to retreat either. On arriving overhead, I was quickly briefed on the situation by the company two i/c, Captain Mike Austin. His company commander, Major Paul Wright, had been killed by shrapnel from a mortar round, and Mike was now in charge. He desperately needed attacks on the enemy positions to keep their heads down while he pulled his company back to the north, as they would have to cover open ground. South of their position by about 3 km, and near the tree line, there were about ten stone sangers. He thought the enemy might be using these sangers, but also that some of them might be in the tree line. I had only rockets and guns. First I fired my rockets in a long line inside the front edge of the tree line, which was effectively right on the edge of the escarpment. I then decided to go down very low and strafe the sangers with my GPMGs. Being very low on the strafing runs was more hazardous, and was not the usual method of attack, but I knew it would be far more effective in keeping heads down. I thought the serious situation the guys were in justified the extra risk. I made several passes and sprayed the sangers with lots of 7.62. I knew I would probably not hit any adoo as they only had to hide behind a sanger as they saw me approaching. It would have been better if there had been two of us attacking from different directions simultaneously. On this occasion, it only mattered that I could keep the adoo heads down and hopefully stop them firing effectively at our chaps. I picked up a couple of bullet holes (on the second attack, I think), but the attacks seemed to work and the patrol was able to start moving back. I was

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SOUTH OF MANSTON then relieved by Nobby Grey in another single jet, and he carried on the support until the patrol had recovered to a safe position. Back at Salalah we heard that, thankfully, the Jebel Regiment had suffered no further casualties during its withdrawal. I found I had collected two holes in my aircraft, but whether they were from enemy fire or ricochets from my own fire due to strafing at very low level, I didn’t know. My log book for the day shows I flew two sorties in support of that Jebel Regiment operation. On the first, using 2 x 540-lb bombs, 12 Sura rockets and 1,000 rounds of 7.62, and on the second, after the scramble, 10 rockets and 1,000 rounds. After this operation Major Paul Wright was awarded The Sultan of Oman’s Gallantry Medal (posthumous), and Captain, now Major, Mike Austin was awarded The Sultan of Oman’s Bravery Medal [WB]. Sometime later, back at Um Al Gwarif, Jack Sullivan was talking to Mike who had taken over, who said, ‘Russ was flying so low, I thought he was trying to hit the adoo with his wings.’ This was a slight exaggeration, but Jack again painted a watercolour depicting the action based on those words and presented it to me. It was destined not to be the last watercolour he would give me.

Water colour by Jack depicting action south of location Manston, west of Salalah.

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Strikemaster Bomb Aiming

A note for those unfamiliar with, but interested in, the technique of dive bombing with just a fixed sight. The basis for the delivery we used in SOAF, with the Strikemaster’s fixed sight, was achieving an accurate 30-degree dive and release airspeed of 300 knots. In addition it was required to have the sighting index on the target at the correct height at the release point. So the basic problem for the pilot was to achieve all these parameters, which would all be changing (apart from the dive angle), during the dive. The technique was to roll into a dive from 5,000 feet above the target, with airspeed about 250 knots, and then drift the aiming index in the sight across the ground for it to reach the target as the aircraft reached 2,500 feet above the target level and the airspeed reached 300 knots. Not easy to achieve, even in nil wind conditions. Complications arose for several reasons. Let’s consider the effect of any wind. A cross wind would have to be countered by tracking the aircraft over the target, not just pointing the nose in line with it. Also, any tailwind or headwind component would have to be countered by either a slightly early or slightly late release. A further source of error was the question of height above target. Although we had very accurate and detailed maps in terms of plan form, we had very little information of actual terrain height above sea level. Without a radar altimeter, our altimeter always read height above sea level, and not above the ground below the aircraft. Therefore, if we thought the target was about 700 feet above sea level, then we would roll into the dive from 5,700 feet and plan to release at 3,200 feet. Small late corrections could be made, for example by releasing slightly before the aiming index reached the target if it was noticed that the airspeed was too great. On top of these problems, while all the above was difficult enough on a nice peaceful bombing range, for most of us it became more difficult to do the necessary mental gymnastics when seeing tracer fire passing the cockpit.

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Iranians

We had quite a surprise on 15 February. An Iranian C 130 Hercules arrived unannounced at Salalah. Air traffic control were not expecting it, and the SOAF detachment at Salalah were not pre-warned of its arrival either. It was to be the start of the Iranian assistance in the war. Apparently the Sultan had arranged this with the Shah, and not bothered to tell his own military in advance. The first Hercules was one of many more flights bringing in engineers, ground crew and six AB 205 helicopters. Further flights in due course brought in troops, in total approximately 800. They were initially self-sufficient, with tents and portable cabin-type accommodation. It was very apparent that they were well equipped, and in that respect, were well prepared for the deployment. Their engineers were very quick to put the helicopters back together. To give them their due, they worked hard and long hours to get them flying and air tested. They were available for tasking very soon after their arrival. The helicopters were from a special forces helicopter unit, and the ground troops were also special forces soldiers. However, we were soon to learn that their standards were nowhere near what one would expect from such units. Their ground troops soon deployed onto the jebel, where they would cause havoc and confusion on many occasions; firing on own troops happened far too frequently, even firing on their own forces. It seemed their training was for fighting large-scale pitched battles, using overwhelming force to defeat the enemy. Unfortunately the war they were about to be involved in was just not that sort of fight, it needed more subtle tactics. The Iranian pilots and engineers I met were easy to get along with. I became quite good friends with the helicopter engineering officer. He was about my age, 27, and came from Isfahan. He later invited me to visit him and his family and to stay with them. It was a generous gesture and I regret that I never got around to taking him up on the offer.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs By now Squadron Leader John Merry had taken over from Bill Stoker as OC No. 1 Squadron, as Bill had reached the end of his tour and returned to the UK. So it was time for a squadron photograph. I was again hit by ground fire on 8 March, it was only a single 7.62 round, and probably from an AK 47 or SKS. An RCL round had landed on the airfield. The hedgehogs were helping by often keeping the attacks down to one round. Using the ZB 298, the RAF Regiment were able to very accurately locate the firing location if the adoo stayed around to fire several shots. They knew they had to get away smartly after firing just one or two rounds. On this occasion we were given a location which the hedgehogs were confident was reasonably accurate, so I dropped two bombs and fired all twelve rockets. On recovery from the dive from the last rocket attack, I felt the thump of a hit. The bullet had penetrated the starboard wing and caused a leak. If the bullet went into the fuel tank, but not all the way through the wing, then the tank would remain pressurised. That would cause the

1 Sqn pilots, left to right: Dave Clough, CO Sqn Ldr John Merry, Chris Ingle, Bobby Mason, Nick Rusling, John Wools, Martin Chipp, Nev Whittaker, Russ Peart, Sean Creak, and his dog, Spoon.

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IRANIANS leak to be at a much higher rate than if it had gone all the way through, as that would have depressurised the tank in that wing. The result in that case would be the fuel level in the wing that was not hit would go down first, as the depressurised tank would stop feeding the engine. This time the bullet had gone into the wing from the underneath, but not exited through the top, so the fuel was streaming out from the starboard wing. As I returned to the circuit to land, an Airwork Services engineer, Andy Dunsire, took a photo of the aircraft showing the fuel streaming out of the wing. Early in April, three positions were established on the jebel to the north of Salalah, overlooking the plain. This was in an effort to stop the attacks on the airfield. The positions were called Diana 1, 2 and 3. The officer running them was Major Hector Gullan a BATT officer. The positions came under fire almost immediately the adoo realised they were there. Our aircraft were scrambled quite regularly during April, as the positions were being engaged by a .5 inch medium machine gun (a Russian Shpagin), and 82 mm mortar fire. Between mid-April and the end of May I flew eight top-cover sorties and seven scrambles to support the Dianas. Many more were flown by the

Strikemaster with bullet hole in the wing.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs other members of the squadron, and it was obvious the enemy were not at all happy with those positions being in place. On one occasion I was doing an air test on a Strikemaster after it came out of a routine servicing. The aircraft was unarmed, and just as I finished the testing I received a call from Hector. His position on Diana 1 had come under fire from a ridge 1 km or so to the north. I explained I had no weapons on board but would take a look from a couple of thousand feet. I saw nothing, as expected, but decided to do a few aerobatics at a good safe altitude above the enemy’s suspected position. A couple of loops, a barrel roll, a slow roll and perhaps a horizontal eight. I heard later, from Hector, that the aerobatic show had done wonders for the morale of the local Omani soldiers. Apparently they jumped up and down shouting and cheering, as they saw it as raising two fingers to the adoo. Occasionally we were asked to drop psyops leaflets over the jebel from the Beaver. These were normally in the central and eastern areas, and were designed to encourage some of the less die-hard adoo to surrender. They were promised good treatment and that promise was always honoured. On 17 May we were visited in SOAF Ops by Group Captain Erik Bennett, my old OC Ops Wing at Tengah, when I was on No. 74 Squadron. A few

A psyops leaflet, as dropped from the Beaver.

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IRANIANS

A Psyops leaflet. The message is clear.

weeks earlier, while I was on leave, he had invited myself, and a current girlfriend, to dinner and stay over. At the time he was OC the air defence radar station RAF Boulmer, on the coast of north-east England. During and after dinner he had quizzed me on many aspects of SOAF. Obviously he was very interested in being involved. He surprised some of our officers by chatting away with the local Omanis in fluent Arabic (in the past he had served in Jordan and was a friend of King Hussein). When I asked the purpose of his visit, his reply was, ‘I think you know the answer to that question.’ I could certainly have made a guess, and I would have been correct. He was due to travel to Midway and then fly back to the north from there. I offered to take him in a Strikemaster via a recce and area familiarization flight to the west including Op Simba. He jumped at the chance and we flew a recce as far as Simba and Habarut, and then I delivered him safely to Midway. In due course he became CSOAF, and we would meet again. It was my turn to do some time in the north, and on 29 May I flew a Beaver, along with Nick Rusling, another Strikemaster pilot, up to Seeb via a stop in Masirah.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs On 12 June I was tasked to take CSAF (Commander Sultan’s Armed Forces) General Creasy and his aide in the Beaver to Ibri, then Nizwa and return to Bait Al Falaj. All was routine until the return flight. While flying back over the Jebel Akhdar mountains, I was forced to climb to 12,000 feet by the presence of some very large cumulus clouds. Strictly speaking, one should not go above 10,000 feet without breathing oxygen. When I looked over my shoulder I saw the general dozing and looking quite pale, with a possible tinge of blue! His aide was fine. I got down to low level as soon as possible, and fortunately the general woke up as we landed and didn’t show any after effects. I didn’t mention anything about breaking the rules on altitude. The following day I received an urgent call from SAF HQ, requesting a very urgent flight to Abu Dhabi. The task was to take an intelligence officer, Colonel Nightingale, as quickly as possible. I called the engineers to get the two-seater Strikemaster ready and quickly briefed the colonel on the safety aspects, ejection seat etc., and we set off. This must have been something serious because as we raced across the desert at about 500 feet, he asked me to fly as fast as possible. On landing at Abu Dhabi, he said not to wait for him as he jumped out and into a waiting car. I refuelled, and flew solo back to Seeb. I never found out what the problem was or why it was so urgent. I was due to return south, and on 2 July I flew a Strikemaster with Neville Baker in the other seat to Salalah, via a stop at Masirah. On 7 July I was flying as number two to Jeff Harding. We spotted a camel train, which appeared to Jeff (using binoculars) to be loaded. We tipped in to attack. An attack on camels was something I really hated doing, in fact we all did. It was necessary as it was the main method of resupply of ammunition and stores for the adoo. I was to provide covering fire with guns only. As we dived we both saw several adoo running and escaping into bushes. During pulling out from the dive, I felt a hit from small arms. I was leaking fuel from one wing, so returned to Salalah. Jeff came along with me. It was a slow leak, so was no problem. Two days later, Mike Drybanski was not so lucky. While flying as number two to Taffy Hinchliff, he crashed into the ground about 20 miles west of Salalah. It was assumed he had been shot down. Taff saw the aircraft as it slid along the ground in flames. He immediately called for a rescue helicopter and Strikemaster top cover. I was scrambled and arrived on the scene just as Taff was forced to leave due to fuel state. I spotted the downed aircraft and began circling at 3,000 feet as I waited for the helicopter. The helicopter, flown by Colin Hardy with crewman Stan Standford, arrived and immediately descended to attempt a rescue. I descended also

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IRANIANS to about 300 feet and circled the chopper to put off any nearby adoo. As I passed to the south of the site I felt a hit from small arms fire. I told Colin that there were adoo nearby. He asked how I knew, I replied, “I’ve just been hit and they are to the south of you.” Meanwhile, very bravely, Stan was going down on the wire. On the next orbit I fired four Sura rockets, spread out along the ridge from where I thought the small arms fire might have come, and then strafed the ridge with the guns on the next pass – all to keep heads down and distract the adoo from shooting at the helicopter. Stan returned up to the heli and then Colin told me… that Mike Drybanski was definitely dead, and Stan was unable to get him from the cockpit. We all returned to Salalah. It was a very sad day. I think Stan should have been recommended for the Sultan’s Bravery Medal for his actions in trying to rescue Mike. He must have felt extremely vulnerable hanging on the wire under the helicopter. Six days later, on 15 July, I was one of a pair. We flew top cover for one of our AB 205 helicopters that had been forced to land by a technical problem.

AB 205 helicopter arriving at an artillery position near Raysut.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs Airwork Services engineers were flown to it by a second helicopter and worked on it to fix the problem. Eventually, it was able to take-off and fly back to Salalah. On 23 September I led a 6 a/c pre-planned strike on Jinni. Intelligence had reports of an important meeting of senior adoo commanders, so we gave it a lot. I used 2 bombs, 12 rockets and 600 rounds of 7.62. A month later we did another pre-planned strike against the enemy stores caves at Shershiti. This was considered a difficult target as the mouths of the caves were partly protected by large boulders. The chances of damaging any of the stores was considered to be slim. On this occasion, intelligence reports detailed a loaded camel train being due there. Perhaps there would be more than the usual number of adoo present, so it was decided a strike was worthwhile. Because the target was mostly caves we took three aircraft loaded with rockets only. One carried two bombs to drop on the cliff top immediately above the caves, as that was the likely position of a defensive lookout post. All the rockets were aimed at the four cave entrances. I fired twenty-eight rockets and saw some go into two of the caves. We saw no movement and returned to Salalah. That month of October I flew forty-five hours, including Beaver flights, and used bombs or rockets on fifteen strikes. On the last day of the month I picked up three bullet holes on a pre-planned strike in the west, but I don’t remember any of the details of it. Returning from a trip out to Raysut with Nick Holbrook in an open-top Landrover, it was late in the afternoon and we were approaching the base, RAF Salalah, with a few hundred yards to go. I heard a loud crackling sound above my head. Nick shouted that we were being shot at! It was the shock waves from supersonic bullets. I hadn’t realised what it was as quickly as Nick did, well after all he used to be a ground pounder with the gunners before he transferred to flying helicopters. At the same time he floored the accelerator, which made little difference to the speed but made the Landrover jump about a bit more on the rough surface. I looked around for adoo, but saw nothing, not even any likely cover behind which someone could have been hiding. Then, crackling again, about another one or oneand-a-half-second burst. We kept going and reached the base OK without any further shooting. We, of course, reported it. The outcome was that it was one of our base guards, newly arrived. Whether he was a fool or badly briefed (or both), I don’t know. Or whether he was trying to hit us, in which case he was a bad shot, or just firing warning shots. We didn’t follow it up, but were told he’d been dealt with. Previously the only bullets I’d heard fired at me were the ones that hit my aircraft.

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IRANIANS While flying the Beaver back from a short transport task to the west of Salalah, probably from Mudhai, I was contacted by SOAF Ops Salalah on HF and asked to call Golf 19, a 5.5-inch gun position. It seemed I was in a position to give artillery direction. After contacting Golf 19, I was passed a grid reference for a target which apparently was in urgent need of being engaged by the 5.5-inch gun. (Later I learned that intelligence had just found out that a meeting of senior adoo leaders was scheduled to take place at exactly that time at that location, which was actually a waterhole.) Up to then I had had no training in artillery direction, which soon became evident. The r/t exchange went something like: ‘Golf 19 this is SOAF Beaver.’ ‘SOAF Beaver this is Golf 19 I read you over.’ ‘Golf 19 SOAF Beaver loud and clear also, go ahead.’ ‘Beaver, Golf 19 fire mission, direction GT, over.’ ‘19 Roger go ahead.’ ‘Beaver 19 target grid reference [6 figure reference passed].’ A delay while I identified the position on the ground, ‘19 Beaver roger, I have the target grid ref. in sight, go ahead.’ ‘Beaver 19 shutover.’ ‘19, Beaver, say again.’ ‘Beaver, 19 shutover.’ ‘19, Beaver, sorry I don’t understand your last.’ ‘Beaver 19, It means I’ve fired the f***ing gun, over.’ ‘Ah, roger 19, I understand that.’ The next call was ‘Beaver 19 splash, over.’ I didn’t understand the meaning of splash, but never mind. The shell landed about 200 yards from the reference point, so I tried to direct the next round by saying something like, ‘19 from Beaver, add 180 yards and go left 30 yards.’ There was a silence for a while and then, ‘Beaver 19, Shotover means I’ve fired another one.’ Again he called splash and I observed the impact, again I made a small correction and the process was repeated. This time the shell landed more or less on the given grid reference, so I told Golf 19 it was on target. He then called, ‘Beaver, Golf 19 firing for effect, and thanks for the help, over.’ I then made sure I did not fly on a line between the gun and the target as 19 launched off about a dozen rounds, I stayed behind to watch, and all landed on or very close to the grid reference.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs By then I realised that shutover was actually, ‘shot, over’ said very quickly, and as one word. It seems obvious now. ‘Splash’ was actually a warning to the observer of five seconds to shell landing. Direction GT meant that I should give corrections with reference to the gun to target line. At least I got that right, it was probably the only thing I got right. I later took a lesson from Nick Holbrook of the helicopter squadron. He was a fully trained artillery directing expert. Apparently I had corrected the fire sort of OK, but certainly not by the recommended method. It seems the correct method, in a nutshell, was to first obtain a bracket on the target, e.g. if the first shot is long then make sure the correction given makes the second one short. From then on each correction is to be half of the previous one, in the appropriate direction. For example, correction 400 metres is always followed by 200 m and then 100 m etc. Only the appropriate direction needs to be decided… that is add or drop. In this way a hit can be assured with a maximum of five shots, and usually less. The next call is then… ‘fire for effect’. One morning approaching lunchtime we were asked by our ops officer, Doug Dargie, if we could provide a Beaver to take a nurse up to an oil exploration camp about 150 miles to the north, way out in the desert. The nurse would almost certainly be a local Omani soldier. It was required because a worker at the camp had suffered a crushed hand. I said it could be done, volunteered to do it myself and proceeded to request the engineers to prepare the Beaver with the necessary fuel load. I then gathered some emergency survival stuff, consisting of a parachute (an old one for providing shade), two jerry cans of drinking water, two SARBE beacons (search and rescue radio beacons), an SLR rifle and extra magazines and my own AK 47 with its case of four extra magazines, and chucked it all in the back of the Beaver. There was very little chance of the weapons being needed, even if we did have an engine failure and were forced to land out in the desert. But we might well need the parachute and the water, and definitely a SARBE. Better to be over, rather than under, prepared. An hour or so later, the nurse arrived. She was an extremely attractive blonde English civilian lady, quite a rarity in Southern Oman at that time. She introduced herself as Robin. I decided to quickly get on with the job of getting airborne and on our way. Had our boss been aware of my passenger at this stage, he might well have decided to do the task himself. After takeoff we circled overhead Salalah, climbing to about 4,000 feet to be above small arms range before crossing the jebel and heading out past Midway. The main challenge on the flight was the navigation. A road led north for

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IRANIANS the first part, but when it turned away it was a case of flying over quite a distance of almost featureless desert. The maps showed the outlines of very wide and very shallow wadis, but depending on the angle of the sun at the time, compared to the angle of the sun when the aerial photos, from which the maps were drawn, were taken, depended the ease of interpreting one’s position. Sometimes it was very easy, but sometimes it seemed almost impossible. During the flight Robin told me she was the wife of a Taylor Woodrow employee, based in Salalah town. We found the said oil camp, which had a graded landing strip, and were met with a welcome cup of coffee. Their accommodation consisted of portacabins which were well fitted out, and seemed very comfortable, complete with air conditioning of course. Robin attended to the injured man and decided he didn’t need to be flown back to Salalah, as the oil company Skyvan resupply aircraft was due in a couple of days time, and if necessary he could be evacuated on that, but probably that would not be required either. We were well treated to a lovely dinner and I particularly remember the strawberries and ice cream, quite a luxury for a SOAF pilot. It seemed the oil company really looked after its employees very well. It was now too late to return to Salalah that day, as the airfield would probably not be open after dark. The following day we flew back without incident. During the flight Robin informed me that her young son was out at Salalah staying with them for a couple of weeks during the school holidays, and that he would love to have a flight in one of our aircraft. It would be the highlight of his visit if it could be arranged, and would be something he could tell all his friends about, back in the UK. What could I say? A Strikemaster flight was of course out of the question, but I arranged to take him and his mum for a trip in the Beaver a few days later. We stuck to the coastline, hopefully away from any threats, and we saw Mirbat, Taqa, Salalah town and Raysut, and did a couple of touch-and-go landings before stopping. I hope he enjoyed it. The Beaver was a very valuable asset, as it could do short-range transport tasks whenever the location had a runway or dirt strip, thus saving many very valuable helicopter hours. The Beaver only required a very simple service every sixty hours of flying time, whereas the helicopters required a great deal of servicing. For serious and urgent medical situations a helicopter would be used, as this invariably meant a quicker transit to the FST and it could carry a stretcher. So for minor injuries and for walking casualties, or for a dead body the Beaver was more appropriate. On one task, to recover a dead soldier who had stepped on an antipersonnel mine, I flew the Beaver to Mudhai, about 20 miles to the

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs north-west of Salalah. On arrival, I kept the engine running and the body, in a zipped up black plastic body bag, was placed in the back of the aircraft. I was beginning to taxi back to the runway when I was waved to a stop. A soldier appeared at my door and indicated I should open my window. This I did, and he promptly passed me a foot. It was very gnarled, in pretty poor condition generally and had tendons and such hanging out from the ankle. Not very pleasant. I chucked it over my shoulder, it landed on the body bag and I flew back to Salalah. 1st of November brought a scramble for a Katyusha rocket attack on the base. The round landed in the middle of the airfield, well away from the aircraft, but it made an enormous bang and threw up a large cloud of smoke and sand. Again, it was scary running out to scramble and wondering if there was another coming. Thankfully, it was just the one. Once we were airborne a position was passed to us and I used two bombs and four rockets on that estimated launch position and a likely escape route, but as expected, didn’t see any sign of the adoo. On the night of 11 November I flew Beaver 213, along with Bruce Handyside a helicopter pilot, directing the 5.5-inch gun onto a position at Bisreen. This time I knew more about artillery directing.

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A Visit to Op Simba

On 14 November I took the opportunity to go to Mainbrace, which included the chance to stay a night at Yellow 2, one of the positions on the Yardarm feature. This was a ridge running east-west, across a steep but narrow wadi, just to the north of the main centre of Mainbrace and the landing strip. There were several fortified positions on the ridge, basically sangers that were substantially built with very thick walls and roof. They were named: Yellow 1, Yellow 2 etc. I was delivered directly to Yellow 2 by Neville Baker in an AB 205. He didn’t stop due to a contact with the adoo going on, but flew at walking pace at 3 or 4 feet above the ground and I jumped out with my pack. The parachute landing technique was useful, and I got away with just a few bruises. The officer at the location looked after me well. He pointed out the ridge to the north from which he often received sniper fire, and I was allowed to fire a few short bursts from the LMG (Light Machine Gun) at the possible sniper position. He also told me of the time, late one evening, when after he had removed his boots and left them outside the sanger for the night, he came under mortar fire. He was inside the sanger at the time, so remained there until the mortar fire stopped. On venturing outside he found Self on Yardarm, firing at a possible adoo sniper position.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs his boots had received almost a direct hit and were ruined. He called on the radio to say that his boots were destroyed and he needed some more. The next day, along with his usual resupply items he got two extra cases of beer. The radio operator thought he said his booze was destroyed. He later set up the machine gun on its bi-pod and aimed it at the next along yellow position, explaining to me that this was to allow firing onto the friendly position in the dark in the event that the position was being overrun by the enemy. I didn’t hear of that action ever being taken. The following morning we were sitting behind the stone wall next to the sanger when a loud thump sound startled me. My friend seemed unconcerned, saying it was just a routine sniper shot at our location. A couple more shots also hit the wall and then one went over our heads with a loud crack sound. He manned the machine gun and sprayed a couple of short bursts at the ridge line to the north and then sat down again. He suggested I wait a few minutes after the last shots were fired before setting off. I felt like waiting much longer than that. After all was quiet for about half an hour, I set off. I walked, with my SLR and pack, from the position for about 2 km along the top of the ridge to the next location but one, Blue

Self at Simba, Sarfait, looking south towards Capstan feature.

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A VISIT TO OP SIMBA 2, to be picked up by a resupply helicopter. I felt very exposed to possible sniper fire for the half hour or so it took me, but it wasn’t possible to walk in dead ground behind the ridge line as the wadi sides were far too steep. I felt relieved when I reached the fortified position, where I was able to wait for the chopper that took me across the deep wadi to the main position of Mainbrace. I spent the night there and had the opportunity to take a look at the Capstan feature and discuss the tactical situation. The next day, the 16th, I was picked up by Neville Baker and flown back to Salalah via a short stop at Manston. I had done other trips with SAF army units earlier in the year. One was a Land Rover patrol along the coast to past Taqa, but not so far as Mirbat, and another was a plains recce. On that one we had two Land Rovers (for safety in case of a breakdown), and carried Sarbe ground to air radio sets, in case of trouble. It was very interesting and informative for me to see how the ground forces acted when on patrol, and to note the sort of difficulties they had when trying to describe enemy positions to jets overhead. I was also able to pay a visit to White City, on a routine Skyvan resupply flight.

Before going out with SAF army unit on recce.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

With SAF army on recce.

SAF soldiers on our recce.

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A VISIT TO OP SIMBA

At White City with Skyvan flown by Mike Perkins.

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Oman National Day

The 18th of the month was Oman National Day, and I was one of a pair in the morning who did a flypast over Salalah town. I didn’t know at the time that I would be doing a flypast on Oman National Day, twelve years later. In the afternoon a scramble was called, and myself and Dave Clough took off to be told that MiGs were attacking Makinat Shihan. We were both very surprised. I realised fairly quickly that if they were MiGs they would probably be MiG 17s, and they would have had to depart by now due to fuel state. Even if they had flown from Al Gheida, which they almost certainly would have done, they would have had to leave, probably even before we took off. However, we continued on to Makinat Shihan and contacted the position. From overhead we could see the black marks where the bombs had landed. We were told there were no casualties, and after a few morale-boosting flybys we returned to Salalah. Later we learned that the attack was actually by a single IL 28, NATO codename Beagle. It had dropped eight bombs, each of about 200 kgs. They had not exploded properly, mainly just bursting open and leaving a brown sticky-looking substance burning for several minutes. We presumed they were very old stock, and must have been well past their sell-by date! Apparently when the aircraft appeared, one local officer thought it was the Caribou resupply flight arriving unannounced, so he fired a green smoke flare to indicate the wind direction and to give clearance to land. The aircraft flew low over the position and dropped the bombs before spraying 23-mm cannon shells from the rear-gun turret. Why we were told the position was being attacked by MiGs, goodness knows. Note: The IL 28 was a twin-jet Soviet medium bomber. It first flew in 1948, and over 6,000 had been built. Versions were also built under licence in China as the Harbin H-5. It carried 2 x 23 mm Nudelman NR-23 cannon in the tail turret and could carry up to 6,000 lbs of bombs.

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OMAN NATIONAL DAY Over the next three days we flew close support strikes for operations in the Wadi Darbat and a strike using bombs and rockets at a target near Mainbrace. The 23rd saw a flight along with Nick Rusling in the Beaver. We flew Salalah to Manston to Mudhai and to Makinat Shahan, where we stopped for a break. The officer i/c gave a description of the attack by the IL 28, and we saw close up the marks on the ground, large black patches where the bombs had landed and burned. Pieces of the bomb cases were still there, lying around. We then returned to Salalah via Midway and Jib Jat. On the 29th I flew a new pilot, Bobby Mason, on an area-familiarization flight over most of the Dhofar war zone in our two-seater Strikemaster, 417. The flight was 1 hour and 45 minutes as the aircraft was fitted with two external fuel tanks. On 30 November there was another Katusha attack on Salalah, also resulting in nil casdam. We scrambled again and threw everything we had at the position given. For me that was 2 bombs, 12 rockets and 1,000 rounds of 7.62. The warhead on these Katusha rockets was, by comparison with mortars and RCL projectiles, enormous. It was therefore important we did everything we could to stop them being fired at Salalah.

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Iranian Helicopter Resupply Flight

On the morning of 4 December, Neville Baker, OC of our SOAF Helicopters in Salalah, dropped into the Strikemaster crew room/office and asked, ‘Anyone fancy a ride in an Iranian chopper?’ When questioned on the details, he explained that the Iranians had been requested to operate a resupply flight to a location near the PDRY border. SOAF helicopters were very short of available flying hours, and were very busy doing other tasks. The resupply flight would use a lot of flying time, hence the request for the Iranians to fly it. A problem arose when the boss of the Iranian Special Forces helicopter squadron announced that their pilots could not go to a location unless they had been there before (this, we found amazing), but they were prepared to go if someone who had been there before would go along with them to do the navigation. The location for meeting the recce patrol which needed the supplies was just a grid reference in the desert, and was being called F7. Of course no one had been there before. I was not on standby that day so I volunteered to do it. Neville had to convince the Iranians that not only had I been there before, but also that I could fly a 205 Helicopter, as a sort of back up. At least the latter was partly true, as I had done some flying with Charlie Gilchrist who had taught me to fly and land their AB 205s. I had been on a few resupply flights with him and he usually allowed me to fly the chopper for the last few minutes and to do the approach and landing back at Salalah. In exchange, I had taken Charlie up on several flights in the Strikemaster and showed him how to fire the guns at some practice targets on the Salalah Plain. I met up with the Iranian pilot and we set off. All was pretty routine. A landing at Manston on the way to pick up some items, and then on to F7… let’s say it was ‘near’ the border. I got the impression that the pilot didn’t have much idea of where we were, or where the border was for that matter. Under the circumstances that was understandable, and probably a good thing. We spotted the recce patrol group, landed and the patrol’s

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IRANIAN HELICOPTER RESUPPLY FLIGHT soldiers unloaded the supplies. They all looked like Bedouin tribesmen, but one of them, their leader, spoke English with a very British-army-officer accent. He was in fact an ex British Special Forces officer, by the name of Nick Downie. He was now serving on a contract basis. According to Nick himself, after the war, he was given the task of creating insurrection among the tribes of South Yemen. He commanded a unit of Bedouin living on the edge of the Empty Quarter. On one raid they captured a substantial fort about 80 miles across the border from Oman. After the garrison surrendered he blew it up with over 1000 lbs of gelignite. He said the fort literally vanished. So we had a serving RAF pilot navigating an Iranian helicopter in Oman to supply a secretive Omani patrol, led by another Brit, ‘very near’ the border with the South Yemen. I wonder if those in Westminster would have approved of this ‘international cooperation’. The return flight was uneventful. On 10 December I took the sultan’s cousin, Pilot Officer Talal, on a familiarization and recce flight to the west. Pilot Officer Talal had completed the basic flying course on the Jet Provost with the RAF, so was quite capable of flying the Strikemaster solo, which he sometimes did. However, it was quite obvious he wasn’t at all keen and only flew when it was suggested that he should. On this flight we were given a possible adoo mortar position near to Mainbrace, and I fired 3 Sura and 500 rounds from the guns in two passes. I think this was the first operational flight Talal had been on and I hoped the action might fire up some enthusiasm in him, but I don’t think it did. On 18 December I took our intelligence officer, Jack Sullivan, on one of his routine visits to Midway and Makinat Shahan in the Beaver. A few days later Commander SOAF Group Captain Les Phipps visited Salalah and handed me a thin package wrapped in brown paper, saying: ‘Russ, here is your posting.’ On unwrapping it I saw it was a framed photograph of a Jaguar carrying cluster bombs and 1,000-lb bombs. I was delighted. He knew I had asked to go on the new aircraft for my next posting, and had taken the trouble to arrange the photograph. He had probably arranged the posting too, although he didn’t say that. On Christmas Eve, the task was to fly top cover for an armoured car patrol which was venturing onto the Midway road from the north, but all remained quiet. On the 28th I flew a Beaver, dropping leaflets near the Hornbeam line west of Salalah. The leaflets were for the adoo, again suggesting that they should surrender as they would be treated well if they did. On the 30th I was sent to the north again.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

A Jaguar. The photo presented to me by CSOAF, Gp Capt Les Phipps, to indicate my next tour.

January 1974 was spent at Seeb, flying low-level navigation exercises and firing rockets and guns on the range with Colin Richardson, a recently arrived Strikemaster pilot and a qualified flying instructor. Also some range sorties with Nick Rusling, again firing practice rockets and the guns. On the 27th I flew an army officer, Captain Bellamy, on a range sortie, showing him how we dropped bombs and fired rockets. I also flew two air tests on each of Strikemasters 409 and 412, which had been through servicing, then on the 31st I flew 412 to Salalah via Masirah. On 7 February I was taken in an AB 206 (Jetranger) by Neville Baker to identify two possible targets in the east, then later led a pair to attack the targets, altogether dropping 4 bombs and firing 500 rounds from the guns, as I provided covering fire while my number two attacked with rockets. On the 9th I flew a new pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jock Stirrup, in the two-seater 417, which had two external fuel tanks fitted. We flew for 1 hour and 30 minutes so I could show Jock all the main locations to the west of Salalah, with which he would need to become familiar. It was the second time we flew together, the first being in the Beaver.

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IRANIAN HELICOPTER RESUPPLY FLIGHT On the 15th I was scrambled for adoo seen on the Jebel Arram, immediately to the north of Salalah. I dropped one bomb and fired two rockets. Two flights on the 16th were to be my last operational flights. The first was yet another strike near Jinni, a well-reported adoo gathering place, using two bombs and twelve rockets. The second was a pre-planned strike south-east of Mainbrace on the coastal strip and very near to the adoo resupply route. It was thought to be the HQ of the adoo Khantor Force. I had four bombs on board and my number two had two bombs and twelve rockets. The target was among rocks and thick vegetation, offering good cover for the enemy. I tipped in from 5,500 feet to drop two bombs, and in the dive noticed a couple of tracer rounds flash past the cockpit, so it seemed that we were onto a target. More was to come. On climbing after the attack I saw what looked like red golf balls overtaking me. Even as I climbed up through 6,000 feet, they were still going past. This was a much more serious AA (anti-aircraft) weapon than the usual 7.62 or even .5 machine gun, neither of which could reach that altitude. It needed plenty of respect. With hindsight, it was thought to be a twin-barrel 14.5-mm Soviet AA gun, which the intelligence department had heard might be in the area. I dropped two more bombs, after providing covering fire while my number two dropped his, and was glad to climb up to 8,000 or higher. I called for another pair of Strikemasters but only one a/c was available. It was flown by Dave Clough, who was already airborne, and when he arrived I briefed him with the message that there was serious ground fire from a heavy weapon. ‘Do one attack only and drop all the bombs you have.’ He understood. My number two fired a marker Sura to indicate the target position and then gave him covering fire with more rockets fired from relatively long range. I added some covering fire using my guns, also from long range. We then all went back to Salalah. It was a very good thing none of us had been hit by that gun. Whether or not we damaged it or caused casualties, we didn’t know at the time. There was an amazing story from this. Twelve years later I was to meet up again with my boss, and OC of the Strikemaster squadron at the time of this action, John Merry, and he was to tell me a very interesting story about that attack. After that last flight I was invited to a goodbye drinks and dinner party by the guys on Heli and Strike Squadrons before heading off north by Viscount the following day. They even flew a four-aircraft escort on the Viscount for the first 50 miles or so. It was a sad moment when the four Strikemasters banked away to return to Salalah. I had made close friends during my time

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs in Dhofar, and some of them I would never be seeing again. I would also miss the action. During that flight I remember reflecting on the past two years. An awful lot had happened, and not all of it produced good memories. So much death and destruction. I know it’s a very over-used expression, but I couldn’t help thinking about the futility of it all. Young guys being killed or seriously maimed. Not just on our side but on the adoo side also. However, I also reflected on just how very important it was that the war be won. To allow the adoo to win would have handed control of the Straits of Hormuz to the Communist countries who supported them, China and the Soviet Union. Allowing that to happen could well have had catastrophic results, as it was the supply route for 90 per cent of the West’s oil. It might even have led to a major world conflict. I suppose I was justifying to myself the actions I had been involved in, which had included attacking over 180 targets, and using 144 bombs, 992 Sura rockets and approximately 161,000 rounds of 7.62. Overall I was comfortable with the actions of which I had been part. It was, without doubt, extremely important for Oman and the western world that the Marxist inspired and controlled enemy forces were defeated. Quote from Field Marshal Michael Carver: Only those who have been to Dhofar can fully appreciate the severity of the conditions in which the polyglot force fought and flew; at times extreme heat, at others cold, wet, permanent cloud, and rugged terrain the equal of which it would be hard to find anywhere. Those who fought there, including those who were wounded or died, did not fight in vain. My last ten days of life in SOAF would be spent at Seeb, in much-improved accommodation in the new officers’ mess there. Shortly after arriving I spent a morning discussing the war with CSOAF, Group Captain Les Phipps. During those discussions he told me of the Sultan’s decision to upgrade his armed forces, including the purchase of new aircraft for SOAF. He told me how he had tasked Tony Boardman, the boss of the Viscount squadron, with selecting a suitable replacement aircraft for the now quite old Viscounts. Something faster, more reliable and easier to service was required. (Tony told me himself later that he already had the answer: the BAC 111-475, fitted with the rough strip mods, basically guards on the undercarriage legs near the wheels to stop stones getting into the brakes.)

