surrounding him on the runway. After completing checks on the engine and checking verbally with Todd, Stumpy called,
‘Red, rolling,’ and released the brakes.
Todd’s main job for the next thirty seconds was to monitor the aircraft take-off sequence. All thoughts of the formation practice went temporarily from his mind.
‘Sixty knots, ’ reported Todd . ‘One hundred knots’, then ‘EMBS!’
EMBS or Emergency Maximum Braking Speed was a speed beyond which the crew would not be able to safely stop the aircraft before crashing into the barrier at the end of the runway.
‘One-forty, one-sixty, one-seven-three knots!’
At which Stumpy gently eased the nosewheel of the ground and the Tornado began its climb into the blue. At this point Todd called,
‘Safely airborne, my radio,’ and called ATC. ‘Red One airborne, to approach.’
Todd swiftly prepared to change the radio frequency whilst monitoring the rest of the take-off sequence.
‘Gear, flaps, wings’, were all standard reminders to the pilot to raise the undercarriage and flaps, followed by sweeping the wings before exceeding the stress limiting speeds.
Todd then looked over his right shoulder as Stumpy started to turn right at one thousand feet. He could see the other three aircraft rolling down the runway and the next four Tornados lining up as briefed. As the fourth bomber lifted off the pilot called,
‘Red Four up,’ and Todd immediately responded with:
‘Roger; Tower, Red airborne - to Radar, good-day; Red 366.9 – go.’
This was the signal for Red formation to switch their individual radios to 366.9MHz. Todd gave them five seconds and then checked them in.
‘Red check,’
‘Two, three, four,’ came the reply almost instantly. Stumpy would now remain at two hundred and fifty knots downwind in order to let the other aircraft catch up. It wasn’t comfortable at that speed but they had no alternative.
About three minutes later Todd got the confirmation he was waiting for.
‘Yellow’s up.’
This meant that the Hercules was airborne and Yellow formation were on frequency. Todd immediately responded with:
‘Purple Check?’ The formation responded as planned.
‘BLUE – GREEN – YELLOW.’
‘All loud and clear – Marham Radar, Purple Formation airborne and proceeding to the holding area.’
Marham Radar answered:
‘Roger, Purple, clear to holding area as briefed, no other aircraft within two-zero miles, call us when ready for recovery. We’ll monitor you on this discreet frequency.’
Todd gave a cursory acknowledgement and turned his attention to the flypast.
***
The fleet of fifteen aircraft cruised out to the holding point about ten miles north of Cromer, and took up their holding patterns separated by one thousand feet vertically. The lead Tornados were at one thousand ascending to the slowest aircraft at five thousand feet. The flypast had to occur at a specified time to coincide with other events during the Royal Visit, so sorting out the arrival time abeam the royal dais was critical. The IP (Initial Point) was the church tower at North Elmham with a navigation check at ten miles from the dais. Todd had worked out the
‘Red, rolling,’ and released the brakes.
Todd’s main job for the next thirty seconds was to monitor the aircraft take-off sequence. All thoughts of the formation practice went temporarily from his mind.
‘Sixty knots, ’ reported Todd . ‘One hundred knots’, then ‘EMBS!’
EMBS or Emergency Maximum Braking Speed was a speed beyond which the crew would not be able to safely stop the aircraft before crashing into the barrier at the end of the runway.
‘One-forty, one-sixty, one-seven-three knots!’
At which Stumpy gently eased the nosewheel of the ground and the Tornado began its climb into the blue. At this point Todd called,
‘Safely airborne, my radio,’ and called ATC. ‘Red One airborne, to approach.’
Todd swiftly prepared to change the radio frequency whilst monitoring the rest of the take-off sequence.
‘Gear, flaps, wings’, were all standard reminders to the pilot to raise the undercarriage and flaps, followed by sweeping the wings before exceeding the stress limiting speeds.
Todd then looked over his right shoulder as Stumpy started to turn right at one thousand feet. He could see the other three aircraft rolling down the runway and the next four Tornados lining up as briefed. As the fourth bomber lifted off the pilot called,
‘Red Four up,’ and Todd immediately responded with:
‘Roger; Tower, Red airborne - to Radar, good-day; Red 366.9 – go.’
This was the signal for Red formation to switch their individual radios to 366.9MHz. Todd gave them five seconds and then checked them in.
‘Red check,’
‘Two, three, four,’ came the reply almost instantly. Stumpy would now remain at two hundred and fifty knots downwind in order to let the other aircraft catch up. It wasn’t comfortable at that speed but they had no alternative.
About three minutes later Todd got the confirmation he was waiting for.
‘Yellow’s up.’
This meant that the Hercules was airborne and Yellow formation were on frequency. Todd immediately responded with:
‘Purple Check?’ The formation responded as planned.
‘BLUE – GREEN – YELLOW.’
‘All loud and clear – Marham Radar, Purple Formation airborne and proceeding to the holding area.’
Marham Radar answered:
‘Roger, Purple, clear to holding area as briefed, no other aircraft within two-zero miles, call us when ready for recovery. We’ll monitor you on this discreet frequency.’
Todd gave a cursory acknowledgement and turned his attention to the flypast.
***
The fleet of fifteen aircraft cruised out to the holding point about ten miles north of Cromer, and took up their holding patterns separated by one thousand feet vertically. The lead Tornados were at one thousand ascending to the slowest aircraft at five thousand feet. The flypast had to occur at a specified time to coincide with other events during the Royal Visit, so sorting out the arrival time abeam the royal dais was critical. The IP (Initial Point) was the church tower at North Elmham with a navigation check at ten miles from the dais. Todd had worked out the
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