The OSRL 727s are flown on weekly training exercises in which they make low-level passes dropping water over a restricted area of sea. On 26 May, AEROSPACE was invited to be in the cockpit during one of these exercises. The flight was on the backup 727 G-OSRB, flying west from Doncaster over BAe Warton to a specially restricted area of the Irish Sea west of Blackpool. Piloted by Cp Dan Griffith and Cp Pat Cafferky we took off from Doncaster and headed west at 8,000ft as far as Warton where the aircraft performed a low-level go-around over Warton airfield and then over the Irish Sea. We had been given our own special Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) announcing that we would be conducting 'dynamic low-level manoeuvring over sea' in a restricted area west of Blackpool. We descended to 1,000ft and lined up for our approach for the first spray run. Flight Engineer Ted Morris calls out our height as we go down. "500 - check - 400 - check - 300 - check" The sea below is rapidly becoming closer. "200- 190-180-170-160- 150" We level off at 150 feet above the sea. "150- 140- 150" The Flight Engineer continues to call out our height reading from a radar altimeter a system which was retro-fitted to the 727 to ensure safe separation from the sea during the spray runs. The pilot adjusts our height to keep the aircraft level. The view of the waves out of the cockpit window is not dissimilar to that which might be seen from a fast ship such as a hydrofoil, except that we are in an airliner. This is not an ordinary flight - this is more like training for the Dambusters' raid.
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