Air Display 'C*ck Ups'

[RedhillPhil]

Just two small things.
B.O.B. day Gaydon '62 or 3.
Four of Handley-Page's finest parked on the pans for a real live scramble. Man steps out on to the grass and fires a flare.
Seconds later all hell as erm,.....three of Handley-Page's finest blast off. Presumably the engines wouldn't start or whatever on what was the third one.
Fast forward a few years to B.O.B. day 1966. Gaydon has lost it's V- bombers and now has V-trainers. A demonstration of a very short take off by a Varsity. Engines wind up to a furious sound, brakes are released, Varsity rolls off fairly rapidly, lifts off after an impressively short run and promptly sits down again. We sixteen year old aeronautical "experts" concluded that the driver was trying a bit too hard and was short of a few knots.

[neilmac]

It is sooo unfair can SR71 guys have their own page cos their stories are always gonna Top Trump ours!!
Wonderful story!! I remember seeing SR71 pass thru Colt shortly after I joined up, awesome!
NM

[Prangster]

2 incidents come to mind. Rolls Royce Hucknall Air Display early 1970's All green Cosmic Wind. Charming pilot approaches self and boss. (Sqn Ldr) 'Can we help him start up' 3 ringer jumps at chance. 'By gum lad not swung a prop for ages' you get the drift....Many soul destroying hours later we both have aching arms and the damned thing still won't start. Pilot becoming fazed that he will miss his departure time when suddenly the motor catches.....Events as they say moved swiftly.
Aircraft rockets off to intercept runway about half way along its length. A barrage of red very's erupt from tower with Cosmic pilot taking not the blindest bit of notice and oblivious to the Chipmunk pair entering left to start their display. Monks think reds for them and sheer off just as swifty roars off in fighter fashion hauls to the left and passes underneath the bewildered UAS guys. SATCO now dancing a fandango on the balcony demanding to speak to.' whoever started that silly bas...d up' I left the 3 ringer to sort that out....

Kings Cup race day Tollerton. Me newly issued P/O given job of plane guard for Sheila Scotts 'Myth Too' a well travelled record breaking piper attracting lots of attention from the adoring public. Tanker rolls up to refuel, barriers moved crowd usherd back. All except one cove, smoking a cigar leaning on port wing. Tanker driver waiting patiently. Me 'Would sir mind moving behind the barrier and not smoking' Reply Airily, 'Oh I'm Royal Aero Club Old Boy doncha know' Me. 'In that case sir you should know better than to smoke whilst an aircraft is being refueled' By now a young copper has appeared. 'Please comply sir or I'll run you in' Really says chummy. Never been so insulted and makes off in a huff. He'd have been better staying in it, rather than mounting his trusty Cessna for not many minutes later he nearly causes a pileup onthe runway taxiing out and lining up just as a Twin Bonanza is about to land.

Small time air displays and PPL pilots...a recipe for mayhem

[WannabeCrewman]

Is it true that after the 1993 RIAT 'bump', one of the two Russian pilots sparked up a tab, walked over and smacked his colleague square in the nose?

Heard that from a few people but its always been one of those stories started with "Apparently..."

[FantomZorbin]

That is correct ... a colleague of mine had to separate them!

[ABX]

Apologies for the gaff, dangers of posting in the early morning after a long day...

Best to all.

[Finningley Boy]

If my memory serves me right, I believe I saw the G222 at RIAT grind it's nose into the main runway, certainly in 2002, on the Saturday, and previously I think in 1998 or there abouts?!:}

Following the 2002 incident I was in the Hotel dining room on the Sunday morning and asked an older gentleman and fellow spot... aviation enthusiast if he was heading back for the second day. No he told me in complete disgust. He complained "they didn't do half the stuff they said they were going to do" not strictly true of course. But when I reminded him that there had been a G222 unexpectedly stuck on the Runway, he roared that the pilot "should have been court-martialled for that"

My point is, I'm not sure if he meant for busting a G222 or spoiling your man's day????:confused:

FB:ok:

[BEagle]

Thank you, ABX.

I've deleted my comment.

[green granite]

I believe I saw the G222 at RIAT grind it's nose into the main runway

YouTube - G-222 crash at RAF Fairford 2002 www.globemaster.de (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5IZFobV5G0)

[dead_pan]

I believe I saw the G222 at RIAT grind it's nose into the main runway


I was in the crowd when it happened and darn near messed me pants as for an instant I thought it was going to veer into the crowd:eek:. Had me in mind of the Buffalo crash at Farnborough - the Giat's spar is obviously made of sterner stuff.

Red faces all around - I never did hear what happened to the crew in question. It was semi-amusing to see RIAT's attempts to keep some semblance of a flying display going after it happened - Hercs being diverted in from Lyneham for a solitary fly-past etc.

[Brian Abraham]

RAF air show pilot has wings clipped - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/7950527/RAF-air-show-pilot-has-wings-clipped.html)

Cock up or just enthusiastic and into it?

[BEagle]

Brain, have you missed http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/422364-hawks-grounded-merged-hawk-display-cancelled.html ? It's been running for quite a while now.

[gopher01]

Also at Abingdon for the S 3 debacle and in fact towed it back to the shed for the US Navy to check it out and on the test flight he managed to blow two tyres. When presented with a nicely mounted piece of the fence from the shippon road on his departure back to the boat the driver was not impressed but the rest of the navy thought it a great move.
The display weekend could always produce some thing good such as the year the Tonka toy came across from Germany to do a static along with the squadron CO. On departing on the friday at tea time to transit back to the FRG as I was sitting in my quarter I heard the familiar sound of a Tornado departing, I had spent a tour on 16 at Laarbruch before Abingdon, followed by the also familiar sound of a double surge followed by a lot of silence! The Tornado bounced in a field one side of the didcot road, bounced over the road and slid along the field the other side, There were a rather muddy load of Rover courtesy cars the following day as every body charged off to try and find the plane. never a boring day!

