Operation "Snow cap"

Mission 03 - Sir Vilk's PIREP

Thursday, 2nd November 2000
Early morning
dESPAIR HQ at Zurich (LSZH)

We finished the briefing just after 7:00 AM. I grabbed a quick cup of hot coffee. Probably the last cup I will have until tonight when the day's training is over.

It was going to be a hectic day. 8 to 10 hours of flying into a glacier training base in the mountains south east from here. Practising STOL operations, doing low parachute extraction system (LAPES) exercises..

08:30 AM
With Mike in the right seat of Hey Jude, an unusual position for this salty old pilot, I received clearance from Zurich Tower. Visibility was marginal VFR, solid cloud base at about 10,000ft. We released brakes and started our takeoff roll.

08:45 AM
Radial 147 outbound took us into the Swiss mountain country. If it was not for the marginal visuals and the dark grey clouds, I probably would have enjoyed the scenery more. Up ahead I saw the glacier.

Mountains surrounded us on all sides. I felt that familiar old feeling in the gut as the adrenaline started to pump. This was going to be like Alaska with the Herkie boys of the Firebird squadron back in the 90's... simply awesome. I pushed the button. "Mike, I am going to take her around in a left hand circuit to check out the landing strip". "Roger that Vilk. I will give the 10 minutes to drop signal to the loadmaster" Mike replied.

09:00 AM

I did a slow circuit around the glacier. Down below I could see the landing strip that had been cleared for us. A couple of tents were scattered around against the sloping side of the glacier. Two beacons were setup at the bottom end of the runway. A humvee stood at the top of the runway.

I switched to ground frequency and keyed in the mic. "Boss, do you read me?"

"Hello guys" came the familiar accent of Hak over the radio "I read you good. You are cleared for you LAPES drop.". "Roger that" I replied. I nod to Mike. Mike turned around and shouted over the roar of the engines to the loadmaster, that we are 3 minutes to drop.

A short final, flaps down and throttling back, I stuggled to hold a 115 knot approach speed. The approach was difficult. The landing strip was sloping downhill. But you never showed doubt or thought about the fear. You simply stayed focus. And get the job done. Besides, with Mike riding shotgun, I felt that I could do anything in this old bird..

And so the first in a long series of exercises began...

During the next hours I did several touch and go's, two LAPES drops and two STOLs. All the time Mike with me guiding me thru the fine art of pushing Hey Jude the limits I never knew the old gal had.

A picture from the cockpit of the boss's new humvee.

A snapshot taken from the ground crew as Mike and I were getting ready for doing a takeoff with a full load to do out second LAPES drop.

18:00 PM
It was a long day. But more than worthwhile. The skill and confidence levels of the crews were pretty high at debriefing. During the final hours of the operation we were running as smooth and efficient as any combat ready air squadron. Ready for that Antonov recovery mission? You betcha!

Sir Vilk