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A pair of Airfix Hawks in 1/72. Finished.


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9 minutes ago, giemme said:

I think I should get some of that Albion Alloy stuff too ... :hmmm:

 

Don't get Crisp started on Albion Alloy again...........:whistle:

Edited by Fritag
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2 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

Maverick outlaw rider on the winds of limbo

 

How did you know what my call sign used to be?

 

It was a bit of a mouthful mind you.

 

"Maverick outlaw rider on the winds of limbo clear for take off"........

 

It could cause problems.

 

"Maverick outlaw rider on the winds of Limbo break right"........"oops - too late".......

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Punchy callsigns are SO 80s.  My Lynx Flight used to use The Blunder Brothers - "Blunders" for short... though it has to be said that we were very selective about when we used it (I think I have said before that my Captain wasn't big on sense von humour).  

 

Still, a 2-Lynx disembarkation to Portland launching from the Irish Sea was fun; I'm not sure whether the controller at Fairford was completely sure that the "Blunder Section" asking to transit to the West of his zone was real or not...

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58 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Punchy callsigns are SO 80s.

 

We never in fact had personal call signs on the squadrons - just numbers; IIRC (it wasn't very memorable) I was 'personal 65' for a time.  Not very Top Gun at all :(

 

Of course we flew in formation practically all of the time and we had some decent formations call signs.

 

It was always a kick to call up a radar station/Airfield approach or whatever as the leader of (say) a 4,8 or 12-ship of Jaguars and say something along the lines of "Linton approach, Turbo formation, 12 Jags, 3 minutes out from airfield attack" or "London Mil, Boxer formation, 8 Jaguars, out of low level abeam Malton, looking for Flight Level 215 and direct route Coltishall" (we always wanted to go direct - none of this civvie airways nonsense) 

 

Somehow it don't sound quite the same rehearsing it again now in front of a computer monitor......:blush:

Edited by Fritag
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12-ship?  Respect!  I never led a formation of more than 4 - though I did fly as part of the Balbo (did the RAF do Balbos?) for the departure of a Captain of Culdrose (probably in 1987) - every serviceable aircraft up, and in those days CU had 705, 706, 810, 771, 814, 820 & 849 (all rotary-wing) and 750 (Jetstreams) resident, so there was potential for a comprehensive Omnishambles.  I think we had over 40 cabs airborne that day, in... shall we say "loose gaggle", with the CFI above us in a Wessex acting as "whipper in".  We gathered out in Falmouth Bay before joining, and then flew up the Helford River before flying down runway 12 (so far, not too taxing)... and the did a 180 over Mounts Bay (carnage) and repeated the dose.  I was no 8 in a sub-formation of 8 Sea Kings, and seem to remember that I spent most of the day either at Vmax or in autorotation as I tried to damp out the more egregious fluctuations in the line.

 

Great fun, but totally bonkers - unsurprisingly, I don't think they do Balbos any more!

 

Personal callsigns were strictly unofficial - generally they came into use between an embarked flight and its Mum (like our Blunder Bros, which started out as a joke between me and Broadsword's aircraft controllers), and were rarely used anywhere else.  Each Squadron had its standard formation callsigns, but (despite the above!) helicopters rarely fly around in formation, so they were largely unused.  They were generally based on the squadron badge, so 820's was "Dolphin" and 829's "Kingfisher".  819's was "Saltire", I guess because "Foot with Arrow Through It" was a bit unwieldy [819's crest must have been approved post-Taranto, one assumes].

 

95% of the time we flew using encrypted callsigns anyway - 3-digit mixture of letters & numbers allocated from NATO books.  When not flying operationally, the standard was to use the aircraft side number - so mine would always be "Navy 346", since Broadsword's Lynxes were always 346 & 347. 

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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4 hours ago, keefr22 said:

And why is the Great Escape theme now echoing around me noggin

... and now in mine. I've had worse ear worms. :D 

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3 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

One of our friends recommends the Hawaii-5-O theme for getting rid of an ear worm without becoming one itself.

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

 

Da da da da daaaaaaaaaaa da, dada dada da, dada dada da da, dada da da daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......:hanging:

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4 hours ago, LostCosmonauts said:

This is one of those threads that makes me glad people are on this site pottering magnificently rather than turning their talents toward evil

 

Can you imagine the plots and subterfuge that superdetailers'd be capable of?

