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From engine changes to formation flights.... if it includes a 'Shiny Ten' you can find it here. Something you won't see everyday My memories of Base Squadron RAF Brize Norton - By Ken 'Chalky' White Photos by Ken White (Separate page) Memories of RAF Brize Norton, by G.R. Fraser (Separate page) VC10 40th Anniversary Formation Flight Fun & Games with Harold (Separate Page)
This story comes from Mike Howles' Bit of Universe (and is used with his permission). "Now, here's something you won't see everyday:"
"This is a photocopy of a picture of a drama that happened to ZA144 in the hangar during a routine No 4 engine fit during a major service. We were using the electric engine winching kit (which can be seen on top of the torque box) and the engine was very nearly in when the front cable decided to part company with the swaged end resulting in the front of the engine crashing down onto the engine staging that we had just put underneath. No serious damage occurred to the aircraft either, as you can see the aft engine cowling is a bit creased but the torque box was all ok."
The following account was very kindly provided by Mr. Ken
White, VC10 Base Sqdn Flight Manager in the period December 1968 -
September 1972. Along with this account he has
provided an ample supply of photos, mostly taken by himself, that record several
aspects of the comings and goings at RAF Brize Norton. The complete collection
can be viewed on this page: "I was promoted to Flight Sergeant on posting from 5 Squadron Lightnings at RAF Binbrook to RAF Brize Norton. I was allocated the job as Propulsion Systems Manager but after a week I told the Wg Cmdr Engineering that there wasn’t a job to do as all the specialist knowledge was with the Chief Techs and there was no need for a FS to manage the bay. Within a week he had posted me to take over as VC 10 Base Squadron Fight Manager to replace the FS who had been with the VC10 since its Project days (I know why but its not for publication) so started a love affair that still continues. My best memories are of the SNCO’s and "troops" who worked for me. Some superb characters. I have maintained contact with some. No one could have asked for more. We reduced servicing times from weeks to days. A Base One inspection took 3 days maximum including modifications and repairs, Base Two’s one week and Base Threes three weeks. The spirit was exceptional. We operated from a purpose built cantilever hangar with 5.5 acres of floor space the hangar being the largest in Europe when it was built in 1967.
The servicing teams could put the mobile "Highway Staging" around the aircraft and have the aircraft jacked within ninety minutes of the aircraft entering the hangar for a service. Quite a feat! A major problem that occurred was inter crystalline cracks on the wheel axles which all needed to be inspected by NDT and changed. After a couple of inspections the team got it down to a twenty four hour turn round per bogie. So the commitment to route flying was never interrupted. The thing that held us up was the supply of replacement axles. Other problems were only the ones you would normally expect. My
"major" problem during my four years with "Tens". Repair schemes for airframe damage were produced by Edgar Skitt of the Stress Department at BAC Weybridge to whom we were always indebted. Apart from normal servicings we produced VIP and Royal fit conversions of various VC 10’s for use on overseas tours by the Queen, Members of the Royal Family, the Prime Minister and Senior Government Ministers. Youngsters of that time will remember Princess Anne flying with Valerie Singleton to Kenya on a "Blue Peter" trip. I remember Harold Wilson setting alight a bed with his pipe on one Government trip. Air testing following "Major" servicing was carried out from the hangar and it was at this time our families went flying, Ten Squadron using the time to give trainee cabin staff "live" trainees. My wife and daughter still talk of those flights despite the tens of thousands of miles they have flown in many other types.
I next met up with the VC10 when I was stationed at RAF Gan in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean in 1974, it was still the same pleasure to hear it’s distinctive sound, especially the one that brought me home after nine months on the island. The VC10 reminds me of what comradeship can mean, especially as I get older and need major servicing myself. If any of my old crew read this please get in touch at my e-mail address. Thank you Jelle for a site that reminds me of all that is good in life." I don't know if this item should be on another page, but I think it belongs here. It is not really a 'memory' as such, but I'm sure that it helps to keep some memories alive. Bob Whittington is an ex-10 Squadron Air Steward 1971-1975 and 1978 - 1980 and drives around Brantford, Ontario, Canada with the number plate shown below. I guess it is not for sale. Update, November 2005: I was contacted by Bob Whittington with a new photo of his number plate. Looks like he got himself a new car! (New photo on the right.)