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IRANIAN HELICOPTER RESUPPLY FLIGHT The Group Captain then went on to mention that the Sultan had also decided to buy some Mirages from France, for air defence of his country. I realised it was all too easy for the Sultan to jump to the conclusion that the Mirage was the answer, because of its reputation among the Middle East countries. This reputation was, of course, earned by the Israeli Air Force’s superior tactics and the skill of its pilots. I went away and thought I probably knew better than the Sultan what sort of aircraft his country needed for the future. I had thought about it previously, just as Tony Boardman had dreamed of having a replacement for the old Viscount. I sat down to write a paper on the subject, which I would give to Group Captain Phipps. I didn’t expect it to carry much weight, but I thought I had to give it a go. After all, I had done air defence in the Lightning for a couple of years, and had a reasonable knowledge of the terrain of Oman and its surroundings, having been in the country for two years. I spent most of two days writing my thoughts. They were in note form. Basically, they explained that while the Mirage was reasonable for area defence in some environments, it would need several very expensive radar stations with very advanced radar to work in Oman, and the aircraft’s radar didn’t have a look-down capability, so targets flying at very low level would always be a problem. And, in effect, the Sultan would be providing at great expense, coverage for most of Oman, the vast majority of which was just desert. I thought a better alternative would be to use a missile system such as Roland or Rapier, for point defence of important places, and employ a fightertype aircraft capable of intercepting targets above the altitude capability of those systems. Those missile systems would be effective even against fast targets at very low level. Additionally, if the aircraft chosen had an effective attack capability, it would have a deterrent effect on any potential aggressor, and be useful in countering border incursions. I included in the notes such aircraft as the F4, A7 and others, but I already knew the Sultan was not at all interested in American aircraft. He knew that the USA would want a say in the use of them, and that would be the thin end of the wedge. Finally I suggested the BAe Jaguar and Rapier systems. The Jaguar had a good bomb load capability over a useful range, with one external fuel tank mounted on the centre line it would have a good range and could still carry up to 6 x 1,000-lb bombs. And a clean aircraft with a missile, such as a late model Sidewinder, like the AIM 9P, would be effective against medium-level bombers. In addition, to support ground forces against a border incursion, it

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs had an LRMTS (Laser Ranging and Marked Target Seeker… something we would have loved to have had with the Strikemaster). Basically, apart from giving excellent bombing accuracy due to laser range finding, the aircraft could detect the precise position of any target illuminated by a ground based LTM (laser target marker). This would be extremely effective when supporting ground troops. I quickly estimated the approximate number of Rapier fire units that would be needed. I thought there were approximately seven major positions within Oman which would need to be defended. The Sultan’s Palace, Seeb Airport, Salalah, Midway, Oil fields at Fahud, and Muscat town. So, allowing for a u/s unit, two on servicing, one for training, two spares and assuming three fire units to defend each of seven targets, that would add up to twenty-seven fire units. A sensible buy of aircraft would be for two squadrons, one each at Masirah and Midway. I approached Group Captain Phipps and asked if I might use his secretary to type up the paper I had written. He asked what it was about and when I explained he said, ‘Just give it to me, I’ll sort it out’, so I handed over the notes which were still written in pencil. Several days later I met Pilot Officer Talal, the Sultan’s cousin whom I had flown on that operational sortie in Dhofar. He told me he had had dinner with the Sultan the night before. He said the Sultan had invited him over to discuss the paper I had written, and questioned him on it, as he was a pilot, asking if it made sense. I said that I hoped it had been set out properly and typed. To my amazement he said no it hadn’t, that it was still in pencil and was the original set of notes which I had written and handed to Group Captain Phipps. And that wasn’t quite the end of that story. I left Oman a few days later, heading for the Jaguar OCU at Lossiemouth, in Scotland. Several months later, I was invited to Yorkshire for the wedding of Strikemaster pilot Nick Rusling to Moira. Group Captain Phipps was also there. He took me to one side and said that as a result of my paper, Oman had ordered both Jaguars and the Rapier missile system. How many Rapier fire units? Twenty-seven, as per my ‘rough estimate’. I found it really hard to believe, but it turned out to be true. Two squadrons’ worth of Jaguars were ordered and it was confirmed again, many years later, when I met an ex-British Aerospace salesman who was at their Stevenage location at the time, that twenty-seven Rapier fire units were initially ordered. I don’t know if they ordered more later. They should have, as I had forgotten to include Masirah.

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Chapter Nine

RAF Lossiemouth

The Jaguar Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) After Oman I was posted to the Jaguar OCU just as it was starting up. There would be seven of us on Number Two Short Course. The first eleven pilots had been to Warton and been checked out by British Aerospace pilots before reporting to Lossiemouth, just a short time before we second lot arrived. We only had about five aircraft then, but more were arriving at regular intervals. I had two dual flights with Squadron Leader Neil Hayward and then went off in a single seater to gain more familiarity with the avionics, and to throw the aircraft about a bit, to get the feel of it.

No 2 Jaguar Short Course. L to R, back row: Mike Gray, the author, Chris McCairns, Ian Reilly. Front row: Tony Hughes-Lewis, Anthony Mumford, Sandy Aitken.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs I was enjoying flying the Jaguar and being at Lossiemouth, and I was happy to be on the OCU. However, it all felt very predictable and rather mundane after two years of operational flying in Dhofar. I was very surprised when I received a signal with the news that I had been awarded the WKhM, the Sultan of Oman’s Distinguished Service Medal, and that the Queen had granted permission for me to wear it. After a number of solo flights, and mutual flights with others, I completed a formal instructor conversion course with Squadron Leaders Bob Fowler and Sam Goddard and Flight Lieutenant Bill Langworthy. Bob Fowler and Sam Goddard were the Standards and Evaluation team for the OCU, abbreviated to Stan/eval, but they were more often referred to as Stan and Evil. But they were both good guys, and both had a great sense of humour. Bob was more into supervising pure flying standards, while Sam was concerned with the weapons aspects. I was then given my first student, Flight Lieutenant Martin Selves. Martin was an experienced F4 pilot, so he didn’t actually need much help from me. Martin had about four hours on type, having flown with a QFI. I wasn’t a QFI, so all new pilots arriving were checked out and sent solo by someone else. I was labelled as a tactics instructor, which basically meant showing the new guys how the NAVWASS (Navigation and Weapon Aiming Sub System) worked (and making sure they didn’t fly into the ground while fiddling about with it, or should I say, ‘coming to terms operating it’?). But it was a case of the blind leading the blind at times. We were all working together to find the best way of using ‘The Kit’, as the NAVWASS came to be known. At this stage I didn’t know whether I would be remaining at Lossiemouth on the OCU staff, or going on to one of the new Jaguar squadrons. As it happened, I was to remain on the OCU for a total of three-and-a-half years. There would be some very interesting and challenging times ahead. The OCU was split into two squadrons, No. 1 Squadron being commanded by Squadron Leader Neil Hayward, and No. 2 Squadron by Squadron Leader John Henson. I was allocated to No. 2 Squadron. From September on, and for the next year, I would be teaching use of the NAVWASS for low-level navigation and also close formation, battle formation and instrument flying. From July to September I took part in No. 1 (Jaguar) QWI (Qualified Weapons Instructor) Course. There were seven pilots on the course, our instructors were: Squadron Leader Sam Goddard, and Flight Lieutenants Jeff Morgan, Ian Ord and Glyn Chapman. The course consisted of refining skills in weapon delivery, using all the weapons envisaged for use by Jaguars. This included: retard bombs, free-

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RAF LOSSIEMOUTH

2 Sqn 226 OCU Lossiemouth. L to R [rear] Russ Peart, Sandy Aitken, Nigel Holder, Sqn Ldr John Henson, Sid Sowler, Mike Ferney, Jimmy Froud, [front] Glyn Chapman, Ed Cobleigh [USAF], Rod Harrison, Pat Sanders.

No 1 Jaguar QWI Course at Lossiemouth. L to R: Jim Giles, Raz Ball, John Bryant, John Pym, JB Hill, Chris McCairns, Self, Trevor Beney.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs fall bombs, with dive and toss deliveries, and guns, the twin 30-mm Aden cannons, and then learning how to teach those skills. We first flew with an instructor who would demonstrate a typical instructional flight from the sortie briefing, the actual flight and then the debriefing. We would then go off as two students together in a two-seater, to practice what was known as ‘the patter’, i.e. the in-flight instructing techniques. After a couple of these flights it would be time to demonstrate our newfound capabilities by flying with an instructor. He would pretend to be a student under instruction, often not a very switched-on student, and we would have to go through the whole routine from briefing, the flight itself and the debriefing. This would be repeated for all the different weapons, and all the different delivery techniques. The final part of the course, and the most enjoyable, would be flying formations of up to four aircraft on off-range simulated attacks. We would take turns leading and the formation would be bounced by other aircraft simulating an enemy interception. These flight profiles usually ended with an FRA (first run attack), on a range using either bombs or guns. At the end of the course we were each officially designated as a QWI. From then on I flew many flights with new pilots on Tain range, instructing strafe, and retard, dive and toss bombing. I was to remain at Lossiemouth on No. 2 Squadron. Many students passed through our hands and went on to form the squadrons at RAF Bruggen and RAF Coltishall. Students I instructed included Squadron Leader Robin Hargreaves, who had been my flight commander on No. 74, and who I flew with on the Lightning display flights in Australia, and Wing Commander Jerry Seavers, who was destined to be CO of No. 54 Squadron at Coltishall, and who would be my station commander in the future. Others included our new Station Commander, Group Captain Stuart-Paul. Flight Lieutenant Jock Stirrup arrived at the end of his tour in SOAF, where we had flown together, and we did some on-range weapons flights. Jock went to No. 41 Squadron at Coltishall, and then, as is well known, went on to rise through the ranks to become Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, and Chief of the Defence Staff. By now I was also into flying Jaguar air tests, which were required from time to time. I did them for No. 2 Squadron, and Bill Langworthy – of Red Arrows fame – did them for No. 1 Squadron. In early 1976, Flight Lieutenant Jack Brown, who was an instructor on No. 1 Squadron was nominated as the Jaguar air display pilot for the year. I was to be his number two, or spare. I was required to work up to doing a display so that I would be able to take over if Jack was unable to do it either because of sickness or

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RAF LOSSIEMOUTH just that his aircraft had become unserviceable at the last minute. We flew to the displays, with myself flying the spare aircraft. I would start engines at the beginning of each display, in case of a very late unserviceability. It was a good job, as it got me away from Lossiemouth for many weekends and Jack and I had some good times. Arriving back on Monday morning from the display, having Tuesday off, flying with a student on the Wednesday, and maybe Thursday, and then a practice display on Friday morning and away again in the afternoon for the weekend – it was a good lifestyle. During 1977, I took over as the No. 1 display pilot and Flight Lieutenant Nick Brown became the No. 2, or spare. We followed the same routine as the previous year and flew displays at Abingdon, Church Fenton, Greenham Common, Barton Airfield near Manchester, Leuchars, and Binbrook. An addition this year was Oporto, in Portugal. British Aerospace were hoping to sell the Jaguar to the Portuguese, and requested that the RAF provide a Jaguar display to support their efforts. Nick and I flew over there, stopping to refuel on the way out at RAF St Mawgan. We had a very enjoyable time, and the Portuguese whom we met were very friendly and very hospitable. We visited a port cellar, trying a few samples and each bought a bottle of ‘good stuff’ to take home. It was a new bottle, but being of a high quality it was recommended that we keep it for the optimum time of twelve to fifteen years, when it would be at its best. I opened mine sixteen years later, and of course it reminded me of Nick. He had been killed in a mid-air collision with another Jaguar, a few years earlier. It was a very sad day when it happened, and it was a sad moment again. Nick had been a good friend. The display flight went as planned, and for the return we decided to try to fly nonstop from Oporto to Lossiemouth to demonstrate to the Portuguese the good range capability of the Jaguar. Keeping in mind our aircraft were not fitted with any external fuel tanks, it would be an impressive achievement for the aeroplane. I had decided to attempt it because the Portuguese were keen to be able to fly their next fighter plane safely between mainland Portugal and their territory, the Azores, which was a distance of 880 nautical miles. Oporto to Lossiemouth was 995 nm and we would demonstrate that capability without the use of external fuel tanks… if we made it! The normal procedure for the take-off in a Jaguar was to select reheat shortly after starting the take-off roll, and as soon as the engine rpm had stabilised at max, dry thrust. For this take-off we continued most of the run in dry thrust, but for safety we selected reheat a couple of seconds before

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs lift off, and cancelled it as soon as the gear was travelling up. It was a long, slow acceleration but it would save fuel, and there would be no traditional flyby, we just set course direct to Lossiemouth. Attempting a nonstop flight in these circumstances was quite safe as we had plenty of diversion airfields available at a late stage if the fuel state dictated a diversion, St Mawgan, Valley, Leeming, Leuchars, just to name a few. As we approached overhead St Mawgan we climbed to FL 410 (41,000 feet), and cruised at Mach .92. This was higher and faster than the book recommended but the aeroplane loved it and the fuel flow was very low. We reached overhead Lossiemouth at FL 410, just to make a point, we hadn’t needed to do a long slow descent. We had quite sufficient fuel for a diversion from there to RAF Leuchars and land with normal safe reserves. The flight time was two hours and twenty minutes. I hoped it had impressed the Portuguese, but at the end of the day they didn’t buy any Jaguars. A few days later, I was flying a low-level sortie with a student. We were each flying a single-seater and as we returned to Lossiemouth, coming over the range of hills south of the airfield, it was obvious that the Haar (sea fog), had rolled in over the airfield. It would have been impossible to land so we diverted to Leuchars. On arriving there we joined the circuit, but before we landed, while talking to the tower controller, we were informed that a Phantom was on final approach, under radar control, and required priority as it had a utilities hydraulic failure. We were now downwind and flew around again for a further circuit to allow the F4 to land. It landed, and because of the hydraulic failure had lowered its arrester hook to engage the approach end arrester wire. This worked fine and the aircraft stopped without a problem about 2,000 feet into the runway. Unfortunately, due the utilities hydraulic failure the arrester hook could not be raised and the Phantom was stuck in the wire and unable to taxi clear of the runway. The air traffic controller then declared the airfield state as black, i.e. no landings allowed. We advised that we were now getting very low on fuel and would need to land as soon as possible. The controller then declared a mandatory grade one diversion. The nearest airfield was Edinburgh, Turnhouse, but we didn’t have the fuel to get there. I told the student to complete his circuit and land over the top of the Phantom, keeping well clear of it, and take the far end arrester wire if necessary. If anything went wrong with his landing I would land on the parallel taxiway. The controller denied clearance to land, so I told the student to ignore him and go ahead to land anyway. As the student landed safely, I turned finals and landed, also well clear over the top of the F4. We taxied in and shut down. Fortunately

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RAF LOSSIEMOUTH the Jaguar was very good at short landings, a good tactical feature. We definitely would not have made Turnhouse. While fuelling the aircraft we were approached by Leuchars’ OC Ops Wing. He apologised for the controller’s lack of understanding of the situation, and asked if I would be putting in a report about it. Of course I said I would not, as the controller was only following the rules. It was very unusual that having diverted once it should be necessary to divert again. The action to be taken in such rare circumstances was, I felt, a case of using some common sense, and bugger the rules.

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74 Sqn Lightning about to refuel from an RAF Victor tanker.

Water colour painting by Dhofar intelligence officer, Jack Sullivan, this one depicting a Hawkeye strike. [Jack was usually in the Beaver interpreting during the Hawkeye strikes].

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Water colour by Jack depicting the author during the Midway detachment. Supposedly making the comment is either Peter Hulme or Neville Baker.

Water colour by Jack depicting myself supporting the Sultan’s Navy boat, Nasr al Bahr, by attacking an adoo RCL location, which had fired at the vessel. Jack was on board the boat, and directed the strike.

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Water colour by Jack depicting action south of location Manston, west of Salalah.

Tornado and BA Tristar 25 Oct 1982. AAR suitability assessment using a 9 Squadron Tornado.

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Tornado 12 x 1000 lb bomb carriage.

SOAF Jaguar with 1000 lb Laser Guided Bomb [LGB] plus conventional bombs and 2 Sidewinder missiles.

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An Airbus 340-300 of Cathay Pacific Airways over the old Hong Kong airport Kai Tak.

Yacht Vixen with reaching spinnaker racing around the islands off Sai Kung.

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Vixen under 30/20 running spinnaker near Sai Kung.

Sue in our garden in Banningham.

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A Squadron Phantom decorated for the Phantom 25th anniversary meet at Greenham Common 1983.

FST [Field Surgical Team] cartoon water colour, by Jack Sullivan.

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Bathtime in Bangladesh for Carly and Ryan.

74 Squadron Lightning F6s at RAF Tengah.

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Chapter Ten

Edinburgh to London

Early in 1977, I had thought about the possibility of beating the record time from Edinburgh to London. Historically it had been the record from and to the centre of each capital city. In 1734 an advertised service from Edinburgh to London by coach and horses claimed the journey would take, quote ‘Only 9 Days, God Willing’. It was to be a once a week service, and an availability of 80 horses was required. However, it seems the service was actually only run about once a month and took up to14 days over the nearly 400 miles of the bumpy dirt tracks of the day. But I believe it achieved 9 days on a number of occasions. An Edinburgh to London train service began in 1862, the journey taking between 10 and 11 hours with a lunch and refuelling stop at York. The service became officially known as The Flying Scotsman in 1924, and by then the journey time had been reduced to eight and a half hours by technical improvements to the locomotives. On 1 May 1928, the steam locomotive 4472 Flying Scotsman hauled the inaugural non-stop train from London to Edinburgh, and it successfully ran the 392 miles from Edinburgh to London. It was a record at the time for any non-stop service. For the introduction of this service ten special corridor tenders were built. They had an increased coal capacity from 8 to 9 tons and a corridor which ran along the right side of the tender which allowed changing crews on the move. With the end of the limited speed agreement in 1932 the journey time came down to 7 hours and 30 minutes. During 1934 the Flying Scotsman officially reached 100 mph, the first steam train to achieve that speed in service and finally achieved a time of 7 hours and 20 minutes from Waverley Street station to Kings Cross. (This compares to 4 hours and 20 minutes in modern times.) However, the highest recorded speed by a steam locomotive was 126 mph, achieved by locomotive Mallard on 3 July 1938 on the slight downward grade of Stoke Bank, a few miles to the south of Grantham.

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EDINBURGH TO LONDON The record time from Edinburgh to London was considerably reduced in February of 1938, when Squadron Leader John Gillan, DFC, AFC and Bar, who was OC of 111 Squadron RAF at the time, averaged 408.75 mph in a Hurricane for the 327 miles from Edinburgh Turnhouse to Northolt, completing the run in 48 minutes. John Gillan achieved several kills during the Battle of Britain, but unfortunately he was shot down and crashed into the English Channel in 1941. He was buried along with other allied airmen at Dunkirk. On 8 August 1956 Squadron Leader Roger Topp, also CO of No. 111 Squadron at the time, flew a Hawker Hunter F Mk 4, WT 754, and also from Edinburgh Turnhouse to Northolt, at an average speed of 717.504 mph. The record time set was 27 minutes and 52 seconds. Unfortunately WT 754 was written off after a fire occurred during engine starting at RAF Benson 2 years after the record run. From the time when aircraft became involved the record was recorded on corrected time. That was in line with flying records held elsewhere, when the start and finish points are at locations where it is impracticable to overfly them. An example would be the London to Sydney record, at one time held by a Canberra, which would not require the aircraft to overfly the city centres. However, the actual nominated start and finish points must be within a laid down maximum distance from the stated record positions. The corrected time, and therefore the recorded record time, was calculated by taking the average speed achieved on the flight and applying it to the actual true distance. The time that Roger Topp achieved would be a difficult time to beat, and would require a lot of luck with the weather, in particular the wind. At first glance it looked unlikely I would actually get the opportunity to attempt it. One thing in my favour would be the availability of a very clean Jaguar GR 1, the one I would be using for air displays would be XX 747 and be clean in that it would have no stores on it, not even under wing pylons. I decided to go ahead with the necessary arrangements, which included applying for a Royal Aero Club competition licence and having the SATCO (Senior Air Traffic Control Officer) at both Turnhouse and Benson nominated as official time keepers. They both very kindly agreed to go along with it. My opportunity did actually arise. For the Battle of Britain weekend at RAF Leuchars, I would be there from 8 to 11 September, and flying in the display on Saturday the 10th. I was very fortunate, for on the 9th the weather forecast was good and there would be a healthy tail wind at altitude.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs I made the necessary phone calls to Turnhouse and Benson air traffic control towers, and after self-authorising the flight I set off. The start was a slow cruise to Turnhouse to conserve fuel and then a max dry acceleration to around 500 kts as I passed the control tower, giving them plenty of warning so they could record the start time as I passed. The reference time signal for the run was the BBC. I started the climb in full reheat and maintained that airspeed for most of the climb, initially levelling at about 35,000 feet. Holding max dry thrust, the Jaguar was achieving Mach .98. The ground speed readout was a very healthy figure due to the tail wind which, ‘the kit’ said, was 125 knots. How lucky can you be? Noting the fuel state and flow rate I realised I would arrive with lots of fuel, so selected full reheat again and climbed to 41,000 feet and left the reheat in reaching Mach 1.2, and throttled back to hold that speed. Not absolutely by the rules, but the Jaguar is a small aeroplane, and I was quite high, so hopefully the sonic shock wave would be quite mild and no one would notice. By now the ground speed was around 810 knots. About 932 mph. At this time Concorde was flying regular flights to and from New York, and the sonic boom was often heard in North Devon as it approached the Bristol Channel slowing down for its arrival into London Heathrow. My parents who lived in Ilfracombe heard it many times. I slowed down to Mach .98 before starting descent towards Benson, maintaining that Mach number until passing the tower. It was a quick arrival, about 740 mph. I landed with plenty of fuel remaining, so I could have gone a little bit quicker when at high level. The various air traffic agencies I called were most helpful. It was obvious that they had been forewarned that this was a record attempt. I was very grateful for all concerned who helped me with setting this record. I was asked to answer a phone call, which turned out to be from BBC Radio. They asked if I had set a new record and I replied yes, but it wasn’t confirmed yet. They proceeded to interview me live, about it. But I never knew just how they had found out about it so quickly. After refuelling, I flew at a more sedate speed back to Leuchars. I calculated that it was definitely a new record, but the old record was beaten only by about 2 minutes. The record time by Roger Topp had been set when he was on No. 111 Squadron, and No. 111 were based at Leuchars. In the bar that evening there was a young student pilot by the name of Andy Sweetman. He had flown my spare aircraft from Lossiemouth, and would be staying there over the weekend. He set to, and gave some members of No. 111 a really hard time about how the Jaguar had beaten their record.

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EDINBURGH TO LONDON The beer was flowing and No. 111 were already talking about taking the record back with one of their Phantoms. But Andy rubbed it in mercilessly. I took a step back as I wouldn’t be having more than one beer, which was a rule I had when doing an air display the next day. The following evening I would definitely be having more than one. In due course the FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) issued the certificate confirming the record. It was signed by the President of the FAI, and by Prince Charles as President of The Royal Aero Club. The official record time was 26 minutes and 25 seconds, an average speed of 1,208.45 km/hr (or 750.9 mph). The record featured in The Guinness Book of Records in the 1981 edition, and as far as I know, the record still stands forty-three years later. The flight back to Lossiemouth on 12 September was my last flight on 226 OCU as I had been posted to No. 6 Squadron at Coltishall. Soon after the record was confirmed I received a telegram of congratulations from the now Air Commodore Roger Topp. At that time he was in Munich and attached to NAMMA, the NATO MRCA Management Agency, which was responsible for the introduction of the Tornado.

Edinburgh to London record, FAI Certificate signed by Prince Charles and others.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Edinburgh to London as printed in Air Clues magazine.

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Chapter Eleven

No. 6 Squadron and RAF Coltishall

I married Sue on 16 September, we had met at David Clough’s wedding a couple of years earlier. We went on a touring type of honeymoon in Yugoslavia and then moved into our first house in the village of Banningham, about 5 miles north-west of RAF Coltishall.

Sue.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs By now I had a red Morgan 4/4 and enjoyed driving it each day to and from ‘work’, along the quiet Norfolk country lanes. I joined 6 Squadron in October 1977. No. 6 Squadron had the record for the longest continuous service of any air force squadron in the world. It was formed in 1914 and went on until 2007, when it stood down briefly until re-equipping with Typhoons. The squadron’s motto was: Oculi Exercitus… ‘The eyes of the army’. It gained the nickname, ‘the flying tin openers’, for its operations against Rommel’s armour during the war in North Africa. At the time I joined No. 6 Squadron, the OC was Wing Commander Neil Hayward, who I knew from Lossiemouth as he was one of the first eleven, and had been OC No. 1 Squadron on the OCU. He made me feel very welcome. I served on No. 6 Squadron from October 1977 until November 1978. In January 1978, I heard I had been awarded the Air Force Cross. Sue and I went

Buckingham Palace, after presentation of the Air Force Cross by Her Majesty The Queen.

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NO. 6 SQUADRON AND RAF COLTISHALL to the investiture at Buckingham Palace, and I was presented with the medal by Her Majesty The Queen. I had planned to also take my mother along, but my parents were living in Ilfracombe and a freak snowfall had cut off all travel from the town, so she was unable to attend. At the time I felt quite distraught. It was such a shame as she would have loved to have been there. The big international tactical bombing competition, TBC ’78, (Tactical Bombing Competition 1978), was due to take place in June. The teams involved would be from the RAF and the USAF. No. 6 Squadron would provide one of the teams. The USAF were represented by a team of A7s from England Air Force Base. The other two teams were from 31 Squadron, from RAF Bruggen, representing RAF Germany and a team of RAF Buccaneers. The A7 was a formidable opponent in such a competition as its avionics were well developed and were somewhat more reliable than the navigation and weapon aiming system fitted to the Jaguar at this time. The A7s had also won the previous competition, with their leader Johnny Miller winning the individual leadership trophy. Johnny would be back again to lead his team. The team of RAF Buccaneers were very confident as they had a second crew member, a navigator, to share the workload. Winning this one would be no pushover. Our work up started early. It would have to, if we were going to give a good account of ourselves. TBC ’78 called for each team to provide a four-aircraft and a two-aircraft formation. Our No. 6 Squadron team would be: John Pym leading the four-aircraft formation with Bernie Mills, John Hodgeson and Rick Lea, I would lead the pair with Malcolm Bartle, my flight commander, as number two. The competition would consist of flying various routes at low level, overflying positions at a pre-determined time and then dropping practice bombs on first-run attacks on a bombing range. The timing at various waypoints en route and the timing of the bomb impacts would be scored, along with the bombing accuracy. I was tasked by our squadron commander, Wing Commander George Robertson, with making sure our navigation and weapon aiming system was used effectively. This meant working out the best way it could be employed for competition purposes, which would be different to normal operational use. I was also aware that our system at that time was not very reliable. I decided to contact Boscombe Down to ask for their advice, and flew over there to discuss our situation with Chris Yeo, a test pilot on A Squadron. He was very enthusiastic to help and introduced me to a civilian ‘boffin’, actually a very clever mathematician by the name of Jim Munday. I heard that Jim was considered to be about the fifth best mathematician in the UK.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs The outcome of this, and a couple of more visits to Boscombe, was that a software patch was written by Jim to fine-tune our computed navigation and weapon aiming system to the requirements of the competition. At the time the computer capacity was only 8K, quite laughable by modern standards, but it was what we had in 1978. The main feature of the patch was the ability to give a demanded ground speed to make good the next waypoint on time. Also, the weapon-aiming calculations were fine-tuned for the practice bombs we were expecting to use. Thanks to inputs from Chris Yeo and Jim Munday we would have a system that would be very useful in the competition, especially for achieving accurate time over target, and also for accurate weapon delivery of practice bombs. But only if the inertial platforms remained reliable, which was another problem. The competition went well for us, we had practised hard and the temporary software update proved its worth. I arrived over several targets with only about a 1-second error, which meant a maximum score. This was very much thanks to Jim Munday. At the end of the competition No. 6 Squadron were announced as the winners. I was also awarded the Leadership trophy, which

TBC [Tactical Bombing Competition] 1978. The photo presented by the USAF A7 team.

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NO. 6 SQUADRON AND RAF COLTISHALL most people thought would go to the A7 pilot Johnny Miller again. But the award was little thanks to me, the real credit should go to Jim for his work on creating that software patch. We were extremely excited and relieved we hadn’t let the side down. At the prize giving, each of us was presented with a photo of an A7, signed by all of the USAF team. They were great guys and I will always treasure that picture. We returned to Coltishall, led by the boss, George Robertson in the seventh (spare) aircraft, and overflew in a ‘six’-shaped formation. We then positioned for a low and fast run into the airfield in two echelons of three and four, to break into the circuit and land. We of course went on to celebrate in the usual way. Some months later I was promoted to Squadron Leader, and unfortunately that meant I had to leave the squadron. The posting was to be the WWO (Wing Weapons Officer) at Coltishall. It was a pretty boring job compared to being a member of a real squadron like No. 6. I was given an office on the ground floor of the control tower. My immediate boss was Wing Commander Robin Hargreaves, whom I knew well from No. 74 Squadron days, when we had flown together on the air displays and he had become my flight commander. Having such a good boss was one saving grace of the posting. I kept in current flying practice on the Jaguar, but only by the good grace of the three squadrons at Coltishall, Nos. 6, 54 and the recce squadron No. 41. All the OCs were very generous and allowed me to fly one of their aircraft from time to time, for which I was very grateful. During the year of being the wing weapons officer, I managed to go on some interesting detachments. Thanks to OC No. 54 Squadron, Sam Goddard, I went with the squadron to Tirstrup in Denmark, where we lived in tents and operated in conjunction with other NATO forces. I remember a long high-low-high profile sortie to northern Norway to operate with a Norwegian Army FAC (Forward Air Controller). The exercise was practice to oppose an invasion of Norway from the north. It was spectacular scenery and an enjoyable flight. On another occasion I had the opportunity to do a winter survival course in Norway. The Norwegians really know how to put on a great course. Most mornings were spent in the classroom, and the afternoons out in the snow, usually skiing on langlauf skis to a location maybe a mile or so away, where we would do a practical exercise such as make a night shelter. Almost every evening was like a dining-in night, with great food and drink. I say almost every evening, because one night was spent sleeping out in a snow shelter that we had spent most of the day making. One day we left the morning classroom early as we needed time to make a set of snow shoes from branches and twigs

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs etc. They needed to be well made too, as we had to cross a frozen lake covered in about 4 feet of virgin snow, taking our survival gear with us by towing it behind in our single man inflatable dinghys. The night we spent sleeping out was in a temperature of around -18 degrees Celsius. We had been split up into groups of four. In my group were: another pilot, a German air force doctor and one of the Norwegian air stewardess ladies who were doing the course with us. The cave took several hours to construct, made by digging into the side of a large snow drift which was piled high against a bank. Inside was a small floor space and a large shelf about 2 feet above the floor level. We would all sleep on this shelf-like feature. The main entrance was blocked off leaving just a small access hole below the level of the shelf. During the night we had a candle burning at all times, as that indicated there was enough oxygen in the air. Also, surprisingly the combination of the candle and some body heat caused the temperature in the cave to rise to -1 from -18 degrees Celsius outside. We know about the temperature because the doctor set an alarm for every hour, when he would record the temperature as part of his study. We had a great last evening, a good end to a very enjoyable and worthwhile course. Thanks to the generosity of the boss and flight commanders on No. 41 Squadron, I was able to fly one of their aircraft from time to time with the reconnaissance pod. They gave me a basic briefing on how to aim one of the cameras. It wasn’t a recce course, by any stretch of the imagination, but it allowed me to go off and take some pictures. It was another enjoyable way to pass an hour and a half in the air, and it was always interesting to see the outcome of one’s efforts. Thank you No. 41 Squadron. A task which came to the ‘Coltishall Wing’ was to ferry six Jaguars across the Atlantic to Goose Bay. The Jaguars were RAF Bruggen based and the squadrons in Germany were not required to be current at in-flight refuelling. These aircraft were on their way to Cold Bay, if I remember correctly, and the pilots from the Germany-based squadrons would fly them on from Goose Bay across Canada. I led a pair, the other aircraft being flown by a friend from some time ago, and a pilot from No. 6 Squadron, ‘Tag’ Taggart. We arrived in heavy rain and I led a pairs close-formation ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach to a pairs close-formation landing. We had been told to catch any aircraft back to the UK. It would probably mean a good few hours in a Hercules back to Brize Norton or Lyneham. However, in the bar that night, we met a VC 10 crew who were stopping over for one night en route taking the RAF Cranwell football team to Colorado Springs, before returning to the UK. They offered Tag and I a lift, which we willingly accepted. We arrived back at Coltishall a few days later than expected, but that didn’t matter.

