Oman photos
Great pictures Tut .
Helicopter question for you . In the first picture what is the black unit on the roof, starboard side looks to be above the pilots head with a duct pointing backwards ? Air conditioner maybe ?
Helicopter question for you . In the first picture what is the black unit on the roof, starboard side looks to be above the pilots head with a duct pointing backwards ? Air conditioner maybe ?
No lotus
Exige Sport 350 (Sold)
Elise Cup 250 (Air con and radio tubby spec) (Sold)
Evora S (sold)
Exige Sport 350 (Sold)
Elise Cup 250 (Air con and radio tubby spec) (Sold)
Evora S (sold)
Custom-mounted Panaflex cameras for the skin flicks he was filming in the back......tenkfeet wrote:Great pictures Tut .
Helicopter question for you . In the first picture what is the black unit on the roof, starboard side looks to be above the pilots head with a duct pointing backwards ? Air conditioner maybe ?
2010 Honda VFR1200F
1990 Honda VFR400 NC30
2000 Honda VTR1000 SP1
2000 Kawasaki ZX-7R
1990 Honda VFR400 NC30
2000 Honda VTR1000 SP1
2000 Kawasaki ZX-7R
Air conditioning was achieved by keeping the doors and windows open.........
Its a winch which all our 205's were fitted with. We always carried an Omani crewman, and could be diverted at anytime to pick up a CASEVAC, or sent as top cover if the Jets were on a strike mission. We always covered each other, so that if one went down we were on hand to pick up the pilot, and if we could not land we would winch him out.
Likewise they supported us with rocket and gun fire when we were putting troops in, or picking up dead and wounded.
That must have been an early photo, as after my first encounter with a SAM 7, we fitted an upwards exhaust deflector on the turbine outlet, and fitted four flare rockets on each side. As the missile was I/R seeking, if the ground troops saw the smoke trail from a fired SAM, they would shout SAM, SAM, SAM over the radio, and any high level helicopters would take three actions. Of course you did not know which one it was aimed at, so we all had to act.
1. Release your external load if you had one.
2. Fire off your eight decoy rockets.
3. Try to break the lock by standing the helicopter on its nose and going into a vertical, spiral dive, and getting upto 6,000ft/min rate of descent.
We practised the latter quite a lot, as if you did not get it correct, you risked ripping your main rotor blades off. Probably my worst moment in the seven years was when my Wingman was shot down by a SAM 7B, longer range, which we did not know that they had. We had been diverted from re-supply to give top cover to the Jets who were doing a strike on the Sarfait caves. We were up at 10,000ft and should have been out of range, but then I saw an explosion and flames from Johns aircraft, and he started spiralling down out of control. I went down behind him in case there was any hope, but then saw the second one fired at me. I broke its lock on, but the proximity fuse detonated the warhead, and the shrapnel took out part of the backend and damaged the tail rotor. There was no way that I could have landed, so had to return to base and do a run on landing.
The Adoo got to the crash site before we could put in a recovery, but as our Helicopters were unarmed, they probably treated us differently than they would have a Strikey pilot. Both pilots and the crewman were killed on impact, but they let us go in later and recover their bodies. We all carried "gooley" packs as we called them, a letter in Arabic, 5,000 Rials, and a promise of much more if they returned us to the Sultan unharmed. Surprisingly we never had to test one out, as Pilots were either recovered before the Adoo got to them, or already dead.
You never get over friends being killed like that, but you had to go back to work the next day, so we had our own routine. We did not use cash in the Officers Mess, we had bar books that we settled monthly, very often not much less than our salary. When we lost a pilot, we would hit the bar when we got back, put all the drinks on his barbook for the rest of the night, and then burn it when we had finished. Tears at first, then reminiscing about the good times, then we would all get legless and be late for the next mornings briefing.
Apart from one bullet in the arm, I came through it all unscathed physically, and time is a great healer, so when we get together at our reunions and start singing all the Squadron songs that we composed (that is another storey), we are inclined to remember the good times and not the bad, and drink to absent friends.
tut
Its a winch which all our 205's were fitted with. We always carried an Omani crewman, and could be diverted at anytime to pick up a CASEVAC, or sent as top cover if the Jets were on a strike mission. We always covered each other, so that if one went down we were on hand to pick up the pilot, and if we could not land we would winch him out.
Likewise they supported us with rocket and gun fire when we were putting troops in, or picking up dead and wounded.
That must have been an early photo, as after my first encounter with a SAM 7, we fitted an upwards exhaust deflector on the turbine outlet, and fitted four flare rockets on each side. As the missile was I/R seeking, if the ground troops saw the smoke trail from a fired SAM, they would shout SAM, SAM, SAM over the radio, and any high level helicopters would take three actions. Of course you did not know which one it was aimed at, so we all had to act.
1. Release your external load if you had one.
2. Fire off your eight decoy rockets.
3. Try to break the lock by standing the helicopter on its nose and going into a vertical, spiral dive, and getting upto 6,000ft/min rate of descent.
