Pull up a sandbag!

[BAWBAG]

Remeber the days when an SAC or JT could tow a jet out of the hanger in a tractor, well I met the WO of RAF MT one year out in the Gulf. He informed us that techies were not skilled enough to do such a task.
He then promptly drove his tug straight into the nose of a Nimrod (see the latest poll about shift systems for a pic) causing a radome Cx nose leg Cx and various other rigger items to be replaced. At the subsequent BoE he got off with it. Rumour has it that he blamed the previous night shift JNCO for not putting the tug U/S.
And who says S**T doesn't flow downhill.

 

[Mighty_Wokka]

Hmm i dont remember any of the lads towing on NLS(S) however its true us Engineers tow everything else with the greatest of ease DT_Xtremez_28:

 

[Line35]

That Towbar, That 'Mighty Hunter'

That Towbar, That 'Mighty Hunter'

I was there at the time on the Vickers Funbus det. The WO in question was distraught after the fact - however........

Most Techies have far more experience at pushing and pulling aircraft around. The only reason for for us not to tow 'large' a/c is that the tug is classed as a 'specialist' vehicle for operation by A class drivers only (i.e. MTD) - which is protectionism really. On dets we regualrly had to tow the Vicky 10 with the large tug when the a/c arrived back before the MT driver did.

At the secret airbase in Oxfordshire we had a (civvy admitedly but ex-RAF) MTD who broke a towbar and hurled it 20 feet away when he forgot to disengage the rear-wheel steering on the tug. 20 feet - and the Shiney 10's towbar is 'kin huge!

Aahh the mighty '10 - try a little VC Tenderness (a BOAC advert from the early '70s)

 

[Billy Whizz]

Had a similar response from an instructor when I did TMT1 and had the audacity to question him when he sprouted off about Technies never towing a/c!

Big jets maybe but haven't seen many MT Drivers turn up at fast jet Sqns at stupid o clock in the morning towing all the jets out. DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[Line35]

And another thing.......

And another thing.......

At Coningsby we even had to teach the MTDs to tow the Tornado F2s and then the F3s when they came into service.

 

[gemarriott]

I remember a fairie getting shot with **** for towing Bucc with with long wheel base rover. He only got caught cos he burned the clutch out.

 

[Line35]

Yeah, so did we

Yeah, so did we

Only we tried towing a Canberra PR9 with a shortie L/R - still got the same result though - funny that.

 

[Line35]

Worst bit though was trying to REVERSE a Puma into the hangar when the L/R with the front hook on went u/s. (.....No you can't have another L/R fitted with a front hitch 'cos youre not scaled and we can't call the duty fitter out at this time of night!).

 

[Billy Whizz]

There must be a problem with L/R clutches as I managed to burn one out whilst snow clearing the Heli-pad in the F/lands. Luckily it was the SeaKing's L/R I borrowed so left it abandoned in the middle of the pan with flashy lights going and f**ked off to tea with the rest of the Chinook boys! Jack Tw*t or what!
DT_Xtremez_30:

 

[Line35]

Had one chap who fancied himself - he tried doing a hand-brake turn in a shortie L/R and then wondered why there were bits of prop-shaft and gearbox all over the pan (for those not in the know, the L/R handbrake used to act on the prop-shaft not on the wheels).

THEN... another bloke showing off in a heli-start tried a quick getaway and wondered why the thing wouldn't move when it was in-gear (snaps the half-shaft every time!).

 

[Mighty_Wokka]

we've used a landy to tow our cabs on occasions, for the most part if theres no tractor on det we just use the HIAB which does the job.

Something ill always remember from my CFS days was seeing this fat welsh lad towing a houchin across the pan - oblivious to the shouts from the offgoing liney shift, who he obviously thought were taking the ****.
In fact he had forgotten to remove a chock from infront of one of the rear wheels (one of those smaller black a/c ones) somehow it had got flipped up when he started moving so didnt prevent him moving off - so he was drawing a nice pretty black line across the pan arf!
good to see the chock worked! ..the one driving the tractor obviously

DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[gemarriott]

Funniest towing incident I ever saw was in Akrotiri on APC with 23 when we had real aeroplanes. (nothing to do with the story but i thought I would mention them)

MT driver bringing his fully laden bowser and trailer bowser at full speed over the little bridge at the side of the Q shed. Wheel of trailer hits side of bridge and flips it over on to it's side. resultant screech of metal only overpowered by Bob Johnson running at full speed screaming trying to stay in front of the sliding bowser.

