some jerky movement came back into the
ailerons. Using both hands I recovered to
controlled flight and brought the aircraft home
in one piece, despite the hook jumping the
approach-end arrester cable and only having
the left brake available.
Fortunately, the brake ’chute, combined
with a crosswind from the right just kept
me on the runway. I needed a stiff brandy
after that one. It really shook me up. They
awarded me a Green Endorsement, just one
short of a medal of some sort.
In August 1974, I bade farewell to the
Lightning having accumulated more than 1,000
hours. I was posted to the Tactical Weapons
Unit (TWU) at RAF Brawdy in Wales, flying
the Hunter. A delightful aircraft, but to be
totally honest I did not relish the role, giving
instruction in the two-seat T.7. I was always
much happier in the single-seater, flying battle
formation; combat; or chasing the students low-
level to find out where they really went, rather
than where they thought they went.
I had many opportunities to practise
air-to-ground weaponry. Another part of the
job that I enjoyed was training army forward
air controllers (FACs). I would fly the unit’s
Jet Provosts during the FAC basic phase,
progressing to the Hunter in the Brecon
Beacons, South Wales, for the advanced
training. But by far the best flying were the very
frequent three-week detachments to Gibraltar
where we kept three live-armed Hunter FGA.9s
for QRA and reconnaissance. It was on one of
those detachments that I fired all four cannons
at once. The smell of cordite and the vibration
was something to experience.PHANTOMS
In June 1977 I was posted to the Phantom
at RAF Coningsby. My life-long dream
was to fly on the Battle of Britain Memorial
Flight and I saw this posting as a foot in the
door. Unfortunately, having just finished
my conversion, my posting was changed toRAF Leuchars where 43 Sqn desperately
needed an experienced pilot. My dream was
shattered.
On my third sortie with them I had a
massive control malfunction at high speed on
take-off and both my navigator and I ejected.
I severely fractured my spine on ground
impact, resulting in four months off flying.
Other than that, it was back to air defence
and the QRA routine much as it had been on
the Lightning.
The Phantom was certainly a very capable
aircraft; loads of fuel; great radar and plenty
of weapons. It showed up the Lightning’s
deficiencies. However, it was not my favourite
aircraft for handling.As soon as you pulled hard in combat
you had to centralise the aileron and rudder
around turns, otherwise the aircraft would
depart controlled flight. Our USAF exchange
officer once described its high-level, subsonic
handling as “...like balancing a ball bearing
on the edge of a razor blade”.
During that tour I intercepted another 17
Soviet bombers, fired the SUU-23/A gun; and
fired a Sparrow missile. I never managed to
fire the Sidewinder to complete the full set.TORNADO
My time was up with air defence and in
February 1980 I was posted to the RAF’s
Handling Squadron at Boscombe Down.http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 45No.63 Sqn staff of the Tactical Weapons Unit at RAF Brawdy in 1977. Steve Gyles is fourth from the left on the front row.
Crown copyright 1977Above: Flying a 19 Sqn Lightning F.2A over the Mohne Dam in West Germany in 1973. Tony Paxton
Below: Entering the barrier at 70kts in 19 Sqn Lightning T.4, XM973, on November 20, 1972 after
an hydraulic failure. Crown copyright 197242-47_raf_close_encountersDC.mfDC.mf.mfDC.mf.indd 45 30/11/2017 13:41