Operation HYDRAULIC - 3

After landing, we signed the aircraft in to the waiting ground crew.  On this operation, engineers from the respective squadrons had been deployed at the staging points down route.  Whilst each aircrew was qualified to conduct basic turn-around checks on the aircraft, had we been on our own, we would have had to summon help from home had anything serious gone wrong.  As it was, we were grateful not to have to re-pack the tail braking parachute into the, apparently, impossibly small space provided in the rear cone of the fuselage.  Such an operation was a 2 or 3-man job which, amongst other things involved jumping on the packed chute (12 feet or so above the hard concrete) in order to close the retaining hatch.  Packing the chute was hard graft in temperate climes, but during the Akrotiri midday, when temperatures on the pan would have exceeded 40 degrees centigrade, was a feat indeed.  We left our engineers to it, refuelling, and replenishing and attending to minor defects.  I am thoroughly ashamed to say, due to my callow inexperience at the time, I failed to fully appreciate the incredible hard work conducted by the groundcrew to keep us flying.  I hope, after 50 years, if any of you are reading, you will accept my belated and heartfelt thanks for keeping me safe and effective in the air, then and thereafter?

The white 32-seater made its early morning journey in reverse, depositing our crew at the accommodation hut. Unpack and shower (hang the wet towel out to dry) and then make ones’ way over to the Mess.  The piercing sun, incessant screech of crickets, and sweet scent of the jasmine trees surrounding the entrance are still fresh in my memory. And so to the bar for a few drinks before lunch. Afterwards, a stroll in the heat across the sports field to a small parade of shops and the NAAFI. There was nothing worth buying in the NAAFI but a small shop sold soft suede boots which were ideal in the environment and very comfortable to fly in. Homeward bound aircraft would take advantage of the fruit shop, proprietor Dinos, I think, who would deliver crates for fruit right to departing aircraft on the pan. Then back to the mess to while away the time to dinner or a bit of sun worshipping outside the block.

The familiar routine began again in darkness the following day June 6^th and we arrived at XH588 just as the sun was rising. The temperature began to climb rapidly. The cockpit could be shaded from the sun using the zip up screens that would have been used to shield the crew from the flash of the nuclear weapon going off. The Victor was fitted with a connection that allowed a ground air conditioning unit to be hooked up to the aircraft system to provide cool air for the cockpit until the aircraft systems became available after engine start. There was no aircraft system that could be run on the ground to provide conditioning or electrics before engine start. The ground cooling connection was more bother than it was worth so, normally, the cooler hose was simply routed through the open aircraft door – fine until the door had to be closed for engine start, about 20 minutes before take-off and when aircraft cabin conditioning could be switched on and glorious cool air flooded the cockpit (unless the co-pilot over-cooked it, in which case the whole cockpit would rapidly cloud over). There were fewer ground condition units than tankers requiring them and I can’t remember whether we were lucky enough to have one.  Meantime, there was only the natural ventilation from each pilot’s direct vision window which could be opened an inch or two on the ground.

When cleared for take off, we would have crawled on to the runway with the outside wheel as close to the threshold as we dare and then a tight turn on to the centre line rolling only so far forwards to ensure that the nose wheel was straight. Full thrust against the brakes then off for a 55 second ground roll. In the clear blue skies the Victors would have had no difficulty forming up with the whirler leading. The Lightnings would have adjusted their take off time and followed the tanker track to arrive at the top of climb rendezvous just astern the formation.

The tanker is responsible for ensuring that each Lightning always has enough fuel to divert to a suitable airfield on emergency. The closer the alternate airfield, the less fuel required. As alternate airfields become further away, the more fuel must be carried and the more frequent each refill. The flight plan would contain the route to be flown and the geographic points at which refuelling must take place. The refuelling areas were called “brackets.”  For the Lightning we normally refuelled to full and it was important not to break refuelling contact until the geographic end of the bracket was reached otherwise the refuelling plan would be compromised. After refuelling, the fighters would relax their formation and dutifully follow the leader until warned to prepare for the next bracket. Such was the routine in the cruise and there would be several planned brackets on the way to Masirah.

Between brackets there would be time for lunch in the tanker. Flight rations would have been provided for each crew. I think we would have been provided with sandwiches, biscuits, an orange to peel, and a cold drink. In the Victor we could remove our oxygen mask and eat normally but fighter aircrew, without the luxury of a pressurised cabin, would have to briefly lift their mask and ingest a morsel. Their flight rations were carefully prepared in bite size chunks. Sometimes flight catering got their aircraft mixed up.

Our “chicks,” the Lightning Mk 6 with overwing tanks looked like this:

Whilst the overwings greatly extended range and, hence, flexibility of route planning there was one important safeguard to observe.  If there was any malfunction in the fuel feed from the overwing tanks into the main engine system then, for diversion planning purposes, the whole of the contents of the overwings must be considered unusable.  This meant that the planning for diversion must be based on internal fuel only.  Since suitable diversion airfields (some places were prohibited for political reasons) were infrequent and often inconveniently off track this meant that the fighter must be refuelled more frequently in order to keep his internal fuel above that required.  All this meant that the overall formation fuel consumption increased (whilst using the throttle to manoeuvre into and hold the refuelling position on the hose, the fuel consumption increased considerably and, as the receiver became heavier, this problem became worse).

This is how the whole formation would have been arranged during a refuelling bracket.  This photograph is not of HYDRAULIC, of course, but of a contemporary deployment of another squadron:

About half way to Masirah, after the whirler had departed back to Akrotiri, one of our chicks reported that one of his underwing tanks was venting fuel to atmosphere so we began the emergency procedure outline above.  Perhaps I should mention that if one of the Lightnings had encountered a serious problem that required a diversion then not only would a tanker accompany him all the way there but, most likely, the whole formation would divert.  So, this was quite a big deal.  Nevertheless, we pressed on as the formation fuel state sank below the line.  All the brackets were adjusted to accommodate the new circumstances and the revised fuel figures showed that we could just about make it to destination with minimum fuel remaining.

And so it was, nearly 5 hours after take-off from Akrotiri, that the 7000 feet (or so, I forget exactly) runway at Masirah was sighted.  The tanker fuel state was perilously close to the absolute minimum and we could really have done with landing immediately.  Although 4 or 5 thousand ponds of fuel sounds a lot, when it is spread between the thirty odd fuel cells distributed throughout the Victor wings, fuselage, and bomb bay then it becomes almost fumes.  Nevertheless, the Lightnings must land first, being, “short range.” Unfortunately, our friend with the venting overwing was too heavy (with the unaccountable fuel in his overwings) to land so he decided to beat up the airfield in full re-heat for 5 or 10 minutes to burn off surplus fuel.  We watched helplessly from above as the fuel gauges inched lower.  Eventually, Lightnings clear of the runway, we made our approach and landed safely.  Here we are touching down, breathing a small sigh of relief that our fuel had held out and looking forward to hitting the bar asap!

To be continued.