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NO. 6 SQUADRON AND RAF COLTISHALL Apart from the flying, and the detachments, for the rest of the time at Coltishall it was a case of a squadron leader doing a corporal’s job. I was mostly responsible for booking range slots for the three squadrons at various ranges around the UK. I discussed applying for the test pilot course at ETPS (Empire Test Pilot School), with Robin Hargreaves. He was a qualified test pilot and he encouraged me to go for it. I mentioned that I wasn’t particularly good at maths and had never been good at paperwork, either. He basically said I should give it a try anyway, and that at ETPS they would ‘brush up’ the maths. I thought my maths skills would require more than just ‘brushing up’. Squadron Leader Peter Orme, a friend from Lossiemouth when he went through the course there, also encouraged me to apply, saying he thought I would be suitable. He was a test pilot and had been involved in the clearance testing of the Jaguar a number of years previously. I put in the application, and was invited to attend the interviews at Boscombe Down. The visit to ETPS included a maths and science written test as well as the interviews. I thought I might have done fairly well on the science questions, but knew I had definitely not done well on the pure maths. During one of the interviews I was asked what I thought of the RAF’s correspondence course, which was aimed at teaching service writing and preparing officers for staff work. It was run by the education branch. I explained that I was most unimpressed as I found it irritating and unrealistic. I was asked to give an example of how it was irritating. I explained that I was asked to write a paper about the use of air power in an anti-armour role. I submitted a piece of work, for which I was criticised for mentioning the USAF A10 aircraft. My teacher described it as irrelevant. The A 10 was an aircraft designed and deployed specifically for use in the anti-armour/ anti-tank role. Later in the paper I was criticised for using ‘the second alternative spelling’ in the Oxford dictionary for a particular word. I told the interviewers that, in my opinion we would be better off scrapping most of the education branch and spending the money on boosting our defences to oppose the threat of the 55,000 Soviet tanks, which were facing Europe at that time, instead of worrying about the second alternative spelling in the dictionary being unacceptable. At the time the test pilot schools in the UK, France and USA were operating a student exchange system. Some of the RAF pilots would be selected to do the course in those countries and ETPS would accept students from those countries, as well as others such as Australia and Italy. It was explained to me before I left Boscombe that if I was selected for test pilot

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs training, it would not be at the USAF school at Edwards Air Force Base, or the US Navy school at Patuxant River, as both of those courses were very maths intensive and there would be a good chance I would not be able to cope with them. The course at Boscombe was much more flying orientated, and probably more challenging in that respect, than the courses in the States. In the UK the thinking was that professional mathematicians would handle all the maths stuff, and test pilots just needed to know the principles of what was involved and not actually be involved in doing complex calculations. They therefore suggested I was much more suited to the ‘Boscombe course’. I couldn’t have agreed more. I heard later from Peter Orme that my comments and sentiments regarding the correspondence course had gone down well. At least it seemed the ETPS interviewers had agreed with my sense of priorities. The good news was, I would be starting the test pilot course at the ETPS in January 1980. I would be leaving Coltishall during the first week of January, but there was time for one more detachment and some very interesting and enjoyable flying. The Coltishall ‘Wing’ was to provide six aircraft to join the AAFCE (Allied Air Forces Central Europe) Tactical Leadership Programme. I was lucky to be included in the team of six pilots, the other five representing the three squadrons at Coltishall. The exercise was held at the German base of Jever, in the north of the country near the Baltic Coast. On arrival at Jever we were met by the directing staff. Squadron Leader Hilton Moses was one of the staff and an ex-Jaguar pilot, previously on a recce squadron, and he was accompanied by another Brit, a young Buccaneer navigator. The other members of the staff were from other NATO countries. In addition to our Jaguars there were GAF (German Air Force) F-4Fs, USAF F-15,s, four Belgian Mirage 5s, two RAF Lightnings, and four GAF F-104s. The course started with some ‘ground school’, which in fact was a presentation by a member from each team and aircraft type, covering the characteristics of their aeroplane, its performance and how they used it. It was interesting to hear the different ideas and experiences of the various nations. I remember the Belgian representative describing the Mirage 5. He called it a very good ‘tourism aeroplane’. His reasoning was that as a ground attack aircraft, its weapon-carrying capability was not great, but it could carry an overnight bag over a reasonable distance. During the sorties which followed we were all encouraged to state the weapon load we could in theory carry on that particular mission. It was surprising the differences from type to type. Our Jaguars were nearly always

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NO. 6 SQUADRON AND RAF COLTISHALL able to carry either six 1,000-lb bombs or six BL 755 cluster bombs, as we only needed to have one external fuel tank. At the other end of the scale, the Mirage 5 could usually carry just four 500-lb bombs, and sometimes only two, or a maximum of one-third of the weight of the Jaguar’s load, over the same distance. On the air defence side the Lightnings could carry just two infrared airto-air missiles, plus their 30-mm guns, whereas the F-15 could carry eight missiles, four infrared and four radar guided, and their 20-mm gun. The flights started off as 2 v 2 combat sorties between different types, and then we moved on to large formations attacking targets all over the north of Germany. These had all been cleared well in advance by the directing staff. Airfields attacked were Alhorn, Wildenrath and Bruggen. I led a fourteen-aircraft attack on Bruggen, plus on that mission we had two F-15s as escort. The bounce aircraft for that sortie were two Lightnings and two F-4s. As you would imagine they were demanding flights, one really needed to keep one’s wits about one. Many similar sorties were flown with various combinations of attackers, escorts and bounce aircraft. On one mission we all flew together on the same side and were intercepted by F-16s. It was probably very realistic. Of course it was relatively straightforward to plan a large-formation attack, but once the flight was underway, and the formation was intercepted, it was a totally different ballgame. Chaos would inevitably ensue and then it was a case of playing it by ear. Particularly after an attack, and when heading for base, it was not practical to join up the large formation, which would take too long and wasn’t necessary. However, it was a very good idea to at least escape from the target area in pairs in battle formation, i.e. about 1,000 yards line abreast, as this would give some mutual cross cover and would be far preferable to returning as a singleton. On 3 December I was programmed to lead an attack on a Hawk air defence missile site. For this one we were bounced by F-15s and Lightnings. I remember an amusing sight on the exit from the target area. While cruising along in a relatively sedate manner of 480 knots and 250 feet, I saw an aircraft quickly closing up behind. I assumed it to be a threat and called it to my wingman in the other Jaguar who was line abreast. I waited for the attacking aircraft to commit to one of us before calling for a hard turn in the appropriate direction. To turn too early would just allow the attacker to engage whichever of our aircraft was on the outside of the turn. I then realised it was one of ours, a Mirage 5. He was really moving along at about 150 feet and, as he shot passed us as though we were going backwards,

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs I saw he was in reheat. Then I saw why! About 1 mile astern, and going equally as quickly, was a Lightning. As he shot passed us also I saw he had a shockwave coming from the nose and also that he wasn’t in reheat. We were probably not noticed, and carried on our steady way back to base. It was a very enjoyable detachment and thanks to the hard work by Hilton, and the other directing staff, it had been excellent value. In particular I think the USAF F-15 pilots, who normally flew in a very restrictive and controlled environment, were surprised by what we were allowed to do. It was time to say goodbye and thanks, and we flew back to Coltishall. The next month I would be entering a different environment at A and AEE (Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment), Boscombe Down.

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Chapter Twelve

The Empire Test Pilot School

There were ten pilots who started the course, one each from France, Germany and Italy, two from Australia, two from the USA and three from the UK. Unfortunately one of the American students was just not quite up to the flying task. Although he was very well qualified academically, it wasn’t possible for the staff to send him solo on the Jaguar. It was a surprise to us all as he had been flying the F4 Phantom in the USAF. Although it wasn’t made clear the precise problem, it seems the USAF flying was less demanding than that of some other air forces. He was a good guy and we were all sad to see him depart back to the USA after just a few weeks. So then there were nine. The purpose of the course at ETPS was to prepare experienced pilots for their new role of test pilot. In effect it would be to teach them how to apply their experience most effectively during the introduction of new aircraft and equipment into service. A common expression at ETPS was ‘mission relate your testing and reporting’. To this end it was necessary to teach ETPS students various testing techniques. Many exercises were flown in a wide variety of aircraft, and many reports had to be written. The course was very intensive due to the large variety of subjects and techniques that needed to be covered and the reports that had to be written, and all in one year. I found myself working late just about every evening, there was no time for family life at all. One UK student, who had done a chemistry degree course over three years in the UK, said the ETPS course had involved much more work than his degree course and in one year as against three. I found myself having to write reports or prepare for the next flight on Saturdays and most Sundays too. Another graduate of the course, who was now firmly ensconced in a test pilot role with British Aerospace, said he was glad he did the course, but would never want to do another one like it. Many different exercises were flown to simulate typical real world test flying. For example, the Lightning T5 was used for longitude manoeuvre

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs stability, a vital subject for a fighter aircraft in a hard turning combat situation. The Andover was used for instrument calibration of airspeed indicators and altimeters, the Canberra T4 for a cockpit assessment and the Hunter for the spinning of a swept-wing aircraft. In addition, the Varistab Bassett was used for static stability and other stability and control characteristics. To give some idea of the content of the exercises we did, I’ll describe briefly just two of them: a cockpit assessment and a spinning test flight.

Cockpit Assessment The assessment starts with entry and exit to the cockpit. Wet weather and night-time conditions need to be taken into consideration. Then a complete survey of the inside is made. Every switch, indicator, control and instrument is assessed individually and reported on, whether it’s satisfactory or not. If an item is assessed as unsatisfactory then, if appropriate, a recommendation may be made to correct the problem. The Canberra T4 was an ideal subject aircraft for the cockpit assessment exercise. Due to it being a two-seater trainer developed from a singlepilot version, obviously done at minimum cost, the cockpit was frankly a disaster. It was cramped. Access to the left seat was through a hatch in the starboard side, first swinging the right seat backwards on the hinges near the top of the seat and locking it in place, and then clambering past it avoiding the control column and finally reaching the left seat. Access to the right seat and strapping into it while swinging it forward was no easier. Once in place, it was obvious things were not going to get any better. The instrument layout was dreadful, and nearly all the switches were out of reach without the operation of the ‘go forward’ lever on the side of the seat to slacken off the shoulder straps. I heard someone say the inside of the cockpit looked like an explosion in a liquorice allsorts factory. One American student on a previous course had started his report with: ‘Access to the cockpit of the Canberra T4 is very difficult. It should be made impossible.’ I expect he got good marks for that part of his write up. Seriously, a proper detailed assessment would have to be made and a comprehensive report produced. As you can imagine, such a report would take some considerable time. Just as an additional note, the aircraft was a delight to fly once it was airborne (except when a switch had to be operated), and I have heard from

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THE EMPIRE TEST PILOT SCHOOL others that the cockpit layout of the single-seat version was quite reasonable. That was a good thing as the PR 9 Canberra, a high altitude reconnaissance model, was in service for more than thirty-five years and was still very effective in its role at the end of its life.

Swept-Wing Spinning Spinning the swept-wing Hunter was a valuable training exercise. It was potentially a more hazardous exercise than most of the ones we did. Intentionally spinning a Hunter in RAF service was forbidden for that reason. In any case it had no real operational application. However, it was necessary during the testing of a new aircraft to investigate the limits of control and this would include taking the aircraft beyond those limits, which could result in the aircraft entering a spin, an inverted spin or some other similar condition. For spinning the Hunter on the course, we had a ground pilot equipped with telemetry read outs and a radio to make the whole exercise a bit safer. The ground pilot had a read out in real time of the positions of the controls as well as the airspeed, altitude and direction of yaw. The procedure after engine start was to check in with the ground pilot on the radio link and confirm a valid read out of the controls’ positions. After climbing to about 40,000 feet, all the telemetry readouts would be checked again and the aircraft slowed in preparation for the spin. After more checks the aircraft was slowed down to the incipient stall and then full rudder was applied while the control column was pulled all the way to the backstop. The nose would drop and the aircraft would enter the spin. Full rudder and full back stick would need to be maintained. The pilot would have a personal voice recorder. In 1980 it was a cassette tape recorder. A commentary would be made on the tape for replaying later to analyse the characteristics of the spin. For example before entering the spin, a large easily seen and recognised feature on the ground would be identified. On a couple of occasions I used the Isle of Wight. The commentary for the tape might go something like: ‘entering now, altitude 39,800, turn now, speed 105, one, altitude 37,400, two, 102 knots 33,500, three (as the Isle of Wight went past the windscreen for the third time), etc. This would, when replayed later, allow the rate of rotation to be measured as well as the rate of descent, and it would also be necessary to record airspeeds and nose-pitch angle.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs All this was essential information for the detailed report which would have to be written. The recovery from the spin would be to check the direction of rotation from the turn needle, apply full opposite rudder and then ease the control column to slightly forward of the central position. At this point the ground pilot would be monitoring the control positions, in particular he would be making sure that full opposing rudder was being applied. As the spin stopped, the controls would be centred immediately and then it would be just a case of recovering from a low airspeed nose-low dive. If recovery was not successfully achieved by 10,000 feet, then the procedure was to eject. The ground pilot had the responsibility of reminding the crew by calling… ‘10,000 feet if no recovery eject.’ A normal upright spin was not the end of the exercise. It was necessary to clamber back up to 40,000 feet to investigate the effects of applying aileron in the spin. In the case of ‘in spin’ aileron being applied, the mild pitching oscillations, noted in the normal spin, increased quite noticeably (i.e. the nose would pitch up and down over a larger angle). In the case of out-spin aileron being applied then the pitching would cease altogether and the spin would become very smooth. All these details were to be written up in the comprehensive report. If possible, it would be ideal if students could experience an inverted spin. It wasn’t easy to establish a Hunter in an inverted spin, but there were two techniques used. The one I remember, and which worked three times for me, was the roll coupled entry. This required the aircraft to be slowed to near the incipient stall and then full aileron applied to achieve the maximum possible rate of roll. This took about three complete rolls. Application of full opposite rudder was then applied and the stick pushed forward of central and on to the front stop. If it worked, then a very confusing flick type of manoeuvre would ensue and then the aircraft would settle into an obvious inverted attitude with negative G and a high rate of rotation. It was a smooth spin usually, with not much in the way of oscillation in pitch. It was necessary to monitor the JPT (jet pipe temperature), particularly in the inverted spin, as this could sometimes exceed the maximum allowed, even though the throttle was at idle. In this case it would be necessary to shut down the engine by closing the HP cock immediately and while still in the inverted spin. Excessive JPT happened to me only once. Being in an inverted spin in a Hunter with the engine shut down was not exactly everyone’s cup of tea. For recovery it was essential to check the turn needle to determine the direction of rotation. In the inverted spin, unlike the upright one, the direction of yaw was opposite to the perceived direction of roll. Roll was the dominant visual cue in the

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THE EMPIRE TEST PILOT SCHOOL inverted spin, and it would be easy to apply the wrong rudder to attempt a recovery. After checking the turn needle, opposite rudder would be applied and the stick held neutral until the yaw stopped. It was now just a case of recovering from an inverted low airspeed dive. In the inverted spin it was very important that the ground pilot monitored the altitude and the positions of the controls, particularly in the recovery phase.

The Vari-stab Bassett The slow and sedate vari-stab Bassett was a very effective training tool. It had been fitted with an analogue computer which was connected to its flying controls. As its name implies, it could vary the degree of different types of stability or instability, e.g. it could demonstrate static instability, which it would not be safe to demonstrate in a normal aircraft. It could demonstrate dynamic stability and instability and various manoeuvre stability characteristics.

The Preview The course took almost a year, but the highlight was the Preview Exercise, which was the culmination of the course. It was the big test when we would put together all the techniques learned during the previous ten months and mission relating our findings, write the report. For this we would be detached to an RAF base and would fly seven or eight flights in an aircraft we had not previously flown. Two students would go to each aircraft type, and between them write a very comprehensive report on the aircraft and its suitability in a particular role. Aircraft tested included Hawk, Buccaneer, Phantom and Harrier. I was delighted to be going to RAF Wittering, along with Tracy McCormick, one of the Australians, to fly the Harrier. We were to assess the two-seat Harrier for its suitability for use as a VSTOL (Vertical and Short Take-Off and Landing) training and operational aircraft. The Harrier was a development of the Hawker Siddley Kestrel VSTOL experimental aircraft, which in turn was developed from the prototype VSTOL experimental P1127. The P1127 was designed during the late 1950s, by designers Sydney Camm and Ralph Hooper, and first flew in November 1960. It was conceived as a prototype to explore VSTOL flight in order to develop the intended operational aircraft, designated P1154. The P1154 was

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs to be a larger and supersonic aircraft. The original P1127 led to the order of several Kestrels which were a step towards an operationally capable aircraft. Unfortunately, on the grounds of cost, the P1154 was cancelled, and it was decided to go ahead with the further development of the Kestrel into an operational but subsonic aircraft, which became the Harrier. The Harrier uses a vectored thrust engine to achieve its VSTOL capability. The air intake is conventional, but from behind the compressor stage of the engine, air is bled away to feed the two forward nozzles, one each side of the aircraft just behind the cockpit. The conventional output of thrust at the rear is via two more side-mounted nozzles. All four nozzles are able to be rotated from fully aft thrust, down to a little forward of the vertical. Interim angles may be selected. To achieve roll and pitch control when the aircraft has little or no forward airspeed, air is also bled from aft of the compressor to nozzles placed in each wing tip and at the nose and tail. The downward thrust from these control nozzles is regulated by the conventional control column. The really clever arrangement is that the four control jets, known as ‘the puffers’ come into play automatically as the nozzles move from aft towards the down position. A single extra lever to select the angle of the main nozzles is the only extra control required compared to a conventional fighter type of aircraft. This extra control lever is positioned near to the throttle, and is equipped with a position stop facility. This allows a preselected nozzle angle to be selected with the stop, and then quickly and accurately selected with the control lever. This is an important feature. Tracy and I arrived at Wittering to fly eight test flights each to produce the report. It required a great deal of preparation. We each developed a list of items we would assess and therefore avoid duplication and wasted effort. It was also very important to review each evening, and to share our experiences and opinions, and to make detailed notes and record any data collected. We would be flying with a Harrier-qualified pilot for all of the flights, so we didn’t need to spend too much time on emergency drills and having a full knowledge of the aircraft systems. There was obviously a great emphasis on the vertical performance and handling aspects of the aircraft, but also it was necessary to check the aircraft’s normal conventional flight characteristics. Although the Harrier was capable of fully vertical operations, it had been established that the most efficient way to utilise the aircraft’s capabilities was to use an RVTO (Rolling Vertical Take-Off), as this would allow a much higher take-off weight, with only a very short take-off roll, of typically about 50 yards. Even on a badly bomb-damaged airfield, 50 yards of takeoff distance was almost certain to be available. But in the case of a Harrier,

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THE EMPIRE TEST PILOT SCHOOL say hiding in a wood near to the front line, a VTO (Vertical Take-Off) would be available with a lighter weapon/fuel load. Similarly, there would be occasions when an RVL (Rolling Vertical Landing) would be appropriate, but also times when a VL (Vertical Landing) would be needed. It was therefore a requirement for us to assess all these options and the aircraft’s suitability for training pilots in those techniques. Prior to leaving Boscombe Down, both Tracy and I had been given one flight in a Scout helicopter. This was to give us a chance to practise hovering. One major difference between helicopters in the hover compared to the Harrier was the recommended initial hover height. Helicopters are best hovered at a very low height, say about 6 feet, as an engine failure at that height would not be catastrophic. It would just result in a very firm landing. However, at 6 feet above the ground the Harrier, as it’s riding on a bubble of air, is very unstable and the hot gases from the nozzles would be recirculated through the intakes, resulting in a loss of thrust. Additionally, there would be a considerable risk of debris being thrown up by the jet efflux and being sucked into the air intake damaging the engine. So, three good reasons why Harriers don’t hover very near the ground. We practised hovering the Scout at about 60 feet, the recommended initial hover height for the Harrier. It’s actually not easy to remain vertically above an exact spot at that height, but some practice helped. For the Harrier to land, the technique developed was to descend through the height band of about 20 feet to touch down, by first stabilising at 60 feet, positioning above the desired touch down spot and then setting up a steady rate of descent by reducing the thrust. The rate of descent is then maintained to touch down. It was important not to try and reduce that rate of descent when near the ground. A very gentle touch down was not required, and attempting it was definitely not a good idea. My first flight consisted of a short take-off (STO), and some general handling, assessing stability and controls and a short landing (SL). We then had sufficient fuel for one more STO and an SL. The technique for a short take-off was to initially accelerate as for a normal aircraft using full thrust. The Harrier accelerated extremely quickly and about two seconds after starting to move and after about 100 yards, the nozzle lever would be selected down to the nozzle stop and the aircraft, although not travelling fast enough for conventional wing borne flight, would leap into the air partially lifted by the wings and partially by the vertical component of the thrust from the four nozzles. The aircraft would then accelerate and the nozzles slowly selected to fully aft as the airspeed increased up to that sufficient for conventional flight. A short landing was really just the reverse. The aircraft

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs was slowed and the nozzles gradually selected to a pre-planned setting, not quite vertically down, and the aircraft flown at a low speed, becoming more and more supported by the engine thrust, and then touch down would be at maybe 40 knots or so. The next couple of flights were to make assessments of rear-seat view for low-level navigation and range work, more handling in the hover and more STOL work. We landed and taxied on the grass, and did Rolling Vertical TakeOffs (RVTOs) and Rolling Vertical Landings (RVLs). The rolling vertical ops were similar to the short take-offs and landings but used less distance. Operationally it would be at a lighter weight than for a short take-off. Next came a look at vertical take-offs and vertical landings. Once I had managed to do a couple of reasonably well flown ‘verticals’, I was able to try a more mission-related assessment thanks to Flight Lieutenant Dudley Carvell, with whom I was to fly a couple of times. He allowed me to do a VL into a clearing in a wooded area. It was a specially set-up landing patch, complete with a mexipad to protect the surface (a mexi pad is a circular piece of pierced steel planking). The take-off was potentially hazardous in that the throttle needed to be slammed to maximum with a group of trees just a few yards directly ahead of the aeroplane. Of course, the nozzles would be in the vertically down position so the aircraft would just rise vertically up and out of the wood. It was a wonderful and unique experience for me. The nozzles could not be selected down and left there for any length of time, as that would cause re-ingestion of hot air into the intakes and would also cause overheating of the tyres. It was therefore necessary to select the nozzle stop to the vertical position, and then in rapid succession pull the nozzle lever to the stop and slam the thrust lever to max. I found it disconcerting to be staring at a tree just a few yards away and selecting full thrust. Dudley also demonstrated VIFF-ing, (Vectoring in Forward Flight). This allowed for some startling manoeuvres. One example was flying in conventional flight in a steep climb at high speed and then selecting the nozzles to forward of the vertical position, and pulling back on the control column. This resulted in a sort of flipping manoeuvre and Dudley was able to get the Harrier rising vertically with the nose pointing towards the ground – it was, for just a few seconds, flying backwards in a vertical climb. Try as I might, I was not able to conceive of an operational use of such a manoeuvre. Unfortunately the Harrier preview flying came to an end far too soon for my liking, and Tracy’s too. Now was the time for the work: the writing

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THE EMPIRE TEST PILOT SCHOOL of the report. It would be a full-time job for the next ten days. There were just so many notes and so much data to collate and present in a suitable format. The report ran to about 200 pages of writing and in addition, many diagrams, drawings and graphs. But eventually it was finished and presented to the ETPS staff. We all passed the course, and had a great evening at the final dining out night. Then it was time to say goodbye to the other course members with whom we had shared many trials (literally) and tribulations over the past year. Lucian would be returning to France, Horst to Germany, Roberto to Italy, Tracy and John to Australia and Paul to the USA. Tim Allen, Tony Banfield and I would be remaining at Boscombe Down, with Tim and I going to A Squadron, the fighter test unit, and Tony to B Squadron, which tested the larger aircraft.

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Chapter Thirteen

A Squadron

My first year on A Squadron was a really steep learning curve. Although I wasn’t initially involved with the Tornado or the Sea Harrier, the two major projects at the time, I flew a lot of photo chase flights. These were usually to allow a cameraman in the other seat to film weapon releases. A clean release of a weapon or weapons is of paramount importance for safety, and also for accuracy. I would sit in on all briefings, and in doing so I learned a lot about how these trials were planned and conducted. A Squadron operated a Hunter Mk 9, XE 601, on behalf of Porton Down who actually owned it. The aircraft was fitted with special external underwing tanks that could be pressurised to a higher pressure than that used in external fuel tanks. Their purpose was to carry water or other liquid, and spray it out on demand. I was quickly authorised to fly 601 and used it for general handling flights, as well as various spray tasks. One of my early flights was during February, spraying water on army APCs (Armoured Personnel Carriers) for the army’s NBC (Nuclear Biological and Chemical) warfare training on Salisbury Plain. On 30 April I flew my first spraying test flight over the test range at Porton Down. This required several passes at 60 feet and 450 knots spraying a test liquid. Accuracy of height was important, so Hunter 601 was fitted with a special radio altimeter fitted to the combing and with a large face, which read accurate height above ground between zero and 200 feet. These Hunter 601 flights, along with carrying a cameraman on photo sorties in a Hunter two-seater or Hawk, made up the majority of my flying for the first half of 1981. Altogether in 1981 I flew about fourteen spraying flights, six at Porton Down, two spraying just water over airfields with one over a group of navy ships, and the others on army units on Salisbury Plain. Some of the chase sorties were quite demanding. We used the Hawk for speeds up to about 500 knots, but any faster meant using the F4 Phantom. On a couple of occasions when the F4 was unavailable, I used the ETPS Lightning T5.

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A SQUADRON

Porton Down Hunter XE 601, with ‘spray’ tanks.

One typical flight I remember, in 1982, was a chase on a Harrier lowlevel bombing trial on Larkhill range. The speed required was 480 knots, so we used a Hawk. The cloud base was quite low and visibility not great. Tim Allen was flying the Harrier and was having to manoeuvre quite aggressively to line up on the target, having acquired it visually quite late. It was necessary for me to stay close and then get into a position line abreast at the correct spacing for the release. It took aggressive, up to 5G, manoeuvres to achieve the results. The cameraman did well to cope. There were various other one-off type trials, such as using the ETPS Lightning T5, for a repair mat trial. For this one I sat in with our senior pilot, Colin Cruickshanks, while he taxied over the mat several times at different speeds. The mat was to be used to complete a repair to a bombdamaged runway. The Lightning was used because it had a heavy footprint, i.e. the weight of the aircraft on the very narrow high-pressure tyres put a lot of stress on the mat. A camera pod was fitted to the Lightning in place of the ventral fuel tank. It was not, as one might have thought looking at the aircraft, a high speed, very short range, reconnaissance version of the Lightning. In April I went to Coningsby to be checked out by Flight Lieutenant Jack Hamil to fly the F4 Phantom. In June I flew several Jaguar handling trials with various 1,000-lb bomb loads of up to eight bombs.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs Starting in July, the Phantom was to be used to help develop a new camera for the Tornado reconnaissance pod. On the 30th I flew, along with Flight Lieutenant Bob Ross, one of our flight test navigators, the first of eleven flights in total. The trial culminated in a series of low-level passes over Boscombe Down. These test flights were to ascertain the camera’s capability at low-level high speed in low-light conditions. To this end, inflatable tanks were parked on the edge of the airfield. We then flew low, about 100 feet, and fast across the airfield in the late afternoon at ten-minute intervals as the light faded. In the meantime a ground test team took a light reading corresponding to each pass. Towards the end of my first year I was becoming more directly involved with the Tornado trials programme. I flew in Tornado ADV prototype AO1 on a handling trial with Keith Hartley, an ex-RAF Lightning pilot and now a British Aerospace test pilot. Also, I was checked out on Tornado P15 by Flight Lieutenant Alan Foster, who was the lead project test pilot for the Tornado IDS. Al ran the Tornado programme very efficiently. At the end of 1981 our senior pilot, Squadron Leader Colin Cruickshanks, was due to leave A Squadron. To my astonishment I was made senior pilot

A Squadron F4 Phantom.

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A SQUADRON

A Squadron aircrew with Tornado Prototype ADV, AO1.

by our OC, Wing Commander Ron Burrows, from January 1982 onwards. This was, I think, the first time a pilot had become senior pilot on the squadron after just one year. In January 1982 I flew the Lightning we had borrowed from ETPS to photo chase a Tornado dropping bombs at 625 knots from low level and two days later a similar task with a Tornado releasing two ‘special weapons’ – the term used for a nuclear device. The Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands occurred on 2 April 1982. This had a significant effect on A Squadron. Many test flights were flown over the next couple of months in support of Operation Corporate, the British Operation to take back the islands.

Tornado 625 kts 6 x 1000 lb bombs release at low level.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs On 3 April, as acting OC A Squadron, in the temporary absence of the boss, I answered a phone call from the MOD, which requested that Lieutenant Commander Rod Frederiksen, our test pilot on the Sea Harrier programme, fly the A Squadron Sea Harrier to HMS Invincible as soon as possible. I told our engineers to offload the practice bomb carriers but leave all the weapons pylons on, and get the aircraft ready for flight. Then I contacted Rod to pass the information and told him it was to go to Invincible, but I couldn’t remember if I was told Plymouth or Portsmouth. Rod said, ‘Don’t worry I know where the ship is.’ It was to be the last we saw of Rod for several months. It was the last we saw of our Sea Harrier, period. It was shot down during an attack on Goose Green, and unfortunately the pilot was killed. Every available Victor tanker was being used for Op Corporate, so other aircraft were being modified to take their place for operations in the UK. A Vulcan and a Hercules were quickly modified. I remember seeing the first Hercules outside B Squadron. The probe had been fitted and was usable, but at that stage the fairing in of the modification had not been completed. It looked very crude and ‘Heath Robinsonish’. I eventually flew clearance flights of Tornado ADV, Tornado IDS, Lightning, Phantom and Jaguar with the Vulcan tanker.

Lightning v Vulcan AAR trial.

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A SQUADRON To explain the technique for checking out a receiver with a tanker, I’ll describe the test we did with Tornado P15 when clearing it to refuel from the Vulcan. This particular trial took place on 29 October 1982. The standard procedure of joining on the port side in echelon was followed and after a little wave to the Vulcan captain, and after being ‘cleared astern’ on the r/t, we moved astern to the hose which was trailed while we were in close formation on the port side. (The hose was always let out to its full extent with the receiver away to the side. This was in case of a malfunction and the whole hose falling off after it reached its fully out position.) We moved to astern the hose and noted the line-up reference points on the tanker and assessed whether further markings on the fuselage underside would be necessary to aid the receiver pilot. It was then a case of ‘exploring the air’ around that position by flying up a little then down and left and right. All was OK so we moved forward at the recommended relative speed of ‘walking pace’ and made contact. To ensure a good contact to engage the restraining mechanism, it was important not to try to contact too slowly, as the locks holding the probe tip in the basket would then not operate. We pushed the hose in to the fuel-flow position. This was about 15 feet or so forward of the contact position. In this position, the fuel would begin to flow if pre-selected by the tanker crew. In the rear of the pod were a set of ‘traffic lights’, for want of a better description, two red, two orange and two green. Only one colour would be displayed at any one time. The red lights would be on until the tanker crew cleared the receiver to astern the hose, at which time they would be replaced by the orange. As the hose was pushed into the pod, the greens would replace the orange when the fuel-flow position was reached and fuel was actually flowing. We then did the same gentle, slow movements left and right and up and down, to ensure there were no sudden surprises. The usual light buffet was felt as the aircraft was flown too high. This is caused by the disturbed air from the tanker and is a good indication to the receiver pilot that he is getting too high. Fuel was passed for a couple of minutes, about 2,000 lbs, and then we slowly dropped back, and disconnected. All was fine… the Tornado could be written up as cleared for AAR with a Vulcan tanker, so long as the engineering side of the assessment was also satisfactory. A total of six Vulcans were converted with the bomb bay fitted with extra tanks, and a HDU (hose drum unit) fitted into the rear space previously occupied by an ECM fit. Later, these HDU units were transferred to the VC 10 tankers, which were coming into service as the Vulcans were retired.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs Also due to a requirement, for Corporate, we flew Tornado P15 at very short notice to the Buccaneer base, RAF Honington. To clear refuelling from the Buccaneer took two flights, one with just two external tanks, and the next day, one in the ferry configuration of four tanks to full. This test was specifically requested by the MOD. The very heavy configuration, at low speed, required the use of reheat to stay in contact as the tanks reached close to full. On this second flight I took along a Buccaneer navigator, Vic Blackwood. One can only speculate as to why this combination was required, and why it was so urgent, but I do remember our PM Margaret Thatcher saying that we were going to win this one, regardless of what it takes, or how long it takes! In the meantime we continued with our tasks. I went to Germany with Bob Ross, for gun-firing trials with their test Tornado P16. My first flight on Meppen Range was with Frigate Capitan Pohl, a flight test navigator who was familiar with the range. I was amazed just how good the Mauser gun was at hitting a target from a long range. We were firing at very large targets, like very large, white bed sheets, to ensure we could measure the position

Tornado AAR with a Buccaneer.

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A SQUADRON

Tornado AAR with Buccaneer.

Tornado AAR with Buccaneer. Trial to fill ferry tanks to full. Short notice urgent trial in support of Operation Corporate [The Falklands].

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs of each bullet strike. After each attack a man would run out and take a photograph of the holes already made before the next pass. The accuracy of the gun, and the sight harmonisation, could then be assessed by comparing these results with the recording of the gunsight. I flew two more of these flights with Bob Ross, and he too was very surprised at how we could put all the rounds on the target at what seemed like an enormous range. We were firing at nearly 2 miles, the max range of the gun was advertised as 2.5 miles, such was the velocity and spin rate of the rounds leaving the barrel. On 26 May there was a requirement to clear the release of a stick of 8 x BL 755 cluster bombs from 200 feet, and on the 28th a stick of 8 x 1,000-lb retard bombs from low-level high speed. The clearance to release the bombs at a given speed could be recommended purely on the grounds of achieving a safe separation. However, the trials also sometimes doubled up to provide weapon aiming data. We dropped many bombs without actually trying to hit a specific target. I have heard some front-line pilots criticise Boscombe for dropping bombs without aiming them to see how accurate the system was performing. The reason for the technique used was to provide as much data as possible from each release. For example, although the British 1,000-lb retard bomb would typically be released operationally from around 200 feet agl, we released them from up around 1,000 feet. During the run into the target, the aircraft would be tracked by kine theodolites (called that, I suppose, because kine refers to moving and theodolite to surveying). They optically tracked the target aircraft as it ran in towards the release point. As the release signal from the cockpit was sent to the relevant weapons pylon on the aircraft, a tone would be sent to the kine theodolite data box to identify that precise position. From then on the kines (as they were usually called) would track the weapon all the way until it hit the ground. The data collected could then be used to determine the forward throw of the weapon for any height up to 1,000 feet, and the computer could be programmed accordingly, e.g. the forward throw for a release height of 200 feet agl would be the throw achieved when the weapon reached 200 feet below the aircraft. This would provide much more useful data to improve the weapon’s accuracy of the system than merely trying to hit a target and then tweaking the system to try and correct the error. Of course several releases were done to average out the results. Sometimes we released weapons without using the kines, as more pure separation trials were required and the use of the kines was timeconsuming and expensive.

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A SQUADRON Shortly after HMS Sheffield was sunk, I had an idea for using a Tornado to attack the Argentinian air base at Rio Grande. This was the air base furthest to the south, and therefore the most difficult, and probably thought by the Argentinians to be out of reach. It was also the base from which Super Etendards operated to attack our ships using Exocet missiles. Sometimes surprise can produce results out of all proportion to the actual size of the attack. Such an attack might be very demoralising too, for the Argentinians. My plan was for a one-way mission, using our now very old and very worn-out prototype Tornado P04. Its airframe was by now living on borrowed time, having quite a few cracks and requiring regular inspections together with a 4G limit to keep it flying. It was due for the scrap heap anytime, hence the plan. A return flight would have been impracticable because of the limited range of the Tornado at low level, compared to the enormous distances involved. I mentioned the plan to our flight test navigator, Peter Huett, and he volunteered to go along with me. The plan would be to fly from Ascension with tankers and carry out a very low-level approach from about 500 miles out from the target, possibly at night, and then carry on after the attack to hopefully cross the border into Chile and eject. The weapons to use, and the precise target to hit, would need to be chosen by the MOD. Possible laser target marking (by special forces?) for laser-guided bombs to be used, would also be an MOD decision. When Peter volunteered, I called a friend, who I knew was much involved with Op Corporate at the MOD. Wing Commander Sam Goddard was the chief weapons instructor on the Jaguar OCU at Lossiemouth when I was there, and also the boss of No. 54 Squadron at Coltishall when I was there on No. 6 Squadron. We had played golf together many times. I told him of the plan and he seemed interested. His last words were that he would put the idea forward, and it would almost certainly be seriously considered. Although I heard nothing further regarding the Tornado one-way mission plan, I was informed that my services might be required in another way. Apparently there were five Sea Harriers which were all set to be delivered to the Indian Navy, but these deliveries had been frozen in case the Royal Navy required the aircraft. In the event that they were required, I was one of a list of five pilots earmarked to fly them to the South Atlantic. My name came forward because I was listed in the Air Secretary’s branch as qualified first pilot Harrier, due my flying of it on the ETPS preview exercise, combined with my experience in the air-defence role on the Lightning. I was informed that if it happened, then I would be given several days of intensive Sea Harrier simulator flying at RNAS Yeovilton, and then fly one

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs of the aircraft, via Ascension Island, to the South Atlantic and land on one of the carriers. I would then be expected to remain on operational duties there if required by the Royal Navy. Well I had been able to land a Harrier on a mexi pad a couple of times during the preview flying, and I had had one flight already in the Sea Harrier simulator, and landed it on HMS Invincible on that occasion… just, and it was in ideal conditions. I guess that after a few more simulator flights I would be OK. Going to war in it was a different kettle of fish, but I would learn all the appropriate switchery and procedures and then, during the hours of the ferry flight, I’d be able to practise those things until they were instinctive. If I had to fight with it, I suppose I’d just treat it much like a Lightning… apart from the landing! Boscombe Down made another, perhaps surprising, contribution to the Falklands effort. During June 1982, a Vulcan on a Black Buck mission was forced to divert to Brazil. The initial part of the flight was a success in that the Vulcan carrying four Shrike anti-radiation missiles had successfully launched two of them and destroyed an Argentinian Sky Guard anti-aircraft radar unit with a direct hit. On its return leg to Ascension, it successfully rendezvoused with its tanker with the aid of a Nimrod MR2. It started taking on fuel, but during the process the refuel probe tip broke off. It was now not able to get back to Ascension. The nearest airfield was in Brazil, near to Rio de Janeiro. On route there, an attempt was made to jettison the two remaining Shrikes, but one hung up. It landed with very little fuel remaining. The aircraft, and the one Shrike missile which remained on it, were impounded. Back at Boscombe Down, in the ETPS crewroom one of the students, a young Brazilian Air Force pilot, heard of the incident and made a phone call. He happened to be the son of the Brazilian Chief of the Air Staff. He was calling his father. At the end of the call he put down the phone and announced to those sitting there, ‘Don’t worry about your Vulcan, my dad says they’re going to release it.’ This information was then relayed to the MOD. The Vulcan was duly released. On 13 June I flew photo chase for a trial of a Harrier refuelling from a Hercules. It was labelled ‘Op Corporate Urgent’, and on 18 July another chase of a Nimrod refuelling from the Hercules, and on the 29th flew a Phantom on a refuelling trial with a Vulcan. A lot of people had been very busy modifying aircraft. I had flown five flights in five different aircraft in four days, Hunter, Hawk, Phantom, Lightning and a Tornado. In August 1982 we dropped another stick of 8 x BL755 cluster bombs at 520 knots and 200 feet. These would have been with inert bomblets, as

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A SQUADRON the trial was for release and weapons aiming only. Clearing up after a fully operational weapon drop would have been very hazardous. Also in August, I was involved in a Jaguar chaff dispenser trial, requiring five flights. It was a reunion with my old and trusty friend, XX 747, borrowed for the trial from Lossiemouth, the same aircraft I had used for a number of air displays in 1977 and also for the Edinburgh-to-London record flight. On 2 September myself and Squadron Leader Pete Huett flew the heaviest yet flight of a Tornado. The load was 12 x 1,000-lb bombs, each actually weighing approximately 1,100 lbs, plus two small test pods. The trial had not been done by the manufacturers due to their runway being rather short. The flight went well. The aircraft felt a bit sluggish at first as you would expect, and was slow to accelerate, but once up to 480 knots it was fine and handled well. It also coped well with the heavy weight landing, with no problems. On 9 September we had a failure. The plan was to do the AAR clearance of the Lightning with a Vulcan tanker over Aberporth range, Cardigan Bay. Unfortunately the Vulcan went u/s at the last moment and I was forced

Tornado 12 x 1000 lb bomb carriage.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs to divert to Valley. The Lightning was quickly refuelled and I returned to Boscombe Down. On 14 and 15 September I did two more flights in the Lightning with the Vulcan and the clearance was done, and on 1 October cleared the Jaguar with the Vulcan. The MOD were considering buying British Airways Tristar aircraft, which were due to be replaced by the airline, and converting them for the AAR role. Part of the process was to ensure they were actually suitable for the job. A Squadron was tasked with flying several aircraft types in formation with a BA Tristar, flown by a BA crew, to test the airflow behind the wing and ensure there were no nasty surprises. On 26 October I flew a 9 Squadron Tornado with Flight Lieutenant Pete Huett in the rear seat. We flew in the approximate fuelling position, and explored left and right and up and down a few feet, to ensure that no dangerous airflow conditions were encountered. Just the usual buffet on the fin was noted, the indication to the pilot that he was getting a little too high. A few seconds were spent waving to the very attractive cabin attendants who were watching us. In the first half of November 1982, Bob Ross and I did an avionics management assessment on the Tornado ADV, AO3 at BAe Warton.