We practised the latter quite a lot, as if you did not get it correct, you risked ripping your main rotor blades off. Probably my worst moment in the seven years was when my Wingman was shot down by a SAM 7B, longer range, which we did not know that they had. We had been diverted from re-supply to give top cover to the Jets who were doing a strike on the Sarfait caves. We were up at 10,000ft and should have been out of range, but then I saw an explosion and flames from Johns aircraft, and he started spiralling down out of control. I went down behind him in case there was any hope, but then saw the second one fired at me. I broke its lock on, but the proximity fuse detonated the warhead, and the shrapnel took out part of the backend and damaged the tail rotor. There was no way that I could have landed, so had to return to base and do a run on landing.
The Adoo got to the crash site before we could put in a recovery, but as our Helicopters were unarmed, they probably treated us differently than they would have a Strikey pilot. Both pilots and the crewman were killed on impact, but they let us go in later and recover their bodies. We all carried "gooley" packs as we called them, a letter in Arabic, 5,000 Rials, and a promise of much more if they returned us to the Sultan unharmed. Surprisingly we never had to test one out, as Pilots were either recovered before the Adoo got to them, or already dead.
You never get over friends being killed like that, but you had to go back to work the next day, so we had our own routine. We did not use cash in the Officers Mess, we had bar books that we settled monthly, very often not much less than our salary. When we lost a pilot, we would hit the bar when we got back, put all the drinks on his barbook for the rest of the night, and then burn it when we had finished. Tears at first, then reminiscing about the good times, then we would all get legless and be late for the next mornings briefing.
Apart from one bullet in the arm, I came through it all unscathed physically, and time is a great healer, so when we get together at our reunions and start singing all the Squadron songs that we composed (that is another storey), we are inclined to remember the good times and not the bad, and drink to absent friends.
tut
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tuscan_thunder
- Posts: 1189
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Echo that. Absolutely spot-on.jke11y wrote:Agree with the above, thanks for sharing your stories tut, makes very interesting and poignant reading.
Im having what I thought was a sh1t day, and having read that have realised I dont know how lucky I am.
2010 Honda VFR1200F
1990 Honda VFR400 NC30
2000 Honda VTR1000 SP1
2000 Kawasaki ZX-7R
1990 Honda VFR400 NC30
2000 Honda VTR1000 SP1
2000 Kawasaki ZX-7R
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Novice Racer
- Posts: 367
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:18 pm
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deano15482
- Posts: 604
- Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:04 pm
- Location: working out my sums
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wow tut,
amazing photographs and to hear the story behind them is inspiring.
i was interested in becoming a pilot when i was younger but i never followed it up until recently.sadly i'm apparently too old...i'm only 24 FFS!!
anyway,if my current job application doesnt go to plan i'm looking into the RAF,possibly the weapons engineering side of things
Dean
amazing photographs and to hear the story behind them is inspiring.
i was interested in becoming a pilot when i was younger but i never followed it up until recently.sadly i'm apparently too old...i'm only 24 FFS!!
anyway,if my current job application doesnt go to plan i'm looking into the RAF,possibly the weapons engineering side of things
Dean
Deano
Sad to say that you are over the hill, age is 17.5 to 23.5.
I was at the Career Office a few weeks ago, as my 16 year old boy wants to try and get into the RAF as a pilot, but the odds are very much against him.
He has to have an assessment in Aberdeen in January, and if he passes that, they will send him down to RAF Cranwell in April for the four day selection course.
tut
Sad to say that you are over the hill, age is 17.5 to 23.5.
I was at the Career Office a few weeks ago, as my 16 year old boy wants to try and get into the RAF as a pilot, but the odds are very much against him.
He has to have an assessment in Aberdeen in January, and if he passes that, they will send him down to RAF Cranwell in April for the four day selection course.
tut
ps it might help that Air Chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup is an old friend of mine from my Oman days.
He was out there for three years as a young Flt Lt in Strikey Squadron, and we used to go up together as a pair and kick sh*t out of the Adoo camel trains after I had had a bad day in the helicopter.
He is now Chief of the Defence Staff, the top position in the Armed Forces.
tut
He was out there for three years as a young Flt Lt in Strikey Squadron, and we used to go up together as a pair and kick sh*t out of the Adoo camel trains after I had had a bad day in the helicopter.
He is now Chief of the Defence Staff, the top position in the Armed Forces.
tut
Apoligies been drinking wine .deano15482 wrote:wow tut,
amazing photographs and to hear the story behind them is inspiring.
i was interested in becoming a pilot when i was younger but i never followed it up until recently.sadly i'm apparently too old...i'm only 24 FFS!!
anyway,if my current job application doesnt go to plan i'm looking into the RAF,possibly the weapons engineering side of things
Dean
I assume you do not mean armourer as from what I understand its not one of the most skilled of trades . ( Several ex RAF people and give me the impression its not so good ) . Richard will set me straight.
Not wishing to sound negative but from what I have heard the RAF is not what it used to be . Yes the training is very good but thats it . Plus the big problem is the country is at war in Afganistan and Iraq you could end up out there driving a truck .
If you really want to become a pilot look at the civil side , I know a guy who after a good career in television jacked it in and became a pilot in his late 30's.
No lotus
Exige Sport 350 (Sold)
Elise Cup 250 (Air con and radio tubby spec) (Sold)
Evora S (sold)
Exige Sport 350 (Sold)
Elise Cup 250 (Air con and radio tubby spec) (Sold)
Evora S (sold)