[Finningley Boy]

B of B day at Wattisham in the mid 50's.

In preparation for the crazy flying display by a Chippy, the commentator built up a story about a prisoner who had escaped from a nearby jail, and was believed to be heading this way

Sure enough, at the right moment, a denimed figure burst from the crowd and leapt into the Chippy parked in front of the public enclosure. The guy who had been crouching in the other seat out of sight to the crowd, promptly fired the cartridge and away they went.

It lurched around a no more than 200ft for a while the commentator kept saying "oh dear he cannot fly" etc etc.

They then did a horrible flat skidding turn in front of the officers enclosure while the commentator said " oh, he's going to stall", and they did, "Oh, he's going to crash", and he did.

It hit the ground in a more or less level attitude, the undercarriage spronged off, the wings sagged, and a distinct kink appeared in the fuselage just behind the canopy.

As the dust settled the two guys got out and walked off, closely followed by the Groupie who did not look very happy.


This is referred to in my book The Royal Air Force At Home. The Chipmunk was; WP806 of the Station Flight. The incident was on 17th September 1955.:ok:

FB

[ACW599]

Is there any truth in the story about the solo display JP rehearsal at Linton at the time of a well-known advertising campaign? The standard version is that the aviator got a low-level barrel-roll wrong and smacked the aircraft down moderately hard on the runway, whence it slid along shedding bits of itself. When it finally stopped, the Station Commander (who had been watching the display) is supposed to have turned to OC Flying and observed "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label".

[spekesoftly]

Is there any truth in the story about the solo display JP rehearsal at Linton ...............

If it's the accident I suspect (Linton late 1970s), then I don't think the CO was in any mood for humour. After just failing to pull out from a dive, following a stall-turn, the JP initially impacted the ground in a flat attitude finally coming to rest inverted, with considerable damage especially to the cock-pit area. The pilot suffered severe head and brain injuries. Another very sad one.

[WannabeCrewman]

JEM60: Went to Oshkosh a few years back on a family holiday. Two distinct memories; talking to a local about the airshow, his response was "Ah Oshkosh.... Anyone been killed there this year?". The other was nearly having my head taken off by a P-51 starting up in the warbirds section.

[dhc1chippymunk]

The moment when Red Arrows fans were left red (and blue) faced | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1291520/The-moment-Red-Arrows-fans-left-red-blue-faced.html)
Not sure if it is really a co*k up but quite funny.

[Terenceskipp]

Hi Thermick.
As a very young lad living close to Elmdon in that period, I have some memories of the air display to which you refer.
Remember sitting with "Mom" & family on top of Elmdon park, looking down towards what was then the long runway (now 06 short runway) & a formation of F86's taking off, or overshooting towards us with clouds of black smoke emitting. Always believed these were RCAF sabres. Also canberra formations, Seafire 47's from 1833 squadron RNVR Bramcote & Vampires? 605 RAux Honiley.
Was 7 or 8 at the time, so memory vague.
Have however researched 1949 National Air races @ Elmdon. Fascinating.
Any other displays @ Elmdon?
What about the Hunter allegedly force landed @ Elmdon in mid 50's and languishing in No.1 hanger for repair. Any info on that?

[A A Gruntpuddock]

I was re-reading this thread from the start and came across a couple of references (one of them mine) to an un-publicised trip by a Vulcan over the crowd at Leuchars just before it was taken off the display circuit. It was heading straight towards me in what appeared to be a "deep stall" after a slow, tight turn over Guardbridge.

Just thought I would post a copy of the pic I took - Nikkormat FT3 with a 135 lens. I was doing my own developing and printing, hence the poor quality. On looking at it nowadays, I am surprised at how clear the rudder appears. The beast was at full chat yet there is no heat haze blurring the outline. There was an announcement that the display was being curtailed because of a technical fault. I thought at the time it was a euphemism for 'nearly fried the lot of you' but wonder now if there was an engine failure.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1211/534944087_d1d7000e55_b.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1211/534944087_d1d7000e55_b.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73571158@N00/534944087/sizes/l/in/set-72157600313971739/

[Pontius Navigator]

We had an air display c*ck *p once, on the ground rather than in flight.

Our aircraft was prepositioned at Finningley and we retired for the night back at Waddo.

The next day we set off in good time for our slot only once we reached Bawtry we were emeshed in air display traffic. Northbound traffic was being channeled up the A1 (in those days it ran through Bawtry) and to the main entrance. We branched right and made for the back of the airfield only to be stopped by the police for breaching the traffic plans.

We explained our predicament and had a blue lamp escort to the east gate where we were given priority over the southbound cars at the gate.

The lesson was either stay on base the night before or fly in on the day.

[Pontius Navigator]

Another potential charlie uniform could have had even greater consequences.

We wer to display at Farborough with a mixed formation, Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster. The BBMF was from Coltishall and we were from Waddo. We had never met or practised close formation before we met at Benson.

We formated and proceeded into the hold before making our display at Farnborough. We did a series of passes culminating in a run down the runway and a left bank 180 degree level turn to the opposite side of the crowd. As we were in the turn we flew over the hole in the hangar where a French Atlantic had gone in the day before.

What our pilot had forgotten was the formation width was rather larger than the Lancaster wing span and the Hurricane on the port, downside, was perilously close to the sheds.

We got back to Waddo in time to see our display on the TV in flying clothing.

Again we learnt about displays from that.

[KiwiBoyZac]

Resurrecting the thread, but hopefully the collective feels it's worth it.


3 Regt AAC were on a major FTX on Germany around 1987-88 and had been selected for a visit by about 200 Warsaw Pact bods from the Arms Proliferation Team...
A similar sort of incident, one which I wasn't at but two friends were:


Hughes 500 at a New Zealand airshow giving a spirited display of live deer capture, deer portrayed none-too-convincingly by a 44gal drum towed by a quad bike. Very sharp manouevring by the 500 at very low level (including a quickstop where it almost looks like the tailskid touched the grass every so slightly) chasing the drum up and down the crowdline. After the netguns - one skid-mounted, one held by the shooter - had blatted onto the vicious drum the chopper pulled up close and the shooter stepped off the skid to "restrain" the target. Pilot obligingly backs off to give shooter more room, perhaps forgetting he's not on a hillside and has less clearance than he was expecting...tail feathers and tail rotor fly away, a couple of pirouettes and the world is one 500 poorer. Shooter stands back up wondering what just happened!