Tornado and BA Tristar 25 Oct 1982.

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A SQUADRON Six flights were required to fully go through all the combinations of displays, indicators and operation of controls and switches. It was a rather tedious and time-consuming evaluation, but very important that it was done thoroughly and it had to be done in-flight, simulating as realistically as possible an operational environment. As an example of the type of tests we were doing, I will describe the last flight in this short series. For these last three flights we needed a target aircraft, so were joined at Warton by Flight Lieutenant Ray North, another A Squadron test pilot who brought along the A Squadron Phantom. These flights used the F4 as a target for the radar, allowing Bob to go through all the options and modes that were available. The last flight of the series was of note. Having taken off from Warton, we simulated 1 v 1 combat to check out the efficiency of the controls and indications involved when in close combat. In particular it was important that a pilot could quickly take control of the weapon system from the rear seat, and to fire either a missile or the guns at a target of opportunity that presented itself at very short notice. It was very important that he was able to do that with his eyes still outside the cockpit. We found some shortcomings and recommended fixes prior to the aircraft reaching squadron use. Having been on Lightnings, I was fairly well positioned to make some recommendations from a pilot’s perspective, while Bob was an ex-air defence Phantom navigator, and well qualified to make the necessary judgements regarding operations from the back seat. We found some shortcomings in this respect also, and assessed that aspect as unsatisfactory at the moment. We suggested suitable modifications for consideration. Altogether for the six flights, we assessed about 100 items on the test programme as unsatisfactory. However, although this sounds like rather a lot, as far as test flying such a complex aircraft was concerned, it was about par for the course, and most of these items would be fixed prior to the aircraft entering service. On returning to Warton on this last flight, we were informed of the crosswind situation. I don’t remember the precise figures but the wind was very strong from the left with no headwind component. I think it was probably in the order 30 to 35 knots across. BAe test pilot, Dave Eagles, was in the control tower with the local controller for our return because of this wind. He asked me if I wished to divert as the ADV had not been landed in anything more than about 20 to 25 knots across. However, if I would be willing to make an approach and land, if all looked OK in the last few seconds, he would be happy for me to try it. On hearing the wind

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs readout, Ray immediately decided to divert to Valley. He was unhappy about the combination of the Warton runway, due to its length, and the strong crosswind, for the Phantom. Dave said he would appreciate a landing as they were hoping to expand the cross-wind cleared envelope, but just hadn’t had the opportunity up until now. I flew the approach, landed, lowered the nose, held the stick slightly forward of centre, to keep reasonable weight on the nose wheel, and selected reverse thrust. All was very smooth and easy, so I pushed the throttles forward to get maximum reverse and at about 100 knots pulled them back to idle, and cancelled the reverse at about 80 knots (to avoid blowing dirt etc. into the air intakes). All this happened quite quickly as the Tornado at light weights slows to 80 knots in a very short distance even without using the wheel brakes. The whole landing was very straightforward and easy, requiring little skill. We stopped with the nose wheel still on the centre line of the runway, but I noticed the aircraft leaning to the right as we were slowing down. After debriefing the avionics assessment part of the flight, another set of engineers came into the room along with Dave Eagles to debrief the cross-wind landing. I described it as very easy, requiring no special skill. When I mentioned selecting full reverse thrust I got a very surprised reaction from them. I thought one of the engineer’s eyebrows were raised so high they were going to fall off the back of his head. He exclaimed ‘Surely you didn’t select full reverse! So far we’ve only been using idle reverse in cross winds above 15 knots.’ (This was because of the concern that the reverse thrust would greatly disturb the air flowing over the fin, which was helping to keep the aircraft straight.) Dave just smiled. He hadn’t briefed me of the requirement to select idle reverse only. We had taken a large step in that part of the aircraft’s test programme, but fortunately all went well. This reminded me of a story by an American test pilot during the F 111 test programme. They were testing the safe separation of under-wing fuel tanks when empty, the empty case being the most hazardous. They flew at about 300 knots at 500 feet and selected jettison. The tanks fell away, and all was well. They tried again at 500 knots. This time the tanks released, but after dropping about 3 feet or so, pitched up and flew backwards into the tailplane, taking off the starboard side one. The aircraft pitched up and rolled uncontrollably, the crew ejected and the plane hit the desert inverted. The TP (test pilot) said, ‘This demonstrates that taking large steps in a test programme is inherently dangerous.’

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A SQUADRON

Tornado ADV avionics management assessment on AO3 at Warton. The author (left), and Flight Test Navigator, Bob Ross.

Later they flew tests at 420 knots and all was OK. Then they tried at 440 knots and again all was OK. 460 knots again produced no problems. Even 480 knots was still a safe release. Another shot at 500 knots produced the original test result. The tanks dropped, pitched up, took off part of the tailplane, the aircraft pitched up and rolled, the crew ejected and the F 111 hit the desert. The TP said, ‘This demonstrates that taking small steps in a test programme is also inherently dangerous.’ On 30 November I flew a general handling flight in the ETPS two-seat Lightning T5. This was just to keep in good practice with the plane. Jim Giles asked to come along, so of course I agreed and said that we would share the flying. The flight was fine until we came to recover to Boscombe. Unfortunately by now the fog was rolling in from the south and before we could land it was just too thick. We made an approach but saw nothing at 200 feet, and due to the weather at other airfields around it was decided to divert to Manston in Kent. We didn’t have a great deal of fuel to spare, so we climbed up to high level heading west and called London ATC, requesting a non-deviating

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs track and clearance to Manston at high level. I don’t remember the actual flight level we asked for but it was granted. By now Jim was looking at the fuel gauges and probably wishing he hadn’t asked to come along with me. I must say that London ATC were really switched on and very helpful. As soon as they heard a Lightning was on a diversion they gave all the help possible. They altered the course of an overflying airliner to allow us the non-deviating track we had requested, and we landed safely at Manston as the weather was clear there. The next day we flew back to Boscombe by another 30-minute general handling flight. On 6 December the Tornado test flight was a high-angle toss of a special weapon at West Freugh range in the south west of Scotland. The weapon we carried was, of course, not the real thing, but was an accurate model in terms of weight and shape, hence we usually referred to it as ‘a shape’. The navigator was Peter Huett. The test required a run in towards the target area at just below Mach 1 at 200 feet. Then a pull up to a high-angle release of approximately 60 degrees. Approximately, because the release would be automatic with the aiming point pre-loaded into the weapon-aiming computer. This was to be one of many test flights using the low-altitude high-speed run in and pull-up profile to deliver a weapon, or weapons. (The weapon being released in the climb enabled the attacking aircraft to avoid overflying the target.) Later tests would include a run in at Mach 1.1 at 200 feet. After take-off from Boscombe we climbed steadily to the northwest calling the appropriate radar units for ATC clearances. Our rendezvous with the Victor tanker would be over the Irish Sea. Our tanker was on station as we arrived flying the usual race track pattern. We joined in echelon on the port wing, the normal procedure. On this occasion there were two Buccaneers in contact with the wing hoses and taking on fuel. Once they had cleared to the starboard side we were cleared astern, with the r/t call, ‘you’re clear astern the port hose, wet to full.’ We moved to astern the hose selecting the probe out and lining it up with the right three o’clock position of the basket. (From the test flights, I had noticed that the bow wave of the Tornado as we moved forward to contact caused the basket and hose to move to the right approximately half a basket’s diameter). When the red lights extinguished and the ambers came on, we moved forward, made contact and pushed the hose in until the green lights came on and fuel began to transfer. As the tanks reached full the greens went out and we slowly dropped back to disconnect, selected the probe in and moved to the starboard side. We said our thanks and goodbye

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A SQUADRON to the tanker crew and lowered the nose to increase speed and descend to low level as we headed for West Freugh. While I was checking the fuel system, Pete was checking his systems for the next and most important part of the flight. Calling the range safety officer at West Freugh, we received clearance to continue. We gave our ETA and he passed the weather and wind details. All should be OK. At the appropriate distance to run I increased the power, selected the wings to their full sweep of 67 degrees, and accelerated to 625 knots and reduced height to 200 feet, a standard run in height for range work. By now we were travelling more than a mile every six seconds and the white wave crests below us were whipping past pretty quickly. I tracked the aiming line, as positioned by Pete, as accurately as I could, and at the pre-determined pull up point eased back on the stick and selected 3G on the G meter and held that as smoothly as possible until a climb angle of 60 degrees was reached. The weapon released on the automatics and the pull was continued until past the inverted and then the wings were selected to forward, and at about 30 degrees of dive rolled from the inverted and dived down to 200 feet again, for the now highly recommended high-speed departure from the target area. In the same way that the kine theodolites tracked the release of 1,000-lb retard bombs, on this release they would be tracking the Tornado through the 3G pull up, and then tracking the bomb all the way to impact. The flight time of the bomb was considerable and the forward throw likewise. That was the whole point of the delivery technique. It allowed the attacking aircraft to avoid flying close to the target. We performed that escape manoeuvre on this flight, as we always tried, whenever we could, to fly the whole attack and escape manoeuvre as realistically as possible. As with most trials, it was important to discover any unexpected shortcomings in the test aircraft and its systems, and in time for them to be rectified in the production aircraft.

Visit to Edwards Air Force Base In January 1983 a small group of us from Boscombe Down went to Edwards Air Force Base, California, at the invitation of the USAF Test Pilot School, and one of the their units which was roughly the equivalent of A Squadron. Whereas the UK had at the time three units based at Boscombe Down, A Squadron, B Squadron and C Squadron, and one at Farnborough, the USA had many more spread across the country, on bases at Eglin and Nellis,

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs as well as Edwards. They had other specialist units too, at other locations. During our stay of five days, I was invited to fly three times. The first flight was in a T 38 two-seat trainer with Colonel Bill Jones. In addition to doing some general handling, he demonstrated a simulated Space Shuttle approach to the very long runway at Edwards, with touch and go landings. It was a steep approach from about 15,000 feet and reminded me very much of the ‘Hunter 1 in 1’. But unlike in the RAF, where all Hunter pilots were required to practise the 1-in-1 approach, in the USAF only specially cleared pilots were allowed to practise the simulated Shuttle landing. This particular T 38 we were flying in had been used to train astronauts. The Hunter 1-in-1 approach was a method of recovering a Hunter which had experienced an engine failure at high level in weather which precluded a purely visual recovery. Briefly, it consisted of an air traffic control directed line up on the runway, some way out from the airfield. The glide towards the runway would be initially made in the clean configuration. When the number of miles to touch down equalled the number of thousands of feet in height, then gear and full flap were selected and the nose lowered to maintain a target speed initially. It was then a matter of steering the headings given by ATC and maintaining the distance to touch down equal to the height in thousands of feet. For example, the ground controller would say, ‘At 6 miles you should be passing 6,000 feet, now 5 miles you should be passing 5,000 feet’, and so on. It was a case of just pushing and pulling on the control column to correct any height errors, any speed changes at this stage were ignored. If the runway was in site at 1,000 feet then the technique was to point the aeroplane at the threshold and judge the round out and touch down, and hopefully it would be one Hunter saved. The second flight was in a Phantom, an F4C, with Captain Johnny Johnson. It was really a sightseeing tour of the area, and took in the Grand Canyon. We weren’t allowed to fly inside the canyon but flew at about 500 feet off to one side. It gave a really good view and was a very pleasant way to spend an hour or so. For me the highlight of the visit by far was a trip in an F 15. This was the test and evaluation aircraft for the Strike Eagle, and was fitted with the fuselage side-mounted conformal fuel tanks. The captain for the flight was Major Steve Cherry, a Marine Corps test pilot. I say captain for the flight because he wouldn’t be the pilot. Although a two-seater, the aircraft had no control column in the back, as it had been removed to allow flight test equipment to be fitted, so I would be doing all the flying. The briefing

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A SQUADRON took about an hour as it required me knowing how to do all the pre-flight procedures, such as engine starting etc. The flight was to include inflight refuelling from a KC 135 tanker, and I was particularly looking forward to that. Unfortunately as we were taxiing out we were informed the tanker had gone u/s and cancelled. I was impressed by how much they trusted me to fly it under the circumstances. Basically their approach was that, as I was the Tornado ADV project pilot on A Squadron, I could probably fly the F 15 without much problem. A couple of things to note before we took off, which surprised me. Firstly there was no battery or parking brake fitted. The start sequence was pulling on a small handle, rather like starting an outboard motor or lawn mower. This fired up the APU (auxiliary power unit), which drove a generator and so brought all the electrics online. The next action was to test the fire warning systems before starting the engines. The toe brakes were held on as the chocks were removed and it was now necessary to keep them lightly applied at any time we were wishing to remain stationary. Take-off and climb was in dry thrust as that proved to be plenty, and we initially flew up to medium level. The handling felt really nice, and as expected the aircraft with its low-wing loading and lots of thrust turned really well and was very easy to fly smoothly and accurately. Steve then talked me through the F15’s party trick of tail slides. We did three I think. It consisted of pointing it up to the vertical and closing the throttles to idle, and waiting. The aircraft would stop in its vertical attitude with zero on the airspeed indicator, and then after sometimes just falling backwards for a few seconds, would either pitch forward into a vertical dive, or fall over backwards to the vertical. We did both. I’m not sure if the manoeuvre would have any operational value. We then flew low level at about 250 feet across the desert at various speeds. This, I felt, was not so impressive. Although the terrain was not particularly rough or the wind strong, the ride was very rough. The buffeting was uncomfortable and must have been causing quite a lot of airframe fatigue. This was the opposite of the Tornado at low level. As the plan was to use the Strike Eagle for ground attack, I couldn’t help wondering how many low-level high-speed flights they would be doing in training. As a medium-level bomber tipping in with dive-bomb-type attacks I thought it would be fine, and so far as ‘looking after itself ’ when bounced by enemy aircraft it would be very effective. One more unfortunate aspect was the very large size of the airframe. As I had witnessed during the Tactical Leadership Program, it could often be seen from miles around. Some debriefs included a pilot reporting his position in reference to ‘where

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs the F15s were’. However, overall it was obviously a great air superiority fighter. I believe one USAF pilot, having flown it for the first time, said ‘Paint mine pink....I don’t want to miss any fights’. Another interesting feature was the lack of a pitch trim facility. Moving the control column for pitch changes would move the all-flying tail, but then a trim motor would automatically run to trim out the stick forces. The result was similar in some ways to the Gnat pitch control when follow-up tail was selected by unlocking the elevators. It was soon time to return to Edwards. Shame about the tanker, as I was really enjoying the flight. We did three or four circuits and low overshoots before landing, the aircraft remaining easy to fly smoothly and accurately. After landing, taxiing and stopping, I reached for a parking brake that wasn’t fitted, so kept the toe brakes on until the chocks were in and the engines shut down. I thanked Steve for a most enjoyable flight and for his bravery sitting in the back without a control column. By the second half of January we were all back at Boscombe and I was doing EMC trials in a Tornado GR 1 with Bob Ross. EMC (Electro Magnetic Compatibility), should not be confused with ECM, (Electronic Counter Measures). These EMC trials were testing a Sky Shadow ECM pod for its compatibility with the Tornado systems. As the pod was designed to detect and cause havoc with certain electronic systems, such as enemy air-defence radars, it was prudent to check that it wasn’t ‘screwing up’ the Tornado’s own systems. This meant initially flying at a sensible altitude before switching on the Sky Shadow pod. There were two problems which had to be considered. One, that if suitable precautions were not taken when preparing the pod for the trial, it might result in several million people being upset by the loss of their picture while they were watching Coronation Street. Secondly, there was a security risk that a potential enemy might pick up the signals sent out from the pod and be able to analyse them. The boffins could hopefully solve the first problem. For security from the Russian fishing boats that were festooned with antennas of various types, we had to be more cunning. We also took into account satellite ‘windows’ (periods when no Russian or American satellites were overhead). We flew several trials flights, including flying in formation. One technique to contain the transmissions from the pod, and in particular to keep them from reaching the coastal areas, was to fly down the Great Glen in Scotland, from near Inverness following Loch Ness to the south west, keeping well

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A SQUADRON below the hilltops to either side of the loch. All seemed satisfactory on those trials as far as I can remember, and I don’t recall hearing of any complaints from irate television viewers. During the next two months we flew supersonic handling flights in our ADV prototype AO1. It was very important that the handling was not only satisfactory at subsonic speeds, but also throughout the flight envelope up to Mach 2. Supersonic flight consumed the fuel at a high rate, so most of these flights were supported by in-flight refuelling, sometimes with two or three visits to a tanker between tests. A typical test would be, for example, a test of manoeuvre stability at a given speed. Good manoeuvre stability means that a steadily increasing back pressure on the control column produces a steadily increasing G level. The smooth curve produced on the stick force versus G graph is not just to look pretty on the wall, it is very important in the operational context. The technique usually requires a wind-up turn to be flown. This is done by rolling to just over 90 degrees of bank and starting the turn at about 2 G and then slowly increasing it. As the G increases it is normally necessary to lower the nose and increase the steepness of the spiral descent in order to maintain the target speed. On one of these tests we discovered, during a Mach 1.4 windup turn, a pitch up as the angle of attack increased through a certain figure. This could cause a problem operationally. It would make smooth guns or shortrange missile tracking in a stern attack more difficult. It transpired, in this case, to be caused by the wing-tip vortices impinging on the tips of the tail plane producing an unwanted increase in the downforce generated. The fix in this case was to adjust the maximum sweep angle of the wings by one degree. It would have no other material effect on the aircraft’s performance. In late February we flew a series of weapon-release clearances from the Tornado to expand the release envelope and refine the ballistics. On 18 February, with Pete Huett, two special weapon releases at 625 knots and low level were flown on target B at Larkhill. On the 21st I flew two flights with Barrie Hardy Gillings. On the first we carried eight 1,000lb bombs, refuelling from a Victor tanker and delivering four of the bombs on West Freugh range via a low toss, and landing at RAF Valley. The second flight was from Valley to West Freugh to deliver the other four bombs on the range and return to Boscombe Down, the bombs being tracked by kine theodolites from release until impact. My next flight a couple of days later was a Tornado again with navigator Glen Viney releasing eight 1,000-lb bombs on Larkhill range. In March it was my turn to fly the single-seat Tornado P 06. The aircraft had always been a single-seater only, as it was equipped from the beginning

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs with test equipment in place of a rear cockpit installation. On this occasion it was being used to expand the cleared flight envelope for firing the guns. Some flights had been made for subsonic clearances, but so far none for supersonic. The plan for this sortie was to fly out of Warton, join with a Victor tanker over the North Sea, top up the fuel and under careful radar supervision accelerate to Mach 1.5. This I did, and then lowered the nose and started a wind-up turn at 3G and fired the necessary burst length from one of the Mauser 27-mm guns. All was OK as predicted, with no untoward effects on the engine instruments or the airframe. The tanker was visited again and another test flown at a different speed and G level. Altogether, I made four visits to the tanker and flew four test points before returning to Warton. All had seemed normal from the cockpit, but on analysing the data the engineers found a small anomaly, it was a feature of the gun firing that had been detected previously during subsonic testing, and so was half expected. During the firing of the gun, and for a short time after, the engine thrust increased slightly. Investigation showed again that smoke from the barrel of the gun had been ingested down the engine intake and gone on to put a thin coating on the optics of the pyrometers. The pyrometers measured the temperature of the turbine blades and fed that information to the engine control computers. This allowed them to control the maximum allowed turbine blade temperatures. The thin coating had caused the pyrometers to pass a false reading, which in turn allowed the control computers to feed more fuel to the engine, thereby causing a small overheat of the turbine and increasing the thrust. I don’t know whether it was decided to make a correcting modification for this phenomenon, or if it was considered to be acceptable. Two days later I was back at Boscombe and doing another spray job with the Hunter. This time it was spraying water on soldiers who were undergoing training on Salisbury Plain. It was part of their NBC (Nuclear Biological and Chemical) training and the instructors were always keen for us to be there with the Hunter as it greatly increased the realism. It was also fun for us. The next test flight for the ADV A01 was supersonic-engine handling at high and low level. The first test point was for engine slam tests at Mach 2.0 at 40,000 feet. The next was for the same at 810 knots indicated airspeed at 50 feet. I explained to the project engineer that 50 feet was a bit ambitious for flight at about Mach 1.2. However, I would do my best and estimated I could probably manage about 250 feet above the sea. (Mach 1.2 at low level was a whole different ballgame than pottering along at a mere 500 knots or so.)

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A SQUADRON We joined up with our tanker over Cardigan Bay, took on fuel to full, and positioned at the south end of the Aberporth Range area for our high-speed run heading north. On this run we didn’t make Mach 2, as even in full reheat the aircraft stopped accelerating at Mach 1.9, so we did the checks there, first slamming one engine to idle, waiting for the rpm to stabilise and then slamming the throttle to full reheat. It was interesting watching the rpm build up, pause a moment at max dry, and then the nozzles opening and the reheat lighting up and the thrust increasing smoothly up to max. Our A01 had only the bomber engines, and early versions of those, and also the short jet pipes. The production ADV was scheduled to have a 14-inch extension to the rear fuselage and longer jet pipes, increasing both the efficiency and thrust of the engines. The operational aircraft would have approximately 20 per cent more thrust, so would almost certainly make Mach 2.0, if it was ever necessary. Then it was back to the tanker for another top up. On leaving this time, we cruised slowly with the wings in the forward position. Fuel flow was remarkably low in a clean configuration. (We were carrying just four dummy Skyflash missiles and two under-wing pylons.) We were heading to the danger area south of Lyme Bay which had been declared active. It was always strongly recommended that boats should not enter an active danger area, so the area should have been clear. We drifted gently down to low level, positioned ourselves at the north-eastern corner of the area, and then commenced our acceleration on a south-westerly heading. As before, I selected the wing sweep to 45 degrees passing 450 knots and then 67 degrees, full sweep, at 500 knots. I then engaged the reheat and held initially at about 400 feet above the sea. I wanted to check the pitch control when supersonic before going any lower. All seemed fine and the aircraft accelerated quickly, much more quickly than at high level. At about Mach 1.2 the controls felt really nice and I was happy to descend to around 150 feet. We reached Mach 1.23, and by now the white caps really were moving past, almost in a blur. We were covering a statute mile every 3.9 seconds. The acceleration was brisk, so brisk that the first slam was the starboard engine at 815 knots (937 statute mph). It behaved perfectly, without surging, and settled back at idle. By now the speed had reduced quite a bit. Full reheat was re-selected and we accelerated back up towards 810 knots. At that moment I saw a fishing boat almost dead ahead. There was absolutely nothing I could do to avoid flying very near to it, probably only 20 or 30 yards off to one side, and we were still well supersonic and below 200 feet. The noise onboard must

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs have been horrendous. It probably sounded like a bomb had exploded a few metres away. I hoped we had caused no injuries or damage. We were quickly up to 810 knots again, and as we had done the first slam at 815 knots – and all seemed OK with that one – I thought I might as well do the other engine at the same speed. Again the rpm reduced, settled at idle and then accelerated up to max dry and on to max reheat. The engine accelerations at this level were, as expected, very much quicker than they had been at 40,000 feet. All was well with no unexpected indications or noises from the engines, and the controls had been fine, allowing for accurate height keeping, and the ride had been incredibly smooth. I thought at the time, and said to my very brave flight test navigator, Bob Ross, in the back seat, ‘Not much is going to outrun an ADV at low level.’ He agreed. We had been travelling at about 230 knots or 264 statute miles per hour faster than the maximum allowed speed of a Buccaneer at low level, and 165 knots faster than a Lightning. (Later it was assessed that the acceleration from 200 knots through to 600 knots was also quicker than a Lightning.) We then flew gently back to Boscombe. The world low altitude airspeed record was 988.26 mph, held by Lockheed test pilot Darryl Greenamyer in an F104. Our ADV prototype, AO1, was still accelerating well as we approached an estimated 937 mph and gave me the distinct impression it might well have gone on to near that world record speed. This despite carrying four dummy Skyflash missiles and two under wing pylons and still only fitted with early IDS engines and short jet pipes. There was therefore scope for reducing the drag, and the aircraft was destined to get an extra 20 per cent thrust in reheat. I feel it could well have become a serious challenger for that absolute low altitude speed record, provided other safety aspects were considered.

The Pucara By 1982 the Argentinians had built seventy I.A. 58 Pucaras, of which twentyfive had been lost during the conflict. The one arriving on A Squadron was A-515. It was inspected at Port Stanley in late June after the war, and was found to be in good condition,. A-515 was one of seventy Pucara reconnaissance and counterinsurgency attack aircraft delivered to the Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Argentina) by early 1982, as one of thirty-five Pucaras allotted to Grupo 3 de Ataque (III Brigada Aerea). The aircraft had been built by Fabrica Militar de Aviones (FMA), Argentina, and was originally intended for export to Mauritania. These Pucaras saw early operational use against

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A SQUADRON guerilla groups operating in northwest Argentina. The Grupo 3 base was at Base Aerea Militar Reconquista, Santa Fe. In May 1982, as part of the Argentine force invading the British held Falkland Islands, A-515 was one of the twelve Pucaras flown to the Falklands. It was flown from Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz to Stanley Airport. It had been repainted at III Brigade Aerea’s Reconquista Air Base, using Fiat car paint, in tan and light green. It was one of the last Pucaras to reach the islands to reinforce the Escuadron Aeromovil Malvinas. This force received twenty-four Pucaras, all of which were destroyed or captured. It was initially deployed to Rio Gallegos, before flying east to the Falklands some distance opposite. A-515 and other Pucaras had been deployed and used for armed reconnaissance flights over the Argentine coast to prevent any British Special Forces attacks on mainland bases. On 10 June 1982, Pucaras A-515, A-522 and A-536 flew the last Pucara mission of the war against British artillery positions and troops on the northern side of Mount Kent and Murrell Ridge on East Falkland using rockets and guns. A-515 was flown by Lieutenant Morales and received hits from small arms fire. The Pucaras remaining on the Falklands did not fly there again. A-515 was captured by British Forces at Stanley (renamed BAM Malvinas by the Argentines) in lightly damaged but airworthy condition with underwing rocket pods fitted, and one of only three or four Pucaras still airworthy in the Falklands at the end of the campaign. For photos see Falklands: The Air War (016864) p. vii. On 10 July 1982 it was airlifted by a No. 18 Squadron Chinook, ZA707, to the SS Atlantic Causeway in Port William, and on 13 July 1982 it was on its way to the UK via San Carlos Water. The ship arrived at Devonport naval dockyard on 27 July. It was off loaded, stripped down and transported to Boscombe Down by road. Our engineers had no technical data to assist with the reassembly, but with a great deal of experience between them, and using much ingenuity, they put it back together, sometimes using that experience to guess such technicalities as the torque figures for the bolts holding the wings on, and fitting Beagle Basset wheels. I was nominated as the project pilot for the evaluation. We had no description or information regarding the operation of any of the systems, as we didn’t have a copy of the pilots’ notes or a check list. We didn’t even know the fuel capacity, and most of the cockpit labelling of switches etc. was in Spanish (I used Sue’s English-Spanish-English dictionary to decipher a few of the labels). The two turbo prop engines were the Astazou, as used in the Jetstream, so I was able to go up to RAF Finningley and get a couple of flights there with Flight Lieutenant Mike Laundy to understand

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs the operation of them. This was very useful as I hadn’t previously flown an aeroplane with beta-controlled propellers. For those unfamiliar with the concept, a brief and rather crude, explanation: the two main controls were an rpm lever, and a throttle. To describe the way these functioned, imagine flying along with 2,000 rpm set and at a mid-throttle setting, the rpm being held constant by an rpm controller. The throttle was connected directly to the propeller pitch control, so if extra power was selected by increasing throttle it would directly increase the pitch, i.e. select a more coarse setting. This gave a very good initial response. The secondary effect of that would be a very short-term reduction in rpm, before the rpm controller demanded more fuel to the engine to restore the required 2,000 rpm. After some cockpit familiarization, and a few taxi trials, which included playing with switches to see what they did, the first flight was flown on 28 April. I took along Squadron Leader Tony Banfield of B Squadron in the rear seat. OC A Squadron Wing Commander Ron Burrows flew chase in a Jet Provost. We didn’t know the correct take-off speed, so it was just a case of lifting the nose up and waiting for it to take to the air. The lift-off speed was noted. Unfortunately, when the gear was retracted we were left with a nose gear red light. The chase aircraft reported that the wheel was cocked

Pucara 1st flight, with Tony Banfield from B Sqn in the rear seat.

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A SQUADRON

Pucara. (Photo by Arthur Gibson)

off to one side and appeared trapped against the underside of the fuselage. I decided to continue the flight at fairly low speed to determine the stalling speeds with the various flap settings and so calculate sensible approach and threshold speeds for landing. This all went well, but on lowering the gear the nose wheel was still cocked off at about 45 degrees, so on landing the aircraft would no doubt turn to the left when the nose wheel was lowered. This it duly did, but as I had purposely landed to the right of the centre line, I had no trouble keeping it on the runway with a boot full of right rudder and firm right main-wheel braking. The problem was a faulty hydraulic valve. We couldn’t blame the Argentinians for this, as it was a part made in the UK. It was quickly replaced, so we could continue the evaluation programme. Our next flights were general handling and asymmetric flight assessments. I found the aircraft very easy and pleasant to fly when at low and moderate speeds, but the controls became heavy when speed was increased. Pitch control was satisfactory, with good dynamic and manoeuvre stability, which allowed precise control. This would be good for tracking accurately in pitch. The low wing loading, combined with good pitch control, would allow tight turns to be made at low level. This would be a good feature when manoeuvring to engage with a typical counter-insurgency target. However, the roll control was a different matter. While a precise bank angle could be

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs maintained, the very large wing area produced a lot of roll damping, which made for a very low maximum rate of roll. This could be a problem when tracking a moving target, particularly if the target was moving to one side. On one test I flew straight and level at about 250 feet to simulate a low level recce flight. I picked a small car by the roadside as a potential target. While attempting to keep that target in view, I flew on for about 20 seconds or so, and then commenced a wing-over tight turn to bring the gun sight to bear on the target. I found I could do this manoeuvre without losing sight of the car, and it would have been possible to keep in view a smaller target. This was a good feature for the type of operation for which the aircraft was designed. This type of attack would be much more difficult in a typical fast jet, where the larger turning circle, even at high G, would often make keeping a very small target in sight very difficult. Overall, I would assess the aircraft as suitable for engaging typical counter-insurgency targets, but bearing in mind that the low maximum roll rate could be a problem on some occasions. On returning from one of our early flights we had a number two engine fire warning light come on as we were on the downwind leg to land. Fortunately it turned out to be a false warning, so there was no damage and the problem was quickly fixed. Several RAF units showed interest in flying against the Pucara. Helicopter units wanted to develop tactics in evading an attack by a Pucara, as it was a serious threat with its total of six guns. On the other hand, fixed wing fast jet squadrons wanted to evaluate tactics to engage and shoot down Pucaras. In particular it was necessary to determine the best angle for achieving an infrared missile lock. We eventually flew trials against Sea King, Puma, and Chinook helicopters, and some low-level combat manoeuvring against a pair of Phantoms, and against a Sea Harrier. Take-offs and landings were made on a strip of grass alongside the Boscombe Down main runway without any problems. As the gunsight aiming reticle was illuminated only by daylight via a reflector system, we assessed the aircraft as only really suitable for daylight operations, but it was usable in low light conditions.

ETPS Reunion Day On 11 June, the ETPS was having its annual reunion of ex-test pilot students. I was asked to do short displays in both the Pucara and the ETPS two-seat Lightning. I started with the Lightning, with my boss Wing Commander Burrows in the other seat. The sequence was a performance demonstration

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A SQUADRON type of display, and was pretty much the same sequence as I had done many times in the Jaguar during the summer of 1977. At least I would be able to remember during the manoeuvres what came next. There was one difference, it started with a rotation take-off, for which the Lightning was so famous. This was followed by a descent and a level 360-degree turn at 300 feet in full reheat and about 5G. A slow-speed 360-degree turn with the gear down, and then a final high-speed pass at just under Mach 1, which led to a vertical climb in reheat to around 20,000 feet. I noticed that during the rotation take-off and during the tight 5G turn, and the high-speed run at low level, that the boss was gripping the combing. After we landed and shut down the engines, he said words to the effect that I was a very bad person, and that I had frightened him. Those weren’t the exact words he used! I then climbed into the Pucara to do a similar sequence, but of course at much lower speeds, and the turns were therefore much tighter, even keeping to low G levels. On this flight I took Andy Sephton in the back seat. I hoped the visitors to ETPS had enjoyed the two short displays. I did, as I particularly enjoyed frightening my boss. Our next few test firings of Sky Flash would be release clearances at increasing supersonic speeds. Initial separations had gone well, and the first supersonic firings at up to Mach 1.2 were satisfactory. However, the aerodynamicists were concerned about the effects of the shockwave on the missile at higher launch speeds. The problem was that as the speed increased, so the shock wave from the nose under the fuselage would become at more and more of a shallow angle. It was forecast that a missile could release, boost forwards and on hitting the shockwave bounce upwards and hit the front of the aircraft. The boffins were quite concerned about this, but not so concerned as we flight test crews. The solution was to give the missile a ‘fly down’ command for all launches above about Mach 1.15. In this case, after being ejected from the aircraft, and as the rocket motor lit up, the fins on the missile would deflect and cause the missile to pitch down and dive through the shockwave at a more favourable angle. The test aircraft, AO1, would be used to test this theory. In addition to the modification to the software, a hard-wired modification was to fit an indicating light in the front cockpit to verify when the missile had received its ‘fly down’ signal. It was a blue light. This would only be fitted for the test flights, and not on the operational aircraft. It was now ten days after the ETPS Open Day, where the displays had gone well. Let’s hope this flight today would go just as well. I took off in A01 along with flight test navigator Barry Hardy-Gillings, and after the usual routine we lined up at the southern end of Aberporth Range to do the test,

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Tornado ADV with a BNG [boost no guide] Sky Flash, test missile.

