.... watching the news coverage of the restored Vulcan [XH558]
yesterday (Wednesday) prompted me to look at the footage on the BBC
web site of take-off/landing at Cottesmore ..

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7351628.stm

The headline paragraph for this piece starts .... "Shrouded by early
morning mist, (etc) ..."

Reminded me of the morning back in the early 1980s when I was a
forecaster at RAF Finningley/EGXI (now Robin Hood/DSA/EGCN). We had
routine TACEVALs (Tactical evaluations for NBC warfare) which often
involved a flight of AVRO Vulcans being detached to us (from Scampton)
to use the old dispersal points on the northern (village) end of the
airfield - these dated from the time FY was a Bomber Command/'V'-Force
airfield, rather than a training base.

As the airfield worked through the cold-war scenario which ended with
most service staff hunkered down against NBC threats, we ended up on
the final morning with the Vulcans performing a massed take-off not
long after dawn to return to Scampton. One particular occasion it
wasn't 'mist', but extensive fog (technically fog, though in fact it
was quite shallow, even if not coded as such). As we were on top of
the Electronics Wing, we could see the tail-planes of the assembled
'fleet' lining up ready for take-off - presumably they could see the
runway sufficiently even if we couldn't! Scampton was clear, as were
appropriate diversions, so the 'green' was given and away they went -
IIRC, at least four of the beasts. The fog didn't last long after that
lot lifted into the sky as they effectively stirred down the
unsaturated air above the fog into the boundary layer with their
delta-shaped wings, plus the input of heat from full-thrust of four
engines on each aircraft taking off in a simulated QRA launch.

A stirring site even if the reason for it was rather menacing - seems
so long ago now - a different age, yet no more than 25 years ago.


Martin.


--
Martin Rowley
E:
W: booty.org.uk

On Apr 17, 9:38*am, "Martin Rowley"
wrote:
... watching the news coverage of the restored Vulcan [XH558]
yesterday (Wednesday) prompted me to look at the footage on the BBC
web site of take-off/landing at Cottesmore ..

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7351628.stm

The headline paragraph for this piece starts .... "Shrouded by early
morning mist, (etc) ..."

Reminded me of the morning back in the early 1980s when I was a
forecaster at RAF Finningley/EGXI (now Robin Hood/DSA/EGCN). We had
routine TACEVALs (Tactical evaluations for NBC warfare) which often
involved a flight of AVRO Vulcans being detached to us (from Scampton)
to use the old dispersal points on the northern (village) end of the
airfield - these dated from the time FY was a Bomber Command/'V'-Force
airfield, rather than a training base.

As the airfield worked through the cold-war scenario which ended with
most service staff hunkered down against NBC threats, we ended up on
the final morning with the Vulcans performing a massed take-off not
long after dawn to return to Scampton. One particular occasion it
wasn't 'mist', but extensive fog (technically fog, though in fact it
was quite shallow, even if not coded as such). As we were on top of
the Electronics Wing, we could see the tail-planes of the assembled
'fleet' lining up ready for take-off - presumably they could see the
runway sufficiently even if we couldn't! Scampton was clear, as were
appropriate diversions, so the 'green' was given and away they went -
IIRC, at least four of the beasts. The fog didn't last long after that
lot lifted into the sky as they effectively stirred down the
unsaturated air above the fog into the boundary layer with their
delta-shaped wings, plus the input of heat from full-thrust of four
engines on each aircraft taking off in a simulated QRA launch.

A stirring site even if the reason for it was rather menacing - seems
so long ago now - a different age, yet no more than 25 years ago.

Martin.

--
Martin Rowley
E:
W: booty.org.uk

Of course, in WW2, as I'm sure you know, with your experience,
airfields were cleared of for by burning diesel on either side of the
runways. It wass horrendously expensive. Tens of thousands of gallons
were burned on a single airfield in one night, but it kept many
returning pilots, low on fuel at the end of a raid, alive. Must have
been something watching the Vulcans leave. The new Eurofighter
performed at the Dawlish carnival last year, as did the superb Red
Arrows. What a noise and that thing can turn right angles, I swear!!

Paul

On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:09:56 -0700 (PDT), Dawlish
wrote:

Of course, in WW2, as I'm sure you know, with your experience,
airfields were cleared of for by burning diesel on either side of the
runways.

This was FIDO, Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation.

The fuel was, in fact, petrol usually obtained from the airfields own
fuel dump.

During the war I lived near Blackbushe where a lot of the development
was carried out and can remember seeing the glow in the sky when the
system was under test.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog_Inv...n_%28FIDO% 29

--
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/weather

On Apr 17, 12:17*pm, Alan White

This was FIDO, Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation.
The fuel was, in fact, petrol usually obtained from the airfields own
fuel dump.
During the war I lived near Blackbushe where a lot of the development
was carried out and can remember seeing the glow in the sky when the
system was under test. *
--
Alan White

snipped various

... For a full and highly readable account of FIDO, I can recommend
"Flying through fire, FIDO - the fogbuster of World War Two", by
Geoffrey Williams.

Hartfordbridge (later, after D-Day, Blackbushe) was used as a civilian
back-up to Manston in it's FIDO role until 1958, though according to
this publication, the last 'operational' use of the installation was
much earlier.

Martin.
--

On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:38:38 GMT, "Martin Rowley"
wrote:

A stirring site even if the reason for it was rather menacing - seems
so long ago now - a different age, yet no more than 25 years ago.

I can remember seeing Roly Falk rolling a Vulcan at the 1955 Farnborough
Air Show. They were exciting times for anyone interested in aircraft.

--
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/weather

in 246457 20080417 100956 Dawlish wrote:

Of course, in WW2, as I'm sure you know, with your experience,
airfields were cleared of for by burning diesel on either side of the
runways. It wass horrendously expensive. Tens of thousands of gallons
were burned on a single airfield in one night, but it kept many
returning pilots, low on fuel at the end of a raid, alive.

That was FIDO and it was still installed (though I never saw it used)
at RAF Marham when I was stationed there in the late 50s / early 60s.

(Marham was aka El Adem with grass)