As seen in the first video below (uploaded by yours truly, watched endlessly as a child) there were no injuries worse than a couple of scratches on the PIC.

https://youtu.be/U8U6qUEoscc

U8U6qUEoscc

Another angle:

https://youtu.be/ATkwlYN-aIo

ATkwlYN-aIo

[Airbubba]

Another one that gets better every time I tell it ;):




I visited a friend a few weeks ago who lives in the Colorado Springs area. He commanded one of the early F-16 squadrons at MacDill AFB and is a Zoomie (see: Glossary | Air Force Academy (http://www.academyadmissions.com/what-to-expect/how-to-speak-academy/#z)).

...He recalled a flight display timing snafu three decades ago when he was supposed to lead a four ship F-16 Super Bowl flyover. [at Tampa Stadium - Airbubba]

Now, this is no s**t. ;)

He had practiced the maneuver with his wingmen and knew exactly when to start the turn inbound to make a pass for the TV cameras at the start of the National Anthem. Nobody took a knee in those days. :=

There were technical problems with the stadium sound system and the plan was to run a couple of commercials and an interview while sorting things out. The F-16's were told hang to hang loose and they would get a three-minute warning before the music started. Somehow the Star-Spangled Banner suddenly began and nobody told the Air Force.

My friend was in a turn out low over the water and missed the first couple of frantic radio calls to turn inbound. By the time he got the word, the song was half over. Seeing his military career passing before his eyes, he pushed up the power while trying to leave a little throttle for his wingmen to play catchup.

Just as the last notes of the National Anthem were played, the TV camera found the inbound Viper attack. They were still accelerating at a high power setting as they roared over the crowd and then did a pullup to slow the planes before they busted the Mach. It wasn't exactly the gentle banked formation flyby that had been approved by the feds. But the crowd went wild and the General called from Colorado Springs to congratulate Jitney on his spectacular performance. :ok:

My friend was also standing in cadet formation at the Academy in 1968 when the F-105's (at least one anyway) famously went supersonic and broke hundreds of windows.

[Airbubba]

Several of the earlier posts on this thread reference the navigational challenges of American military pilots invited to participate in an aerial display.

One of the better U.S. military jet demonstration teams had a little difficulty getting out of town after the show in instrument conditions back in Y2K. A couple of the planes apparently whizzed through prohibited airspace in P-56B without authorization according to the article. They were probably fortunate that the miscues in DC airspace didn't happen a few months later in the tense post 9-11 environment.

Wayward Thunderbirds Cause Air Scare

By Don Phillips; Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post Staff Writers
May 24, 2000

The Air Force's precision flying team threw the Washington air traffic control system into confusion Monday morning when four of the eight-plane squadron unexpectedly fanned out in different directions in some of the country's busiest airspace and forced air traffic controllers to divert several civilian planes.

One member of the Thunderbirds, flying at 350 knots--about 390 mph--was heading toward a 3,500-foot ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains before controllers determined his location and warned the pilot to climb immediately. Two of the team's planes, high-performance F-16s, apparently violated restricted airspace over Vice President Gore's house.

Surprised air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport scrambled to get civilian airplanes out of the way and make radio contact with the F-16s. The Thunderbirds were supposed to simply fly in formation through the area on their way home to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

At one point as the broken squadron flew west, controllers managed to warn an F-16 pilot flying at 3,000 feet that he was approaching the 3,500-foot Skyline Drive at high speed, ordering him to climb immediately to 6,000 feet. His speed of about 350 knots was apparently a violation of a Federal Aviation Administration 250-knot limit for low-level flights. Another F-16 was located inexplicably flying west over Fredericksburg, 50 miles south of the squadron's intended course.

At another point, controllers at Dulles ordered an American Airlines MD-80 to climb and make a 90-degree right turn, passing one mile horizontally and 700 feet vertically from one F-16. A private plane, a Mooney, passed an Air Force plane within 1.8 miles and 100 feet. Both are violations of the standard separation of three miles horizontally or 1,000 feet vertically.

"It was chaos," one controller said yesterday. "I've never seen anything like that."

Eliot Brenner, a spokesman for the FAA, said the agency had "communicated our concern to the Air Force."

Brenner said controllers did a masterful job under difficult circumstances, and that one F-16 pilot called and "assumed all responsibility and thanked our controllers for their professionalism."

"We're still piecing the story together," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Dave Moody, commander of the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base. He said it was the first time he had ever seen the Thunderbirds fail to accomplish that type of departure.

Controllers' jobs were made unusually difficult because pilots on most of the squadron had not turned on their transponders, which allow controllers on the ground to identify planes on radar and determine their altitude. If the F-16s had remained in formation, only one transponder is necessary under FAA rules, but four of the planes flew far beyond the squad leader and his plane's transponder.

The FAA said the squadron began taking off from Andrews at 11:36 a.m. The flight plan of the squadron, buried in thick clouds, called for the aircraft to fly a mile or more apart in a straight line--called "ducks-in-a-row"--at 3,000 feet. Once airborne, they were to gather into two close formations. They were to be under the supervision of civilian controllers as they made their way home from a weekend of air shows.

The first four, including the jet piloted by squadron leader Lt. Col. John Venable, appeared to gather into a formation as planned and followed the prescribed course over National and Dulles. The Air Force said the squadron, which later made a stop at Scott Air Force base near St. Louis, was still en route to Nellis yesterday and its pilots may not be aware of the FAA's concerns.