Sky Flash missile launch from Tornado ADV.

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A SQUADRON along with our photo chase Phantom flown by Steve Stowe. It had been stressed at the briefing the importance of checking that the blue light was on immediately prior to the launch. Acceleration was in full reheat up to Mach 1.3, the Phantom was a bit slower, but as we held that steady Mach number the Phantom quickly caught up and we were ready. On clearance to fire, it seemed like the whole world was telling me to check for the blue light. First from Steve in the chase, Barry in the back seat, the range safety officer and the telemetry team in Warton. I was certainly checking it anyway. Presumably the modification had had the desired effect as, after the thump of the rams ejecting the missile, there was a short pause and then out from the front of the aircraft the streak of white smoke as the missile was on its way. Five days later was another Sky Flash test launch, but this one certainly did not go as planned. The routine was the same as for that previous ‘fly down’ test, but the speed was increased. I don’t remember the actual test point speed for the launch as it’s not in my log book. This time the flight test navigator was Glen Viney, and the Phantom chase was again flown by Steve Stowe with a photographer in the rear seat as usual. After all the routine checks with Warton and the range safety officer, I pressed the firing button and waited for the gentle thump, followed by the sight of the missile and its white smoke trail streaking away. But neither happened. Nothing. After a few seconds I said that I hadn’t seen it go. Steve said, ‘That’s because it hasn’t gone.’ The telemetry team at Warton said that the missile had launched, as they had it on telemetry. Steve confirmed that the SkyFlash was still on the aircraft and that the fins were moving. We slowed to subsonic speed and during this time there was silence from the telemetry team. They were obviously scratching their heads while Glen and I were both concerned, in fact very concerned, about the self-destruct explosive in the missile. It was nothing like the actual operational warhead, but was still a worry as the charge was sufficient that the missile would be destroyed after about ten seconds of flight. Fortunately it didn’t detonate. At least it hadn’t so far. Eventually the telemetry team spoke up, asking if we were absolutely sure the missile was still on the aircraft. Glen and I could not be absolutely sure, but Steve and his photographer in the Phantom were. Steve had closed in closer than normal to take some film, and he reported seeing a fluid, I think he said pink fluid, leaking out of the front fins area and flowing rearwards along the body of the missile, and the fins were still moving a little. At this the telemetry team, with advice from the Sky Flash manufacturer’s representative, advised us that the missile was in a potentially hazardous condition and that ‘anything could happen’ as it would have loose hydraulic

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs fluid floating around inside it. They also advised us that when returning to Boscombe we should not fly over any built up areas. I decided that was not practicable and elected to divert immediately to RAF Valley, on Anglesey, as we could fly almost the whole way there while remaining over the sea. Steve broke away and returned to Boscombe and Glen and I headed northwest, said our thanks and goodbye to the telemetry team and called Valley approach explaining our situation. We were given absolute priority and I landed very gently, just in case it made a difference. The aircraft was parked in as remote a spot as possible and pointing in a safe direction, with guidance from the local and ground controllers, and we shut down the engines. Before our descent the telemetry team had advised that after landing everyone should stay well clear of the aircraft until such time as the manufacturer’s engineers had arrived and dealt with the problem. On climbing out of the cockpit we advised the ground crew who met us accordingly. They were happy to oblige after putting some chocks in place. The missile, meanwhile, was making a hissing sound as we retreated well away from it. After a coffee with the engineers, I called A Squadron ops desk and talked to our boss, Wing Commander Burrows. On hearing a brief outline of the story, he asked where the aircraft was. I replied that it was parked on the north-west corner of the airfield. He asked where we were calling from, I replied, ‘We’re on the south-east corner of the airfield.’ I distinctly remember his reply, ‘Very wise.’ I don’t remember how we travelled back to Boscombe, but we were probably flown back in something as my log book says I flew the Pucara the next day. It was the first of a short session of three flights over the next week.

Pucara Trials and a Display On the 23rd, some simulated attacks on a Rapier fire unit on the SPTA (Salisbury Plain Training Area), with Wing Commander Burrows in the rear seat, were flown for army training. On the 27th, combat-type manoeuvres were flown against a Puma helicopter with Wing Commander Robin Hargreaves, now the commanding officer of the ETPS, in the rear seat, and on the 28th the same trial against a Sea King helicopter, with our own A Squadron Falklands hero, Lieutenant Commander Rod Fredriksen. It had been a fast and slow month. At the slow end was the Pucara trials, and the fast end, the ADV supersonic engine slams.

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A SQUADRON In July 1983 we received a request to make an appearance at RNAS Yeovilton with the Pucara. This was to coincide with a visit by Prince Andrew, who had served in the Falkland Islands War as a Sea King Helicopter pilot. It was suggested I do a straight and level flypast only, as all Pucara flights were considered as high risk. In the event, as we had done quite a lot of manoeuvring during the necessary evaluation flying against the helicopters and fixed wing fighters, and the short ETPS reunion day display, I figured it would probably be OK to do something a bit more interesting than just a straight flyby, while keeping the maximum G level down to a low and ‘sensible figure’. After all, this was a Royal Navy base and I didn’t want to let the side down. I decided to use my old Jaguar display routine again, as I had done for the ETPS reunion day. It consisted of an arrival straight flyby, clean configuration level 360-degree turn, a reversal turn then another 360 with gear and flap down, a wing over and a fast, low flypast. On the day, 11 July 1983, I took along Squadron Leader Terry Newman and all went as planned. I was slightly concerned when a signal arrived at Boscombe Down the following day, which was passed down to me. It was from RNAS Yeovilton, and read: From RNAS YEOVILTON To A AEE BOSCOMBE DOWN FAO SQN LDR R PEART RAF Very many thanks for a most professional and agile display today. [Menendez would have been proud]. I hoped Prince Andrew had enjoyed it, but I could be in for some flack for the ‘agile’ display. I anticipated having some difficulty in explaining just how a straight and level flypast could be described as agile (fortunately, I heard nothing more). On 21 July, I flew the Pucara to the International Tattoo Air Display at Greenham Common. On this occasion we were not allowed to fly during the display, so the aircraft was there on static display only for the two days of 23 and 24 July. A-515 is now on display at the RAF Museum at Cosford, having been flown there by Tim Allen. A Squadron also supplied its now well ‘decorated’ Phantom for the aircraft’s twenty-fifth anniversary meet, which was taking place there at the same time.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

A Squadron Phantom decorated for the Phantom 25th anniversary meet at Greenham Common 1983.

Our Tornado trials management office were advised of an RAF request that, if possible, a single engine take-off could be cleared. It was envisaged this would only be used in an operationally urgent and important situation, such as to ferry an aircraft with an unserviceable engine to an airfield which had a serviceable spare. I think it was being referred to as a ‘pink sheet’ clearance. The initial assessment indicated that sufficient thrust would be available with the one engine in reheat and that there would be very little asymmetric effect, as the thrust line was so close to the centre line of the fuselage. Altogether, three flights were made over ten days in August 1983. The first one with Pete Huett in the back was at a light weight and with a recommended take-off speed of 120 knots. It did not go well. The takeoff was made with the right engine running but at idle rpm, for safety reasons, and the left engine was selected to max reheat. The acceleration was reasonable, but as the aircraft left the ground it yawed quite violently to the right. I corrected immediately with a lot of left rudder and some left roll input. By now we were heading for the Boscombe control tower.

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A SQUADRON I understand the local controller was tempted to take cover. However, the rather violent asymmetric effect quickly disappeared as we gained air speed. So much for the assertion that there would be little or no asymmetric effect. We flew about for a while and the aircraft behaved quite nicely and was happy enough cruising at 10,000 feet. We noted some fuel flow figures at different airspeeds and then returned for an uneventful landing. We had done lots of simulated single-engine landings before, so that was nothing new. Just the first few seconds after lift-off were a worry. After a thorough debrief and analysis, it was decided that the cause was probably a rotational flow pattern of the air around the fuselage. It was thought that while air was being sucked quite aggressively into the left engine air intake, there was a large spillage of air from the right intake, i.e. not much of the free stream flow was going down the right intake compared to that going down the left. This was causing a sort of spiral effect of flow around the fuselage which, at that particular speed, was hitting the starboard side of the fin and causing the yaw. It was decided we would repeat the test at the same weight, but increase the take-off speed. As I had reported that the yawing effect had quickly corrected itself as airspeed increased, this was thought to be a reasonable course of action. Eight days after the first test we tried again, this time with Squadron Leader Paul Hopkins, another A Squadron test pilot, in the rear seat. A rotate speed of 130 knots was chosen and the take-off was fine, almost no sign of yaw, perhaps just a little bit. A further test at a heavier weight and a higher take-off speed was also entirely satisfactory, Tim Allen coming along for the flight this time. So the clearance was given for the single-engine ferry case, with the proviso that the take-off rotation must not be made below 135 knots, even at very light weights. For the laser range trial of 9 September, we borrowed BS 04, a preproduction test aircraft, because our P15 wasn’t fitted with an LRMTS (Laser Ranger and Marked Target Seeker). This unit was pretty much the same as that fitted to single-seat Jaguars. In fact it looked just as though someone had taken a slice off the nose of a Jaguar and stuck it under the front fuselage of the Tornado to the right of the centre line. Perhaps they had. The test, with Glen Viney in the rear seat, had a dual function, the release and aiming trial of a stick of four 1,000-lb retard bombs at Mach .92, at low level using the laser range finder on target Juliet at Larkhill. The laser ranging functioned perfectly. On 12 September I flew A01 for another supersonic release of a Sky Flash. We refuelled from both a Victor and a Buccaneer, although for the

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs life of me I can’t remember why a Buccaneer tanker was involved, but it’s in my log book. This time the speed was upped to Mach 1.6. Everything went smoothly on that test, so Bob Ross and I now held the speed record for a Sky Flash launch from a Tornado, at a little over a thousand miles an hour. The record didn’t last long. Ray North and his navigator launched one at a higher speed only a few days later. I think it was at Mach 1.85. That was the last one in the series and it enabled Sky Flash launches to be cleared up to Mach 2. A further flight in BS 04 with Bob Ross on the 14th cleared the laser range finder function for strafe attacks, at 5-, 10- and 20-degree dive angles. In September I had my first look at TF (terrain following) in the Tornado, as Flight Lieutenant Alan Foster, the IDS project test pilot on A Squadron, had flown most of the TF flights to date. The first I did was with Squadron Leader Chris Henderson and the second with Squadron Leader Pete Huett. Both were auto terrain following at 350 feet agl. I found both flights interesting and very impressive. The following day was a Pucara flight with Tim Allen, and with the well-known photographer Arthur Gibson taking the photos from a Hawk chase aircraft. See photo on page 183. The three days of 5, 6 and 7 October were most enjoyable for me as I got to fly a Mark 6 Lightning again on all three. The first was the collection of XR 770 from Binbrook, flying it to Boscombe with a few manoeuvres and circuits before landing. The next day was a refuelling trial with a VC 10 tanker. The fuel transfer must have been successful, as the total flight time was 4 hours and 15 minutes. The third sortie, the following day, was delivering XR 770 back to Binbrook. Tim Allen kindly flew over to Binbrook in the Hawk to pick me up. On 24 October it was the turn of the Tornado to be cleared to refuel from the VC 10, and that was my last test flight on A Squadron. Perhaps it would be my last test flight on any aircraft. I felt sad to be leaving A Squadron and all the guys on the squadron, but excited by the prospect of flying the MiG 19, and just possibly, with a bit of luck, the MiG 21. On 31 December, I received a very pleasant surprise. I had been awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, in the New Year’s honours list.

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Chapter Fourteen

The Bangladesh Air Force

My tour of duty on A Squadron was due to end at the end of 1983, and I had received notification of a posting to the Operational Requirements Department of the MOD. In the meantime my thirty-seventh birthday had been in September, and it was by then that I had had to inform the Air Secretary Department as to whether or not I wished to continue in the Royal Air Force beyond my thirty-eighth birthday in September 1984. I had driven over to the interview in Gloucestershire, and had not known what to expect. The Group Captain who conducted the interview had indicated that I was doing OK so far in my career, and there was no reason why I shouldn’t be promoted further after my next tour at the MOD. Unfortunately, he had also explained that my chances of a further flying tour over the next seventeen years to age 55 were only about 40 per cent, and then only if I was promoted to wing commander. This was really bad news, which I suppose I should have already worked out for myself. During the drive back home my mind was in turmoil, I just couldn’t concentrate on driving properly. I stopped in a layby, and within a few minutes my mind was made up. I wanted to continue flying aeroplanes. Besides, I didn’t think I would be much good at staff work, and the thought of commuting into London for years made up my mind. I then drove home with a clear head and told Sue of my decision. She was very surprised. My posting to OR (Operational Requirements), which was in the office dealing with the new Eurofighter, which eventually became Typhoon, was cancelled. A Squadron and Boscombe Down were happy to keep me on as an extra pilot from December and until my leaving date. However, for those eight months I would be vulnerable to being called upon to fill any job that the Air Force chose. It wasn’t long before I got a call, offering an unaccompanied six months in Bangladesh, running a QWI course for four student pilots of the BAF (Bangladesh Air Force). After considering it, I requested the job be

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs extended to around eight months to allow me the time to cover the syllabus properly. After all, I would be conducting the course single-handedly. In the RAF there would have been at least three instructors to plan, organise and run such a course, and the number of ground school lectures or lessons would have been shared out. Due to pressure from Sue, I also asked that the tour of duty be accompanied, including our two children, Carly and Ryan. (By the time we would arrive in Bangladesh, Carly would be 4 and Ryan very nearly 3.) If those conditions could be met, I would accept the challenge. After some back and forth negotiations with the Bangladesh Air Force, it was all agreed. I was invited to the MOD for a briefing which was conducted, to my surprise, by a rather senior Royal Navy intelligence officer. He explained, during a lengthy briefing, that the job was at the request of the Foreign Office. I was told the content of the briefing was confidential. To my additional surprise, I was to fly out to visit the BAF, assess the situation and report back prior to deciding whether I wanted to go ahead with it. The flight out was with British Airways in Business Class. This wasn’t at all like the RAF I knew. The arrival was also surprising. After the Tristar pulled to a halt, it was boarded by a Group Captain of the Bangladesh Air Force, and I was requested, on the PA system while all the other passengers remained seated, to come to the front of the aircraft. I was then led down the stairs to a waiting staff car which carried a flag on the front. I handed my passport to a waiting Air Force sergeant, and was whisked through the streets of Dhaka without seeing customs, or immigration or my case. The men directing the traffic at the several cross roads were blowing their whistles and stopping other traffic to give us priority. The flag on the front of the car was obviously working well. Eventually we arrived at the air base at Tejgaon. I checked out the accommodation which was pretty basic, as expected, and consisted of a small flat in a block of two. The other flat was occupied by an Iraqi wing commander and his wife, who we became friends with in due course. I was introduced to the four student pilots, who seemed quite nervous, and a number of other BAF personnel. All seemed very friendly and I had a good feeling that the job would be interesting and enjoyable, if hard work. The aircraft used for the QWI course was to be the Shenyang F6. This was a MiG 19 (NATO codename Farmer), built under licence by the Chinese in the city of Shenyang. During the two days with the BAF I was shown around their facilities, had a good look at their aircraft and paid a visit to the British High Commission to talk with the first secretary.

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE I returned to the UK, made the call, and announced that I would be happy to do the job. Some preparation was required. I was planning to use the Strike Command QWI syllabus as a basis for the course, but it needed some modifications. The MiG 19’s airspeed indicator was calibrated in kph and the altimeter in metres, and nearly all the switch labelling in the cockpit was with Chinese characters.

A Brief History The Bangladesh Air Force was officially formed on 28 September 1971. The initial group of officers and airmen were previously Pakistani personnel stationed in East Pakistan and who, at the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War, had defected to the Bangladeshi side. The Indian civil authorities and the IAF (Indian Air Force) donated a DC-3 Dakota (actually a gift from the Maharaja of Jodhpur), plus a Twin Otter and an Alouette 3 helicopter. As the war for liberation continued, the badly damaged runway at Dimapur was repaired and they started to modify their three aircraft for combat duties. The Dakota was modified to carry 500-lb bombs, but it was never used to drop them. The Alouette helicopter had pylons fitted to carry fourteen air-to-ground rockets and .303 machine guns were installed. In addition, it had 1-inch thick steel plate welded to its floor to provide more protection for the crew. The Twin Otter was given the ability to carry and fire seven rockets from each of its two underwing stations and could deliver ten 25-lb bombs, which were rolled out of the back by hand. It was a tiny unit and was known as ‘Kilo Flight’.

Bangladesh Air Force [BAF] Shield. Presented to me by the Chief of the Air Staff, at the end of my time with the BAF.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs The first combat action was on 3 December 1971 with an attack on Chattagram Oil Tank Depot, which was totally destroyed. Their second raid on the 6th was at Moalovi Bezar Pakistan Army barracks. Eventually there was a ceasefire when Pakistan surrendered East Pakistan to Bangladesh, and the airbase structures were then repaired and reformed. After independence, the BAF received donations from the USSR, including ten single-seat MiG 21 MFs, and two of the two-seater variant, MiG 21 UMs. Russia also provided training for Bangladeshi pilots in Russia, and China donated a number of Shenyang F-6s. On 1 October 1977, a mutiny by members of the BAF took place in Dhaka. It was mostly carried out by the lower ranks in the BAF and the Bangladesh Army Signals Battalion. The mutineers killed eleven officers at Tejgaon Airfield and ten soldiers from the army. In due course the mutiny was brought under control and hundreds of men were arrested and tried in military tribunals. Several hundred were convicted and executed in Dhaka’s Central Jail. In all, 561 BAF personnel were hung. The mutiny had been led by Sergeant Afsar of the BAF, who was influenced by an extremist left-wing socialist party, founded by Serajul Alam Khan. My arrival was seven years later and in the meantime the BAF had sent pilots to the UK for upgrade training to QFI, and they had formed a flying training school at Jessore, to the west of Dhaka. There they were training their own pilots and Iraqi student pilots on the PT-6 (a Chinese aircraft, much like a Harvard but with a nose wheel).

BAF Aircraft The two fighter aircraft which the Bangladesh Air Force were operating when I arrived, and which I was destined to fly, were the Shenyang F-6 and the MiG 21. The F-6, a version of the MiG 19, was a swept-wing light fighter with two reheated engines, four underwing hard points and three inbuilt cannon, one of which was of a very heavy 37 mm calibre. The fuel load was only 3,800 lbs internal and 6,000 lbs with two wing-drop tanks fitted. Four thousand MiG 19s, in all its variants, were built between 1958 and 1986. The MiG 21, NATO code Fishbed, was the MF built in Russia at the Mikoyan Gurevich factory near Gorky. It was an export version of the Fishbed J, and had the same airframe and engines as the Fishbed J, but only a very basic (but very reliable) air intercept radar. It also had provision for four underwing pylons but additionally a centre line fuselage hard point.

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE A 23 mm rotary multi-barrelled cannon or an external fuel tank could be carried on the centreline. The MiG 21’s development had been started in the 1950s, with the first prototype being designated the Ye-2. Many variations were produced at the three locations near to Moscow, Tbilisi and Gorky.

The BAF QWI Course I arrived in Bangladesh in January 1984 along with Sue, Carly and Ryan. We had all travelled out British Airways Business Class, thanks to the Foreign Office. Sue and the children were immediately introduced to the officers’ wives and their children, who were all friendly and very welcoming, as were the Iraqi wing commander and his wife Hannah. Hannah was particularly friendly, perhaps a little more so than the wing commander. I learnt later that he was in Bangladesh to supervise the Iraqi cadet pilots who were being taught basic flying at the BAF training base at Jessore, about 80 miles to the west of Tejgaon. He was a fighter pilot, but had been given a ground job after hurting his back ejecting from an Iraqi Air Force MiG 23, somewhere over Northern Iraq.

Bathtime in Bangladesh for Carly and Ryan.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs We had a car allocated for the duration of our stay, and a driver who would be taking Carly and Ryan to the Montessori International School each day. The last few days of January and all of February were spent with me giving the ground school lectures. I was using the Strike Command syllabus, and each evening was spent preparing for the next day. Sue couldn’t understand why I had to work so hard, and my students’ wives couldn’t understand why their husbands had to work so hard either. I think the students themselves were surprised too. The ground school included a lot of weapon aiming theory and calculations, along with weapons effects etc. and briefings on ground and airborne instructional techniques. All four students managed to complete the ground school part of the course, the last exam being just the same as (in fact almost a direct copy of) the one we had done on No. 1 Jaguar QWI course several years previously. At long last, and still with a sore throat from all the talking, it was time to go flying… thank God! After flying in the two-seater MiG 19 with two of my students, Rashid and Kuddus, I flew three or four sorties in a single seater. I know I should call the aircraft a Shenyang F-6, but, for convenience I always called it the 19 or MiG 19. The handling of the aircraft reminded me

Author with BAF QWI course students. L to R: Flt Lt Main Uddin Ahmad, Self, Sqn Ldr Zahed Kuddus, Sqn Ldr Aung Saw Tun, Wg Cdr Rashid Ahmed.

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE very much of the Hunter F6. The controls were light and it was a pleasure to fly it. As it had a relatively small fuel capacity, it was usually flown with two underwing fuel tanks. The thrust in dry power was less than the Hunter, but in reheat it became a very different aircraft. It performed very well, and could maintain airspeed in a very tight turn. Unfortunately, due to the limited amount of fuel available, reheat could only be used very sparingly. On one of my first flights in the single-seat MiG 19, I was doing a few aerobatics to get the feel of the aeroplane. I was using the sight of a high snow-capped mountain many miles to the north, probably in the Himalayas, as a sort of centre point for a barrel roll or two. It was a great feeling to be airborne and free again. At the time I couldn’t help recalling High Flight, the famous poem by the young Spitfire pilot, John Magee, and realised that had I not decided to leave the Air Force at my option point, I would probably – right at that moment – be commuting by train into London for an office job at the MOD. As I ‘wheeled and soared and swung, high in the sunlit silence’, I knew I had made the right decision. I repeated the experience, and had the same feelings, on my first flight in the single-seat MiG 21. Wing Commander Zearat, the CO of the MiG 21 squadron, wanted me to do some bombing and then show him how to do it. I flew with him in the two-seater (MiG 21 UM), and then flew the single-seater version for

Self with single seat MiG 19.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Self with single seat MiG 21.

MiG 19 Ground crew.

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE several general handling and aerobatics flights. The MiG 21 was a very quick aircraft, in particular it performed very well at high altitude, as expected. The controls were not so impressive, and the engine needed to be handled with care. Selecting reheat required the engine to be stabilised at the max dry thrust position before reheat was selected to minimum setting only initially. After the light up, which was quite violent with a loud bang and a large thump in the back, then maximum reheat could be selected. Cancellation of reheat must only be to the max dry thrust position, and then the engine instruments allowed to stabilise before the rpm could be reduced further. This procedure was very important as selecting from reheat directly to a setting below max dry would cause the engine to flame out. The pitch control was very ‘lumpy’. The auto stabs, in my opinion, had far too much authority and it felt as though one was fighting against them all the time. With them switched off, it was too unstable. It felt very much to me like it needed auto stabs, but with less authority than those currently fitted. Roll control was satisfactory. Another shortcoming, when a centre line tank was fitted it seemed almost impossible to trim the aircraft precisely in yaw, the slip ball would always move out a little to one side or the other. (A few years later I was able to discuss the handling of the 21 with an American test pilot who had flown a very early model. He assured me that the handling of that aircraft was really nice and didn’t have the same pitch control characteristics as I had described.)

Self with MiG 21.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Self with MiG 21, attempting Soviet Fighter Pilot pose.

MiG 21 Sqn pilots.

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE Other interesting features of the MiGs were their attitude indicators. When first sitting in the cockpit of the 19, I saw that the attitude indicator appeared to be upside down, i.e. the top half was brown and the bottom-half blue. I assumed, incorrectly, that it was just because it was the power off position and it would rotate to the upright position when power was applied. Not a bit of it, that was its normal position in straight and level flight. Brown up and blue down. However, the colour coding was correct in one respect: when the nose was lowered, the horizontal bar between the colours moved down in the instrument, just the opposite of what a western pilot would have expected. But the instrument was now showing more brown. Conversely, as the nose was raised the bar would go up until in a vertical climb it was showing all blue. In roll it indicated as a western pilot would expect.

Forward view from cockpit of MiG 19.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

MiG 19 cockpit and instruments.

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE The MiG 21 had its attitude, or should I call it its pitch indicator, the same way up as those of western aircraft, and in pitch it indicated as a western pilot would have expected. But it did not indicate roll attitude, i.e. bank angle. It was fixed in roll, so in level flight, if say 60 degrees of bank was flown, the indicator would show wings level. A separate instrument just below it gave the bank angle indication by way of a moving left/right needle. The next two months were spent flying forty-eight dual flights, mostly in the rear seat of the MiG 19, but a few in the front acting as a student pilot. We covered air-to-ground guns attacks (strafe), 25-degree rockets and freefall dive bombing. After that we did some battle formation as a pair and also in a four-aircraft formation. Next came the SAP (Simulated Attack Profile) phase. These flights were flown in battle formations of either two or four aircraft, and consisted of attacks against off-range targets, and sometimes culminated in an FRA (first run attack) using live weapons on the range. Later, and after the students had proved they could fly the routes and carry out battle formation turns, I sometimes took off in another aircraft, either a 19 or a 21, and provided a bounce (simulating the formation being intercepted by an enemy aircraft). I couldn’t take things too far because all this was new to them, but I managed to get them at least making the initial correct r/t calls and turns when an enemy aircraft tried to intercept the formation. Wing Commander Zearat, the MiG 21 squadron commander, asked me if I would do the necessary sight calculations for dive bombing, and then show him how to do it. I worked it out as well as I could, bearing in mind I didn’t have some of the ballistic information needed due to it not being supplied by the Russians. So I did some estimating. My first attempt to go ahead and drop the bombs was a bit of a failure. I’d calculated the fixed sight depression for what I thought would be a sensible speed, dive angle and release height. However, when I sat in the cockpit prior to start and dialled in the depression on the sight, the aiming reticle was positioned half way along the very long nose of the aircraft. Time to unstrap and go back to the drawing board, after noting the maximum depression which could be used. All very embarrassing. The solution was to increase the dive angle and release speed, and recalculate. Eventually I took off and headed for the range, flew a few dummy dry attacks and eventually called, ‘In hot’, had the clearance from the RSO, and tipped in to the dive and released the bombs. Fortunately, and probably with a slice of luck, those first bombs, a pair of 50 kg practice bombs, impacted at 15 feet and 3 o’clock to the

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs target. It was a very good result, from a release height of around 1,500 metres. The Air Force commander had been monitoring the process with keen interest regarding the possible new capability, and he was very happy when he heard that first bomb score. I decided to quit while I was ahead and not drop any more. The reason for only one drop on that flight was the inefficient practice capability of the aircraft. There were only two pylons available for the practice bombs, these were the outboard pylon on each wing, and if one bomb was released the other would be released also. This was a technical set up designed to avoid a possible asymmetric situation occurring when heavier bombs were carried and released. One technique, which it seemed the Russians employed to get around the problem of the very long nose on the 21, was described in a Soviet secret tactics manual which the Bangladeshis had obtained. It was a method for aiming a cluster bomb. Basically a set speed and altitude would be maintained when flying towards the target. As the target disappeared under the nose, the stopwatch would be started and after a set number of seconds the pilot would release the weapon. Around midway through the course we had a break of ten days. The BAF immediately made a helicopter, a large Russian Mil Mi-8 available for our use. Fortunately it came with a pilot. They suggested we go to the Chittagong Hill Tracts as the weather would be cooler and dryer. We went along with that, and were flown from Dhaka to Chittagong in an Air Force Antanov transport aircraft, and then onwards up to Kaptai Lake in the Hill Tracts in the Mi-8. The Bangladesh Navy had a facility there and we were well entertained for lunch and with a boat ride on the lake. The scenery was quite spectacular, and nothing like the rest of Bangladesh. The lake was surrounded by treecovered hills. It was very beautiful and much like the highlands of Scotland. The kids in particular enjoyed it, and Sue and I enjoyed the drier climate at the higher altitude. I was glad of a rest from running the course. We were flown back to Chittagong initially to stay in the officers’ mess there for a couple of nights, and then returned to Dhaka in the Antanov. One Friday morning, as it was a day off, we were planning to go out to a local village and brass factory. Just before we were to get into the car, Sue announced she had a pain in her side. We decided to call the Air Force doctor, a wing commander. He came around to the flat straight away and diagnosed appendicitis. She was whisked away to hospital immediately, and the doctor called the Chief of Air Staff and explained the situation. He in

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE

Inside Soviet Mi-8 helicopter, Sue, Carly and Ryan and a young BAF officer, on the way to Kaptai Lake in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Daughter Carly with Mi 8 Helicopter at Rangamatti Heli pad, during our trip to the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs turn called President Ershad, who gave permission for his personal surgeon to do the operation and it was done the very same day. It was obviously done well too, as she recovered very quickly and the scar was just a very fine line with no sign of any stitches. The next day I went to see her in the hospital, which was a very basic facility as you might expect, but the bedding was clean and she was being well looked after. It was quite crowded and Sue seemed to be a bit of a novelty for the locals. I suppose they didn’t see white-skinned blonde ladies very often, if ever. When I arrived she told me a very amusing story. She woke up after the operation and was very surprised to find she still had on her clothes, just the same as when she entered the hospital. On asking the surgeon if the operation had been done with all her clothes on, she was told that as Bangladeshi ladies do not like to think a man has seen them naked, they take the patient into the operating theatre fully clothed, take off the clothes, carry out the operation and then dress them again in the same clothes before they wake up. This means that before the operation, some items of clothing have to be removed by sliding them along the intravenous drip tube, up and over the stand holding the bottle, down to the floor and with one person lifting the stand the item is removed from under it. The whole procedure was then reversed after the operation was completed. She has had no after effects from the experience. I was not at all keen to go flying when there was a great deal of cloud about, due to the instrument displays. It seemed my students felt the same way. So every time we had bad weather we would do some ground school type work, or just sit in the crew room drinking tea, which was dreadful. The Bangladeshis insisted on brewing the tea in a large pot and then pouring a can of condensed milk into it. I found it sweet and indescribably horrible. Each morning before flying we would go to a small office and await the arrival of the doctor, the wing commander who had initially attended Sue. The routine was a standard Soviet Air Force procedure. We all sat around the edge of the room and would be called in turn to sit next to the doctor’s desk. He would take a pulse reading and our temperature, ask if we were feeling well and if we had slept well that previous night. He would then declare whether or not we should fly that day. On a few occasions he did suggest to a pilot that he should wait until the following day before flying again. The doctor knew each of the pilots well, and knew when they were a bit under the weather. It was never regarded as an issue, it was just accepted. I was told the Soviets found the procedure helpful in deterring hangovers, as they could easily be detected.

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE When I asked the Chief of Air Staff if they had plans for obtaining more aircraft, he told me of an offer from the Russians. They were prepared to take back the MiG 21s and replace them with MiG 23s (NATO codename Flogger), if they could use Chittagong Port for the ‘occasional’ visit by a Russian Navy ship. The Russians were extremely keen to get access to a deep water port in the Indian Ocean, but the Bangladeshis were well aware that this would be, as they put it, the thin end of a very fat wedge. They had turned down the offer. On one flight in a MiG 21, I was returning the short distance from Dhaka’s main airport, Zia International, after a practice diversion. I was flying at about 300 metres across the northern part of Dhaka over the area of Gulshan, which was the up-market area of the city where the embassies were located. It meant flying close to overhead the British High Commission, so I altered course a little and overflew it and its swimming pool where some of its staff would be relaxing. I lit the reheat, which in the MiG 21 makes one hell of a bang, accelerated for a few seconds and pulled up into a steep climb and then recovered to land at Tejgoan. Just a bit of immature fun. Some days later I realised I had pulled up in reheat more or less on top of the Russian Embassy. Two weeks earlier, the Chief of Air Staff had told me that the Russians had put in an official complaint about me being allowed to fly the MiG 21, and that the complaint had almost certainly originated in Moscow. It probably looked, and sounded, like a reaction to that complaint. But in fact, it was purely coincidental. Either way, I hoped the ‘reply’ would be forwarded to Moscow.

BAF Air Defence Scramble A planned range sortie had myself leading Wing Commander Zearat. We were lining up on the runway in our two MiG 21s, each with two practice bombs and four air-to-ground rockets. There was a sudden burst of radio chatter between air traffic control and Zearat in the local language, so of course I didn’t understand what was going on. All became clear when Zearat informed me in English that he would take the lead as we had an air defence scramble. We lined up and he set off in full afterburner and I followed five seconds later. We climbed to 5,000 metres and called Spotlight, the call sign of the Bangladeshi air defence radar unit. A heading was given towards the intruder aircraft, which were reported as Indian Air Force jets attacking a Bangladesh Army base about 70 miles to the north-west, near the Indian border. We cruised at about 850 kph. We could of course have gone much

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs faster. I wasn’t sure whether the modest speed that Zearat chose was to save fuel, or to give the Indian jets time to exit the area before we arrived. We were advised, by Spotlight, that if the intruding aircraft were attacking our army base, we were cleared to engage them. I wasn’t mad keen myself to engage in air-to-air combat with just two practice bombs and four air-toground rockets. We had no air-to-air missiles fitted (although the BAF did have some Atolls), and we didn’t even have loaded guns, and I had very few hours on the MiG 21, and no combat practice in it. This was my second ever air defence scramble for real. (The first being in a Strikemaster against supposed MiGs, but at least on that occasion I had loaded machine guns.) However, by the time we arrived on the scene the enemy jets had departed, and they hadn’t used any weapons, so we just did a few battle formation flag-waving type flybys to show support for the army guys and then returned to base. It transpired that the Indian jets, which were thought to have been Jaguars, had just done low flyovers and made a lot of noise, in a sort of protest action in the wake of a skirmish which had occurred the previous day between two army patrols on the border. Later, I told the British High Commissioner of the incident. His comment was, ‘If next time they turn out to be Jaguars again, make sure you don’t shoot down any they haven’t paid for.’ In a previous life I had been flying Lightnings and Jaguars, and regarding MiG 21s as potential enemy aircraft. Now I’d scrambled in a MiG 21 to intercept Jaguars. One could easily become a mixed-up kid. The day after the border skirmish and the air defence scramble, a loud sonic boom was heard over the south of Bangladesh, and in particular over Dhaka. A follow up by the Indians was an overflight by a MiG 25 (NATO codename Foxbat), probably at about Mach 2.5 and certainly at very high altitude. I was told by a senior Bangladeshi Air Force officer that when a complaint was made about such overflights, the Indians just suggested that the Bangladesh Air Force should shoot down any unauthorised overflights by unidentified aircraft. They knew full well that the BAF didn’t have the capability to do that.

Photo Recce Flight On one occasion during a discussion with the first secretary at the high commission I was asked to look out for a building, which he said was probably constructed using bricks and set back from a road running north

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THE BANGLADESH AIR FORCE from Dhaka. I was told the building had been sponsored by the Chinese government, but its purpose was not known for sure, and neither was its precise position. A brick-built building in that part of Bangladesh should be readily recognisable. I was told not to circle around it, but just if I happened to notice it on one of my flights, would I please let him know where it was and describe it in as much detail as I could remember. During the training of my four pilots, in low-level attacks against various types of target, it was usual for me to take recce photographs of practice targets such as bridges, aerial systems, army camps etc. These photos would then be used for discussions with the four students to consider the various attack options. Direction of attack, timing and number and type of aircraft and weapons to be used would be covered. They would then go ahead and use the photos to brief and fly a practice mission. It was therefore OK for me to go off in a MiG 19 with a recce pod. This I did, and having found the said brick building I managed to get a photo of it on my first pass before continuing on. I took more photographs further north and then on returning towards Tejgaon, I took another short burst of film of the building from the other side and started my stop watch as I passed it. By flying an accurate speed and constant heading, and noting the time taken to fly to an obvious feature, I was able to plot a fairly accurate position of the target. When collecting the photos from the processing department I also took the negatives of ‘the particular shots of greatest interest’, and delivered these, along with the corresponding prints, to the first secretary at the high commission, together with the estimate of the location. I thought using a Chinese-built aircraft, and a Chinese recce pod was most appropriate for getting a description of the Chinese-sponsored building. The first secretary told me they suspected what the purpose of the building was, but he wouldn’t enlighten me further than that and I never found out its purpose. He was extremely happy with the photos, but somewhat concerned by my methods. Eventually we finished the course for the four pilots who were now officially designated as QWIs. They had worked hard and as far as the weapons theory and their efforts at teaching in flight were concerned, they had reached a good standard. They needed a lot more practice at SAPs and battle formation, and defensive manoeuvring when bounced, but they had made a start. I had flown a couple of sorties in the back of the two-seat MiG 21 UM with Wing Commander Zearat, and demonstrated, with dry attacks, a divebombing technique. He now had the general idea of what was required, a suitable sight setting and the confidence to get on with practising it.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs It was very sad day when we left Bangladesh. In particular, Sue was upset at having to say goodbye to the friends we had made, in particular to the wives who had made her so very welcome. Everyone had gone out of their way to make our stay with them as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

Sue with my youngest QWI student, Ahmad, and his wife Floreen.