Oh how all us plumbs did laugh to see such funDT_Xtremez_14: DT_Xtremez_42:

Until we were sent into the bondu to block up the storm drains to prevent the oggin getting pollutedDT_Xtremez_32:

 

[ROTORHEAD]

4 ton towing

4 ton towing

Like the Mighty Wokka, on Field Repair Teams in Germany we used to tow Harriers with 4 Tonners, Atlas/HIAB as a matter of course.
Couple of funny incidents that I have seen were
(1) Watching a Wessex being put into 72s hangar, when a young blerk instead of shouting brakes, put his hand between the rotorblade and the hangar stanchion that it was about to hit. (Made him squeal a bit!)
(2) Lightning just been towed out of Binbrook ASF after a cat 3 repair on it U/C (D) door. Sumpy getting ready for runs dropped of a Houchin, didn't use the brake, so the Houchin ran down the pan and neatly severed the new (D) door. Lightning was then pushed back into its old familiar slot.

DT_Xtremez_30:

 

[HughR]

Sqn MT Drivers

Sqn MT Drivers

In the late 70s we had MT drivers for towing on my Jag sqn. They tended to stay with the sqn so we knew them quite well. And they did have their uses.....

One Friday we wrapped up work (this was Jaguar - 6 o'clock - all jets serviceable) and had a beer call. It got to about half 8 and we're all p***ed but we noticed our pet driver hadn't been drinking much and didn't seem to be taking part in the festivities.

"Come on Taff! Get some beer down your neck!"

"No. I'm not going to have too much 'cos I'll have to tow the one that's on the line into the hangar soon, won't I?".

"What one that's on the line?"

Cue one drunk Chief, one drunk cpl (me) and several drunken lineys peering into the murk and just making out the silhouette of a lone Jag in the distance.

The driver was the only sober one in the tow team.

 

[Partyboyxv]

I've done tours on II and XV and I reckon I can tow a Tornado better than any bloke from MT could ever dream of and I've never come close to pranging one, and thats not the easiest of places on the OCU with up to 30 jets.DT_Xtremez_28:

 

[ExCrab]

I remember at Kinloss, 9 times outta 10, the civvy MT drivers could push a Nimrod into the hangar 1st time. RAF MT drivers, nope, at least 4 attempts and a couple of shear pins each time. We used to stand there thinking we could do better ourselves!!!

 

[Stax]

Vulcan moving crew, circa '78, young Stax is the starboard wing man as the A/C is towed into the MEAS hangar. I screamed brakes! twice as the wing crunched in to the door! The FLM in the cockpit had been playing "pilots" and hadn't taken any notice. The 5hit hit the fan, especially as I was a Stacker, not a liney. (regardless of my skill at fitting TBC's, panel changes and wheel changes!)

 

[BAWBAG]

Nls(s)

Nls(s)

Hmm i dont remember any of the lads towing on NLS(S) however its true us Engineers tow everything else with the greatest of ease DT_Xtremez_28:

AH NLS (S) now there's a real line for you, NLS (N) couldn't manage an hour of SAR some days.DT_Xtremez_14:

 

[fod_plod]

I've done tours on II and XV and I reckon I can tow a Tornado better than any bloke from MT could ever dream of and I've never come close to pranging one, and thats not the easiest of places on the OCU with up to 30 jets.DT_Xtremez_28:

Shut up! Every time I see you in a Hallam with a jet on the back I look away. DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[ROTORHEAD]

Oops

Oops

Bloke on 20 Sqn Jags at Bruggen circa 1980. The Sqn normally had a "Coupe" Douglas turbo Taskmaster with no cab. Standard practice was to drive into the HAS swing round under the ac nose and hook up the towing arm. This day the tractor in question had a pole with a flashing light on top. Oops wheres the pitot probe? Supposed to get his tapes next day "BUGGER!"

DT_Xtremez_42: