JET LAG!

by Ryan Clifford

  This meant that the Hercules was airborne and Yellow formation were on frequency. Todd immediately responded with:

  ‘Purple Check?’ The formation responded as planned.

  ‘BLUE – GREEN – YELLOW.’

  ‘All loud and clear – Marham Radar, Purple Formation airborne and proceeding to the holding area.’

  Marham Radar answered:

  ‘Roger, Purple, clear to holding area as briefed, no other aircraft within two-zero miles, call us when ready for recovery. We’ll monitor you on this discreet frequency.’

  Todd gave a cursory acknowledgement and turned his attention to the flypast.

  ***

  The fleet of fifteen aircraft cruised out to the holding point about ten miles north of Cromer, and took up their holding patterns separated by one thousand feet vertically. The lead Tornados were at one thousand ascending to the slowest aircraft at five thousand feet. The flypast had to occur at a specified time to coincide with other events during the Royal Visit, so sorting out the arrival time abeam the royal dais was critical. The IP (Initial Point) was the church tower at North Elmham with a navigation check at ten miles from the dais. Todd had worked out the timings exactly and had managed to keep within five seconds of TOT (Time on Target) on all of the previous practices. At the appropriate time, but giving himself two minutes for errors on the part of the other formations, he called them all down to one thousand feet above sea level – starting from front to back.

  When ‘Yellow’ checked in, Todd breathed a sigh of relief and made a call to the Flight Commander on the ground who had a radio and was listening to the entire proceedings. It was his job to give Todd the ten-minute call to confirm that Her Majesty was going to be seated and ready for the flypast. It certainly wouldn’t do if she was held up by traffic and missed the display. The radio man acknowledged Todd’s call and looked over towards the dais and spied the simulated royal car coming down the taxiway, with the ‘practice’ Queen waving to the crowds.

  ‘Purple – ten minutes’ came the call. Todd acknowledged and set the time onto his TV-TAB in the Time Early/Late function. This enabled Todd to see at a glance how many seconds early or late he would be at the flypast point. If it showed late, he could speed up or cut a corner – if too early, he could slow down or throw in a turn to lose time.

  He checked Purple formation in, and as the clock ticked down to zero seconds early/late he set off for the first checkpoint. As the formation crossed the coast he was smack on time and to his relief Yellow leader called ‘all aboard.’ This was the code which told everyone that all fourteen aircraft were in formation on Todd.

  As Todd started the long ninety degree turn onto the IP, the five minute call came from the ground. Todd acknowledged, checked his watch, cross-checked with the Time Early/Late and told Stumpy to slow down by five knots. This he did after warning the rest of the formation.

  As they flew over the IP everything looked perfect. The run in was clear of cloud and Stumpy called that he had the airfield in site. The rest of the run was straightforward. Stumpy settled down at one thousand feet and the rest of the formation slowly followed. At one minute to go, Todd let the man on the ground know. He replied that the formation was in sight from the ground and that everything looked good. Todd could now see the airfield and the dais. Ninety seconds later the formation had flown past the simulated royal party, and in a further thirty seconds had disappeared away to the west of the airfield.

  ***

  ‘Spot on,’ complimented the Station Commander, ‘Well done, Todd.’

  ‘Thanks very much sir, but save the congratulations for Saturday, that’s when it really matters.’

  ‘Absolutely, Todd,’ he answered, ‘but do you really need another dress rehearsal on Friday?’

  ‘I think so sir, ’smiled Todd. ‘Practice makes perfect and I want to try it with all personnel on board plus as much of the gear for Italy loaded as well. One final full dress rehearsal with all four formations cannot hurt.’

  ‘Yes, you’re probably right,’ admitted the Station Commander, ‘Let’s have one final practice on Friday morning,’ and with that turned round, strode to his car and drove off back to his office.

  *

  Constance Morrissey turned to her husband and silenced him with a withering stare. She re-stressed her point of view:

  ‘No, no, no! We cannot afford to change things now. Todd must not know – everything depends on it. We must stick to the plan. If we start changing things now the paradox might destroy all that we have worked for so long to achieve. Todd mustn’t know!’

  The AVM grudgingly agreed with his wife, but remained unwavering in his determination to see this through. So much depended on it.

  Constance also had her own agenda – which she had revealed to nobody – including her husband.

  9

  The rest of the week was taken up with preparations for the flypast and the deployment to Italy. Todd allowed all non-Marham crews to return to their bases - by car, bus or train - on the Wednesday afternoon, so that they could spend one night with their families before they disappeared for three months. They were due back by 2200 hours on the Thursday night in good time for the final practice on Friday morning.

  Todd was entertaining his parents on Thursday night for a farewell dinner. The Station Commander and the boss of 619 Squadron were invited, with their wives, and the evening proved to be enjoyable if not over friendly. Todd and OC 619 still didn’t really get on and their conversation was polite but cursory. Todd’s parents were quieter than usual and Todd put this down to the fact that they were guests in his home – they were considerate like that – not wanting to take over the party on someone else’s patch. The evening came to a close at about midnight and as the Air Vice Marshal was leaving he dropped a bit of a bombshell.

