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Gnat smoke system


Driver66

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Hi all

I've worked at Kemble for quite a few years and I believe the Reds were originally sent to Little Rissington (near Stow on the Wold)?

I don't think they were ever based there, even though they were a detachment of the resident CFS. They started at Fairford and then moved to Kemble. However, IIRC, in the early days the Gnats went to Rissy for winter servicing at a lot of the team members were billeted there and had to commute daily to Kemble

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Hi all

Ref Aston Down, this is a satellite to Kemble and is to the west. The airfields look very similar and in more recent years there have been many instances of inbound GA aircraft arriving at Aston Down by mistake. When I worked in the Tower at Kemble for a short while some years ago a helicopter pilot reported by RT that he was inbound, (couldnt see him), finals (still couldnt see him!) and eventually hovering outside the Tower and asked why we STILL couldn't we see him.......OOOPS!

Re smoke. Diesel fuel is a no no nowadays due to environmental laws. In GA aerobatics it has been replaced with a light oil from the food industry used in industrial bakeries etc for lubricating machines, Shell version is called "Ondina". I don't know what the military use.

Best

TonyS

When I was at Kemble we had many instances of this. Usual call was to ask for the colour of the hangars - at Aston Down they were red roofed, green at Kemble. Even had a light civil twin land at Aston Down which was quickly pursued by the MoD police as he tried to take off.

One thing we quickly learnt was never to park in front of the Tower when the Reds were doing a practice - made for some very interesting car paint schemes....

Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...

dhdov/TonyS/Andy Wood

One of the reasons the Red Arrows operated from Kemble and not Little Rissington was that, even though they 'belonged' to the Central Flying School, (CFS), if they did their display practices at Rissy they would take up all the airspace for around twenty minutes, which of course was a big No-No for the very busy CFS (I remember being told once that CFS had more daily air movements than Heathrow!). So the Team were never really based (for flying) at Little Riss.

The Team initially operated from Fairford until the Concorde came up from Filton - and did all its British development flying from Fairford, which required dedicated support from all the station facilities.

When the Team were moved from Fairford, the next stop was Kemble which, as No. 5 Maintenance Unit, (5 MU), had a lot of spare facilities, (as 5 MU, A/C only flew in and flew out when the servicing they had done was completed and they had an Air-Test). So the airfield, which had to be fully maintained as an Operational Airfield, was available, most of the time, for display practice.

As we were, in the main at that time, Single Airmen, we were bussed daily from Little Riss - initially to Fairford and then Kemble, and we thoroughly enjoyed being treated as part of 'The Team'.

The Team enjoyed a very good relationship with all of the staff at Kemble, when they realised what we were about nothing was too difficult for them. We had great support from all members of staff and they could, proudly, say they supported the Red Arrows for all of the time they were based at Kemble.

For practice reasons, the Team had to display at various locations, as they could become used to any one site, if that alone was used. So we used to do practices over the airfields at Aston Down, Little Rissington, Wroughton, Chedworth etc - as well as Kemble, as we were blessed (in those days) by having plenty of disused WWII airfields around in that past of the world.

Cheers, Brian

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Andy,

I think we've spoken about this before.

I was a Gnat man only with the Team, although I went to Valley, as an Airframe Specialist, to learn about issues we (they) would have with the Hawk, at the end of the 1977 Season.

I joined the Team in 1967, as a refugee from the closure of Khormaksar in Aden.

Yes, I know Mick, in fact I was out with him and a few other Gnat reprobates last week. Mick (Mike) currently lives in France.

So I didn't know your Dad - although in the 60's there was an Andy Wood in the Support Team.

Cheers, Brian

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Andy,

I think we've spoken about this before.

I was a Gnat man only with the Team, although I went to Valley, as an Airframe Specialist, to learn about issues we (they) would have with the Hawk, at the end of the 1977 Season.

I joined the Team in 1967, as a refugee from the closure of Khormaksar in Aden.

Yes, I know Mick, in fact I was out with him and a few other Gnat reprobates last week. Mick (Mike) currently lives in France.

So I didn't know your Dad - although in the 60's there was an Andy Wood in the Support Team.

Cheers, Brian

Ah yes now I remember. I saw a picture of your gathering on the Old Kemble facebook page the other day

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  • 2 months later...
HawkGnat.jpg158543_800.jpg

XS111 is civilian operated, and doesn't wear the final Gnat scheme, 'XR540' is the team 'gate guard' I believe and photographed with the current Hawk scheme. I think that there were some publicity shots done in 1979 that would show the changeover schemes together.

Peter.

'XR540' is preserved outside the tower at Kemble, which is where that night lin-up shot was taken after its repaint

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