Canberra Man
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2010
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Hi.
I have a series of stories from my time in the RAF, I'll post one and see what you think.
A Canberra is going on a Nav.ex and I'm out front controlling things. I point to the port engine, the turbo starter bangs, the usual clouds of black smoke and she settles down to idle. I point to the starboard engine and all hell lets loose, the turbo starter explodes, broken turbine blades go through the fuselage into No 1 tank, kerosene pours out onto the still burning fragments of the cartridge and the whole lot goes up! The crew are out in ten seconds flat, they even had their chutes, they had to, if they had lost them they would have had to pay for them! A phone call to the fire section had their brand new fire engine, (fresh out of the box the day before) rushing round the peri track. It squealed to a stop at the blaze and an erk in gents natty asbestos suiting, complete with a big helmet, jumped down and pointed a huge pipe at the conflagration and shouted "Send it froo". The trouble was, noffink came "Froo"! They had been so busy polishing their new toy, no one thought to fill the tank with foam! So, us erks stood in a big circle warming our hands. Shortly, the cockpit coaming and the wheel hubs which are magnezium alloy went up with a bright flash, we just looked the other way. Then someone muttered, "What about the ejector seats". With that, there was a tripple explosion and three steel tubes with the remains of the seats attached went 200 feet up. There were new faces at the fire section in a very few days. The next morning there was a perfect silhuette of a Canberra burnt into the tarmac with two Avon engins in situ.
Ken
I have a series of stories from my time in the RAF, I'll post one and see what you think.
A Canberra is going on a Nav.ex and I'm out front controlling things. I point to the port engine, the turbo starter bangs, the usual clouds of black smoke and she settles down to idle. I point to the starboard engine and all hell lets loose, the turbo starter explodes, broken turbine blades go through the fuselage into No 1 tank, kerosene pours out onto the still burning fragments of the cartridge and the whole lot goes up! The crew are out in ten seconds flat, they even had their chutes, they had to, if they had lost them they would have had to pay for them! A phone call to the fire section had their brand new fire engine, (fresh out of the box the day before) rushing round the peri track. It squealed to a stop at the blaze and an erk in gents natty asbestos suiting, complete with a big helmet, jumped down and pointed a huge pipe at the conflagration and shouted "Send it froo". The trouble was, noffink came "Froo"! They had been so busy polishing their new toy, no one thought to fill the tank with foam! So, us erks stood in a big circle warming our hands. Shortly, the cockpit coaming and the wheel hubs which are magnezium alloy went up with a bright flash, we just looked the other way. Then someone muttered, "What about the ejector seats". With that, there was a tripple explosion and three steel tubes with the remains of the seats attached went 200 feet up. There were new faces at the fire section in a very few days. The next morning there was a perfect silhuette of a Canberra burnt into the tarmac with two Avon engins in situ.
Ken