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Chapter Fifteen

The Sultan of Oman’s Air Force

Recruitment for SOAF was by way of an application and interview through Airwork Services Ltd, in the UK. I completed this procedure, was accepted as a Jaguar pilot and arrived in Oman in October 1984. The country had undergone an amazing transformation since I left in 1974. In just ten years the change was incredible: hundreds of modern buildings, but mostly constructed in very tasteful traditional styling, and there were now many miles of roads and many schools and hospitals. The Air Force infrastructure had also been significantly updated. I met with CSOAF Air Vice-Marshal Erik Bennett again (now Air Marshal Sir Erik Bennett), whom I knew well. We originally met in Singapore, where as a wing commander he was OC OPS, and where we had sailed together many times. Then again in the UK when I was invited to dinner at RAF Boulmer, and at Salalah during the Dhofar war, when I flew him to Midway in a Strikemaster. It was a great pleasure to meet him again. I was quickly down to Thumrait, previously known in SOAF as Midway, but now known by its local Arabic name, and joined No. 8 Squadron. I knew many of the personnel in Thumrait. The station commander was Group Captain Jeremy Seavers (ex-OC of No. 54 Squadron at Coltishall, and with whom I had flown a couple of times at Lossiemouth). OC No. 8 Squadron was Wing Commander Ian Ord (flight commander on No. 2 Squadron at Lossiemouth), and Flight Lieutenant John Pym (No. 6 Squadron and TBC teammate), and others. My first flight was in the back of a two-seater with Group Captain Jerry Seavers for the firing of an Aim 9P Sidewinder missile at a rocket launched by another Jaguar. I was pleased to see it catch the rocket and hit it. The Jaguar had a dual role in SOAF service. It had both a close air support and longer range ground attack role, but in addition it was to support the air defence Rapier units, by having an air defence capability to counter any medium-altitude bombers which attacked from above 10,000 feet. It was a

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs strange feeling when I thought back to the paper I’d written in pencil and given to Group Captain Les Phipps, eleven years previously. As near as makes no difference, the ideas in it had now become a reality. We practised low-altitude attack profiles in two, four or more a/c formations, normally with a simulated enemy aircraft intercepting the formations. We practised equally in air-to-air intercepts under ground radar control, or guidance, which usually culminated in air-to-air combat. For air defence we could carry two Aim -9 P Sidewinder missiles along with the twin 30-mm cannon. For the attack role we had 400-kg bombs, BL 755 anti-armour cluster bombs, 400-kg laser-guided bombs and twin 30-mm cannon. SOAF practised hard in both roles with very realistic training flights. When most air forces limited their low-flying training to a minimum height of 250 feet above the ground with occasional clearance down to 100 feet, SOAF had no such limits, and we regularly flew long simulated strike sorties below 100 feet. There was no minimum height restriction. For practising air defence we flew many 1 v 1 and 2 v 2 combat sorties. We had the benefit of practising our tactics on many occasions with aircraft of the US Navy, who would be flying from carriers not so far away. It was very mutually beneficial. Many times we would be intercepting such very

SOAF Jaguar with 1000 lb Laser Guided Bomb [LGB].

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THE SULTAN OF OMAN’S AIR FORCE

Above: 2 SOAF Jaguars flying near the Range Safety Officer’s [RSO] hut on Rubkut range. Right: Jaguar low pass, by John Pym.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs capable aircraft as F 14 Tomcats. This was a very difficult adversary for a Jaguar, but surprisingly we had many successful engagements with them. We also flew against A-6s, A-7s and even against USAF F-16s. We devised a variety of tactics against fighter-type aircraft simulating approaching us over Omani airspace. An example would be a pair of Jaguars, at a given range from an approaching enemy, notified by our ground radar controller, would execute a vertical split by one aircraft and a level hard turn by the other with both dropping chaff. We found this would often be effective by causing confusion for a few seconds and delaying a counter move, by which time the vertical split aircraft would be high above the enemy and in a good position. This, and many other manoeuvres along these lines, would frequently bring success. Operationally, we would hope to be intercepting a less capable adversary than US Navy Tomcats, but it was very valuable training. Similarly we would practise many SAP sorties simulating an attack into a neighbouring country. This would mean flying low and fast, something the Jaguar was good at. We would often end the sortie with live weapons deliveries on Rubkut range, sometimes in coordination with our Hunters of No. 6 Squadron, and sometimes with an army FAC (forward air controller). Coordination with ground forces was very important. Either supporting them when they were opposing a border incursion or in support of a special forces operation. To that end we practised against laser-marked targets. So, with all these tasks we were very busy and worked hard to achieve a high standard, as you would expect. On top of this, it was vital that we did our best in training new Omani pilots, who mostly had much less experience than ‘we older guys’. We spent time passing on our experience and knowledge of tactics and weapons effects etc. SOAF also had a reconnaissance capability, but not with the usual camera pod. The pods we had were equipped with a high-altitude photo capability. The camera installed in a specially developed pod was a U-2 camera, which gave amazingly detailed pictures from the Jaguar’s realistic maximum altitude of about 38,000 feet. The PDRY (Peoples Democratic Republic of the Yemen) had an airfield at Al Gheida, approximately 60 miles from the border with Oman. The camera faced vertically downwards, so I tried taking a picture of it by flying near the border, putting on 90 degrees of bank, and as the aircraft started to fall, operated the camera. Its pictures, especially when considerably enlarged, showed an impressive amount of detail of the airfield.

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THE SULTAN OF OMAN’S AIR FORCE On New Year’s Eve 1984 I flew towing a banner for others to shoot at with 30 mm, and in early January fired my first Sidewinder, which hit the target rocket. It seems the model 9P was a very reliable missile, I had heard of no failures to date. 16 January was a sortie escorting the Sultan’s aircraft as it left Oman, and the 17th a recce and flag wave of various locations on the Mussandam peninsula including Khasab. On the 23rd I was accompanied by AVM Bennett in the two-seater when we escorted the Sultan back into Oman. I was acting as RSO (range safety officer) at Rubkut range when Ian Ord and Paddy Mullen joined the range to practise strafe with 30-mm HE ammunition. On the third pass, after pulling up and over the target, Paddy briefly reported he had a problem. A few seconds later I saw the aircraft roll and then pitch nose down and dive into the ground, creating a large fireball. I was relieved, a few seconds later, to see a parachute. I informed Ian that his number two had crashed, but that I saw a ’chute. Ian had seen it. I picked up the first aid kit, took my hand-held radio with me and ran to my car. I got within about 50 yards of where Paddy had landed before the ground was too rough to go further, so I ran those last few yards. I found that Paddy was basically OK, if looking a bit dishevelled. He was lying on his upturned inflated dinghy, and had a slightly sore back. The outcome of the investigation indicated that a 30-mm round had exploded as it left the barrel and took out a very important hydraulic unit in the nose of the aircraft, causing the loss of control and the loss of the aeroplane. Another aircraft loss was during a fire power demonstration which was attended by CSOAF Air Vice-Marshal Bennett. Rick Lea tipped into a 30-degree free-fall dive-bombing attack. As the bomb left the aircraft it exploded, blowing the aircraft into many little and a very few big pieces. I wasn’t there, but I heard it was a most spectacular explosion. Everyone initially feared the worst, but a few seconds later a parachute was seen. It seemed incredible that the pilot could have survived. CSOAF boarded the standby helicopter and flew to the site. Those on board were relieved to see Rick running to get to the helicopter. On climbing aboard he said, according to the Air Vice-Marshal, ‘F**king Hell sir, that was bloody dangerous. I could have been killed.’ What an understatement! It was just amazing that the pilot, and the ejection seat, survived the shrapnel from the explosion undamaged. Rick had pressed the bomb release button, found himself sitting in a fireball and pulled the bottom ejection seat handle instantly. The problem had been the fitting of a wrong nose fuse. The one fitted was only cleared to a much lower airspeed than that flown by Rick in the attack. I believe it was one intended for use on a Strikemaster.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs When tasked to fly a photo sortie to take pictures of Jask and its immediate surrounds on the Iranian coast, I flew north and then, at high level, on to the Massandam Peninsula and overhead Khasab. I now needed to venture out over the Straits of Hormuz to get the desired shots. I checked in with our Omani listening post and was informed all was ‘normal’. I changed to Bandar Abbas tower frequency and, with my best posh voice said something along the lines of, ‘Bandar Abbas tower this is Speedbird 26, do you have any F-4s airborne at the moment?’ The reply was ‘negative’. I now knew it was reasonably safe to head north over the straits, into Iranian airspace, make a right turn, take the photos and then turn back for Omani airspace. As I took the pictures Bandar Abbas kept calling, ‘Speedbird 26 this is Bandar Abbas’, but got no reply. I changed to our listening post frequency. As I crossed the coast, I received a single very short call: ‘Black Cap getting airborne’. It was the call signifying that the Iranians had scrambled a pair of Phantoms. They were little threat, as I was now at 36,000 feet and back in Omani airspace and about 45 miles ahead of them. The return flight was uneventful. As a result of this, all future photo sorties of the Iranian coast would be flown as a pair; one aircraft to take the pictures and the number two to fly escort and provide support in the event of ‘problems’. The next three sorties over the following few months were flown by Ian Ord with the camera pod and myself as escort. We flew fully armed, as normal. A new first for me was on 21 July 1985, when four of us met up with a US Navy A-6 Intruder, which came from the carrier USS Kittyhawk and was in the tanker role. We all had a couple of contacts and took a little fuel. It was a good example of practising for combined operations. On 6 November we were again in the north at Seeb and were scrambled to intercept an Iranian C 130, which was being used in the reconnaissance role. They typically flew along the coast and were thought to be recording the positions of various ships. At this time, unlike when the Shah ruled the country, relations were very strained with Oman. On another occasion, after take-off from Seeb I was leading a pair on a recce and flag wave up to Khasab, and we had just climbed to high level. David ‘Wiz’ Wilson was leading a four ship of Hunters, including two flown by young Omanis, at low level up the Batina Coast towards Khasab. We all heard, on the emergency frequency, a call from an American warship, saying ‘Unidentified aircraft flying towards US Navy ship, please turn away immediately.’ A reply came, ‘This is an Iranian aircraft on a peaceful mission.’ The American replied again insisting the unidentified aircraft must turn away. The Iranian then asked for the position of the American

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THE SULTAN OF OMAN’S AIR FORCE warship, and its side number. The American wouldn’t give it. So the Iranian said that if he didn’t have the position he couldn’t turn away. A further reply was to the effect that if he didn’t turn away his safety could not be guaranteed. We then heard a call from a French warship asking if the four ship flying north up the coast was from the Oman Air Force. Wiz answered ‘affirmative’. The French controller then asked if they wished to intercept the Iranian aircraft. Again, Wiz answered in the affirmative. So we now had an interesting international situation. A French controller on a French warship was directing an interception by Omani fighter aircraft led by a British pilot onto an Iranian aircraft which was approaching an American warship which was threatening to engage it. I decided we would stay high and conserve fuel, and position ourselves to the north, in case we were needed. The Iranian aircraft was identified as a C 130, and everything eventually calmed down and we all returned to base. It was decided that on Oman National Day, 18 November, the SOAF would provide a formation flyby of fighter aircraft. The plan was to fly a diamond sixteen of Jaguars, followed closely by a diamond nine of Hunters. Timing would need to be precise to synchronise with the other celebrations and the commentary. The leader of the whole formation would be OC No. 8 Squadron, Wing Commander Ian Ord flying the lead Jaguar, and Wing Commander Jerry Gosnell, OC No. 6 Squadron, would lead the formation of nine Hunters. I would be flying number two, and so be in echelon starboard with Ian, and would be deputy lead of the overall formation of twenty-five aircraft. On 6 November we had a scramble for another Iranian reconnaissance flight. Again it was a C-130. As we were approaching Oman National Day, I couldn’t help but think of the National day twelve years earlier. I had been in a flyby in the morning over Salalah town, only to be scrambled in the afternoon for an IL 28 from the PDRY dropping bombs on the territory of Oman at Makinat Shahan. Let’s hope there would not be a repeat. Our first practice was on the 7th with only myself and Ian practising the route and timing. It was necessary for me to go along as I would need to take over if Ian’s aircraft went u/s on or after start up. In that case, the airborne spare flown by Derek Bridge would join the formation and take my place. We flew a second practice on the 9th, when I was given the chance to practise the timing and run in, and in the afternoon there was another scramble for an Iranian C 130 flying along the coast to the north-east of Seeb. Our next practice was as a twenty-seven a/c (including the two spares) formation on the 10th. It went fairly well. Joining up the sixteen Jaguars into a tight group took a little time. Take-off was in

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs close formation as pairs, and as the leader flew a wide left-hand orbit over the sea, the following pairs would cut the corner and close up, first forming into fours in a loose box formation, and then into a box of boxes, i.e. four formations of four spaced out by maybe 50 yards or so. The Hunters did much the same. We had to set up in a race track pattern and be able to react to the very likely changes to the timing, and we needed to be able to leave from any point on the race track to make good precisely the time given. With about 5 minutes to go the call would be given to form the two diamonds. We would have an Air Force officer with a hand-held radio near to the centre of action on the ground. Four more practices were flown, and we had our last practice on the 16th, during which Ian simulated his aircraft going u/s on start up, and I got to practice the lead. It meant re-numbering on the ground before taxi when Derek checked in as number two. The flight went smoothly and I got the timing more or less right. When flying in the lead of a diamond sixteen, I found I was really conscious of having to be extremely smooth on the controls, as any ‘lumpy handling’ on my part would cause a problem, particularly for those on the extreme edges of the formation, and it was important to keep throttle movements to a minimum. It made me feel quite nervous. That practice was shown live on the television and a photo was taken of it from a television screen. Altogether we had twenty-seven aircraft in the formation, each armed with two Sidewinders and with loaded 30 mm cannon.

Self leading Diamond 16 of armed Jaguars, in practice for Oman National Day Flypast.

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THE SULTAN OF OMAN’S AIR FORCE There was also a requirement to overfly the celebration at the tattoo in the early evening of the 19th, but after dark. For this we would fly just a pair, doing a fast approach to the festivities and a pull up in reheat to a vertical climb. The pair would be Ian and myself. We practised it in the dark, approaching from over the sea and pulling to the vertical about 1 mile short of ‘the target’, in a long gentle pull up to maintain as much speed as possible. The tattoo flight would be required again on 20 and 22 November. On 18 November the actual fly-past went well and Ian’s aircraft remained serviceable, for which I was very thankful; and better still this time, none of our neighbours dropped bombs on Oman. A month later we flew escort on the aircraft carrying the King of Spain into Masirah. We landed there to refuel and were introduced to the King, as were other personnel who were based on Masirah Island. Later that day we escorted the King’s aircraft again when he returned to Muscat. It seemed that flying these escorts was very fashionable in the Middle East. We then returned to Thumrait on the 19th via a stop at Masirah. Just why we stopped on the way, I don’t remember. We celebrated Christmas, but only for one day; after all, we were in a Muslim country. However it was a surprise just how the Omani pilots joined in with gusto, sinking beers, wearing paper hats, pulling crackers and generally really enjoying themselves. Some expat members of the mess had their wives visiting and that made the event all the more enjoyable. In January it was back to the altogether more serious business of training, after our recent stint of mainly PR and show business type of flying in the north. On 8 January we did some toss bombing on Rubkut range not far from Thumrait, my share of the action being to toss a pair of 1000lb bombs. On the night of the 19th, again on Rubkut, we dropped free-fall laserguided bombs against a target illuminated by a ground based LTM (Laser Target Marker). This was to practise the coordination of attacks in support of special forces, who were simulating operating in either a cross-border operation or in a defensive action. In late April we were visited by a small detachment of F-16s and an AWACS aircraft from the USAF. Training with them was interesting. The F-16 pilots were operating a very capable dog fighter and ground attack type of aircraft, but their training was not as realistic as ours. They had many quite restrictive rules they were having to stick to. In particular they were amazed that we had no height limitations when low flying, and how we would return to join the circuit at 500 to 550 knots at 50 feet.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs I remember flying a SAP profile with Hunters as escort and being intercepted by the F-16s. On 29 April I took an AWACS crew member on a four ship low-level sortie escorted by two F-16s and bounced by Hunters. On that occasion the Hunter and F-16 guys had all the fun as we pressed on to our target. After all, that was the whole idea. On the 30th I took Colonel Steve Mish on a pairs high-low-high attack against a target on the Masirah Island range, and on 1 May, a similar profile sortie, taking Colonel Dave Ebert. The attack went really well – better than was usual, but I didn’t tell the colonel that. On this attack led by Ian Ord, we split about 10 miles before the target and attacked the same target on the range but from different directions. It was necessary to achieve at least 15 seconds’ separation as we crossed the target, as we were simulating cluster-bomb attacks with our small practice bombs. This produced two direct hits reported on the r/t by the RSO. After the attack I couldn’t see Ian’s aircraft but carried on straight ahead at about 50 feet and then turned hard right back towards Thumrait. As I rolled out on the pre-briefed heading, Ian appeared from behind a line of hills on our right absolutely line abreast in a perfect battle formation position. It was really very rare for such an attack to go so perfectly. The colonel didn’t say much but he must have been impressed. I certainly was, even if the join up into battle formation so efficiently had been mostly by sheer luck. Later that day I was invited to fly in the backseat of an F-16 flown by Captain Kip Knutson. I was, of course, impressed by the aircraft’s manoeuvrability compared to that of the Jaguar. I didn’t get to handle the aircraft for more than a couple of minutes, as most of the time Kip had his hands full in 4 v 4 combat with our Hunters. It wasn’t all as one-sided as one might imagine. The old Hunters gave a good account of themselves and gave the F-16s quite a hard time. The following day I arranged to take Kip on a low flying and general handling flight and I let him do most of the flying. I shouldn’t think he was very impressed by the Jaguar’s turning performance, but he really enjoyed flying it much lower than he was normally allowed to fly. In the middle of May I took the opportunity to fly in a Skyvan with Bill Little. It was interesting to visit Habrut and Makinat Shahan again, where so much action had taken place more than twelve years previously. We also flew to Ramlat Jadila, a location new to me. It was about 8 miles from the Yemen border and way north at only 20 or so miles from Saudi Arabia. I saw the tall sand dune there, but it was only many years later I found out it had been certified as the tallest sand dune in the world at 455 metres.

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THE SULTAN OF OMAN’S AIR FORCE Later in the summer my family came out to visit. Such visits were limited to a month. I had plenty of notice of them coming and set to making a small garden outside my little bungalow. Many of us had a small prefabricated bungalow as these were left behind by the contractors who had been employed to build up Thumrait and to construct a proper runway, which was now very long and had a very good tarmac surface. A number of afternoons were spent digging holes with a pickaxe and putting in camel manure in which to put plants and various seeds. A wooden fence was built and concrete slabs and gravel were ‘acquired’ – don’t ask how! So after a fair number of very sweaty afternoons, I had a little sitting out area. The family – Sue, Carly, 7, and Ryan, 5 – arrived at Seeb airport, and we spent some time in the north. I was able to drive them to various interesting places, including Muscat, Rostaq, Nizwa and Firq. After about a week we all went down to Thumrait. Sue was surprised by the flat desert extending for miles in every direction. She said it looked like the moon. While there we went on a desert trip with Derek and Pat Bridge. Pat was also out on a family visit and we took two 4 x 4 vehicles and headed north into the Rub Al Khali desert, for maybe a hundred miles. We all had our own call sign in SOAF. Derek had the call sign of ‘86’, and when he met Carly and Ryan he said his name was ‘86’. From then on he was always called 86 by them. We put down spread-out parachutes and army-issue camp beds, and slept under the stars. The kids thought it was fantastic. We enjoyed it because of the clear skies. After dark the Milky Way was so bright and clear, it was such a pleasure to just lie there and stare at the millions of stars. We were aware that these areas could be visited from time to time by people who were up to no good, so there was a small security risk. We had taken the precaution of taking along a couple of SLRs and a hand-held ground-to-air capable radio, which could operate on various frequencies including the international emergency frequency of 243.0. It would have been possible to contact any SOAF aircraft which was airborne if necessary. We also arranged for a pair of aircraft to fly up there the next morning to check on us. In due course Bill Langworthy arrived leading a pair of Hunters, which really impressed the kids, and we confirmed with Bill that all was well. We returned safely to Thumrait. It had been quite an experience for my family and lots of photos had been taken. Later, again with Derek and Pat, we went to Mirbat, did some fishing and camped out on the beach there for a night. Mirbat, of course, was the place of one of the SAS’s most famous and successful battles (see the book Storm Front, by Rowland White).

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs My family left for the UK, with Carly and Ryan taking their essays in the form of diaries, which they had written, describing their experiences in Oman. Sue thought it would be a good idea for them to do it, and I agreed. During August I spent a lot of time briefing and flying with two young Omani pilots who had recently joined the squadron. They were Naqibs (flight lieutenant equivalent), Saleem and Zubair. They could fly the aircraft but now needed tuition in SAP and range work. We went through all the weapons carried by the Jaguar and the different delivery methods and techniques. On another occasion I was talking to now-Wing Commander John Merry, who was the CO of the pilot training unit at Masirah. Some of the aircraft being used were Strikemasters that had been used in the Dhofar War, alongside some which were delivered new. John was OC the Strikemaster squadron at Salalah for the last six months of my time on the squadron. Although Bill Stoker had arrived shortly after me, he left six months before me because I had extended my tour by seven months at the request of CSOAF. John had left the RAF and continued on with the SOAF on a contract basis and was now running the basic flying courses at Masirah. What he was about to tell me was a great surprise. He asked me if I remembered one of my last sorties when I was involved in the attacks on the Khantor Force HQ near Simba, where we had dropped several bombs and received that quite severe heavy calibre ground fire in return. I replied that I remembered it well, it wasn’t something one would forget. He then went on to tell me about a student who was actually one of the adoo at the Khantor Force HQ when the strike took place. He was now about to complete his flying course. He had survived the attacks unhurt, but some of his fellow adoo had been killed in our attacks and one of their weapons was destroyed. He was mightily impressed by the Strikemaster, and had wanted to fly one ever since. At the end of the war he had applied to join the SOAF, and been accepted for flying training. He had achieved his ambition of flying a Strikemaster. I asked John to pass on my best wishes to him, and to wish him well on my behalf in his career. It would have been nice to meet him in person and buy him a beer, but I didn’t get the chance. I wonder now what his future career held for him. On 11 September we flew yet another VIP escort, this time for the King and Queen of Nepal. On the 30th, while in a 2 v 2 combat, my Jaguar had an engine fire warning. I shut down the engine concerned, carried out the appropriate emergency drills and returned to Thumrait for a single engine landing. The warning was spurious so, thankfully, there was no damage to the aircraft.

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THE SULTAN OF OMAN’S AIR FORCE On 5 and 6 October I led a four-aircraft formation on two more VIP escort flights, these were for King Hussein of Jordan, a long-time friend of Air Vice-Marshal Bennett. He would be flying into and out of Salalah. The King, being a keen and qualified pilot who had flown F-5s in the past, nearly always flew at the controls of his aircraft on such occasions as this. When we first joined up in formation, two on each side of his aeroplane, I announced our arrival on the r/t, and was answered by the King himself. He said something like, ‘Thank you, [callsign], its good to see you, I appreciate it, sir.’ Rather strange being called ‘sir’ by a king, but by all accounts he was a real gentleman. On 22 October it was my turn to launch target rockets for others to shoot down with Sidewinders. It was an impressive sight after the rocket set off into the distance to see a Sidewinder streak off after it, catch it and detonate as it hit it. A month later, on 23 November, I flew my last flight in a fighter-type aircraft. I was part of a seven-aircraft formation simulating a low-level attack on the airfield on Masirah. After the attack, the other six landed there on the ‘enemy airfield’. I climbed to high level, for fuel reasons, and flew back to Thumrait. As it was known that this would be my last flight in the SOAF, the Airwork Services ground crew were expecting a spectacularly low and fast arrival. However, I took it easy, not wanting to write myself off in a silly last flight accident. I arrived at a nice and safe 500 knots at about 50 feet. On climbing out of the aircraft I felt incredibly sad, knowing this would be my last ever flight in a fast jet aircraft. I patted Jaguar 204 on the nose and said, ‘Goodbye Jaguar, old friend.’ On the one hand it was a very sad moment, but on the other hand it would be great to be reunited with the family. Four times I had been away from them for five months, and four times I had had to say goodbye, and each time it became harder. But I’d had to keep the wolf from the door, and serving in the SOAF for the second time had been a privilege and I had enjoyed it immensely. Sue had done a sterling job, bringing up Carly and Ryan on her own. No one could have done it better. Now it was time to move on. After an informal dinner with the other members of the squadron, where they presented me with a copper Dhofari coffee pot, I flew north to Seeb. It was also sad to be saying goodbye to Air Vice-Marshal Erik Bennett. I had known him for a long time since our sailing days together in 1970, and we had flown together in a Lightning, a Strikemaster and a Jaguar. He is a great man who later became a close personal adviser to Sultan Qaboos.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Jaguar in a HAS [Hardened Aircraft Shelter] at Thumrait.

With CSOAF, AVM Erik Bennett, at a dining in night.

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Chapter Sixteen

Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA)

A few pilot vacancies were becoming available in civil aviation. I had applied to Cathay Pacific Airways in the past, to be told that I was too old at present, but to keep in touch if I remained interested in joining the company. I confirmed with them of my continued interest, but again was told the same, still too old, but keep in touch. It would be difficult to get younger! I then applied to Royal Brunei Airlines in response to an advertisement for Boeing 737 pilots. I was given an interview in London and offered a position of first officer, if I could first make sure I would be able to fly a 737 well enough to handle a base flying test (that meant being able to fly circuits and landings). I was in Oman when I received the offer, so contacted my wife Sue and briefed her on my requirements and asked her to contact British Airways Flight Training Department and explain what I needed. She got on the phone and obviously did a great job as I was set up to do a CAA technical exam on the B 737 and then to do some simulator flying. I self-studied for the exam and in due course went to stay at a friend’s flat in London, not far from the BA ground training and flight simulator facilities. I passed the exam and flew sixteen flights in the simulator with various other trainees, some from outside of BA. The total cost of the flying should have been about £2,500 but it was reduced to only £1,500 when the boss of the training unit found I was ex-RAF, and would be paying for it from my own pocket. He had cut the price as much as he was able. As I was always flying the simulator with another trainee, the company of the other pilot was sometimes paying for the flight. One flight was with an RAF VC10 captain. It was necessary for military pilots to be able to fly British Airways aircraft at short notice in case of some particular emergency. The RAF paid for my simulator flight on that occasion. The OC, or should I call him manager, of the simulator section invited me to have lunch with him and some other of his guests on my final day

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs with BA. He even mentioned contacting him in the future if I needed a position with BA. I could not have been treated better, and I thanked him accordingly. We all four arrived in Brunei and were put in a pretty grim hotel for a few days before suitable accommodation became available. The base training flight was with Captain Mike Fox, the head of flight ops in RBA. Mike had been an RAF Hercules pilot and flight commander of a special forces Hercules unit. The weather on the day was basically OK except for a low cloud base, strictly we should not have been doing circuit training. Mike asked me if I could handle flying low-level circuits, I replied ‘Of course, should be no problem if you’re happy.’ He made me promise I wouldn’t tell Captain Alan Breedon, his head of training, who was away at the time. Alan, who was an absolute stickler for the rules, would definitely not have approved. We flew a number of circuits at about 700 feet and carried out the required number of single-engined missed approaches and a single-engined landing. It all went OK, so the job was done. Flying the 737 was the easy bit, it was going to take me time to learn about civil aviation operations, air traffic procedures and working with another pilot as a team, as required by company procedures. But the next two years were very valuable for me. It was like one long operational conversion course from military to civilian flying. I was very grateful to RBA and Mike Fox for giving me that chance and that training. Thank you Mike. I had started as a 737 F/O and after eighteen months transferred to the 757. Mike Fox came into the crew room one day and announced that we were now all qualified to fly royal flights. He had been instructed to maintain a list of all pilots whom he considered suitable for such flights. Sometime later I was to fly a royal flight charter flight. It was a princess from Brunei to London, and Mike and I pre-positioned in Dubai and flew the aircraft on after it stopped to refuel. During the flight the princess’s personal bodyguard, an ex-SAS soldier, came into the cockpit with an envelope for each of us and a message from the princess thanking us. The ‘tip’ was about £2,000 each. Another 757 flight was to Singapore carrying a consignment of gold. By all accounts it was a very considerable quantity. The captain who I won’t name said, ‘Well, shall we put on plenty of fuel and go somewhere nice?’ He was joking, of course. On landing at Singapore’s Changi Airport we were met at the end of the runway by an armoured car for escort to the parking bay, where there was another armoured car and men with guns.

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ROYAL BRUNEI AIRLINES (RBA)

Royal Brunei Airlines Boeing 757.

We stayed on board the aircraft until the gold had been unloaded and all the guns had gone away. Neither of us wanted to be mistaken for a potential gold robber. Shortly after that I was promoted to 757 captain. Just before I was due for my command line check for upgrade, I received an invite from Cathay Pacific, out of the blue, to have an interview for joining them as a first officer. I told Mike Fox about it, and he said I would be doing my line check with him to ensure I passed, as a hiccup would not look good at the Cathay interview. Perhaps he just wanted to be rid of me. I travelled to Hong Kong along with Sue. She was invited by the company as Cathay liked to meet interviewees’ wives. The process was a couple of formal interviews, a flying test on the Tristar simulator, a dinner along with Sue, and then a formal final interview. I joined Cathay in January 1989, as a Boeing 747-200/300 first officer.

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Chapter Seventeen

Cathay Pacific Airways

We travelled to Hong Kong in January 1989 and I started the course on the 747-200/300, the old Classic, along with Kim Larsen, an ex-RAAF Mirage pilot. Our instructor was usually Captain Peter Leith-Smith. Training was routine, but it was a big aeroplane, I was just not so familiar with the sort of figures involved, like 150 tons of fuel, and take-off weights of well over 350 tons etc. In due course it all became quite normal. First came the technical classroom work, learning how the various systems worked. After some simulator, including an instrument rating, it was time to do the base check flight to ensure we could actually do a take-off and land the aeroplane as against the simulator. This was a long time before the zero flight time simulators existed. We went over to Kaohsiung airport on the west coast of Taiwan, and with Captain Hayden Ashley I did seven touch and go, and three full stop landings. During the landings, the engineer would call out the height in feet from the radar altimeter over the last critical bit, e.g. ‘60, 40, 30, 20, 10’. This was the actual height in feet of the main landing gear above the runway. The rate at which he called out was a good clue as to how things were going, along with the actual heights. We were then signed up as OK to go on with line training, which was just normal passenger or freighter flying, but all flights would be with a training captain until being signed off as line checked. I enjoyed the flying very much, probably more than I had expected. It was always, well nearly always, a pleasure to fly the famous IGS (Instrument Guidance System) approach into Hong Kong on runway one three. Strong winds and/or low cloud made it not quite such a pleasure. For those not familiar with the IGS, a brief description. A straight in approach to the runway was not possible because there was a big hill/ mountain in the way, so an approach at about 50 degrees to the final landing direction was required. This would mean flying a normal rate of descent in a straight line, initially towards a hill. On the side of the hill was

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CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS a large chequer board. A turn before reaching the hill of about 47 degrees to the right was made to line up with the runway. The turn started at about 500 feet and roll out to land was at about 200 feet, sometimes a bit lower. That’s quite low in a big aeroplane and allowed only a few seconds before touch down. In addition there was a road crossing the flight path in those last few seconds, and it was crossing a bridge at that position (as a matter of interest aircraft were so low over that road, that the street lamps on the bridge alongside the road were only about 7 feet high as against the usual 20 feet or so). On a really clear day we would sometimes do a visual approach over the harbour, and judge our height and speed to join the IGS profile just before the final turn short of the chequer board. Most other airlines did not allow their pilots to do that, quite sensibly really. It was OK for Cathay pilots because we were much more familiar with judging that final turn onto the runway. It was forecast that a promotion to captain would be at about five years after joining, although this could not be guaranteed. It turned out in my case, and for Kim and those who joined at roughly the same time, to be surprisingly accurate. However, in the meantime I was approached by Captain Terry Farquharson who was running the F.T. and E. (Flight Test and Engineering) section, and asked, as I had a test pilot qualification, if I would like to join their section to do airworthiness flight tests on 747-200/300 aircraft. Of course I said yes. Terry gave me a ground briefing on the requirements and of the responsibilities involved. It required an extra degree of integrity, as all testing was done on behalf of the Hong Kong government via the CAD (Civil Aviation Department) and not for Cathay Pacific Airways. In effect, I would be checking Cathay Pacific’s ability to keep their aircraft in an airworthy condition. The reports would be to the CAD. The final authority to fly these tests was given by the governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten. I received a personal letter to that effect. I found it rather a strange set of circumstances when I carried out my first annual airworthiness flight test. It was necessary, because of the company’s insurance company requirements, that a Cathay captain was the captain of the flight, but I would be doing the flight test flying, and the captain would need to go along with me doing things he was not authorised to do himself. For example, during the flight it was necessary to shut down each engine and carry out a relight. Also, we needed to slow the aircraft towards the stall until the stick shaker and finally the stick pusher would operate. This was flying the jumbo at a speed much slower than anything a normal captain would ever have seen. We therefore used

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs just a small number of captains to call on when I needed to do a test flight. There were many items to test, I won’t bore the reader with more details, but the flights took about three and a half hours. In Cathay we, as 747 pilots, were fortunate that the company flew the jumbo on a large number of short haul routes. This was not the norm on most airlines. Cathay called it the profitable misuse of aircraft. Of course the aircraft was designed for long haul, but because of Cathay’s position being based in Hong Kong, and because of night-time noise limits in Europe, most long haul flights to those destinations would require a departure late at night for an arrival after 0600 hours. Similarly, flight arrivals back into Hong Kong would be early in the morning. So a lot of the big jets would be sitting around all day doing nothing unless they were used on short haul. It was proved worthwhile to do those short haul flights, which in many cases turned out to be very profitable. The effect for us pilots was that we got far more take-offs and landings than a lot of 747 pilots on other airlines. After transferring to being a F/O on the 747-400, I continued to do air tests on the 200/300, but only for a short while. At around this time I was tasked with checking out an Air Hong Kong crew and recommending that they were suitable for carrying out airworthiness flight tests for the Hong Kong government. This included a couple of practice flights in the simulator, a briefing on the paperwork etc., and then one full air test flight. All members of that crew were very experienced 747 operators (more experienced than I, by quite a bit), so it proved straightforward as expected. I didn’t really enjoy my time on the -400 because it was, for me, almost exclusively doing long haul, as by now I was classed as a ‘relief ’ first officer, meaning I could be in command of the aircraft while the captain took his rest break. I was flying about eighty hours a month and only doing about three landings. Sometimes even less. However, it had its pleasant moments. I was flying as first officer with Captain Mike Rigg, with whom I had joined the Air Force at South Cerney. We had been through training together, holding at Turnhouse at the same time, through the Lightning OCU on the same course and the first tour together on No. 74 Squadron. Now we were flying a 747 together from London to Hong Kong. A cabin attendant came into the cockpit and said a passenger would like to visit the flight deck. We told her to show him in (it was in the days before 9/11 and it was considered to be OK). None other than David Mullinder came into the cockpit to find he was being flown by two of his ex-basic flying course students. David was

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CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS the OC of the flying training unit at Acklington and we had both flown the Jet Provost with him on several occasions. It was a great reunion. However, only two or three landings a month, and very little actual handling time, was proving to be quite a misery for me. It was a very welcome change when I was transferred back to the old Classic for a command course on that type. The course took about three months with ground school, refresher simulator flying and instrument rating etc., plus a whole lot of line flying. At last I was let loose on the line as a four-bar captain. Of course flying a civil airliner is not so exciting as operating a fighter type aircraft, after all the aim is to make the flight as safe steady and as none exciting as possible, because that’s how the passengers like it. But things did go wrong and not to plan sometimes. One time was over the eastern half of India, flying a heavy -200 freighter and heading west for a crew change at Dubai, we climbed to a higher level. Shortly after reaching flight level 390, the flight engineer reported engine vibration on the number four engine. It steadily increased and was now outside acceptable limits. We had no choice but to shut it down. This we did, and we requested immediate descent clearance to about 20,000 feet. This was given, but either way we were going down anyway. Maximum continuous thrust set on the remaining three engines would not be sufficient to maintain altitude. Having settled down and cruising at our new altitude, we were asked by ATC if we wished to divert to Bombay. I looked across at the F/O and shook my head. Just as he pressed the transmit button the flight engineer said ‘Oh no tell them no’, I said ‘No’ and the F/O said ‘No’. There was a short silence and the Indian controller said ‘I hear none of you want to go to Bombay’ in a sort of disappointed tone. We flew on for a three-engine landing in Dubai. The cause of the vibration was ‘sticky’ inlet guide vanes in the engine, which was quickly sorted, and the flight went ahead to Frankfurt captained by an old squadron friend from No. 6 Squadron Coltishall, Gordon Hannam. (The inlet guide vanes smooth the flow into the front of the engine and ensure the airflow enters the compressor at the correct angle. They move in response to engine rpm settings. In this case I assume they moved to the correct angle for the climb rpm setting and then when the rpm were reduced for the cruise, they failed to move back to a suitable angle for the cruise phase. This would produce turbulent flow into the compressor, hence the vibration.) One never stops learning in most professions I would imagine, and it’s certainly the case in aviation. Experience really makes a difference,

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs provided the lessons on the way are learned and remembered. I had an experience in Vancouver when taking a 747 from there to Hong Kong. It was winter, the weather was particularly cold and there had been recent snow. On reporting to flight ops. in Vancouver Airport, we were presented with our CFP (Computer Flight Plan). This was a readout of the filed flight plan together with the relevant information such as suggested fuel load, timing, en route control frequencies etc., etc. We were also told the runway was contaminated. This meant that ice or snow was present on the surface and the braking action was poor. The braking action was usually measured or assessed by an air traffic person driving a vehicle along it. Well, I had seen the runway and it didn’t look contaminated to me. There was only a couple of patches of snow, which would have been no problem. A runway being declared as contaminated was going to be a problem. It meant that as the braking action would be much poorer than normal, it would mean a reduced V1 (decision speed) would be required, which in turn would mean a lower maximum take-off weight. The result would, I knew, be a fuel load insufficient to reach Hong Kong. I asked that the runway surface be re-assessed as I thought it looked OK. We calculated the take-off weight assuming the runway was contaminated, with the intension of topping up the fuel when the runway had been rechecked, hopefully as normal. I had suspected the assessment of the braking action was out of date, having been made earlier. The report came back… still contaminated. So, that was the cue to re-plan. The assessment had to be accepted. The take-off weight calculations showed we could fly to Tokyo’s Narita Airport, but definitely not as far as Hong Kong, so that became the plan. At least the flight time of over eight hours would give the company plenty of time to provide a replacement crew in Tokyo (we would be out of crew duty time, so would have to travel the last three hours as passengers, either on this aircraft if there were sufficient seats or on the next aeroplane). We taxied out, and still not happy we turned onto the runway, or should I say we tried to turn. The runway looked clear, if a little wet, but when I turned the nose wheel steering nothing happened – the aeroplane just went straight ahead. We needed asymmetric thrust on the starboard outer engine to help the turn. We were on black ice! So the runway assessor was absolutely right all along. Lesson learned, fortunately without any serious consequences. The flight onwards to Tokyo went smoothly. We landed there, transferred to business class seats and flew on to Hong Kong. Flying the last few hours in a comfortable seat, having a very nice meal along with a couple of glasses of Chardonnay, was definitely a very pleasant way to finish off the trip to Canada.

