It was August 2,1978 and on hearing "Battle Flight Scramble!" we were off, running to our hardened shelter and fully armed F-4. Two minutes later we were taxiing, still winding up the second engine, while my navigator Stu Black handled the radar and read vital actions. The local controller passed the rest of the scramble order, essentially to head for the East German border at maximum speed and any height; 2mins 40secs was the fastest scramble ever recorded at our station, Wildenrath, then part of RAF Germany. A few minutes before, we were sitting peacefully in the little bungalow next to the Phantom's hardened shelter. Stu [the brother of the RAF's last Lightning pilot to be trained, Ian Black - both sons of AVM George Black] was concentrating on one of his lovely aircraft artworks and I'm now ashamed to admit I had my feet up, talking on the phone and smoking a cigar. Our three groundcrew were in the next room playing cards. In the background the telebrief made its eternal 'tic-toc' noises, indicating that the line to the Operations centre and then sector headquarters was open. So, when a German voice suddenly called the scramble, we jumped to it, Stu knocking over his paintbrush cleaning water in the process. At the same time the RAF operations officer in a hardened bunker set off a siren and several sets of traffic lights and then opened the shelter doors.
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