As the aircraft passed over National, controllers noticed something odd. Scattered in the miles behind the formation were several large "primary radar hits"--meaning that several unidentified aircraft were in the area with no operating transponder.

When a radar beam hits an operating transponder, the device automatically reports the plane's identity, altitude and other information. Without a transponder, the plane shows up on radar screens as a bright blob called a "primary hit."

Brenner said a National controller asked, "You guys all together?" The squadron commander answered that they were. This apparent misunderstanding caused more confusion.

Meanwhile, F-16 No. 5, flown by Maj. Dean Wright, a former F-117 Stealth pilot, lost radar contact with the first four planes after takeoff, Moody said.

"As a result, he flies a little bit to the northwest of Andrews," Moody said in an interview. "He becomes a little bit disoriented. He begins a slight climb."

Not all the data has been pulled together, he said, but it appears that Wright flew to the north of his planned route, apparently passing over Washington at about 3,000 feet and at a speed of about 350 knots. While that speed appears to be in excess of FAA rules for low-altitude flight in the area, Moody said, the Air Force is allowed to operate F-16s at higher speeds because the aircraft's flight manual calls for that.

The situation became more confused when air traffic controllers addressed Wright as "Thunderbird Four," rather than five, Moody said. "He doesn't know they're talking to him," Moody said, so Wright didn't answer.

Meanwhile, F-16 No. 6 had joined him. By the time controllers figured that the two F-16s were in the area and persuaded them to turn on their transponders, they were over Northwest Washington on a path that likely meant they had violated restricted airspace that includes the sky over the vice president's house.

F-16 No. 7, also without an operating transponder, flashed over Dulles and headed for the mountains. By the time the pilot tuned his transponder to an emergency frequency, a controller saw he was at 3,000 feet with a 3,500 ridge dead ahead. The controller ordered him to climb to 6,000 feet.

The last to take off, F-16 No. 8, somehow flew far to the south. Controllers finally located him flying west almost directly over Fredericksburg.

Eventually, air traffic controllers directed the first six aircraft together at about 11,000 feet. The last two aircraft eventually joined the first six west of Dulles.

Moody emphasized yesterday that the Air Force isn't blaming the FAA for the problem. "The air traffic control guys did a super job," he said.

As for the Thunderbirds, Moody said he didn't see any clear need for a change in procedures. But he added, "We're going to look at our training programs and see if there is anything we can improve."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/05/24/wayward-thunderbirds-cause-air-scare/59cec49e-159a-487c-b7ad-20b76119957c/?utm_term=.421110f580a6

[Pontius Navigator]

Pointing outbound is the display pilot's nightmare when they get the call expedite.

Happened to Ron Dick doing a Vulcan display at Farnborough. I heard he misread the ASI, possibly intentionally, and creamed in at 375kts instead of 275, or maybe 475 if a vague memory of the story was true. This was before the Vulcan had settled in to its low level role and permitted speed were not as well known.

[BEagle]

I heard he misread the ASI, possibly intentionally, and creamed in at 375kts instead of 275, or maybe 475 if a vague memory of the story was true.

And none of the lower deck talking-TACANs bothered to tell him?

:rolleyes:

[Bigears]

A A Gruntpuddock,
As related to me quite recently by the then Tower controller, (who was delighted to finally find someone to verify his story about the crowd-overflying -I was there in the crowd), the Vulcan was slow and got caught out by an on-crowd breeze. They briefly considered evacuating the Tower as it was heading straight towards them at low altitude (but where would you go?- a beast that size is going to get you, regardless :eek: ).

I'll always remember it- blotting out the daylight as it went directly overhead while the engines wound up to full chat- unplanned but utterly brilliant!! :ok:

[wub]

A A Gruntpuddock,
As related to me quite recently by the then Tower controller, (who was delighted to finally find someone to verify his story about the crowd-overflying -I was there in the crowd), the Vulcan was slow and got caught out by an on-crowd breeze. They briefly considered evacuating the Tower as it was heading straight towards them at low altitude (but where would you go?- a beast that size is going to get you, regardless :eek: ).

I'll always remember it- blotting out the daylight as it went directly overhead while the engines wound up to full chat- unplanned but utterly brilliant!! :ok:

I was there too, it went right over the top of where I was standing.

[binbrook]

Navigation is/was always a problem. The programme for the RAFG Open Day at Wildenrath in 1969 (celebrating some NATO anniversary or other) included a Victor tanker hooked up to a couple of Lightnings. Lovely day but it was pretty hazy and the approach was up-sun so he was offered radar, which was politely refused because he had the airfield in sight - and Bruggen got the fly-by.

Otherwise all went well. The star moment was when the VC10 was touching down at the east end just as the solo Lightning ran in over the western boundary. Neat.

[Wander00]

Then there was the Frightening that was authorised for a flypast at Neatishead to mark the retirement of the last Branch Officer wg cdr FC -John Platts? We all sat around at Neaters and frantic calls to the Lightning "where are you?" "Just pulling up between the towers", was the response. Pity really, it was Bacton gas terminal. Lots of irate phone calls ISTR

[Shaft109]

I was a cadet on the infield of the crowd line for the Mossie's display but must've been very close to whoever filmed this clip as the angles were identical to what I remember.

https://youtu.be/Ag5ut3tP3ZM

Ag5ut3tP3ZM

My other recall was the SAR Wessex guys were in the process of scrambling before it hit the ground - they were airborne very sharpish but vaguely recall the crew vaulting the fences etc from different directions.

And as for cock ups I was relaxing on the berm behind a Hunter at Bruntingthorpe CWJ 2009

The Victor wound up and blasted off with lots of dust and lovely hot AVTUR I lost sight of it for a few seconds behind the fin. Then a think bubble appeared above me

"he's been under power for a while"

Just as a girl on my left stood up with her eyes wide I jumped up in time to see it lift off and then land on the grass level with me about 50' to the left of the centreline. Close shave Grommit indeed - if you look closely it flew over some concrete blocks by total luck.

