Remembering

Weescotty · Post by **Weescotty** » 19 Jan 2007, 23:20

Was just thinking about some of the more colourful events of my past military carreer -

1) Watching a Chinook bring in a Lynx that had been hit by small arms fire in N. Ireland.
It started to swing as the Chinook pilot came in over the pan, so he jettisoned it.
A Lynx doenst bounce very well from 15ft.

2) Ballykelly's pan getting flooded and watching someone windsurf across it.
Is N.Ireland the only country in the world where the water table seems to be above ground level?

3) The living accomodation in Aldergrove - Condemned in the 60's was still in use by 665/655 sdns in the mid 90's!!!
Nothing like a Chinook doing a low fly over and feeling the walls, (hell the whole building) move.

4) T-Shirts with - "I'll sign for it" as a slogan across the front.

5) Patches with a Bat and "Paddy Don't Surf" (ref to apocalypse now) on them.

6) Lynx XZ666 - Better known as "Damien", and carried the name for a very short while on the door, until the higher ups noticed it and had it removed BOOOOO.

7) Gazelle XZ321 - Better known as "Dusty Bin"

8 ) Doing a Lynx engine change just to look busy for the then Secretary of State for defence, Tom King's visit.

9) Borrowing Anneka Rice - Was temporarily waylaid to Oakington after asking for help in one of her challenges.

10) Coming back to Oakington via Brize Norton after a 6 month det in N Ireland and finding no driver to pick me up.
So I called the sqn clerk at Oakington to find a Lynx was returning from Middle Wallop and he was going to pick me up.
So there I am waiting for it to arrive.
Announcements going out about General so and so your car has arrived and the driver will meet you up soon, or Brigadier so and so you car has arrived.
Then I hear Corporal XXXXX your aircraft has arrived and the pilot will come and get you.
The look on everyones face will stay with me for a lifetime.

Holy Cheese · Post by **Holy Cheese** » 20 Jan 2007, 09:07

Heh heh - I wouldn't have minded borrowing Anneka Rice for a few hours

You might need to explain "Dusty Bin" to our American cousins, though

VulcanDriver · Post by **VulcanDriver** » 20 Jan 2007, 10:39

For those that missed one of the UKs most c*ap game shows called 3-2-1 and used a robotic dust bin (trash can for our US friends) here is a link:

http://www.ukgameshows.com/page/index.php/3-2-1

John

CelticWarrior · Post by **CelticWarrior** » 20 Jan 2007, 16:58

Weescotty, have you been following me? Judging by your post I was there for each of those things. Maybe it's me that's been following you. I'm just going on a hunt for pics of the Ballykelly windsurfing and canoing.

Weescotty · Post by **Weescotty** » 20 Jan 2007, 18:39

CelticWarrior wrote:Weescotty, have you been following me? Judging by your post I was there for each of those things. Maybe it's me that's been following you. I'm just going on a hunt for pics of the Ballykelly windsurfing and canoing.

Wou weren't a bat were you?
Guessing you were either a blackie or greenie.

For those who don't know - a bat was the nickname used by some for us Aircraft Techs and came from the initials Bastar* Air Tech.

Between detatchments and a posting I spent about 5 years out of my 9 at Aldergrove.

In order -
Oakington
Topcliffe
N. Ireland
Deathmold oops I mean Detmold.

Trying to remember the name of the stripey who did windsurf across Ballykellys pan.