Its all part of my evil plot to take over the universe! :evil_laugh:

 

Megalomaniac of Mars

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21 minutes ago, Martian Hale said:

Its all part of my evil plot to take over the universe! :evil_laugh:

 

Megalomaniac of Mars

No chance. You'll fall victim to the supervillan trope of gratuitous exposition and gloatingly explain your plan in true Britmodeller style. It'll take tens of pages, a couple of years, numerous digressions, at least one re-start and mean scratchbuilding a Q-36 space modulator from styrene sheet and stretched sprue.

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On 10/08/2017 at 0:00 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I never led a formation of more than 4 - though I did fly as part of the Balbo ........I think we had over 40 cabs airborne that day, in... shall we say "loose gaggle", ......I was no 8 in a sub-formation of 8 Sea Kings, and seem to remember that I spent most of the day either at Vmax or in autorotation as I tried to damp out the more egregious fluctuations in the line.

 

Drift warning.  Look away now if you were hoping for some model making :whistle:

 

Way back when in the cold war no-one would bother sending one or two Jags low level to hit a Warsaw Pact target (Close Air Support being an exception) and so larger formations were the norm and we flew em regularly.

 

I became a 4-ship leader and authoriser as a tender (as it seems to me now :)) 24 year old shortly after completing the QWI course.  A 4-ship leader was deemed competent to lead 6's 8's etc. and there was no further qualification to take; although as I remember it only the squadron exec's (CO and Flight Commanders) could authorise larger formations. I should say that 'authorising' meant taking administrative responsibility for - and being the authoriser didn't imply leading the formation or for that matter necessarily even flying in it.

 

I was lucky enough to do TLP (Nato Tactical Leadership Program) in '89 and there we worked up to flying 14 aircraft formations/packages - a mix of Jags, Tornado's, F16's and F18's.  We generally flew 8 ships at Red Flag - and being part of an 8 ship of Jags trundling in at 100' over the Nevada desert (itself part of a larger 'blue' package) was undeniably fun.   We might fly larger formations in the 'OLF' workup (Operational Low Flying - i.e. 100' agl) in the Scottish highlands and that was a real blast - although maybe not for the householders/walkers who got deafened and possibly not for the car drivers who might crest a slight rise in a valley only to be surprised by a Jag - seemingly at equal height - blasting towards it at 450 - 480kts :devil: (the simple pleasures of one's youth).

 

I do recall one memorable occasion when we had 13 Jaguars (12 and a bounce probably) grouped around a Tanker queuing up to air to air refuel.  AAR always offered the opportunity for c*ck-up and being watched by most of your squadron mates and the hierarchy whilst you did it wasn't likely make it any easier :blush:  That was more of a gaggle than a formation tho'  We probably left enough space between each other to allow for momentary distraction through laughter.......

 

I should say that I'm talking here of tactical formations and not a close formation such as Crisp's balbo or the Red Arrows.

 

Tactical formations were much less demanding in pure flying terms (no veering between Vmax and automation for example  :))  But were intermittently very much more demanding mentally - hence the RAF obsession during flying training with one's mental 'capacity' to think and problem solve whilst flying.

 

The basic attack formation in the late 80's was a 'card' 4 of two line-abreast pairs; and depending on terrain it' could be 3nm or so line abreast and 30 seconds or c. 4nm in trail.  In an 8 ship the next card 4 would be 1 minute behind the leader and so on for a larger formation.   In many ways the formation leader is better described as a package leader rather than a formation leader as each 4 ship had it's own number 1 expected to take responsibility under the tactical coordination of the leader.  It could be bloody hard work for all concerned when the weather was marginal and the leader was trying to maintain situational awareness over a formation maybe 3nm wide and 25nm long........You can't just turn around and back-track into the face of several aircraft oncoming at 450kts in poor viz.:).....Add to the fun by arranging for some Lightings, F4's or F3's to bounce you on route sending aircraft off planned track all over the place - and then the leader gets the privilege of sorting out the ensuing mess and working out if its still possible to get to the target on time by re-routing or whether to reorganise the timing or whatever.  'Course you've gotta keep flying the jet at low level and avoiding smearing it all over the landscape  :)  It's very easy to get 'maxed out' at times like that - and as leader you'd probably also have to be watching out for any inexperienced members of the formation who might be operating at the limit of their capacity just being a wingman (junior bods tended to run themselves low on fuel or get separated in bad weather or generally run around with their hair on fire getting in people's way :))

 

Once you'd qualified as a 4's lead - you'd then spend much of the time not in fact leading a formation - but rather flying elsewhere in the formation supervising someone else who was training to be a 4's leader.  The larger formations tended to be lead by a qualified 4's lead tho'.

 

We didn't often fly close formation in more than pairs or threes - because close formation was generally of no tactical value unless as means for getting up and down through cloud together - although we'd close up as a 4 ship for a run in an break to land at the end of a sortie.