Naturally she didn't want the Vulcan hogging the glory.

https://youtu.be/n3HaeYVlBw8

n3HaeYVlBw8

[Airbubba]

An account of the inadvertent Victor flight in 2009 at Bruntingthorpe from pilot Bob Prothero, the takeoff roll is described 90 seconds into the clip:

TGjPu6DPzWU

Another account of the incident from The Telegraph:

Retired RAF pilot saves bomber from air show disaster

A retired RAF pilot, Bob Prothero, wrestled a Cold War bomber away from a crowd of spectators and houses after his co-pilot accidentally made it take off at an air show.

10:24AM BST 08 Sep 2009

The Victor bomber, named 'Teasin' Tina', was only supposed to taxi down the runway and stop for a photoshoot before returning to the hangar.

But Mr Prothero's 'co-pilot' - an engineer with no flying experience - accidentally hit the throttle and the 75-tonne bomber lurched 150 feet into the air.

Mr Prothero grabbed the controls as the Victor bomber veered off the runway and climbed into the air on a collision course with the crowd and a nearby housing estate.

The 70 year-old, who last flew a Victor in the 1980s and whose flying licence has long expired, brought the plane down safely in a field at the end of a runway without any casualties or a scratch to the aircraft.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched investigation into the incident at the Cold War Jets day at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, near Lutterworth, Leicstershire, on May 3.

A report later blamed the co-pilot, who has not been named, saying he ''froze'' under pressure and forgot to hit the brakes.
Mr Prothero, a grandfather-of-four, described his heroics as ''the most terrifying nine seconds of my life''.

The former RAF Group Captain, speaking from his home in Portsmouth, said: ''I was petrified. There wasn't time to think about anything. Everything was pure instinct on that day.

''It all happened extremely fast. I was shouting at the co-pilot to pull the throttle back. For some reason he never did and I saw the nose rise into the air, I thought 'oh God here we go, how are we going to get out of this one?'

''So I had to make a snap decision: 'Do I try to land the plane or do I fly round in a circle and land properly'? I put the nose down and noticed that we were well and truly airborne but because of the crosswind we were not over the runway.

''I thought, 'where are we and what can we do to rescue the situation'? Thankfully, I managed to pitch the plane back towards the runway and away from any spectators. My only concern was getting the plane down as quickly and safely as possible. It was the most terrifying nine seconds of my life.''

The incident took place during a display at the Cold War Jets day at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome.

In a two-minute video posted on YouTube, the Victor is seen swerving to the left after takeoff and veering back to the right before touching down one-wheeled on the grass verge.

One onlooker is heard asking: ''Should it be doing that?'' while others are heard shrieking in disbelief.

The aircraft is designed to use a drag parachute as a brake, but Mr Prothero didn't have time to deploy it. Instead, he was forced to ditch the plane into a field at the end of the runway, coming to a stop in a cloud of dust.

He said: ''Although I touched down on the grass I still managed to keep it under control. All that was left to do was get out and kiss the ground. Nobody could really believe what had happened. There were people slapping me on the back and congratulating me on not crashing the thing and ruining the day.''

David Walton, managing director of the aerodrome, said: ''It was a brilliant piece of airmanship from Bob. If the aircraft had stalled the day could so easily have ended in tragedy.'
'
The co-pilot, an engineer who works on the upkeep of the grounded bomber, was drafted in to control the throttle for the air show.

The CAA - which launched an investigation because neither Mr Prothero or the co-pilot are officially licensed to fly - confirmed that it will not take legal action.

Ian Weston, head of enforcement, said: ''The aircraft took off because the engineer did not shut down the engines when told to do so by the pilot. The pilot attempted to shut the engines down but the aircraft lifted off.

''The problem arose as a result of the engineer 'freezing' at a time of high stress. This is a recognised state of mind which can affect certain individuals.''

The British-built Handley Page Victor was part of the nation's 'V-Bomber' nuclear deterrent during the Cold War and also served in the Falklands and the Gulf War.

Retired RAF pilot saves bomber from air show disaster - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6156004/Retired-RAF-pilot-saves-bomber-from-air-show-disaster.html)

[Ogre]

Not quite a "cock up" but definately a "whoops".

Many years ago I was "volunteered" to take part in a guard of honour for a little ceremony in a lay-by just off the A98. The site was close to a wartime airfield from which Mosquito aircraft flew some daring missions, and to mark the significance a memorial was being unveiled in the aforementioned lay-by.

To describe the topography, the road was higher than the lay-by, and the fields to the side of the lay-by swept down quite a bit, so by the time the guard of honour were in position we could see through the trees which lined the lay-by and down over the fields.

Part of the ceremony was to be a fly past by a Mosquito, which was either one of the few remaining or the last survivor, and was timed to coincide with part of the ceremony. The lay-by was crowded with locals, old aircrew who had flown out of the airfield and some of the local dignitaries, all looking at us and with their backs to the fields.

When the time approached for the fly-past the guard of honour were searching the skies for the approaching Mosquito. Remember we could see what was happening , the crowd couldn't, so when the Mossie roared overhead at max-chat and what appeared to be 50 feet, there was much confusion in the crowd and a couple of local dignitaries harumphing around the place. Good job the local police closed the road for the actual service..

Mind you the old boys were walking around with great big smiles.

[Tengah Type]

The 1969 Wildenrath flypast fiasco was not quite as Binbrook described in #280.
The practice on the day before was cancelled as the formation was due to descend to the holding point, due to thunderstorms.
On the Sunday all was going well until about 10 mins to the hold when we were diverted some 40 miles south to avoid the Falcons drop. This meant that we arrived at the start of the run in still in a descending turn with two Lightnings plugged in. As we turned into sun the vis was pretty much zero. At this point one of the Lightnings had managed to stay plugged in, but get to about 10 feet from THE POD before he made an emergency break ( it wasn't you was it Binbrook?). The rules at the time were to have both receivers plugged in or both in the refuelling position astern the hoses. Stupidly we tried for the two in contact option. This meant that we were rapidly approaching the airfield as the hose retrailed on the brake, and the receiver then tried to remake contact in the turbulent air. By the time he made contact we were 2-300 yards south of the required track. I called for a 10 degree turn but the captain decided to turn onto the ILS. By the time we had got the bank on and off again we were behind the crowd, not a success but definitely not at Bruggen. I do not remember any conversation about radar.
The 1968 BoB flypast was also a failure as both Lightnings had spoked the baskets, and had to RTB, so we continued the route and flypasts as a singleton.
It was only after we had lost a Buccaneer at the Paris Airshow in 1971 that common sense kicked in and we no longer did flypasts with the receivers in contact.