Who knew that the VC10 could be such an inspiration for poetry? The following
three poems with accompanying notes were submitted by G.R.
Fraser, and were written during his time as a 10 Squadron Loadmaster
"during idle hours droning over the oceans of the world while the
passengers slept!" He has also provided me with several photos depicting
the early beginnings of RAF Brize Norton, they can be found here: To the first female Loadmasters on RAF VC10s I am a lady Loadmaster ( Dedicated to Sgt (W) Howard - XV101 35000 ft Bahrain-Changi 20th April 69 )
The Meal Tray Initially the inflight meals were in plastic dishes heated in electric containers and then dished out on to pre-prepared meal trays by the Air Stewards (a new trade at that time) and were sometimes a bit “tired”. One complete meal service for 135 passengers was carried in insulated containers in the front freight hold for emergency use (diversions, delays, etc) and if unused was unloaded back into stores at Brize Norton for reissue. Sometimes ones breakfast had been round the world twice before you ever ate it…..
What makes ones stomach reel and squirm? Prepared by a genuine Borgia brood, Heaven rot the ghastly ughsome mess This greasy, dirty, noisesome platter With many a curse and agonized yell, And when I die and go above (XV102 35000ft Gan – Akrotiri 9th March 1969)
More on Food With the advent of trooping and family flights by VC10s instead of civilian charters, an “airline image” was set up with particular reference to catering, which became an “empire” of its own. Vast quantities of instructions, manuals, amendments, feeding plans etc., were produced and sent round the routes and stations. When amending copy 124 of “feeding plan Gan – Akrotiri” for the umpteenth time in ones pile of in-flight documents it was often thought that eating the paperwork would have more nutritional value than the meals themselves….
Noisy, shiny VC10, what are you a’doing then? Little brats with snotty noses, drunken soldiers with
halitosis, Eyelids drooping, spirits flag, but the cabin staff
don’t lag (XR808 37000 ft Akrotiri-Brize Norton 19th Jan 1969) * Sqn Ldr Oxtoby – 38 Group Senior Catering Officer, a.k.a. God Drew Hodge sent me a message about the use of the RAF's VC10s for aeromedical evacuations. This may be one of the lesser known jobs of the VC10. During 13 years in the RAF, I flew many times in VC10s as a member of an aeromedical evacuation team. This included a memorable trip to Montevideo during the Falklands war. As the takeoff run to return to Brize (via Ascension Island) started, one of the aircraft's engines lost a fan blade, which was ingested and caused the pilot to abort. The aircraft was full of walking and stretcher-bound wounded, but there were no injuries -- just a few days delay while another VC10 brought out a replacement engine.
The photo above was taken on Ascension Island in 1985. I was a member of an aeromedical evacuation team sent to West Africa, via Ascension, in an RAF VC10 to pick up a patient who had contracted Lassa fever. It was the first time a special air-transportable isolation tent, designed by the RAF, had been used in anger. The patient was picked up in Sierra Leone and flown to Filton airport in Bristol -- the closest airport to Ham Green hospital -- and made a complete recovery. The photo shows the team (doctors, nurses, biomedical engineering technicians, and aeromed technicians) with the VC10 in the background. Andy Robinson was on RAF Gan when this photo was taken by a member of the local photo section, sometime during 1969/1970. It shows a VC10 during a turnaround, getting refuelled and loaded for the next leg of its trip.
As part of the celebrations laid on for the VC10's forthieth, the RAF organised a formation flight to provide a photo opportunity to journalists. I stumbled onto a post in the 'Private Flying' forum on PPRuNe that provided a first-hand account of some of the flying on that day. So, with permission from BEagle, who posted this, here is his account: "OK - There’s a photo-shoot opportunity for a whole host of aviation journos to record the 40th anniversary of a certain aeroplane. Three of us are to fly our dear old Vickers Funbuses in formation, do some air-to-air refuelling, then home for tea and medals. I’m no. 2 to another mate, we’ve got 4 journos on board but most of the others are in no. 3’s jet. The plan is for him to get airborne first and poke off to the East Coast, we’ll then follow, get set up in formation and await the plethora of pointy-jets which have been arranged - regrettably the weather is too poor for a formation departure.