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CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS Shortly afterwards I was asked to convert on to the A-340, the first Airbus aircraft Cathay was to operate. They were second-hand A-340-200s and were an interim step until Cathay eventually bought new 340-300s and 330-300s. My change of type was to give the CAD the capacity to carry out airworthiness flight tests at the Airbus factory in Toulouse before delivery to Hong Kong, and to help with Airbus simulator acceptances. I completed the conversion course and began line flying. This was the first time I had flown with a side stick as against a control column, except for a few minutes in the F 16. I found it pleasant and the aircraft was easy to fly reasonably accurately. Captain Ken Hurley and I were to be the two test pilots for the Airbus fleet. We eventually returned to CAE in Montreal for another month’s work doing the acceptance testing of a new simulator. I had been to CAE previously to assist in the acceptance testing of a 747-400 simulator. While on the Airbus, a few flights didn’t exactly go to plan. On a test flight it was the routine to shut down one engine at around 8,000 feet and select maximum allowed continuous thrust on the remaining engine or engines, to take certain performance measurements. This data was recorded by Steve Smith, our flight test engineer for the flight, and who was my direct boss as head of the FT and E Section. We were testing a twin-engine A330 and had gone up a shallow climb for about four minutes, after shutting down the right engine, when we had a turbine overheat warning on the left engine. I throttled it back to idle, and after a few seconds the warning extinguished. However, the correct procedure was to shut down the engine. I decided we would start the good right engine first and then shut down the left, as the warning light was now out. But for the moment we were just in a glider. The right engine started OK, and then after proving it was working well, we shut down the left one. So now we had to return to Hong Kong for a single engine landing. On this flight I was the captain, but sitting in the right seat as I was basically instructing a new pilot to the section, Henry de Courcier, on air testing a 330. I was in the right seat and Henry in the left. For engine-out landings the captain was, under the laid-down rules, to do the landing. Henry was an F/O at the time. I hadn’t done any landings from the right seat, much less an asymmetric approach and landing. But it was pretty easy and we arrived all in one piece. During an A-340 flight to Auckland we had a heavy crew and I was to take the second rest period. So after about five hours I handed over to the relief F/O and headed for the bunk. I was only there about half an hour when I was called back to the cockpit. Expecting it to be urgent, I headed there without getting fully dressed. A young lady, who turned out to be a casualty nurse from Leeds hospital, was in the cockpit. It was explained to me that an elderly

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

An Airbus 340-300 of Cathay Pacific Airways over the old Hong Kong airport Kai Tak.

gentleman had collapsed and was receiving first aid and oxygen to keep him alive. A German doctor was attending to him. It was important we got him to hospital as soon as possible. We were still a long way from Auckland and much closer to Cairns in Australia. It was my decision. I asked the nurse if the extra time taken to get to Auckland would make any difference to the man’s chances. She said, ‘Yes it might.’ I told the F/O to turn right and head for Australia, push up the speed and call to tell them on HF we would need a diversion to Cairns preferably, and to be met by an ambulance etc. I then went back, put on my uniform, returned to the cockpit and flew the aircraft to Cairns. They were ready for their first arrival of an A 340 and we were met by a medical team who took the elderly gentleman and his wife off the aircraft. The refuel was routine, but the ground engineer who was familiar with A 330s noticed during his checks that we were now one full oxygen bottle short for dispatch. Several had been used by the doctor and nurse to keep the man alive. (It turned out that the nurse had taken charge of the case because as she was a casualty nurse, she was better qualified under the circumstances than the doctor, who was a GP.) I thanked the ground

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CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS engineer for his keen eye in detecting the shortage of one full oxygen bottle, but as there were no spares available and he couldn’t refill it, perhaps he could count again and come back with an improved number. This he did, and we were soon on our way. We set off and with many cups of coffee I was able to stay alert and awake to Auckland. (A short attempt to sleep failed, I just couldn’t sleep, probably because of the events of the last couple of hours running through my mind.) The landing was OK and we taxied in and shut down. I was filling in the log but having a problem figuring out the flight times and take-off landing times etc. due to tiredness. At this time a ground engineer came into the cockpit and started swearing and cursing Cathay for ‘always being late’. I explained the reason, but he was having none of it and continued with his tirade against the company. I asked him to leave the cockpit so I could concentrate. He refused, saying, ‘It’s on the ground now so it’s my aircraft’, at which I pointed out that I hadn’t yet filled in the paperwork so no it wasn’t, I was still the captain in charge of the plane and then ordered him to leave the cockpit immediately, which he did. After that, all was pretty much OK. A few days later, on returning to Hong Kong I happened to mention this incident with the engineer in Auckland, just in passing, to one of our managers, Graham Marsh. It was a few days later when he informed me the ground engineer in question had been sacked. Apparently he had behaved in a similar way previously, and this had been the last straw. My son Ryan was showing an interest in a flying career. He had been accepted for a degree course in computer studies at Southampton University, but was still mulling over whether to apply to join the RAF or to apply to Cathay Pacific for flight training. I didn’t advise him either way. He would have to decide for himself. Cathay had just started to offer flight training to a few local young people. The plan was to send that selected few to an Australian flying training school to complete training up to commercial pilot standard, but with the ground school standards up to airline transport pilot level. This opportunity was only available for locals. Ryan, having been in Hong Kong for more than seven years, now qualified for permanent resident status, so was regarded as a local. I thought it would be a good idea and interesting for him if he were to accompany me on the flight deck for a round trip to Osaka, Japan. The flight to Osaka was a routine one, the flight back to Hong Kong was anything but. We arrived in Osaka, parked and relaxed in the cockpit for twenty minutes before organising the paperwork and the aircraft for the return flight. I selected the weather forecast for Hong Kong from the ACARS

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs (aircraft communications and reporting system). The weather forecast was even worse than had been previously reported. The wind strength in particular was going to be a problem. The forecast suggested a wet runway was likely, but on top of that the wind was forecast to be gusting up to 55 knots and with the direction almost all across. That got my attention. I had an immediate feeling that as we would be arriving at a very busy time for the airport, things could not afford to go badly. With 55 knots of wind there would be a risk of debris or loose items blowing about, to say nothing of the difficulty of landing with a crosswind component possibly above 40 knots on a wet runway. Indeed, many aircraft had crosswind limits of about 35 to 40 knots, and would need to fly missed approaches or divert. I ordered a large increase in fuel load and told the ground staff to request a CFP (computer flight plan), showing a fuel load based on a max landing weight arrival in Hong Kong. This resulted in an extra 16 tons being loaded. The first officer, Giles Rooney, was quite surprised by just how much extra fuel I had ordered. He asked why so much extra, I replied I’ll show you later – he thought I would be in some trouble for taking so much. (We were always encouraged not to take more fuel than absolutely necessary because of the cost of carrying that extra fuel, due to the extra weight. For this flight of around three hours, the fuel burn would increase by about 10 per cent, or 1.6 tons.) As we approached Taiwan I had checked in with Taipei ATC and received our onward clearance when an American voice asked us, ‘Cathay, do you have any information when Hong Kong Airport is going to open?’ I told him I didn’t even know it was closed. He had thought, quite reasonably, that as Hong Kong was our home base we would have been told by now the latest information by our company. We tried our satellite phone link to company ops but just got an engaged signal. We tried a couple of times. No joy. So we asked Taipei ATC for the latest information. The result was no update, just that Hong Kong was closed with no estimate for when it would open. We were too far from Hong Kong to call direct. I now had to decide whether to fly on to Hong Kong or land in Taipei and wait on the ground. I chose the latter. I asked Taipei for a diversion to them to hold on the ground. We were both surprised when the request was refused due them already being over committed with other diverting aircraft. I put my food tray on the floor and said to Giles, ‘This is why we put on so much extra fuel.’ I then requested a re-routing clearance to Manila in the Philippines. Instead of heading down the west side of Taiwan, we would be taking a gentle left turn and going down the east coast. The clearance was received and fed into our navigation

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CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS computer and off we set. I called the chief purser and explained the situation, where we were going and the ETA. In due course we called Manila and were accepted for diversion and commenced our descent at about the usual 140 miles out. During the descent, at about 10,000 feet and 40 miles to run, we heard a Cathay Pacific flight from Australia call requesting, diversion to Manila. It was refused because they too had insufficient parking space for more aircraft. The crew of the Australia flight said they had a sick passenger who needed urgent attention so requested again to divert to land. At this time I realised we had sufficient fuel to go to Cebu, further south but still in the Philippines. I told ATC they could give our landing/parking slot to the Australia flight if they could give us an onward flight plan clearance to Cebu. The Aussie flight thanked us… they sounded surprised. There was a longish delay, but the final answer was that we were cleared to land and the Australia flight would be squeezed in too. Once on the ground and parked we were set for a long delay for off-loading. We were not on an air bridge and there were a lot of big aeroplanes to be emptied of passengers, with only limited ground crew available and only a couple of sets of the mobile stairs units. It took three hours to get everyone off the plane. I explained to the passengers as much as I knew as to why we were there. In the meantime, Giles had opened his cockpit window to get a mobile phone signal and called a friend in Hong Kong. That was the first information we had about the serious crash which had happened, there still being no contact from the company and there was still no joy with the satellite phone. Apparently a DC 10 had landed and rolled onto its side, wiping off its starboard wing and finally coming to rest almost upside down with some fire. To keep a long story short we eventually got off the aircraft, passengers were sent to various hotels and all Cathay crews went to a different hotel. I insisted that my son, Ryan, was part of the crew for this exercise and would be sticking with me. We now needed to have a certain number of hours rest in a hotel room before we were able to fly again, so I asked the Cathay staff to arrange crew transport for the appropriate time. The cabin crew were asked to share rooms to ease the problem. (I think Ryan offered to share with one of them, but I insisted he stayed with me.) The next day we heard that Hong Kong Airport was now open but, unbelievably, we had still had no instructions from the company. I decided to not bother trying any more. I was just going to get this lot to Hong Kong and leave it at that. Thanks to excellent and untiring work by the Cathay ground personnel in Manila, who deserved great credit for their hours and hours of hard work, we were able to board our passengers and be ready to depart. Giles asked if we should try

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs to contact Cathay ops again, quite a reasonable suggestion, and probably what we should have done, but I just said, ‘No… bugger them.’ We asked Manila ATC for a clearance to Hong Kong, which they were able to agree with Hong Kong ATC and we were on our way. Arriving back we were given parking on an airbridge, but there was no ground engineer to meet us because they didn’t know we were coming. We were met by other Cathay ground staff and we offloaded all the passengers in the usual way after apologising for all the delays etc. We would normally be met by an engineer and hand over the aircraft to him with the technical paperwork. In the absence of an engineer, I shut down the aeroplane, left all the paperwork on the captain’s seat, shut the door on the way out and went straight home. We had managed to get all our passengers, bar one, safely to Hong Kong. Bar one because, on the ground in Manila, after offloading, a gentleman had asked our cabin crew chief purser if he was allowed to leave the airport and not go on the coach to the hotel. He was travelling to Hong Kong only to catch a flight to Manila, his actual final destination. The matter was referred to me as the captain. I explained that as the company did not have the passenger traffic rights to carry passengers directly from Japan to the Philippines, then technically I could not authorise him to leave the group. I of course told him to just go ahead and go home, as I was sure no one would ever notice under the circumstances, and it would be better for the company’s reputation for me to do that rather than insist on the obviously stupid alternative. Although the company were normally excellent to work for and gave us good operational support, on this occasion the ops set up had become very overloaded and had failed very badly. Despite this there were no flight safety incidents, and it seemed all our crews had made good decisions under the circumstances. All pilots reported much the same experiences with communications and information, as we had. I think Ryan had enjoyed the flying and the experience. I explained not every flight was like that one, thank goodness. Ryan decided to apply for the Cathay Pacific flying scholarship, and went through the Cathay acceptance interviews and tests. These were quite extensive, requiring several visits to Cathay HQ for interviews at different levels and practical tests in a team with others, which were closely observed. The company were determined to make only ‘good choices’, as any bad ones, resulting in a failed flying course, would prove to be a waste of a lot of money. I heard that the company was only able to accept about 5 per cent of applicants for training.

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CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS There were stories going around of some of the things said during the interviews by some these young local applicants. One said that the 747 had Mercedes engines because his dad said that Mercedes made the best engines and Cathay Pacific would definitely have the best. Another said that he didn’t really want to be a pilot, but his parents wanted him to join Cathay so they would be eligible for cut-price flights. I assume he got his wishes, not those of his parents. There were other humorous comments reported. Ryan was accepted and headed off to Adelaide for his fourteen-month course. He duly graduated and returned to Hong Kong with his CPL (Commercial Pilot’s Licence), and with the ground school work and exams for his ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot Licence) completed. As at 2020, he has been a captain for five years and is now on the Boeing 777 fleet.

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Chapter Eighteen

Hong Kong Sailing

Over the thirteen plus years we spent in Hong Kong, we were able to enjoy sailing the area all around the territory. The first ten years were spent living in the Sai Kung area of the New Territories. Hebe Haven Yacht Club was located very close to Sai Kung and was a smaller and more informal yacht club than the main club on the island, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. However, the location of Hebe Haven was ideal for the organising of regular racing, and also for cruising around the very picturesque scenery provided by the numerous islands. Some of the islands, having pristine sandy beaches, were perfect for informal picnics ashore. We started sailing on a 31-foot Jeanneau cruiser, and sailed and explored as a family around the islands just offshore. Always wanting a challenge, I and several friends were soon bitten by the racing bug. Hebe Haven YC organised regular races on Sundays, and when not scheduled to be flying or away, I would try to scratch together a crew for the race that weekend. The races usually started late morning and lasted between three and four hours, ending at a finishing line near a suitable island and anchorage. The boats would then raft up together for eats and drinks. They were very sociable times. Our son Ryan was also showing all the signs of becoming a keen sailor, but as yet he was just a bit too young at the age of eight to be able to handle any of the jobs. He was watching very keenly and learning, which was going to pay off later. He became quite good at seeing mistakes, such as an error in the rigging of a spinnaker, in good time to stop a problem developing. I eventually traded in the 31-footer and ordered an X-Yachts 372. A 37-foot boat, which, while fitted out very nicely for cruising, had very much of a racing pedigree. X-Yachts only built fast cruisers. The hull, keel and sail plan were all designed for good performance and they certainly delivered just that, while the interior was not sacrificed for speed but fitted out for comfortable cruising. It was fashionable to give an X-Yacht a name

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HONG KONG SAILING with an ‘X’ in it. Our daughter Carly thought of the name Vixen, because it was the name of one of Santa Claus’ reindeer, and our boat was due for delivery from Scandinavia around Christmas time. We were to keep and race that boat for about ten years. By then Ryan had grown and had taken on various crew positions. He eventually became a very good foredeck crew, a vital position as that person was responsible, amongst other tasks, for the quick and correct rigging of the spinnaker. He was also, by now, quite capable of helming the boat if required. I’ve lost count of the number of races we entered but it must have been over 250. We have pennants for finishing in the top three (on the handicap rating scale) for more than 100. The crew varied from race to race. Mostly they comprised of Cathay Pacific or HAECO (Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company) employees. Due to the fact that we all worked weekends from time to time, not everyone was available for any particular race, but we could usually find between three and six people to crew the boat on the occasions I was available. Three stalwarts who sailed many races were Cathay Flight Engineers Jeff McNabb and Max Lollback, and a Japanese boat-builder/engineer Tets Sakai. Having the same person doing

Yacht Vixen with reaching spinnaker.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs

Vixen under 30/20 running spinnaker.

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HONG KONG SAILING the foredeck job was a great asset. Sailing was, I think, very beneficial for Ryan, as he was learning to work as part of a team. He had a responsible job on which others were relying and he learned to rely on others, all good stuff for the bringing up of a young lad. Well, that was the excuse I used to justify the expense of running the boat, but actually I believed it to be true as I watched Ryan develop. A couple of notable races perhaps worth mentioning were: the Hong Kong to San Fernando Race, and the Round Hong Kong Island Race. San Fernando is located on the west coast of the Philippine Island of Luzon, north of Manila. From Hong Kong it was approximately 450 nautical miles, and that usually took about four days. The race was divided into two main categories, a fast-racer cruiser division which raced on the CHS (Channel Handicap System), and the more cruising division which raced on the PYS (Portsmouth Yardstick System). For this race we prepared well in advance and as thoroughly as possible, even ordering a special reaching headsail, which turned out to be a great success. The race went fairly much as forecast, with really strong winds at the start and choppy seas. We got off to a good start but then had not such a good episode when Aaron, one of the crew, fell overboard when a large wave picked up the bow in a particularly vicious manner. We circled back and picked him up, losing only a few minutes. The winds became lighter as we progressed, and the wind shifts which we planned for based on the met forecast actually happened. By the last day we were sailing in light airs and that was when our specially designed very large headsail, cut for reaching, really proved very beneficial. It kept the boat moving just a little faster than would have been possible otherwise. Later, we found out that although not the first boat to reach San Fernando, we had actually won the racing division on the CHS rating system. Our fellow members of Hebe Haven YC, sailing their boat Shogun, won the cruising division. It was a great time for our yacht club. It was pretty obvious on that occasion that the very prestigious Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club were not quite in such a celebratory mood. We had beaten some really good sailers from Australia and other countries, including Robin Knox Johnston, and others who were well known in sailing circles. A few days later, after most of our crew (including son Ryan), had headed for Manila Airport to fly back to Hong Kong, Tets and I set off for the four-day return journey to Hebe Haven. This time we had lots of fuel, and whenever the wind became very light we would start the engine to maintain a decent speed.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs We didn’t always do well, and we had some disasters including breaking a mast in a very strong gust of wind, when fortunately no one was hurt. For those who understand yachting, it was caused by a combination of having too much sail up for the conditions, too much back stay tension and not having the check stays hooked up and tensioned (my fault). And of course we made bad tactical decisions and ended up at the back of the fleet a number of times, but it was always great fun. Another race where we did really well was the 1992 Round the Island Race. The race attracts a very large number of boats and is run annually. The start is in the harbour and the course is clockwise around Hong Kong Island, finishing in the harbour near to the start line. We set off and sailed a fairly routine race. For this one Ryan was on the foredeck of course, but Sue came too, along with another crew member’s wife. As we approached the westernmost point of the island, the wind became very light but we managed to keep moving. But the main feature of this race was that as we turned to the east, to sail the last more or less straight run along the north shore of the island towards the finishing line, a very strong westerly wind sprang up. It arrived as a big surprise but was timed perfectly for us. We accelerated rapidly and Ryan was quick to rig the spinnaker. This gave us very good speed. If anything we were over powered, as the boat was travelling really quickly but heeling quite a lot, perhaps more than ideal. It generated a few screams from the ladies as extra gusts, while boosting the speed was also increasing the heeling angle sometimes alarmingly, but we managed to keep control. Most significantly I saw ahead that the faster boats, who we could not hope to compete with on pure speed, were still becalmed and hardly moving at all. This was the really exciting aspect of the situation. Even if they were to cross the finishing line ahead of us, we would be so close behind we would do especially well on the handicap system. We were obviously riding along under spinnaker close to the front edge of this fast-moving air mass. Eventually, as we approached the finishing line the racing boats ahead picked up speed and crossed the line ahead of us, but we knew we had done well, thanks very much to an unbelievable stroke of good luck with the timing of that wind blowing in from the west. In fact, at the prize giving we were confirmed as winners of the cruiser/racer division on the CHS rating system. The prize was a set of four champagne glasses engraved with the crest of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. Sue joined in celebrating in the usual way. It was a good victory on behalf of Hebe Haven Yacht Club, and I still especially enjoy drinking from those glasses. It had been my third ‘round the

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HONG KONG SAILING island race’, as I had competed in the Round Singapore and Round the Isle of Wight races previously. The Round Singapore race was as the crew of an Osprey dinghy, for the then-Wing Commander Erik Bennett and the Round the Isle of Wight Race was with other members of A Squadron, Boscombe Down. We continued to compete in the local races around the Hebe Haven area, and later upgraded the boat by trading it in and purchasing an X-442, a 44-foot cruiser racer. Racing the bigger boat required more crew than the 37-footer, and it was a faster boat. We raced it in Sue celebrating the win at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. a regatta in Manila Bay (it was cruised over there by a couple of the crew, as I was working and didn’t have the time to do it). The racing was very exciting as usual and we had a crew of ten in total. We won a couple of races in the series and overall our results were good enough to give us first overall in the Ocean Cruising class. By now I was approaching the age of 55 and that was a mandatory retirement age in Cathay, so the 44-footer was advertised and sold. Little did I know at that time, I would be remaining with Cathay for another year.

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Chapter Nineteen

Extension to Cathay Contract and Racing Cars

In June 2001, shortly after selling our X-442, I was asked if I would delay my retirement by a year and stay with Cathay to age 56. Of course I was very happy to agree to that. My immediate boss in the FT and E Section, Steve Smith, had requested my contract extension to allow time for my replacement to be trained up, and for me to help in coping with the increased influx of new aircraft from Airbus. This would cost the company some money because, due to the contracts and conditions of service, it would be necessary to pay the next first officer in line for promotion a captain’s salary. This was because of the delay in his promotion, due to me being kept beyond the official retirement age. I would be very busy with the FT and E tasks during my extra year, as I was also required to help with the training of my replacement. I was now without a boat, but the extra year with Cathay provided an opportunity for me to try my hand at something I had always wanted to do: drive a racing car. I decided to go to Zuhai Circuit in China, close to Macau, as I knew of a racing car organization set up there by the Renault Car Company. As part of their negotiations with the Chinese government, Renault had agreed to set up a training facility at the Zuhai Circuit. Over several weekends I had lessons there with a French instructor, Philipe Descombe. The car used was a Renault Campos, which was very similar in performance to the 1600 cc Formula Ford. I enjoyed the driving, and after a few visits Philipe recommended me as suitable for having a national racing licence, which was issued in due course by the AA in Hong Kong. This allowed me to race in Hong Kong. The problem was, there was no track in Hong Kong. Strictly speaking I would have to do a number of races before qualifying for an international licence. In the meantime I would be allowed to race outside of Hong Kong, but would have to have a ‘visa’ issued by

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EXTENSION TO CATHAY CONTRACT AND RACING CARS the AA for each overseas event, and that would be accepted purely at the discretion of the race organisers. On one visit to Zuhai Cicuit I met Mark Goddard, who was the manager of a racing team and who helped with the organising of the Formula Asia 2000 racing series. He invited me to go to Johore Bahru in Malaysia, to help him to ‘run in’ some new engines. Altogether, including the privately owned ones, there were about thirty Formula Asia 2000 single-seater racing cars. They were built in Kuala Lumpur and were a copy of the Formula Ford 2000 cars which were being raced in Europe. Generously, Ford of America had provided a new engine for each of the cars, completely free of charge, but on an exchange basis. The new engines had been fitted to the cars, but so far had not been run. They were taken to Johore Bahru Circuit, where Mark had the task of running in most of them. He offered me the chance to help him do it. Of course it was a great opportunity for me to get quite a lot of time driving a single seater at no cost to myself. I arrived there on the Tuesday evening and we started driving on the Wednesday morning. Mark would drive the first few laps on each car, and provided all was well with it, hand it over to me to do some more. There was a set plan of how many laps at each maximum rpm limit would be driven. I think I did about eight laps in each car. It took us two days to complete them all. But it gave me valuable cockpit time. On the Thursday evening, Mark talked me into hiring one of his team’s cars and entering the race that was scheduled for the weekend. It was a special offer, at a very preferential rate, he said. Well, I fell for it and spent an hour on the Friday practising. During the day Mark also spent some time organising a visa to allow my race entry to be accepted. I don’t know quite how he pulled it off, but it also resulted in me being granted an international racing licence just a few weeks later. There were twenty-six entries for the weekend – I would be the only driver who had never raced before, and all but myself and one other had raced at the Johore Circuit. I told Mark this was probably not a great idea, and I was highly concerned about being last. He promised me I wouldn’t be last, but I wasn’t reassured. The qualifying was on the Saturday and I managed fifteenth place. Two friends of mine, both Cathay pilots, Mike Miller and Nick Thomas were there, and they qualified way in front of me, around fourth or fifth. My instructor from Zuhai, Philipe was there and he said, in his very French accent, ‘Russell, you must just finish the race. Do not overtake anyone, just finish.’ I decided that was probably very good advice. We lined up on the grid after a warm up lap. I was right in the middle of all these racing cars, and now wishing

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs I was last. The first corner was like a high-speed traffic jam, no accidents, but I was in the queue on the outside of the corner and the inside line queue was moving faster than our lane. It was like being in the wrong till line at the supermarket. I lost about five places by the time we all got onto the next straight. Never mind, I was now just beginning to enjoy it, despite being slightly terrified. I eventually found myself being held back by a slower car, so I did overtake it, and then the race finished. My final place was exactly where I started, fifteenth – mainly because several cars had fallen off the track. Mike and Nick both finished well ahead of me. I went on to race a few more times. The Formula Asia cars were actually racing in two separate classes as some were slightly different to the rest, and a bit quicker. One difference was they had lighter magnesium wheels rather than steel ones. This reduced the total weight of the car and the unsprung weight, which was even more important. Basically the privately owned ones were the better equipped and in better condition, and were therefore faster. I eventually scored a second place, at the Sepang Grand Prix circuit near Kuala Lumpur.

F 2000 car self at Sepang circuit.

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EXTENSION TO CATHAY CONTRACT AND RACING CARS

F 2000 car at Johore Bahru circuit in Malaysia.

F 2000 Podium celebration after 2nd place at Sepang Grand Prix Circuit.

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs At the time my career came to an end, I was flying both the A 340 and A 330 on regular passenger flights as well as doing air tests on both. My last flight with the company was a return trip to and from Rome. Richard Hall, our Airbus fleet captain arranged, without any input from me, for my son Ryan to be on my crew. We had a very pleasant few hours flying together, and I especially remember the last couple of hours as we approached Hong Kong with just Ryan and I in the cockpit. After landing we took the ‘last flight’ photos with the whole crew, and that, sadly, was to be the end of my flying career. I had really enjoyed my military flying and most of my time flying the big jets for Cathay. There were, of course, some boring times, as in most professions I should think. In particular, for crews of the bigger aircraft it meant many hours cruising in autopilot across long expanses of ocean. But overall I had enjoyed that job more than I had expected. I guess I was lucky in that I was involved in the test flying. I also enjoyed both sailing and the car racing, and after retiring and moving to Cyprus for a few years, I entered a Caterham Racing Series in the UK, racing a Caterham Super Grad in six races during 2004. I also took up karting in Cyprus, and ordered a new kart from the UK with yellow

After my last flight in Cathay Pacific Airways, with my son Ryan and the Airbus A 340-300.

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EXTENSION TO CATHAY CONTRACT AND RACING CARS bodywork. On being offered a selection of racing numbers to choose from, I chose 74 from the available list and was then tempted into decorating the kart in the squadron’s colours. Myself and two good friends, Richard Grimwood and Barrie Hattam, spent a good deal of time at RAF Akrotiri helping to keep their karts maintained and enjoying the use of their karting track. Richard was an ex-RAF engineer who had worked on Jaguars, and Barrie was an ex-British Airways captain. When Sue and I moved to Cyprus for the first nine years of my retirement. Carly and Ryan both stayed in Hong Kong, Ryan now a second officer with Cathay, and Carly a school teacher. I bought a Jaguar XKR, which we kept in the UK and which we have used for touring in Europe. One trip was to a get together of retired aircrew, members of the ACA (Aircrew Association) to celebrate the Battle of Britain. It was in Javea on the east coast of Spain. On leaving Cyprus in 2012 we moved into our small flat near Winchester while we looked for a suitable house. We eventually found one in the village of Overton, about halfway between Winchester and Newbury. On 21 October 1805 the Royal Navy decisively defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar on the south west coast of Spain. This victory permanently removed the threat of invasion of England by the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. The first official dispatches with the momentous news of the victory, and the death of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson, were carried to England on board HM Schooner Pickle by her captain, Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere. Lapenotiere landed at Falmouth on Monday, 4 November and set out ‘express post chaise’ for London, following what is now The Trafalgar Way. He took 37 hours to cover the 271 mile journey, changing horses 21 times. The 16th such change was made at Overton in the early evening of 5 November. Lapenotiere delivered his dispatches to the Admiralty at 1 am, on Wednesday, 6 November. The news was passed to the Prime Minister and the King at once and special additions of newspapers were published later the same day to inform the nation. So now we have the honour of living on ‘The Trafalgar Way’. Overton is a village with all the amenities we had hoped for, including a par-three nine-hole golf course, and we have the River Test running at the foot of our garden. Another trip in the Jaguar was to the Mohne Dam, Berlin, Colditz Castle, Dresden and Prague, and a year after that we drove it to Pompei and stayed near Mount Vesuvius. We have also driven down to southern Spain, to Seville via Salamanca. The Jaguar, being a convertible, has been a great car for those summertime trips. I now also have a Lotus Elise S1 and have joined ‘Overton Classic Revival’, a local group of classic car enthusiasts.

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Postscript

In early 2020 I contacted Chris Wilson, the managing director of Jet Art Aviation, as I had discovered that he had bought XX 747 – the Jaguar I had used for several air displays and the record-breaking flight from Edinburgh to London. He told me the aircraft had been sold. It was then that I informed him about it breaking the airspeed record between the capitals of Scotland and England. This was news to him, but he sounded very pleased to hear it and confided in me of its intended destination and that it would be fully restored and put on display. Of course I was very pleased to hear that. My aim in contacting him had been to try and save the aircraft and have it displayed somewhere. In due course he told me the story. XX 747 had retired from flying in 1985 and had been allocated to No. 1 School of Technical Training at Halton, for training aircraft mechanics, and then the RAF College Cranwell for training engineering officers. It remained there in a warm, dry classroom for twenty-three years. It had been painted in desert camouflage, complete with all the markings replicating another Jaguar, XZ 364. This was probably to celebrate that Jaguar’s success in becoming the coalition aircraft that achieved the highest number of combat sorties during the Desert Storm conflict, a great testament to the Jaguars’ excellent serviceability rate during that campaign. When the training facility at Cranwell was closed, Jet Art Aviation (being recognised experts in the extraction of aircraft from small spaces, such as classrooms, and transporting them safely) were contracted by defence contractor QinetiQ to deliver XX 747 from Cranwell to Boscombe Down. It then spent five years at Boscombe Down, in the ownership of QinetiQ, to be used in a trial which involved investigating the possibility of re-engining Jaguars with an alternative to the Rolls Royce Turbomeca Adour. Jet Art had also negotiated the option of taking ownership when the trial was complete, which they duly did in 2019 to start a complete

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POSTSCRIPT restoration. The aircraft was put up for sale and sold to Mr Arnaud Mayer, a very keen aviation enthusiast, a pilot himself and also the CEO and founder of the EVACO Group based in Mauritius. Arnaud’s group specialises in the construction, leisure and hospitality industry which is so important to Mauritius. He was working on a new aviation themed project and he needed a special aircraft that would look striking as a centrepiece of his new development and a Jaguar fitted the bill perfectly. He would sponsor the total restoration and the transfer to Mauritius. XX 747 will be installed in the centre of a multi-level aviation themed restaurant suspended from the ceiling. It will be a high profile display to be seen by visitors from all over the world, helping to portray the best of British and the Royal Air Force. When it was discovered that the aircraft was a world record holder, I was introduced to Arnaud by Chris via e-mail, and it was decided that the restoration would be back to 1977 GR 1 record-breaking specification, as flown on that day, complete with my name, No. 226 OCU and the OCU crest. As at the time of writing and heading for publication, the restoration is almost complete. The next mission will be to ship the aircraft and install it in its new home. No easy feat, but if any company can do it, and do it safely, I have no doubt that Chris Wilson’s Jet Art Aviation is that company. Arnuad has very kindly invited me to be present at the opening ceremony. I imagine it will be a strange experience, drinking a beer on the opening night, standing under the aircraft I flew on that record-breaking run nearly forty-four years ago. It should be a great party, and a celebration for all those who have been associated with Jaguar XX 747.