[RedhillPhil]

Apologies if it's been mentioned, I haven't read the complete thread. Has the Shackleton that scraped along the runway u/c up at the 1957 BoB show in Gibraltar been mentioned? I believe that it was going to do a low and slow when one of the inboards went into overspeed and somehow the same side outboard was stopped and feathered instead.

[binbrook]

TT
I stand corrected. It's a long time ago and you were a participant whereas I was merely an interested spectator in the tower, watching it all go wrong in what seemed like very slow motion.

[SATCOS WHIPPING BOY]

Pointing outbound is the display pilot's nightmare when they get the call expedite.

.
Yes, Happened at Boscombe Down mid 90s at the OM sunset ceremony (might have been a BoB ceremony). We were in the tower waiting for the timing call from the Mess for the tornado to start his run in. Call came through that band were behind schedule and could he delay. This was duly relayed to the pilot (Might have been D... S.......d if memory serves me correctly). Just as he established outbound towards Andover we got the call that all was BACK on schedule. Again duly relayed to the pilot. We watched on the radar as the aircraft came bolting in and it was really shifting. Next call we got was that he was pulling up and wanted higher than the 15,000. This was not a problem as Boscombe had autonomous radar status so he was given an unrestricted upper level.

All fine and dandy. but... Things in the cockpit were not as expected. As the pilot crossed the airfield boundary, his mind was directed to the fact that he was still in full burner and accelerating close to transonic speeds. Throttles were pulled back but there was the risk still of peeling a boom off over the Officer's Mess. Luckily (unluckily some might say) this didn't happen and a perfect dry-power climb ensued - the burners were lit up again briefly to give the desired effect for the spectators below. I watched this from the ATC balcony and damn impressive it looked too :ok:

Found out about how close a boom had been talking to the pilot in the bar afterwards.

PS
I have just read through all the previous posts and the SR-71 tales always make me smile. Reminders of the low pass down Watton High St ..but that is another story. :)

[Prangster]

RR Hucknall, mid 1969, boss and self been prop swinging a Cosmic Wind (small formula wotsit aircraft) hot day, poor engine ventilation under very tight cowling and it just wouldn't catch. With one last disgusted swing before calling off, the blessed thing whirled into life. Now the pilot, he of steely gaze, decided that with the engine running he wasn't going to stop for man nor beast hared off at 45deg to runway, narrowly missing the port wing tip of the BBMF Hurricane. Hauled it into the air causing a sharp intake of breath from the Britannia on short finals.

Satco dancing a fandango on the tower steps screaming at me to 'get his name and reg No I'll murder the.... (not nice word). The Cosmic Wind is by now emulating its name sake and dwindling to a dot.

[Fonsini]

Wing Cmdr John Ayshford was the uncle of an old girlfriend of mine, he is sadly now deceased, and I spent many happy hours talking about his flying years with him. In his younger days he had been a Meteor display pilot and he recalled one incident where he was so exhausted at the end of a routine that a maneuver requiring him to fly down the runway and perform a low level roll resulted in him rolling inverted and then staying there (a hesitation roll perhaps ?) - he flew down the runway unable to roll upright until out of sight of the airfield. On landing he exited the cockpit somewhat embarrassed but was met with cheers from the crowd who thought his inverted flying was amazing.....

RIP John.

[LOMCEVAK]

SATCOS WHIPPING BOY,

Good memory!!! It was in a clean F2 and it was just about technically night. The plan was to fly over precisely as the band stopped playing. The pilot had declared that once past the IP (near Andover) he would be committed. The call of 'Leaving the IP' was made but then a '2 minute delay' request came about 5 secs later. Pilot thinks 'I can do that'. The 'back on time' call from ATC came after almost exactly 180 deg of turn. Significant use of reheat, g, manoeuvre flaps and slats and expletives ensued. The run had been planned for 350 KCAS to allow for timing adjustments. Other than expletives (and wholly unjustified cursing of ATC!) the next thing said was ".98" from the back seat. Reheat cancelled, pull up over OM, select max reheat again (but only one lights due to short time since cancelling it), remember something being said about "150" but reply transmitted that well above that by then! And despite that only 25 secs late overhead.

The suspicion was that the SAOEU had set this up as a spoof but it was a genuine misjudgement by the gentleman making the timing call with respect to how long the band had left to play.

Happy days.

[SATCOS WHIPPING BOY]

There are some things in life that will leave a lasting impression. Having watched many swept tonkas display across the screen and leave an afterglow trail, when you see one leaving dots that would be more at home on a Pac Man game you know it is going to be something special :-)

The gentleman on the timing radio was the Tower WO, a top bloke. His excuse was that the band gave him the wrong time duration for their musical interlude. I may be wrong but the "0.98" was supported by the scream of "BURNERS!"

Great tour, great memories and great people.

[Airbubba]

Apologies if it's been mentioned, I haven't read the complete thread. Has the Shackleton that scraped along the runway u/c up at the 1957 BoB show in Gibraltar been mentioned? I believe that it was going to do a low and slow when one of the inboards went into overspeed and somehow the same side outboard was stopped and feathered instead.

I passed though Gib in the late 1970's in a U.S. Navy plane. The BOQ or Officer's Mess or whatever it was called was near the front gate and the bands competed on either side of the border during morning flag raising ceremonies.

