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Post by FlyNavy on Jun 29, 2007 22:21:00 GMT 12
Are these camo chaps 'airfield guards'?
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Post by Bruce on Jun 29, 2007 22:32:49 GMT 12
At last the truth is out - the REAL reason for the bent refuelling probes!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 29, 2007 22:52:09 GMT 12
The morning sunrise shot on the other Skyhawk cover is great though isn't it?
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Post by phil on Jun 30, 2007 9:34:32 GMT 12
Are these camo chaps 'airfield guards'? No. they are members of 75 sqn maintenance flight on STO training. STO (Survive To Operate) was a ground defence course we all did. It involved a couple of days of classroom work, then deploying a Skyhawk to a remote corner of the airfield, camouflaging it and living in tents for a couple of nights while defending it from marauding armourers, who shot at you, threw bottles, smoke grenades and thundies and generally made a nuisance, culminating in a 'surprise' assault on the defended position at dawn. It was generally conducted in NBC kit as can be seen here, although the guy sitting on the probe has his NBC jacket removed, and when the smoke was deployed you had to yell 'gas, gas, gas' and get your respirator on and carry on shooting. I have to ask, should that army man be doing chinups off the refuelling probe? Why is it that when people see us in DPM they automatically assume we are army? The most blatant example was when that girl wen missing at Piha when the cops called her a taxi instead of sending a patrol car. On the news were guys in DPMs with bright yellow vests with 'AIR FORCE' on the back, as the news reader told everyone how the 'Army' had been called in to help! Grrr.... Almost as bad as 'Army Helicopters'!
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Post by FlyNavy on Jun 30, 2007 9:47:47 GMT 12
Phil, Sounds exactly like an incorrect Australian Media news report would sound. :-) Perhaps names of the 3 services would be interchangeable. Phil.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Jun 30, 2007 9:58:13 GMT 12
I have to ask, should that army man be doing chinups off the refuelling probe? The Skyhawk refuelling probe is actually very strong and there is no problem with several people swinging off it, even walking on it. In fact it is the preferred method of exiting the aircraft if there is no ladder available (eg in an emergency egress on the ground). You climb out of the cockpit, stand on the RH gun blast deflector and external fuel pipe that runs along the RH side of the fuselage under the cockpit. You can walk along the pipe quite easily, then swing down (like a monkey!) onto the ground using the "bent" part of the probe like a jungle gym. In the photo the guys (all 75 Sqn groundies by the way - no Army types present) are putting the A-4 back in its "hide" during a 75 Sqn Survive-to-Operate Exercise at Ohakea. There must be a problem with clearance of the tail by the look of it and the guys are applying as much weight to the nose area so the tail clears something we can't see. During STO Exercises the aircraft were operated from dispersed sites around the airfield, with everyone fully kitted out with NBC kit and weapons. During the night the Army (SAS) attacked the sites and the 75 Sqn groundies had to defend it. It was all very realistic and was an initiative of the SQN W/O at the time "Boga" Wright. Everyone who was posted to 75 Sqn from the mid 90's was supposed to go through the STO training before they were considered fully deployable (but I'm sure there were a few people who managed to not do it for whatever reason and still deploy!). The STO training was a pretty intensive 2 week course covering first aid, weapons handling, NBC training, and a lot of field practical exercises, including a night on your own in Santof Forrest sleeping under the stars (it pissed down the night I did it!). You then had to set up a defended area on the airfield which was attacked day and night. Another name for the 75 Sqn dispersed site exercises was "Gunrunner". During those the deployable bulk fuel installation was used to hot refuel the A-4's before they were put back in their hides. RAAF F-111's often came over for the Gunrunner exercises, but their crews slept in barracks and the aircraft operated from the 75 Sqn flight line!
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Post by FlyNavy on Jun 30, 2007 10:01:52 GMT 12
Don, OK, thanks for the explanation. So no probes were harmed in these exercises. :-) Phil.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Jun 30, 2007 10:14:10 GMT 12
Looks like Phil was replying here at the same time I was! Anyway here is another photo of the guys fully kitted out in NBC gear during Exercise Gunrunner 95. The A-4 hide is on the airfield perimiter road. And this one of the 75 Sqn Knucks taken in 1998 shows how a pilot would egress the cockpit using the probe! The pilot on the probe getting excited is Tails for those who know him!
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Post by FlyNavy on Jun 30, 2007 10:31:54 GMT 12
Posers. :-) I had forgotten that this photo is in "Topped Gun" - names from that source also. NZ6215 was former RAN FAA A4G 871. Whilst NZ6212 was formerly RAN A4G 883. Phil.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 30, 2007 12:43:38 GMT 12
Sorry for upsetting the 75'ers with my tongue in cheek, facetious joke. I was not being serious. I realised he was RNZAF right off, they'd NEVER let a grunt that close to something so technical. Perhaps I should have used speech marks around "Army men" (the way three year olds and the media refer to anyone military) and smileys Great photos though Phil and Phil. I hope you enjoyed the article Don.
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 2, 2007 13:02:26 GMT 12
Doesn't RNZAF mean "Royal New Zealand Army Flyers"? ;D
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