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Author’s Note

For any young person who has read my story, and would like to have a life similar to mine in the RAF, I would say: ‘Go for it’. You will probably have the doomsayers trying to talk you out of it, saying that you are too late and drones will be doing all the flying jobs. I joined around the time that Duncan Sandys, a prominent politician, made the famous statement, ‘No more manned fighter aircraft, missiles will be taking over.’ And others were saying, ‘You are too late, you’ve missed out on all the fun times.’ That was more than fifty years ago. I certainly did not miss out on the fun. And just look at the aircraft we have now, and those coming into service: Eurofighter Typhoon and F 35 Lightning 2. They have an expected life of more than twenty-five years. Plus the next exciting new aircraft, presently called Tempest, is on the drawing boards at British Aerospace. I wish I was back at the age of 18, I would apply again, like a flash, for pilot training in the RAF. Go for it. Types Flown: Chipmunk Jet Provost Gnat Hunter Lightning Strikemaster DH Beaver Jaguar HS Andover C1 Hawk Bassett Canberra T4

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AUTHOR’S NOTE Gazelle Scout Harvard Harrier Tornado IDS/ GR1 Tornado ADV Phantom FGR 2 Pucara IA 58 F 15 Eagle AB 205 Mig 19 (Farmer) Mig 21 (Fishbed) Boeing 737 Boeing 757 Boeing 747-200/300 Boeing 747-400 Airbus A 330 Airbus A 340 Hours Military: 4,614 Hours Civilian: 7,908 Hours Total: 12,522

AWARDS / MEDALS Air Force Cross Sultan of Oman’s Distinguished Service Medal, (WKhM) Queens Commendation For Valuable Service In The Air

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Glossary

AA A and AEE AAFCE AAR AARDVARK ADOO AEF AFC AFU AIM 9P AI 23 AK 47 ALBATROSS SCOUT Al GHEIDA ANDOVER ANTONOV APC ASTAZOU ATC ATOLL AVPIN AXIS FORCES BAC 111 BAF

Anti-Aircraft Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment Allied Air Forces Central Europe Aircraft Airborne Replenishment See F 111 Enemy Air Experience Flight Air Force Cross Advanced Flying Unit Heat seeking air to air missile, also called Sidewinder Air Intercept Radar 23 Russian infantry rifle German WW 1 fighter aircraft PDRY airfield Medium size British twin turbo prop passenger/ transport aircraft Soviet medium size transport aircraft Armoured Personnel Carrier Turbo prop engine Air Traffic Control or Air Training Corps Soviet heat seeking air to air missile Iso Propyl Nitrate, a volatile liquid used to fuel the starter motor on some jet engines. Forces aligned with Germany British twin-jet medium size passenger/ transport aircraft Bangladesh Air Force

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GLOSSARY BASSETT BATT BEAGLE BEAVER BLACK BUCK BL 755 BUCCANEER CAD CANBERRA CAPSTAN CARIBOU CASDAM CFS CLASSIC CO CORPORATE CSAF CSOAF C 130

Small twin engined passenger aircraft British Army Training Team. The term used for the SAS in Oman. IL 28, Medium size Soviet bomber Small piston engined passenger/transport aircraft Vulcan missions against Argentinian forces on the Falklands British anti-armour cluster bomb British low-level strike attack aircraft Civil Aviation Department British medium size twin-jet bomber/ reconnaissance aircraft Large rock feature between Mainbrace and the coastline Medium size very short take-off and landing transport aircraft Casualty and Damage Central Flying School Term refering to the older Boeing 747-200/300 Commanding Officer Operation to take back the Falkland Islands Commander Sultan’s Armed Forces Commander Sultan of Oman’s Air Force Four engined turbo prop transport aircraft Also called Hercules

DC 10 DFC DLF DOMINIE

Large jet passenger aircraft Distinguished Flying Cross Dhofar Liberation Front Small twin jet passenger aircraft

EAGLE ECM EMC EPIRB

See F 15 Electronic Counter Measures Electromagnetic Compatibility Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon Estimated Time of Arrival Empire Test Pilot School

ETA ETPS

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs FAC FAI FALCON FARMER FEAF FIRESTREAK FIRQATS FISHBED FLOGGER FOXBAT FOX 3 FRA FREEDOM FIGHTER FRESCO FST FTS F4 F5 F 14 F 15 F 16 F 35 F 104 F 105 F 111

Forward Air Controller International Aviation Federation See F 16 See Mig 19 Far East Air Force British air to air heat seeking missile Local Dhofari tribesmen/soldiers See Mig 21 See Mig 23 See Mig 25 A simulated guns kill during training First Run Attack See F 5 See Mig 17 Field Surgical Team Flying Training School also called Phantom also called Freedom Fighter also called Tomcat also called Eagle also called Falcon also called Lightning 2 also called Starfighter also called Thunderchief also called Aardvark

GAF GNAT GP CPT GPMG GPS

German Air Force RAF advanced jet training aircraft Group Captain General Purpose Machine Gun Global Positioning System

HAUF or HAWF

Small coastal town in the PDRY, near the border with Oman RAF 2 seat jet trainer aircraft A strike directed with the aid of an SEP Hose Drum Unit See C-130 High Frequency long range radio

HAWK HAWKEYE HDU HERCULES HF

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GLOSSARY HP Cock HQ HUNTER

High Pressure fuel cock Headquarters RAF and SOAF ground attack fighter aircraft

IGS ILS IL 28

INS IWI

Instrument Guidance System Instrument Landing System A medium size twin-jet Soviet bomber from the cold war era In Hot A radio call indicating the pilot is turning to attack an on-range target and intends to release a practice weapon Inertial Navigation System Interceptor Weapons Instructor

JETSTREAM JPT

Small turbo prop passenger aircraft Jet Pipe Temperature

KATYUSHA

122 mm Soviet surface to surface artillery rocket Prototype of the Harrier aircraft Killed In Action

KESTREL KIA LIBERATOR LIGHTNING LMG LRMTS LT LTM

MAINBRACE MALATHION METEOR MIG 17 MIG 19 MIG 21 MIG 23 MIG 25 MOD

US bomber aircraft of WW 2 RAF high performance fighter aircraft Light Machine Gun Airborne Laser Ranging and Marked Target Seeker. Lieutenant Laser Target Marker. Used by Infantry to indicate a target The centre location of OP Simba, with a runway Liquid used to spray and kill the Dubas bug RAF twin engined jet fighter Soviet fighter aircraft NATO code: Fresco Soviet fighter aircraft NATO code: Farmer Soviet fighter aircraft NATO code: Fishbed Soviet fighter aircraft NATO code: Flogger Soviet fighter aircraft NATO code: Foxbat Ministry of Defence

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs NASR AL BAHR SNV NATO NAVWASS NBC NFR NIMROD

Sultan’s Navy Vessel North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Navigation and Weapon Aiming Sub System. Fitted to Jaguar aircraft Nuclear Biological and Chemical Northern Frontier Regiment RAF long range maritime patrol aircraft

OCU ORP

Operational Conversion Unit Operational Readiness Platform. An aircraft parking area near the end of a runway

PDRY PFLOAG

PM PR PSYOPS PT 6

Peoples Democratic Republic of the Yemen Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf See F 4 Small short take off and landing passenger aircraft Prime Minister Public Relations Psychological Operations Chinese single piston engined trainer aircraft

QFI QWI

Qualified Flying Instructor Qualified Weapons Instructor

RAAF RAF RAPIER

Royal Australian Air Force Royal Air Force British short range tactical surface-to-air missile system Radio Direction Finding British air to air heat seeking missile Royal Flying Corps Argentine mainland airbase Argentine mainland airbase Royal Marines Royal Naval Air Station Soviet Rocket Propelled Grenade Two way radio voice communications

PHANTOM PIONEER

RDF RED TOP RFC RIO GALLEGOS RIO GRANDE RM RNAS RPG 7 R/T

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GLOSSARY RVL RVTO SAF SANGER SAP SAR SARBE

SAS SATCO SEA VIXEN SEP SHPAGIN SHRIKE SIDEWINDER SIMBA SKS SKYRAIDER SKYVAN SL SLR SOAF SPITFIRE SPLASH SQN LDR STARFIGHTER STO STOL TACAN TAT TBC TELEMETRY

Rolling Vertical Landing Rolling Vertical Take-Off Sultan of Oman’s Armed Forces A very small, usually round, stone fortification Simulated Attack Profile Search And Rescue Search And Rescue Beacon Equipment, carried by aircrew for emergency use. Also has r/t capability Special Air Service Senior Air Traffic Control Officer Royal Navy fighter aircraft Specific Excess Power or Surrendered Enemy Person Russian 12.7 mm calibre machine gun US anti radar missile US air-to-air heat seeking missile, also called AIM-9 Operation by SAF to place a position near to the PDRY border Early Soviet infantry rifle Single piston engined ground attack fighter aircraft Small twin engined transport aircraft Short Landing Self Loading Rifle Sultan of Oman’s Air Force Single piston engined fighter aircraft of WW 2 Gunner’s term meaning 5 seconds to shell impact Squadron Leader See F 104 Short Take-Off Short Take Off and Landing Tactical Air Navigation System Terminal Airborne Tanker Tactical Bombing Competition Automatic transfer of on board data from an aircraft to a ground station

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs TEMPEST TF THUNDERCHIEF TM 46 TOMCAT TORNADO TORNADO ADV TRISTAR TYPHOON

High performance fighter aircraft, under development Terrain Following See F 105 Soviet anti tank mine See F 14 British strike attack aircraft Air Defence Version of the Tornado Three-engined large jet transport aircraft RAF High performance fighter aircraft

U2

Cold war US very high altitude reconnaissance aircraft

VC VC 10 VIFF VISCOUNT V/STOL VTO VULCAN

Victoria Cross Large British four-engined jet transport aircraft Vectored thrust In Forward Flight Four-engined turbo prop transport aircraft Vertical and Short Take-Off and Landing Vertical Take-Off RAF 4 engined jet bomber

WB WIA WKhM WWO

Sultan of Oman’s Bravery Medal Wounded In Action Sultanate of Oman Distinguished Service Medal Wing Weapons Officer

YARDARM YC

A ridge to the north of Mainbarace with SAF positions at Op Simba Yacht Club

ZULU

GMT

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Recommended Reading

Eagles, J. David, Testing Tornado: Cold War Naval Fighter Pilot to BAe Chief Test Pilot (ebook, 2016) Hall, Ian, Jaguar Boys: True Tales from Operators of the Big Cat in Peace and War (Grub Street, 2014) Jeapes, Major General Tony, SAS the Secret War (Harper Collins, 1996) Magee, John Gillespie, High Flight: The Poem Pike, Richard, Lightning Boys 1, True Tales from Pilots of the English Electric Lightning (Grub Street 2011) Pike, Richard, Lightning Boys 2: True Tales from Pilots and Engineers of the RAF’s Iconic Supersonic Fighter (Grub Street, 2013) Roome, David, Dancing the Skies: A life – and a love – of flying (Book Guild Publishing, 2019) White, Rowland, Harrier 809 (Bantam Press, 2020) White, Rowland, Storm Front (Bantam Press, 2011) White, Rowland, Vulcan 607 (Corgi, 2007)

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Acknowledgements

Rowland White, author of Vulcan 607, Storm Front and others, for his infectious enthusiasm and encouragement. I was extremely lucky to have support for the project from such a successful and distinguished author. Our offspring Carly and Ryan, who insisted I should write something and without whom I would not have put pen to paper in the first place. Or should it be fingers to keyboard? Chris Wilson, whose company, Jet Art Aviation, restored Jaguar XX 747 so beautifully, for his contribution to the postscript.

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Picture Credits

Dhofar Intelligence Officer Jack Sullivan for his five wonderful watercolour paintings depicting actions in Dhofar, and for presenting them to me. Arthur Gibson and Associates for the airborne shots of the Pucara, from a Hawk, during one of its test flights. Fragrant Harbour Magazine for its photograph of yacht Vixen under reaching spinnaker. Jeff McNabb for his photograph of yacht Vixen under running spinnaker. Other friends and colleagues for the various photos they took on my behalf. They will hopefully recognise those photos and thereby know who they are. Certain photographs of Tornado, Hunter, Lightning, Vulcan and Buccaneer aircraft are Crown Copyright, and are licensed for use under the Open Government Licence v3.0

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Index

AAFCE, 144 A and AEE Boscombe Down, 9, 139–40, 143, 146, 153, 158, 166, 168, 171–3, 176, 178, 180–1, 184, 187, 189–90, 192–3, 247, 254 Abingdon, RAF, 129, 136 AB-205 [helicopter], 48, 99, 104–105, 111, 118 AB- 206 [helicopter], 48, 120 Acklington, RAF, 8–9, 23 Adams, Paul, 12, 25, 31 Aden Cannon, 17, 128, 214 AFC, 138 Afsar, Sergeant, 196 AF 2000 [formula racing car], 249 Aim-9P, see Sidewinder Airbus A-330 [aircraft], 235–6, 252 Airbus A-340 [aircraft], 235–6, 252 Air Defence Scramble, 209 Air Secretary Department, 193 Airwork Services, 48, 53, 101, 106, 213, 225 Aitken, Sandy, 125, 127 Akrotiri, RAF, 42–3, 45–6, 76, 253 AK 47 Kalashnikov [rifle], 52, 78, 83, 100, 107 Al Gheida [airbase], 116, 216 Alhorn [airbase], 145

Allen, Tim, 13, 155, 157, 189, 191–2 Alouette, 195 Amberley, RAAF, 35 Andover [aircraft], 148 Andrew, Prince, 189 Andromeda, HMS, 85 Antonov [aircraft], 206 Argentine Air Force, 180 Ascension Island, 165–6 Ashley, Hayden, 230 A Squadron, 155–92, 247 Astazou [engine], 181 Atkinson, Barry, 47 Atlantic Causeway, 181 Attack on RAF Salalah, 71–5 Aung Saw, Tun, 198 Austin Healey 100/4, 8–10 Austin, Mike, 96–7 AWACS [aircraft], 221–2 A-6 [aircraft], 216, 218 A-7 [aircraft], 123, 139–40, 216 A-10 [aircraft], 143 BAC-111 [aircraft], 122 Bailey, Bill, 74, 76 Bait Al Falaj, 53–4, 82–3, 87, 104 Baker, Neville, 61, 65, 104, 111, 113, 118, 120

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INDEX Ball, Raz, 127 Bandar Abbas, 218 Banfield, Tony, 155, 182 Bangladesh Air Force, 193–212 Bangladesh Navy, 206 Bartle, Malcolm, 139 Barton [airfield], 129 Bassett [aircraft], 148, 151, 181 BA Tristar [aircraft], see Tristar BATT British Army Training Team, 60, 77–8, 94–5, 101 Beagle IL 28 [aircraft], 116–17, 219 Beaver [aircraft], 48, 53–6, 59–62, 65–6, 79–82, 84–8, 102–104, 106–10, 119–20 Bedouin, 119 Bellamy, Captain, 120 Bell, Dick, 19 Beney, Trevor, 127 Bennett, AVM Erik, 41–2, 102, 213, 217, 225–6, 247 Benson, RAF, 133–4, 136 Bicester, RAF, 14 Biggin Hill, RAF, 3, 23 Binbrook, RAF, 129, 192 Bisreen, 110 Black Buck, Operation, 166 Blackwood, Vic, 162 BL-755 [cluster bomb], 145, 164, 166, 214 Boardman, Tony, 85, 122–3 Boeing 737 [aircraft], 227–8 Boeing 747-200/300 [aircraft], 229–30, 233–4 Boeing 747-400 [aircraft], 232 Boeing 757-200 [aircraft], 228–9 Bomb Aiming, 98 Boothroyd, Peter, 26 Boscombe Down, see A and AEE

Boulmer, RAF, 103 Breedon, Alan, 228 Bridge, Derek and Pat, 219–20, 223 British Airways Flight Training, 227 British High Commission, 194 Brogan, Shaun, 65–6 Brown, Charlie, 70 Brown, Jack, 128–9 Brown, Nick, 129 Bruggen, RAF, 128, 139, 142, 145 Bryant, John, 13, 19, 127 B Squadron, 155, 160 Buccaneer [aircraft], 38, 139, 151, 162–3, 172, 180, 191–2 Buckingham Palace, 138–9 Buckley, Nick, 25, 46 Bukha, 81, 85 Bullock, Barney, 25, 43 Burrows, Ron, 159, 182, 184, 188 Butterworth, RAAF, 30, 34, 42 Caldwell, Dennis, 24–5 Canberra [aircraft], 24, 133, 148–9 Capstan, 112–13 Caribou [aircraft], 48, 66, 70, 72, 116 Carly, 194, 197–8, 207, 223–5, 243, 253 Car Racing, 248–51 Carter, Peter, 24, 34 Carvell, Dudley, 154 Carver, Michael, 122 Cathay Pacific Airways, 227, 229–48, 252 CFS, Central Flying School, 9, 41 Changi, RAF, 44 Chapman, Glyn, 126–7 Charles, Prince, 135 Cherry, Steve, 174–6 China, 122

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs Chinook [helicopter], 181, 184 Chipmunk [aircraft], 2, 6–7, 14, 53 Chipp, Martin, 100 Chittagong Hill Tracts, 206 Chivenor, RAF, 14, 16 Church Fenton, RAF, 129 Clough, David, 13, 100, 116, 121, 137 Cobleigh, Ed, 127 Cold Bay [airbase], 142 Coltishall, RAF, 11, 23–4, 31–2, 128, 135, 137, 139, 141, 143–4, 146, 213, 233 Coningsby, RAF, 157 Cooper, Bill, 63–4, 73 Corporate, Operation, 159–60, 163, 165 Cosford, RAF, [museum], 189 Craig, Tony, 24 Creak, Sean, 53–4, 78, 100 Creasey, Timothy, 104 Crop Spraying, 80–3 Cruickshanks, Colin, 157–8

Doidge, Tony, 30 Downie, Nick, 119 Drybanski, Mike, 104–105 Dubai, 85, 88–9 Dubas Bug, 81 Duncan, Dave, 74, 76 Dunsire, Andy, 101

Dakota, see DC-3 Darbat, Wadi, 84, 90, 117 Dargie, Doug, 108 Davidson, Neil, 30–1 DC-3, [aircraft], 195 de Bas, Bill, 74, 76 Debney, Pete, 19 de Courcier, Henry, 235 Descombe, Philipe, 248–9 Devonport, 181 Dhaka, 194, 196, 206, 210 Dhofar War, 42, 48–9, 51, 78, 122, 224 Diamond 16 [formation], 219–20 Dibba, 85 DLF, Dhofar Liberation Front, 51–2

Fahud, 124 FAI, Federation Aeronautique Internationale, 135 Falcon [aircraft], see F-16 Falkland Islands, 159, 181, 188-9 Farmer [aircraft], see Mig-19 Ferney, Mike, 127 Field Surgical Team, 55 FST, 73–7, 79, 109 Firq, 223 Firqats, 60 Fishbed [aircraft], see Mig-21 Flogger [aircraft], see Mig-23 Floreen, 122 Flying Scotsman, 132 Forrester, Graham, 6–7

Eagle [aircraft], see F-15 Eagle, HMS, 38 Eagles, David, 169–70 Ebert, David, 222 Edinburgh, RAAF, 34–5 Edinburgh to London [record flight], 132–6, 167 Edwards Air Force Base, 144, 173–4 Ellender, Tony, 25–6, 33, 40 Ershad, President, 208 ETPS, Empire Test Pilot School, 143–4, 147–55, 166, 184–5, 188 Exocet [missile], 165

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INDEX Foster, Alan, 158, 192 Fowler, Bob, 126 Foxbat [aircraft], see Mig-25 Fox, Mike, 228–9 Frederiksen, Rod, 160, 188 Fresco [aircraft], see Mig-17 Froud, Jimmy, 127 Fuerza Aerea Argentina, see Argentine Air Force F-4 [aircraft], 35, 123, 126, 130, 135, 144–5, 147, 151, 156–8, 160, 166, 169–70, 174, 184, 187, 189–90, 218 F-5 [aircraft], 225 F-14 [aircraft], 216 F-15 [aircraft], 144–5, 174–6 F-16 [aircraft], 145, 216, 221–2, 235 F-35 [aircraft], 256 F-104 [aircraft], 144, 180 F-105 [aircraft], 41 F-111 [aircraft], 170–1 Galpin, Nick, 18 Gambold, Bill, 20 Gan, RAF, 44–5 Gibson, Arthur, 183, 192 Gilchrist, Charlie, 118 Giles, Jim, 127, 171 Gillan, John, 133 Gnat [aircraft], 10, 12, 15, 176 Goddard, Mark, 249 Goddard, Sam, 126, 141, 165 Goodwin, Ken, 30–1 Goose Bay [airbase], 142 Gosnell, Jerry, 219 GPMG General Purpose Machine Gun, 48, 53, 55, 59, 92, 96 Gray, Mike, 125 Greenamyer, Darryl, 180

Greenham Common, RAF, 129, 189–90 Greenop, Vic, 4 Grey, Nobby, 74–5, 78, 97 Grimwood, Richard, 253 Guinness Book of Records, 135 Gullan, Hector, 101–102 Gulshan, 209 Gutersloh, RAF, 18 Habarut Fort, 66, 68–9, 85, 103, 222 Hall, Richard, 252 Hamil, Jack, 157 Handyside, Bruce, 110 Hannam, Gordon, 233 Harding, Jeff, 84–5, 104 Hardy, Colin, 104–105 Hardy-Gillings, Barry, 177, 185, 187 Hargreaves, Robin, 34, 36, 44, 128, 141, 143, 188 Harrier [aircraft], 151–3, 157, 166, 192 Harrier, Sea [aircraft] see Sea Harrier Harrison, Rod, 127 Hartley, Keith, 158 Hattam, Barrie, 253 Hauf or Hawf, 51, 69, 71 Hawk [aircraft], 151, 156–7, 166, 192 Hayward, Neil, 125–6, 138 Hebe Haven, 242 Hedgehog, 73, 100 Henderson, Chris, 192 Henson, John, 126–7 Hercules [aircraft], 34, 76, 99, 142, 160, 166, 218–19 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, 126, 138–9 Hill, JB, 127 Hinchliff, Taffy, 73–4, 104

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs Hodgeson, John, 139 Holbrook, Nick, 70, 106, 108 Holder, Nigel, 25, 127 Holmes Chapel, 1 Holmes, Wg Cdr, 19 Hong Kong, 230–52 Honnington, RAF, 162 Hopkins, Paul, 191 Hormuz, Straits of, 85, 122, 218 Huett, Peter, 165, 167–8, 172–3, 177, 190, 192 Hughes-Lewis, Tony, 125 Hulme, Peter, 61, 65, 70, 73 Hunter [aircraft], 2–3, 14, 16, 24, 53, 133, 148–50, 156–7, 166, 178, 199, 216, 219–20, 222–3 Hurley, Ken, 235 Hurricane [aircraft], 22, 133 Hussein, King, 103, 225 IAT International Air Tatoo, 189 Ibri, 104 IGS, Instrument Guidance System, 230 Indian Air Force, IAF, 195 Ingle, Chris, 85, 100 Invincible, HMS, 160, 166 Iranian Resupply Flight, 118 Iranians, 99 Issa, Sheik, 84 Jaguar [aircraft], 11, 119–20, 123–5, 129, 131, 133–4, 136, 139, 142, 147, 157, 160, 167–8, 185, 198, 210, 213–16, 219–20, 222, 224–6, 253, 254–5 Jaguar XKR, 253 Jask, 218 Jeapes, Tony, 77

Jebel Regiment, 96–7 Jessore [airbase], 196 Jet Art Aviation, 254 Jet Provost [aircraft], 8–9, 48, 53, 119, 182, 233 Jetstream [aircraft], 181–2 Jever [airbase], 144 Jib Jat, 117 Johnson, Joe, 76 Johnson, Johnny, 174 Johore Bahru [circuit], 249, 251 Jones, Bill, 174 Jones, Ken, 13, 19 Jones, Wg Cdr, 19 Kaosiung [airport], 230 Kaptai Lake, 207 Katyusha [rocket], 80, 110, 117 KC-135 [aircraft], 175 Kerr, Major, 84 Kestrel [aircraft], 151 Khan, Seraful Alam, 196 Khantor Force, 121, 224 Khasab, 81, 85–8, 217–18 Kilo Flight, 195 Kine Theodolite, 164, 173, 177 King of Spain, 221 Kittyhawk, USS, 218 Knutson, Kip, 222 Lageson, Phil, 30 Langworthy, Bill, 126, 128, 223 Larkhill [range], 177, 191 Larsen, Kim, 230–1 Laundy, Mike, 181 Laverton, RAAF, 34–5 Lea, Rick, 139, 217 Leconfield, RAF, 2, 45–6 Leeming, RAF, 130

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INDEX Leith-Smith, Peter, 230 Leuchars, RAF, 10–1, 129–30, 133–4 Lightning [aircraft], 3, 11–12, 14, 17–18, 24–36, 38, 40, 42–5, 123, 128, 144–7, 156–7, 159–60, 165–7, 169, 171–2, 180, 184–5, 192, 210, 225, 232 Lightning 2 [aircraft], see F-35 Lima [airstrip], 88–9 Lindholm Gear, 44 Little, Bill, 222 Lollback, Max, 243 Lossiemouth, RAF, 124–6, 128–9, 134–5, 143, 165 Lotus Elise S1, 253 LRMTS, Laser Ranging and Marked Target Seeker, 124, 191 Lyme Bay [danger area], 179 Lyneham, RAF, 142 Mace, Kevin, 26 Mainbrace, 70, 72, 79, 90, 111, 113, 117, 119, 121 Main Uddin, Ahmad, 198, 212 Makinat Shahan, 116–17, 119, 219, 222 Malathion, 80, 82–3 Manila [airport], 238–40 Manston, Dhofar, 51, 96, 113, 117–18 Manston, RAF, 23, 171–2 Marham, RAF, 46 Marsh, Graham, 237 Masirah, RAF, 45, 76, 103–104, 120, 221–2, 224–5 Mason, Bobby, 100, 117 Mauritius, 255 Mauser [gun], 162, 178 Mayer, Arnaud, 255

McBride, Neil, 30 McCain, Don, 8 McCain, William, 2 McCairns, Chris, 127 McConnochie, Ian, 2 McCormick, Tracy, 151, 154 McIver, Ian, 25 McManus, Pete, 12, 14 McNabb, Jeff, 243 Medevac, 88–9 Medina Al Haq or White City, 113 Meppen [range], 162 Mercer, Brian, 3 Merry, John, 100, 121, 224 Meteor [aircraft], 17, 24 Midway [airbase], 50, 60, 62, 64, 103, 108, 117, 119, 124, 213 Migs [aircraft], 116 Mig-17 [aircraft], 116 Mig-19 [aircraft], 192, 194–200, 203–205, 211 Mig-21 [aircraft], 40, 192, 196–7, 201–202, 205–206, 209, 211 Mig-23 [aircraft], 197, 209 Mig-25 [aircraft], 210 Miller, Johnny, 139–40 Miller, Mike, 249–50 Mills, Bernie, 139 Mil Mi-8 [helicopter], 206–207 Milne-Smith, David, 78 Mirage [aircraft], 30, 38, 40, 42, 123, 144–5 Mirbat, 49–50, 77–8, 84, 90, 108, 113, 223 Mish, Steve, 222 MOD, 14, 160, 162, 165–6, 168, 193–4, 199 Morales, Lieutenant, 181 Morgan, Jeff, 126

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs Morgan 4/4, 138 Moses, Hilton, 144, 146 Mudhai [airstrip], 107, 109, 117 Mullen, Paddy, 217 Mullinder, David, 8–10, 232–3 Mumford, Anthony, 125 Munday, Jim, 139–41 Muscat, 53, 85, 89, 124, 221, 223 Mussandam Peninsula, 218 Nadin, Vin, 74, 76 Narita [airport], 234 Nasr Al Bahr, SNV, 92–3 Navwass, 126 Neatishead, RAF, 21 Nepal, King and Queen of, 224 Newman, Terry, 189 Nightingale, Colonel, 104 Nimrod [aircraft], 166 Nizwa, 104, 223 Northolt, 133 North, Ray, 169–70, 192 Norway, 141 Oman, 45, 47, 213 Oporto, 129 Ord, Ian, 126, 213, 217–22 Orme, Peter, 143–4 ORP, 20 Overton Classic Revival, 253 Panther Trail, Exercise, 43–5 PDRY, 49–50, 66, 68, 70, 92, 118, 216, 219 Peart, Malcolm and Elizabeth, 33 Peele, Chris, 24 Perkins, Mike, 115 PFLOAG, 52, 69–70 Phantom [aircraft], see F-4

Phipps, Group Captain Les, 119–20, 122–4, 214 Pioneer [aircraft], 47 Piston Provost T-1 and T-52, 9, 47–8 Pohl, Frigate Capitan, 162 Ponter, Bob, 80 Pope, Roger, 25 Porton Down, 156 Port Stanley, 180 Pratt and Whitney Wasp [engine], 87 Prince Charles, 135 PT-6 [aircraft], 196 Pucara [aircraft], 180–5, 188–9, 192 Puma [helicopter], 184, 188 Pym, John, 127, 139, 213, 215 P1 English Electric [aircraft], 3 Qaboos Bin Said, Sultan, 52, 65, 67–9, 85, 99, 123–4, 217 QCVSA [award], 192 QFI Qualified Flying Instructor, 41, 196 QinetiQ, 254 QWI Qualified Weapons Instructor, 126, 128, 193, 197–8, 211 Ramlat Jadila, 222 Rapier [missile], 123–4, 188 Rashid, Ahmed, 198 Rawda, 85 Raysut, 109 RCL [75mm Recoilless Launcher], 70, 72–3, 75, 77, 79–80, 92–3, 100 Regiment, RAF, 52, 74 Reid, Jock, 11

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INDEX Reilly, Ian, 125 Richardson, Colin, 120 Rigg, Mike, 8, 10, 13, 15, 19–20, 24–6, 32, 35, 232 Rio Gallegos [airbase], 181 Rio Grande [airbase], 165 Robertson, George, 139, 141 Rochfort, John, 26 Roland, 123 Roome, David, 25 Rooney, Giles, 238–9 Ross, Bob, 158, 162, 164, 168, 171, 176, 180, 192 Round The Island Race, [Hong Kong], 246–7 Round The Island Race, [Singapore], 247 Round The Isle of Wight Race, 247 Rowe, Viv, 80 Royal Brunei Airlines [RBA], 227 RPG 7 [Rocket Propelled Grenade], 52, 94 Rub Al Khali [desert], 223 Rubkut [range], 215–17, 221 Rusling, Nick, 100, 103, 117, 120, 124 Ryan, 194, 197–8, 207, 223–5, 237, 239–40, 242–3, 245–6, 252–3 SAF, 113–14 Said Bin Taimur, Sultan, 51–2 Sailing, 242–7 Saint Mawgan, RAF, 129–30 Sakai, Tets, 243, 245 Salalah, RAF [airfield], 48–51, 55, 60, 72, 77, 79, 83, 91, 93, 95–7, 99, 104, 106–108, 116–17, 124, 224–5 Salalah, RAF, attack on, 73–7

Saleem, 224 Sanders, Pat, 127 SARBE [rescue beacon], 108, 113 Sargeant, Rod, 13 SAS [Special Air Service], 4, 60, 65, 77–8, 80, 84, 94–5, 101, 223 Scout [helicopter], 153 Sea Harrier, 156, 160, 165, 184 Sea King [helicopter], 184, 188–9 Seavers, Jerry, 128, 213 Sea Vixen [aircraft], 17 Seeb [airport and airbase], 103, 120, 122, 124, 218, 223, 225 Selves, Martin, 126 Sepang [circuit], 250–1 Sephton, Andy, 185 Shabon, Wadi, 90 Shackleton [aircraft], 44 Shah of Iran, 99 Sheffield, HMS, 165 Shemarg, 61 Shenyang F-6 [aircraft], see Mig-19 Shershiti, 106 Shpagin [gun], 67, 101 Shrike [missile], 166 Sidewinder [missile], 123, 213–14, 217, 225 Simba, Operation, 70, 72, 84–5, 103, 111–12, 224 SKS [gun], 100 Skyflash [missile], 179–80, 185–7, 192 Skyguard, 166 Skyraider [aircraft], 17 Sky Shadow, 176 Skyvan [aircraft], 48, 65–7, 79–80, 84, 90, 109, 113, 115, 222 Smith, Peter, 5, 13 Smith, Steve, 235, 248

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FROM LIGHTNINGS TO MiGs SOAF, see Sultan of Oman’s Air Force South Cerney, RAF, 4, 6–7, 232 South of Manston, 96–7 Soviet Union, 122 Sowler, Sid, 127 Special Weapon, 172, 177 Spinning, Swept Wing, 149–51 Spitfire [aircraft], 22–3 Spoon [dog], 100 Spotlight [radar unit], 209–10 Squadrons [Flying]: Royal Air Force: 3, 22 6, 35, 137–42, 65, 213, 216, 233 11, 11 20, 214 23, 11, 22 32, 22 41, 128, 141–2 48, 34 54, 128, 141, 165, 213 56, 22, 42, 45 65, 22 74, 20, 22–46, 102, 128, 141, 232 111, 133, 135 601, 22 Royal Australian Air Force: 3, 38, 40 75, 40 Sultan of Oman’s Air Force: 1, 55 6, 216, 219 8, 213–14, 219 Stanbridge, RAF, 14 Stanford, Stan, 104–105 Startreck, 60

Steinmetz, Captain, 17 Stephens, Mike, 79, 84 Stirrup, Jock, 120, 128 Stoker, Bill, 56, 67, 69, 78, 100 Stowe, Steve, 187–8 Strikemaster [aircraft], 48, 52–3, 55–8, 61–3, 67, 69–70, 78–9, 83, 92, 94, 96, 98, 101–104, 119–21, 210, 213 Strikemaster Bomb Aiming, 98 Stuart-Paul, Ron, 128 Sue, 137–8, 181, 193–4, 197–8, 206–208, 212, 223–5, 227, 229, 246–7 Suhail, Mohammad, 85 Sullivan, Jack, 58–9, 61, 65–6, 77, 92–3, 97, 119 Sultan of Oman’s Air Force, 42, 47–124, 213–226 Super Etendard [aircraft], 165 Sur, 82 Sura [rocket], 48, 53–56, 58–60, 69, 72, 84, 119 Survival Course, Winter, 141–2 Sweetman, Andy, 134 Sycamore, Operation, 90 Tactical Leadership Programme, see TLP Taggart, Tag, 142 Talal, Pilot Officer, 119, 124 Taqa, 109, 113 TBC, Tactical Bombing Competition, 139, 175, 213 Tejgaon [airbase], 194, 196–7, 209 Tempest [aircraft], 256 Tengah, RAF, 24, 34, 36–7, 44–5, 102 TF, Terrain Following, 192

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INDEX Thatcher, Margaret, 162 Thomas, Nick, 249–50 Thumrait [airbase], 51, 62, 213, 221–6 Tirstrup [airbase], 141 TLP, 144 Tomcat [aircraft], see F-14 Topcliffe, RAF, 2 Topp, Roger, 133, 135 Tornado ADV [aircraft], 135, 158–60, 168–71, 175, 177–80, 185–6, 188, 191 Tornado IDS [aircraft], 135, 158–63, 165–8, 172–3, 176–7, 190, 192 Trafalgar Way, 253 Trick, Dave, 19 Tristar [aircraft], 168, 194 Tucson, Mike, 74 Turnhouse, RAF, 130, 133–4, 232 Twin Otter [aircraft], 195 Typhoon [aircraft], 256 T-38 [aircraft], 174 Um Al Gwarif, 51, 97 United Nations, 68 U2, 216 Valley, RAF, 10, 12, 130, 168, 188 Vancouver [airport], 234 VC-10 [aircraft], 21, 24, 45, 142, 161, 192 Victor [aircraft], 28, 34–5, 44–6, 160, 178, 191 Viney, Glen, 177, 187–8, 191 Viscount [aircraft], 48, 85, 121–3 Vixen [yacht], 243–4 Vulcan [aircraft], 1, 160–1

Walsingham, Alan, 5 Want, Norman, 30–1 Warton, Bae, 3, 125, 168–70, 178, 187 Wasp, Pratt and Whitney [engine], 87 West, Barry, 80 West Freugh [range], 172–3 White City, or Medinat Al Haq, 113 Whitehouse, Frank, 32 Whittaker, Nev, 100 Wildenrath, RAF, 145 Wilkinson, Nigel, 64, 68 Williams, Barry, 90 Wilson, Chris, 254 Wilson, David, 219 Wittering, RAF, 23, 151–2 WKhM [award], 126 Wolf Patrol, 94–5 Woodvale, RAF, 2, 10 Wools, John, 100 Wright, Paul, 96–7 Wyton, RAF, 15 X-Yachts, 242, 247 Yardarm, 111 Yeo, Chris, 139–40 Yeovilton, RNAS, 17, 165, 189 Zahed, Kuddus, 198 ZB 298 [radar], 52, 100 Zearat, Wg Cdr, 199, 205, 209–11 Zubair, 224 Zuhai [circuit], 248

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