We had a few pints with our generous RAF hosts and a couple of airshow tales emerged.

Someone told me a Shackleton airshow story, perhaps an embellishment of the 1957 incident described above. Or, was this another incident?

Supposedly the AEW Shack was doing the Gib airshow and was making multiple passes, feathering an engine each time until the last pass which was planned to be a high speed run with only one engine screaming at full power. As they set up for the last pass, one engine was feathered, inadvertently the other was shutdown and a four engine glider sailed past the crowd and ditched in the Mediterranean off the end of the runway. :eek: The crew got out and attendance was twice as high at the next year's airshow. Or so the story went. ;)

Also, I was told of a Phantom driver trying to upstage an in progress Harrier demo with an unscripted high speed pass at an airshow or VIP performance somewhere. The planes collided but the pilots got out. This sounds a lot like an account posted here years later by fantom.

[Yellow Sun]

A short explanation of the vagaries of the Vulcan fuel system is necessary to understand what went on on this occasion. The 1&2 tanks were in the forward fuselage and their pumps were the ones on the essential bus bar. Thus, if it all went t.. u.. that's where you wanted the bulk of your fuel. The auto refuel catered for this at part loads and the normal tank use sequence in flight also allowed for it. Thus as fuel was used the centre of gravity moved slowly forward. No problem in flight, but it was desirable to have it a bit further aft for landing in order to improve pitch control.

At the time of the incident, late 1960s, it was normal practice to switch on the fuel transfer pumps at some point late in the display to move the c of g into an optimum position for landing. Switching the pumps off was covered in the pre-landing checks. So far so good.

On the day in question, instead of taking off and going straight into the display or commencing after a shortish transit we had a long transit to perform our first display and an even longer one before the next display after which we would land. Therefore our fuel load was a higher than normal on departure.

The first display was uneventful and we duly arrived for our second show of the day in good order. The c of g was a bit further forward than usual but we had thought about this and agreed that we would turn on the transfer pumps a bit sooner than usual in the sequence. The first caution was here, we were going to do something different from normal during a display. On arrival at the hold we were informed that there was a 6 minute delay on our display time. Fine, now came the bright idea! Let's transfer some fuel now and then we can revert to normal in the display. Second caution, don't do anything you haven't thought about or practised! No sooner had we started to transfer fuel than the hold was cancelled and we were needed on stage as soon as possible.

The display went OK but something seemed slightly different about the aircraft. When it came to the point when I would normally switch on the transfer pumps I realised why. They had been on since leaving the hold and the c of g was well on its way back to Waddington all on its own. The aircraft was now getting decidedly "twitchy".

I quickly reversed the transfer pumps in an effort to retrieve the situation, but the approach was interesting and the flare at light weight even more so!. Once on the ground the nose wheel felt disturbingly light as we taxied very gingerly to our parking spot. We were still transferring fuel forward when we arrived.

What did I learn that day? Well the practice of putting on the transfer pumps during the display wasn't really that clever. It probably wouldn't be done now, but that's what we did back then. But most importantly, don't do anything in a display that you haven't thought through and thoroughly discussed beforehand and don't do anything that you haven't done in practice. Even the most innocuous things can catch you out.

YS

[Wander00]

Who mentioned Watton High St? Not display related, but came out of an instrument approach on a misty night and so delighted to see lights I lined up on them - just for a moment or two.......before I realised it was the street lights

[Pontius Navigator]

AirBubba, no Shackleton AEW was lost until one piled in up in Scotland.

[Airbubba]

AirBubba, no Shackleton AEW was lost until one piled in up in Scotland.

Thanks, with the accents and the beer I probably got an exaggerated version of the 1957 mishap. Or, some other airshow ditching of a large propeller plane. I do remember passes done with some of the engines feathered on four engine prop planes at airshows in those days.

And, for the F-4 vs. Harrier story, fantom has previously posted these pictures:

http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/522117-raf-f4-phantom-70-s-2.html#post8011614

I can't find any record of a corresponding RAF Harrier loss, was it repaired perhaps? Was the Harrier really doing a demo at the time?

[RedhillPhil]

AirBubba, no Shackleton AEW was lost until one piled in up in Scotland.


Just done some digging. The Shackleton in the 1957 Gibraltar adventure was an MR2. WL 792 of 224 squadron. Date was 14th September 1957. The starboard outer went into overspeed and the co-pilot put his hand up to stop the engine as the captain did the same with the result that the captain's hand was deflected onto the engine stop for the starboard inner. T'would seem that both hydraulic pumps are on the starboard engines. With only flaps deployed the captain elected to do a wheels-up.


As a mere layman I'm puzzled as to how and why the good engine on the starboard wing couldn't be re-started. I was under the impression that a Shackleton could fly on two engines, indeed I've seen video of a Saffer one doing a flypast on one.

[Haraka]

Airbubba's 4,3,2,1,...0 story may have had it's origins in an incident at a display at RAF St Eval in the very early 50's when a Coastal Command Lancaster did almost that. In this case, however, the recovery was successful, albeit below cliff height ,and the Lancaster exited at low level over the sea.

[Pontius Navigator]

Or the Lincoln at Farnborough with 4 feathered.

Leave you experts to Google that.

[hoodie]

Don't need to Google it: I remember the turboprop in the nose from when I was a nipper. :8

[Airbubba]

Airbubba's 4,3,2,1,...0 story may have had it's origins in an incident at a display at RAF St Eval in the very early 50's when a Coastal Command Lancaster did almost that. In this case, however, the recovery was successful, albeit below cliff height ,and the Lancaster exited at low level over the sea.

Or the Lincoln at Farnborough with 4 feathered.

Thanks, Lincolns and Lancs were indeed mentioned in the conversation four decades ago. About half of our discourse was mutually intelligible due to accents and acronyms. And as I said, the beer. :ok:

[BEagle]

My last trip in the FunBus before CFS-lobotomy was a sunset ceremony flypast at Brize....