  ‘I hope you don’t mind too much, Todd, but I’ll be coming on the dress rehearsal tomorrow. I want to make sure that everything is OK from the flying side. I know that you have practised enough and everything went smoothly last time, but I need to satisfy myself that nothing can go wrong. After all it will be my neck if there’s an unexpected glitch. I’ll be in the C-130 cockpit – purely as an observer. You will still have complete control.’

  ‘Fine,’ stuttered Todd, ‘you’re the boss – I’ll see you at briefing tomorrow – 0900 sharp.’

  ‘Thanks , Todd – see you in the morning.’ And with a brief shake of hands and a peck on the cheek, Todd’s parents slipped away in their chauffeur-driven service vehicle.

  What Todd didn’t know was that his mother, Constance would accompany her husband on the C-130. It was a stipulation upon which she would not compromise – and indeed, an essential ingredient of the plan.

  ***

  ‘Right, settle down everybody. Time check in three-zero seconds, when it will be 0900.’ Todd was fully prepared for the coming brief, having been at work since 0700.

  At that point the AVM walked through the Operations Wing briefing room door. All personnel present stood, Todd greeted his father, offered him a seat in the middle of the front row, and continued with the time check.

  ‘Ten………..five, four, three, two 0900…hack!’

  At this point the Met Man stood up and began his short briefing regarding the weather for the day.

  ‘Good morning gentlemen. The weather for today should present few problems. This spate of warm weather is due to continue for some time. The high pressure system is moving slowly southeast and a weak front is passing across the UK. This is causing isolated CB activity and thunderstorms have been reported over northern England. Consequently, it is possible that an isolated shower may reach us by lunchtime. However, I believe that your take off is 1100 and you will be back on the ground by noon. Additionally, the weather for tomorrow looks excellent and also for the transit to Italy. Any questions.’

  ‘Are you coming on the rehearsal, Jim?’ Todd was sure he would be, but Jim Charles the Senior Met Forecaster at Marham was famous for his
dislike of flying.

  ‘If I have to, yes I am. I’ll take a seat at the back of the room and catch the remainder of the briefing, if you like.’ He realised he was fighting a losing battle.

  Todd smiled and the audience tittered. They all knew Jim Charles and about his phobia.

  Whilst Jim was taking his place Todd continued with the briefing. He’d done it many times before and his audience had heard it many times as well, but today the AVM was present, so the brief had to be done again - in full - and as slickly as possible. Take-off was indeed 1100, so crews were required to walk to their aircraft at 1000. Ten minutes to get changed plus twenty minutes to tie up loose ends – this briefing must finish by 0930. Consequently, Todd got on with it.

  Every now and then during the brief, the AVM would throw in a fastball question. On every occasion the answer came back without hesitation. It was clear that this was a good team who knew their job and were determined to get it right.

  At 0925, Todd brought the proceedings to a close.

  ‘Any further questions?’ To which there was silence.

  ‘Right then, let’s do it.’

  The AVM stood up and turned to face his audience. It was normal for a few words of praise and encouragement to be directed at the team before they set off on a difficult or important mission. However, the AVM surprised everyone in the room with his brief and somewhat curt statement.

  ‘I hope you all realise the importance of this task. Both today and in the future you will need to be as sharp as possible to ensure the success of this mission. Remember who’s in charge and make sure that you are ready for any unexpected changes of plan. Whatever you do - don’t panic. You are all experienced crews so I expect the highest standards of professionalism and loyalty to be displayed. Do I make myself clear?’

  He was greeted with silence. The aircrew were taken aback by this so-called pep talk and could only watch open mouthed as the AVM walked from the room. Todd remained and as the door closed behind the AVM the room erupted.

  ‘What the bloody hell was that all about?’ shouted one voice. Others nodded their agreement and Todd was bombarded by comments from disenchanted flyers.

  ‘Settle down, settle down. The AVM is under a great deal of pressure from MOD to get this right, and clearly he wants you to remember your responsibilities. I don’t think that that is unreasonable. Do you?’

  The room quietened as flyers stood up to leave the room. Todd stopped them in their tracks.

  ‘Have a good one, boys – sorry – and girls, just do your job and there will be no problems. Just do it as we have done it before.’

  The team dispersed to complete their ‘personal admin’ before getting changed. Todd was left in the room with the Station Commander and OC 619.

  ‘What the fuck was that all about?’ blurted Andy Millar.

  ‘I have no idea,’ replied Todd, ‘I’ve never seen him like that before.’