But then no. 1 goes tits up, so I’m now lead. We tell no. 3 to get airborne as planned, sort out the 6-ship which is due to meet him on the area, we’ll then give him some gas and settle down in cell with me leading, the fast jets joining and the journos snapping. No. 3 gets airborne, we’re taxying when we hear that no. 1 is now serviceable. So we get airborne as planned and wait to hear how no. 1 is doing. We hear that he’s airborne, so we bin our plan, no.3 goes on to the North Sea whilst we throw a 360 to fall in behind no. 1 - he’s 24 miles away at this point. There he is - ease, harden - pull as hard as is safely possible in a 40-year old ex-airliner and tuck in on his wing in close echelon right. Out to the area, form cell, take 4 Jaguars on our wing. Follow no. 1 - he’s waiting for 4 F3s whilst we sort out our Jaguars’ requirements. Then we’ve got 4 Jags on us, 2 F3s joining him 1 mile ahead and 1000ft below, another 2 F3s joining us - and where the hell is no. 3? He joins us and manoeuvres to keep the journos happy. Now there are another 2 Jags joining and a couple of GR4s are also due. They all turn up, no.3 gets his piccies but the fuel in our tankers isn’t terribly well equalised. So we pop down to join no. 1, asking for 5 tonnes of fuel. Join in echelon right, move astern then hang on for no. 3 and the journos to arrive. They’re happy, ‘clear contact centre’ is called so I make contact with all the tenderness of a returning nuclear submarine sailor greeting his girl-friend after 6 months under the ice cap! We get our gas, then it’s no.3’s turn. He does the same, we go wide echelon left on no. 1. When 3 is complete we clear him to join us and no. 1 bogs off back to base. No.3 and I now race back across to the Irish Sea, handover to Warton as there’s an EF 2000 for our journos to snap.
On the area, EF mate turns up and the journos go all moist and ecstatic. Up to the top, turn south and then north again. EF is finished and after being cleared to leave, disappears upwards at an incredible rate! It doesn’t half go!! We’re on the way back now, clear of controlled airspace we descend towards base for a pairs approach - 8 Conways in close formation! But the ATIS is giving a picture of pretty poor weather, so after a bit more photography for our journos we split and come home independently. Co-pilot does a nice ILS and positive touchdown, ideal on the wet runway which we have to land upon. Taxi in, shut down and the journos are all waggy-tailed and happy - 3:45 hours flying, great fun - but nothing really out of the ordinary for the RAF tanker force..... That’s what I did at the office today! And on Sunday I’ve got 4 days away to Africa and back!!" This account tells of a crew training flight where everything got a bit exciting. "An evening in April '67 saw my crew take off from RAF Fairford in VC10 XR806 for a night continuation training detail, to consist mainly of circuits and (roller) landings plus some ILS approaches. Passage of a cold front had been predicted for later on, but for the first hour or so conditions were reasonable; good visibility beneath the 3000ft overcast, and a light to moderate NW wind. True, I did observe some distant flashing to the NW during the early stages of our sortie but could not be absolutely certain about its origins; now, as we neared the Brize Norton NDB to commence an ILS approach into Fairford, it was pretty well out of my mind on this dark spring night.
