Library Reference Number: 134
Ferry Flights
Four F4 Phantom jets took off from RAF Wildenrath in West Germany one morning to fly to Nellis Airbase by Las Vegas in the USA. A night stop at Goose Bay was planned. The flight was led by a rather senior officer and yours truly was number 4. As we approached the first air-to-air refuelling bracket somewhere north of the Outer Hebrides, we were advised that the tanker had been delayed!
A quick check of fuel all round indicated that we couldn't wait for the tanker so the lead initiated a diversion to RAF Kinloss in Morayshire. After refuelling and a coffee, we blasted off and joined up with the tanker.
Fate actually smiled on us for once because our problem happened when we were as close to land as we would be for the next two or three hours. We were heading in a westerly direction some 200 nms south of Iceland when a warning caption announced that the turbine responsible for cooling the electronics had failed. We took the appropriate action and quickly realised that our ability to carry out any navigation was zero! There was also a likelihood that we might lose various other electronics so rapidly came to the conclusion that diverting to the US base of Keflavik near Reyjkavik was infinitely more attractive than stumbling across several hundred miles of Arctic ice flows never knowing what would happen!
A discussion took place with the lead who agreed that we should divert. We politely asked for one of the flight to come with us to Keflavik as we were such a lame duck. Somebody was detached and led us all the way to an uneventful landing at Keflavik. We were there for three days. The US Air Force looked after us very well but the UK Embassy in Reykjavik were unable to honour our letters of authority (to provide money and clothing)!
Eventually, with the jet fixed, we set off as lead of a two aircraft formation to fly to Goose Bay. It didn't pass unnoticed that had we not returned to Kinloss to refuel on the original trip, our turbine failure would have happened whilst we were flying over some of the most inhospitable ocean in the Atlantic.
After our night stop in Goose Bay, we set off to fly to Nellis but along the way, our radio packed up and we had to hand the lead over to our wingman. We subsequently learned that the navigator of that aircraft had very little in the way of maps and had planned just to follow us! Quite how we got there remains a mystery!
Several years earlier, I had learned a valuable lesson about flight planning and, subsequently, no matter what position I had within a transiting formation, I always flight planned as if I was the lead navigator. The lesson had come about when flying as number 3 of a three-ship formation destined for Malta. Somebody else was lead and all we had to do was to follow! There was even a Victor tanker involved with loads of navigation aids.
Abeam Lincolnshire, one of our engines failed and we diverted on our own to RAF Coningbsy. Following an engine change the following day, we were faced with a ferry flight to Malta all by ourselves. I got to know a lot about diplomatic clearances, the F2919 Flight Plan and route planning. Following an air test to check out the new engine, we grabbed a coffee, I filed the flight plan and off we went. We made our way down through France, over Corsica and Sardinia and then on to Malta. This may not seem very exciting but the mark of the F4 which we were flying (FG1) was not blessed with navigation equipment. We arrived to receive a very welcome Hopleaf beer from one of our Flight Commanders on the pan when we shut down!
Going back to the original story, the flight back from Goose Bay to Germany was equally entertaining. As the only aircraft with a serviceable radar, we were assigned fourth position in the formation. The logic was that we would get airborne from Goose last, pick up the tanker and the first three fighters using our radar and then close up with them over the Canadian wilderness.
Guess what happened just after take-off? Our radar failed! It's all a bit vague now but we tried to close on the formation using air-to-air TACAN and what help we could get from the ground controllers. Meanwhile, there were heading and frequency changes being passed to the lead. Once on the same frequency, I requested they transmit for DF bearings but couldn't get a decent steer. Meanwhile, the miles passed and we realised that we were in danger of missing the first refuelling rendezvous. If that happened, we would have no alternative than to return to Goose Bay.
Eventually, the formation lead - another senior officer, got fed up of us bleating from behind so turned the formation around to facilitate a join up. Mindful that we were chasing them at the same attitude, we dropped 500 ft just in time to see the formation going over the top of us on a reciprocal heading! The rest of the flight was uneventful fortunately!