  10

  RAF Marham

  1 April 1992

  The pre-flight for the flypast went smoothly except that everyone got wet as they walked for the crew buses. A lone rain shower skirted along the edge of the airfield and soaked the aircrew as they ran from the shelter to the bus. Crews busily packed their private kit into the usual cubby holes in the cockpit and by 1000 hours, the last pilot checked in on the radio that he was ready. Todd called for taxy clearance and the aircraft made their way – in strict order - to the runway. The spare aircraft remained at the Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS), just in case they were needed at the last minute. But everything went as planned and the aircraft taxied out to the runway and took off on time. As they turned downwind and headed for the holding area, Todd looked out to the north and saw a line of four or five Cumulonimbus (CB) clouds out over the Wash. They looked nasty but didn’t appear to be affecting the flypast route. Nevertheless, he hit the radio and spoke to Air Traffic.

  ‘Radar, this is Purple lead. Can you give me some idea of the direction and speed of the line of Cu-Nimbs over the Wash area?’

  ‘Roger, Purple, my radar shows them to be moving East-South- East at around two-five knots’

  ‘Purple, copied.’

  ‘Shit!’ mouthed Todd, quickly followed by a similar expletive from Stumpy up front.

  ‘We’ll just have to go out to the area and see if they interfere with us. If we can’t hold there we’ll proceed to the standby area off Yarmouth. I’ve got both routes in the TV-TAB so it shouldn’t be a problem.’

  Todd checked the crews in and gave them a quick update of the situation. As the formation turned left towards the holding area near Cromer, the aircraft were skirting the leading edge of the bad weather. It started raining and visibility became worse. However Todd could see a clear area over Cromer and his weather-radar in the rear cockpit concurred. Todd checked everyone in after the turn and gave another update. However, Green and Yellow formations were having trouble with their radios. Todd had to try three times to get them checked in, but eventually they managed it – so he was certain that they were on the correct frequency.

  Todd looked ahead again and was now getting worried. The Cu-Nimb activity was spreading south-east. It was pissing it down with rain now, and turbulence was growing stronger by the minute.

  Todd spoke to Stumpy.

  ‘What do you think – go for the standby area?’

  It was sometimes nice to share the decision making.

  ‘I reckon so – but it's up to you, boss,’ Stumpy was not taking any responsibility.

  ‘Thanks a lot mate.’ Todd was unimpressed. He needed some support but was not going to get it. However, he had made his decision. They would turn right and head one-one-zero degrees for Great Yarmouth. He changed the route on his navigation TV-TAB and hit the radio once more.

  ‘Purple, check.’

  Silence

  Again – ‘Purple formation, from lead – check.’

  Nothing.

  ‘What the ….’

  Then, ‘Red Two reading you loud and clear and I am in contact with Blue, Green & Yellow – shall I relay for you Purple?’

  ‘Roger, Red Two, I cannot read the others. Relay this message. Alternate holding route, repeat, alternate holding route. Turning in three-zero seconds at 1109. Do you copy?’

  ‘Roger lead, Alternate holding route, turning in three-zero seconds at 1109.’

  Red didn’t need to repeat himself as Blue, Green & Yellow all acknowledged with a sharp:

  ‘Copied.’

  Red relayed the confirmation to Todd and he prepared for the turn which was due in about ten seconds. It was definitely the right decision. Although the area by Cromer was clear these CBs were causing poor radio reception – and the rain was getting harder.

  Then the bombshell landed.

  ‘Purple, this is Yellow Five, do you read?’

  Todd recognised the voice and was annoyed that his father was apparently going to stick his oar in.

  ‘Loud and clear Yellow Five, pass your message.’

  ‘Purple lead, continue with original holding route, I repeat, do not change to alternate.’

  Todd was fuming.

  ‘Say again Yellow?’

  ‘Purple lead, continue with original holding route, I repeat, do not change to alternate.’

  Todd was now beside himself.

  ‘Negative Yellow, the weather is too bad. Switching to alternate.’

  The AVM came back immediately.

  ‘That is an order, Purple lead. Continue with original holding route, we’ll discuss it on the ground.’

  This was a usual ploy that aviators used to avoid embarrassing arguments on the radio in front of subordinates.

  Todd waited ten seconds and replied,

  ‘Understood Yellow Five, continue, but will you take responsibility for this.’

  ‘Affirmative Purple lead, my decision.’

  Todd immediately got back to his team. Purple check – original route’

  Silence and then Red Two chirped up:<
br />
  ‘Red Two relaying; all formations copied – original route.’

  Todd was furious. What the hell was his father playing at? This was clearly a very poor decision. The formation was now flying towards bad and dangerous weather, the radios were dodgy and to top it all his father had undermined his authority in front of subordinates. There would be hell to pay when they all landed safely – if indeed they did land safely. Todd was certain that this weather would cause severe problems – especially for the tanker. However, he had been over-ruled. So he now concentrated his mind on the task ahead. He spoke to Red Two again and asked him to relay all messages. This would save time. The formation was now approaching the holding area off Cromer and the aircraft began their holding patterns as briefed.