We'd been given absolute assurance by the band that they'd play for exactly the stated length of time, plus or minus a few seconds. So the plan was to have a mate ('Sumo' - more polite than his other nickname 'Hiumper') on the roof of the OM in UHF contact to give us a call as we left the holding orbit somewhere south of Faringdon for the run in, adjusting speed against time to go in order to get the ToT spot on.

Mistake 1 was to trust the band. As we turned South in the hold, Sumo called to say that the event was running a whole minute early. Fast thinking Welsh nav (Keith R, sadly now RIP) did some quick calcs, we accelerated to as fast as was allowed-ish and came racing in. Time was catching up nicely as we passed my visual time check points at the Faringdon folly, Clanfield Tavern and finally at the Horse and Groom, Black Bourton we went to idle and adjusted to the run-in height.

But it all looked rather low (the 'K didn't have a rad alt) when approaching the planned height. In fact I could only just see the top of the OM over the trees, so eased it up a bit and went over the parade at idle thrust - I can still remember seeing Sumo taking cover as we whizzed overhead.

To those on the ground it looked rather good though. It was a flat calm balmy summer evening, the Parade Commander was standing at the salute knowing the band had cocked up and hoping for the best, when from behind the trees emerged a silent FunBus going rather well, shortly followed by the vortices causing rather a ghostly shaking and rustling of the trees in front of the parade. The photographer was taken totally by surprise and hadn't managed a single shot.

Fortunately the Stn Cdr thought it was great and never asked why we'd been so low as he plied us with beers at the after event party!

Mistake No.2? I realised some time later what that was - I'd forgotten QFE and was still using the Cotswold RPS. As 289' elevation and a briefed 300' msd rather indicated!

[IcePaq]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjQXn3z7kJw


Check the building's windows as the first plane flies over.

[Fly26]

I was once told a lovely story by my Granddad many moons ago who was a Vampire and Meteor pilot in the 50s/60s. The hard facts I'm sure have distorted with time so if anyone can shed further light it would be nice to hear......

I cannot remember where but on one of the practice days to a weekends display an unknown Meteor pilot was strutting his stuff. When on one of the passes he duely shutdown or idled (not familiar on type) one of the engines and opened the fuel valve trailing vast quantities of the stuff before entering a slow roll. On completion opened the taps to climb away thus relighting the engine and the 100ft plus fuel trail down the display line......(Granddad starts chuckling away) .....I seem to recall he mentioned the pilot was Polish if that rings any bells.

The convosation with the OC after went something like this....."what the bl**dy hell do you call that?" ....the response being a "paraffin roll sir!" OC barks in return "There be no **** paraffin rolls tomorrow!"

I'm not sure how accurate that is but I would imagine today even the thought of such a manoeuvre would telepathically give health and safety and heart attack unless conducted above FL300!

[SnowFella]

I was once told a lovely story by my Granddad many moons ago....

Not that they were C*ck ups but look up the RAAF F111's and it's dump & burn displays. Nice and low with one heck of a flame out the backend. Quite a sight to see to say the least!

[simmy]

I flew up the Mall piloting one of 4 Vulcans on the Queen's birthday in 1973 and 75. I was told that the 1974 flypast flew up Piccadilly. Anyone know anything about that?

[IcePaq]

I saw it as a kid but, being from USA on vacation, I'm not really sure where piccadilly is.

Dad, who is a skyraider pilot (flew #577 in Nam) chuckled and said "I'm not sure that was in the briefing".....but he had a big smile on his face.

I do remember it being super impressive..............as if large manta rays glided over me .................of which a real manta ray had actually glided over me a couple of weeks earlier as I snorkeled around biscayne bay.

Funny thing is that I saw "the incredible Mr. Limpet" starring Don Knotts just a few days before and there was a scene where manta rays were gliding over.

A couple weeks later, I was at church and a guy drove up in a "manta ray" corvette conversion.

It seems odd now, but living on key biscayne in the early 70s had super rare cars abounding and guys like Grover Loening, Eddie Rickenbacker and some other aviation company founders as neighbors

http://www.corvettes.nl/gm_prototypes/manta_ray/files/page43_3.jpg

For an 11 year old kid, that was enough for me to declare the summer to be a "manta ray summer" and I actually found a "manta ray" show car trading card at dulles airport along with the super rare orange flavor "big buddy bubble gum" which was a foot long piece of gum.

Dulles airport shops always had candy variations that I could not find living in miami.

A day or so later, we were at "shuttleworth collection" to walk the museum but there was also a RC model fly-in going on with my favorite plane being a prop driven "me163" which was clearly the fastest and most capable plane there.

He eventually ran into some radio interference which caused it nose in.

Maybe he posts here.

With the great miami air race a few months earlier, this was the greatest summer ever.............for an 11 year old.

The only bad news that summer was eddie rickenbacker passing and not being able to see the unlimited hydroplane races at miami marine stadium............which had me bummed out about going to england..........until the vulcan flyby and the shuttleworth collection.


http://www.showrods.com/images/all_promotions_cards/mantaray

Back to topic.............I do remember dad saying "the vulcans will pass from that direction (pointing) and waiting for the approach to have them suddenly appear not from where he was pointing.

I still love the vulcan to this day because of that summer.........the Victor just plain scared me.

[Pontius Navigator]

At least the Victor had its door in the right place.

[IcePaq]

Once, when an Admiral asked for a VIP flyover of the USS Enterprise, the Air Group was supposed to fly by the VIPs and then the F-4 Phantoms would light burner and accelerate ahead of the formation of Skyraiders. This was suppposed to demonstrate to the numerous VIPs the difference between old and modern aviation technology. At the appointed time, the F-4s entered afterburner, and the SkyRaider pilots, instead of maintaining their power setting, went to full military. Due to the spool up time on the jets, the stately old SkyRaiders kept up with the F-4s until they were well out of sight of the VIPs.

All of those involved said that the subsequent ass-chewing the SkyRaider pilots endured was well worth it.