Airforces

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #367 OCTOBER 2018 // 49

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The case of the

‘missing’ King Air

On p8 of the June edition in an

item entitled RAF retires King Air it

is stated that eight King Air B200s

(ZK450 to ZK457) were delivered

to No 45 (Reserve) Squadron.

In fact, ZK457 was never part

of No 45(R) Squadron but was

instead operated by the Foreign

and Commonwealth Office.

Col Nicol, ex RAF No

45 Squadron QFI

Close call at

St Athan

The ejection seat article (Bang!

You’re Alive, June, p30-34)

brought back vivid memories of

an incident while I was a team

leader on the Hawk Maintenance

Flight (HMF) at RAF St Athan,

Wales back in the late 1990s.

One hot summer afternoon the

tannoy announced: “Emergency

State 2, Hawk aircraft

inbound, 2 POB, birdstrike.”

As the emergency crews got

ready for the imminent arrival

we in HMF (hangared alongside

the runway) went outside to

watch with morbid fascination.

Very soon two Hawks appeared,

flying in close formation, one

sounding like a very rough

electric hover mower – the ram

air turbine had deployed due

to low hydraulic pressure.

Both jets lined up for approach

on very short finals, one (the

birdstrike victim) landing safely

and the other, acting as wingman,

powering away into the circuit.

Later that afternoon the birdstrike

aircraft was brought down to

our hangar for inspection. What

a mess! The trainer had been

flying low-level and was hit by a

buzzard on the forward port side

of the cockpit transparency. This

totally disintegrated the forward

portion of the transparency and

shredded the bird. Thankfully

the front pilot had his clear vision

visor down, but the bird remains

rendered him unable to see and

also made a complete mess

over the Perspex windscreen

separating the two cockpits.

The instructor in the rear cockpit

took over the flying, calling a State

2 emergency [an incident where

doubt exists about the safety of

the aircraft or its occupants. Crash

vehicles and ambulance deployed].

Forward vision was minimal, so

his wingman acted as his eyes.

Debris from the impact went

down the intake, damaging the

engine (hence the popped RAT)

and ejection wasn’t an option

since the live miniature detonation

cord (MDC) was dangling over

the front pilot’s upper torso.

Thankfully both occupants went

on to fly another day, the aircraft

was repaired by the Repair and

Salvage Squadron and overhauled

by us on HMF so it could fly

again. As for the poor feathered

friend, may it rest in peace.

David Wretham

Pakistan Navy ATRs explained

Above: ATR 72-212 serial 79 at Mönchengladbach on June 14. Rolf Flinzner

The June issue includes a photo

of a Pakistan Navy (PN) ATR

aircraft, describing it as an ATR 42

(Pakistan Navy ATRs in Germany,

p25). According to several military

databases, the PN received

ATR 72-212s. The photo shows

ATR 72 serial 78, soon after its

arrival at Mönchengladbach.

I include a picture of its sister

ship, serial 79, taken during an

acceptance ceremony just before

it was redelivered to Pakistan. The

aircraft was with Rheinland Air

Service (RAS) at Mönchengladbach

where it underwent an extensive

conversion beginning in June 2016.

Rolf Flinzner

Above: Merlins from 845 NAS provided essential safety cover and support to

this annual Ten Tors youth event on Dartmoor this summer. CHF/Kevin Willis

The two Merlins at Ten Tors 2018

(Merlins support Wyvern Tor, July,

p9) in May were provided by 845

Naval Air Squadron (NAS), not

846 NAS as stated. The former

unit covered the event from

Thursday to Sunday and kindly

flew a group of my Air Cadet Staff

colleagues (and gave my ten-

year-old a look round an aircraft).

The two that turned up briefly on

the Sunday from RAF Chivenor

may have come from either unit.

Chris Power

ROCAF attrition clarification

On p28 of the August issue,

regarding the Republic of

China Air Force C-130H fleet

(ROCAF Hercules on exercise),

the text refers to a crash on

October 10, without mentioning

the year, which was 1997.

MSgt Christopher

Dierkes, 106th Rescue

Wing, New York ANG

Ten Tors Merlin unit identified

Laarbruch’s

Tornado

leaders

I have been reading AFM since

the first edition and enjoyed the

‘Tornado tribute’ in the June

issue. I would just like to point out

one thing regarding the timeline

in the Cold War Warrior section

about the deployment of Tornado

squadrons to RAF Germany.

The article seems to suggest

that No 31 Squadron at RAF

Brüggen was the first in

Germany. In fact, Laarbruch

was already close to becoming

the first operational Tornado

wing even before Brüggen

received its first squadron.

In 1984, Nos XV and 16

Squadrons were already formed,

and No 20 Squadron stood up in

May. No II (Army Cooperation)

Squadron remained at Laarbruch

on Jaguars and re-roled in 1989.

Michael Crake

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