 

The exception was for ceremonial occasions.  I was number 10 of a 15 aircraft formation for a flyby when the Princess Royal visited Colt in 87, and I know we flew 3 practice sorties with a 'whip' to get it right - but I can't remember the shape of formation we flew!!!  15 is bit of a strange number so I wonder if it was based around a 'Vic' 3 with 3 'box' 4's tucked in close.  I have a better memory of flying in a 9 aircraft big '6' for a squadron 75th anniversary in 89.  I think I've posted this picture before (apologies for repetition).  That needed a bit of 'whipping' to get right.  IIRC that's me in the middle.

 

Big6001_zpsc135d3ba.jpg

 

In the Hawk we would have practised close formation flying at valley - but generally as a pair and probably no more than a Vic 3.

 

At the TWU in the Hawk we flew generally as a pair - line abreast in a 'battle' formation but much-much closer in than we flew later in the Jag.   The Hawk tactics at TWU were much simpler - the leader navigated and the wingman hung in there and looked at his map every now and then tried not to get too lost.  You learned to turn, manoeuvre and fight in this 'battle' formation and sooner (or perhaps later) it became second nature.  You'd often slip into an extended 'arrow' type formation (i.e. in trail and to one side) for freedom of manoeuvre through the Welsh valleys. 

 

Anyways - I've typed this as avoidance activity cos' Im supposed to be catching up on some real work today - and I'd best get back to it.  But before I go - last night I fettled some little plastic card brackets to stick on the main legs - they're brackets that the fescalised oleo legs attach to:

 

IMG_1231_zpsjc251nl2.jpg

 

TTFN

 

 

 

 

Edited by Fritag
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My mother was from Aberdeen, and every summer we'd drive up for our summer hols. More than once we were suddenly and loudly woken from our bored kids' driving games by a jag or harrier passing very low overhead I was SO jealous of you lucky b***ers having that much fun. It had always been Lightnings that I wanted to fly as a little 'un but when they were withdrawn it was definitely Jags, I don't think anything else even existed as far as I was concerned. That all went to pot when I was told at age 13 that I needed glasses...the closest I ever got was standing at the top of the crew ladder looking into a Jag cockpit at Laarbruch (2AC Sqn) in around '79 or '80 with the ATC. King Air 300's are fun, but 250 knots at 1,500' isn't quite the same as 450 at 100'.........

 

Ian

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7 hours ago, limeypilot said:

It had always been Lightnings that I wanted to fly as a little 'un but when they were withdrawn it was definitely Jags, I don't think anything else even existed as far as I was concerned. That all went to pot when I was told at age 13 that I needed glasses.

 

I was you some years earlier Ian - just lucky enough to have 20/20 vision.  It always seemed a bit of an artificial filter to me - once they'd spent the money training someone - if they needed glasses they wore em.

 

And King Air 300's beats lawyering any day :D

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I'm with you Steve, my distant vision started to fade in my 30s - it was great! Got my pair of goggles and suddenly I could see the bounce from miles away!  Now the bifocals look after me!!!!

Edited by feifeitim
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I too was an authoriser later in life - the RN doesn't really do flight commanders in the way the Air Forcee does, but I was certainly an all-flights auth when SPLOT (Senior Pilot - effectively 2 i/c) of 819.  Plus of course all Lynx Flight Commanders are self-authorising; they have to be, what with often flying on their own many hundreds of miles from the nearest aviator.

 

Authorising close formation always concentrated the mind - not least because we so rarely did it, and like almost everything in flying it is a perishable skill. The thing that used to exercise my mind when authorising formation (& I don't recall ever auth'ing anything bigger than a 3-ship) was "where do you do if something goes wrong?"

 

On that basis, Steve, that 6 formation.  The middle bloke.  Where does he go in the event of trouble?  Or is it, like many formations, partly an optical illusion, with more vertical separation than it appears from the ground?

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15 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

On that basis, Steve, that 6 formation.  The middle bloke.  Where does he go in the event of trouble?  Or is it, like many formations, partly an optical illusion, with more vertical separation than it appears from the ground?

Optical illusion I think Crisp.  It's stepped down below the wake of the lead Jag - but then the the guy on his port side (for the non naval contingent that's his left - or his right as we look up at it :)) is formating off of him and so will be at the same level - but behind and not overlapping (optical illusion again); so in the event of trouble middle man can probably break out to his left followed by - and without collecting - his wing man.

 

Or at least that's how it seems to me now.......I can't remember what we briefed at the time :whistle:

 

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