I was therefore slightly surprised when we ran into a ragged cloud base on approaching Brize, accompanied by some moderate turbulence; perhaps the front was closer than predicted? The ghostly flicker of St. Elmo's fire played across the windscreen panels, followed by occasional forking of what appeared to be miniature lightning. As these phenomena intensified I suddenly noticed a ball of intense blue light, about the size of a small apple, perched on the ice detector probe just outside my direct vision panel. I was in the act of drawing the co-pilot's attention to this curious object, when there was a blinding flash and a most tremendous bang that left us all dazed and totally blinded. For a short while I remained unsighted, and my head rang like a bell; then, very gradually, sight returned in odd reddish-blue hues similar to those seen through the goggles issued to viewers of early, experimental 3-D films. Fortunately I already had the auto-pilot engaged, and this continued to function as if nothing had happened; a check with the rest of the crew found them (like me) scared witless but otherwise OK, with all systems functioning normally. A demoralised voice from the tower requested a radio check, saying they had received a lightning strike; "so have we" responded the co-pilot somewhat brusquely, thus terminating that particular conversation. I decided to land and have the aircraft checked over - surely such a massive strike must have caused some damage? Miraculously, our VC10 was totally unharmed, not even a wick discharger burned off. Static electricity is a strange beast; I have known comparatively mild strikes cause significant damage, yet this terrifying zap had left no trace whatever. A ground observer later stated he had seen a great stab of lightning from our aircraft's nose as we passed overhead Brize; for my part, I think that we were probably victims of that mysterious, seldom seen and little understood phenomenon known as ball lightning. If so we had been especially fortunate, as it is quite unpredictable in its behaviour and is supposedly capable of causing great damage should the ball "explode", as it apparently had done in this instance." For many years Aeroplane Magazine featured a few comments from John Maynard in his column 'Crosswind', in his unimitable style here he comments on the insurance industry when applied to a RAF VC10 flight. "I should start this piece with those famous words, 'Now, you're not going to believe this, but . . .'. However, since I am about to write about the vagaries of the insurance industry, I will not be stretching your credulity unduly. Roger Carvell draws my attention to a letter, published by The Times, from Wing Commander G.L. Perry. This tells of an occasion some years ago when the Wing Commander was offered an 'indulgence' flight to Washington on an RAF VC10. He was required to pay for the seat and planned to spend a period of leave in the USA. He sought travel insurance, which was refused by two companies because he was not flying on a 'recognised' airline! Wg Cdr Perry pointed out that the VC10 would be operating on an RAF scheduled weekly service to the American capital; it would leave from a totally secure RAF base; the RAF crew would be highly competent and well used to flying VIPs, including the Queen and other members of the Royal Family. The insurance company's little men were unimpressed and even failed to offer loaded-premium policies. I must say that I wonder what their reasons might be? Then again I recall posing the same question to a Managing Director who was haranguing me at the time. 'REASON?, he thundered. 'there doesn't need to be a bloody reason - it's company policy!' "Sometimes luck is on your side. When Flypast forum contributor PaulC received a phonecall he didn't need to think twice about saying yes. The photos tend to speak for themselves as well. "On Tuesday of this week I got a phone call at work asking if I wanted to join a group on a VC10 flight from Brize Norton - after a nano seconds thought I said YES! Thursday 10am 2 of us set off for Brize Norton - we had to be there by 12 so we had plenty of time. We met the rest of the group and were escorted to the aircraft - XV108 VC10. Took off at 13:40 and returned 3 hours later having been over the North Sea acting as a filling station for some fast jets. On returning to Brize we were still heavy so a low pass was performed to burn off some fuel - 2nd time round we had to do a go-around as something was in the way. All in all a stunning afternoon - one of the other people on board said 'I have died and gone to photographer heaven' - which sums it up very well."
One of the joys of Ebay is that you can sometimes find items which no ordinary shop would sell. A while ago I purchased a set of photos from an Ebay shop that aroused my interest. They are a set of colour photographs taken during a Polar flight by RAF VC10 XV101 which came from the estate of Mr. K.J. Meekcoms, who worked for the Aircraft Inspectorate. Ever since I got them I've been puzzled by them as I cannot uncover the full story behind them. What seems most likely is that the person who took them (I'm not sure that it was Mr. Meekcoms) was along on the flight to act as an observer as the callsign 'Aries', which is mentioned a few times on the captions and map, is one that is/was (?) used by the RAF to denote navigation trial flights over the Pole. The first 'Aries' was a converted Avro Lancaster captained by WC D.C. McKinley which overflew the North pole on 17th May 1945 during an expedition to establish the exact location of the magnetic North Pole, and also to test K.C. Maclure's theory of grid navigation in Polar regions. (For more on this flight, there is a comprehensive article available here.) Since that day many more RAF flights have overflown the pole for navigational purposes, all of which were named after this famous Lancaster followed by the year in which they were carried out. The Aries 84 flight was meant to test the new VC10 navigation fit against other navigation systems, including some new models. In other years the Boscombe Down Comet was used for Aries flights as well. Some of the photos are damaged a bit from the neatly typed captions which were glued to them. Fortunately I was able to remove them again as most of the glue had dried out by now, leaving some blemishes and discolouration behind. The captions are copied directly from the original hand-typed ones.
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