Re: spyplane

In message <o3i6t11kkkkl4o2sis04ijin2mcthd0mgi@xxxxxxx>, Dominic Cronin <dominic@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes 
On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 09:29:02 +0000, Graeme Carrott
<graeme@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Yep, they're airborne radar aircraft, and pretty common over the North
East. Some crews carry out practice approaches to Newcastle Airport


So what's the point of that then? Do I take it that they don't
actually take off and land at Newcastle in the normal course of
events. I'm speculating that maybe they would in an emergency, but
that they are big enough to make that, erm... challenging, so the
practice without actually doing it. Or what? How does all that work?

It's common practice for the RAF to carry out practice approaches ('overshoots' if they never touch the runway, or 'touch-and-goes' if they do) at Newcastle and some of the other medium-sized airports in the UK. Virtually every type in the RAF inventory (and some Army Air Corps helos and Fleet Air Arm Sea Harriers) has performed training approaches at Newcastle. There's no full-stop landing involved, so the aircraft doesn't interfere too much with regular scheduled movements (if the Airport is too busy with inbound/outbound aircraft, any unscheduled requests will be turned down - crews often call up via radio out of the blue during their training missions).

Crew-training practice is the main reason, although unfamiliarity with a strange airfield and the possibility of having to do it for real someday are others, plus in Newcastle's case it's one of the local diversion fields (with Leeming) if an aircraft gets into distress off the North Sea or in the low-level training areas in Northumberland, the Borders or Cumbria.

Sometimes controller training is involved, especially when a new 'bod' is being broken in at the Tower, as part of the practice approach procedure involves 'talking down' the aircraft with regular updates on its height, speed and approach angle, using a specialised short ranged radar system. Plus, more than once in a while, staff in the Tower have 'requested' that an unusual or rare type does an overshoot so they can get a good look at it (an American B-52 was 'persuaded' to do one a few years back, while the pilot of the F-117 Stealth Fighter that made an appearance at the Sunderland Airshow several years ago was also 'persuaded' to make a practice approach at Newcastle after his display before heading home to a base in East Anglia).

The Boulmer Sea Kings are also regulars at Newcastle, shooting approaches either to the runway or to the 'Beacon' (a location sending instrument sited at Newcastle Airport, which acts as a 'way point' for aircraft transitting the area).

Civilian airliners are occasionally noted doing this sort of thing too, especially if new types are involved or a new airline is set up in the UK, and at weekends light aircraft can come across from Carlisle or up from Teesside to do the same sort of thing - in fact a light aircraft turned up this morning to do just that. The RAF crews do this training at their home bases and other RAF stations too.

Practice approaches at Newcastle have been the order of the day for as long as I can remember - the Vulcans used to be a sight to behold during the 1970s and you could almost set your watch by the appearance of a French Air Force Mirage IV on certain weekdays during the late 1970s.....

Of course, 'circuits and bumps' (practice approaches, in essence) are part of basic flight training. However, this training never really ends in the forces or the airlines, so the crews are just training with bigger, heavier and faster aircraft than an Aero Club 'tin can'.
--
Graeme Carrott
Assistant Editor, Air North (NE Branch of Air Britain)
www.airnorth.demon.co.uk
.

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