Dakota Training - A Drop Zone perspective by Cpl Mo Khazir.

As the Survival Equipment Fitter for the RAF Falcons Parachute display Team, I have had the honour of working with one of the Royal Air Force’s premier Display Flights. This being said, I never thought I would be lucky enough to work with two of the RAF’s premier Display Flights at the same time!

The Battle of Britain memorial Flight  (BBMF) celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2007, and the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team has been invited along to help celebrate the occasion.

On Tuesday 24th April the RAF Falcons travelled to RAF Coningsby, the home of the BBMF, to finalise plans for the display, and attempt 2 planned rehearsal descents. Upon arrival, we were greeted by OC BBMF, Sqn Ldr Pinner, who delivered a brief overview of the day, and introduced us to the crew. After initial plans for the day were established, all we had to do was wait for the weather. The conditions for the Parachute Team and the BBMF had not been suitable for either to display for the previous 24 hours, so we all had our fingers crossed!

Whilst we waited for the weather to improve, OC RAF Falcons, Flt Lt Mark Colebourn and the Team Coach, FS Nick Brooksbank, were in discussion with the Dakota crew; ironing out any problems and ensuring the display would run as planned. In the meantime, the remaining members of the Parachute Team were given a tour of the Memorial Flight. We immediately went straight to the C47 Dakota to see what the Falcons would be getting into… or should I say getting out of!!!

The crew gave us a detailed tour around the Dakota aircraft and its history, and I must say that I was amazed at the difference in the onboard surroundings in comparison to today’s modern aircraft.

On some of the internal walls of the Dakota there still remained messages from the Para’s from when military Parachutists were deployed during WWII.

At approximately 11.30am the weather cleared up and the rehearsal was on! The BBMF ground crew had completed their checks and made sure the Dakota was ready to go. The aircraft was then taken out of the hanger and handed over to the aircrew. The RAF Falcons were ready to board, and hopefully make history by being the first ever Parachute Display Team to complete a non-contact parachute stack exiting out of the Battle of the Britain Memorial Flights leading aircraft… the mighty Dakota.

Once the Falcons were on-board, the engines fired up. As I set off to the Drop Zone with the Drop Zone Safety Officer (DZSO), I could hear the Dakota starting to taxi around the airfield towards the runway. Once at the runway, it sat in wait for final clearance from Air Traffic Control. As it took off I remember thinking that this was probably going to be one of the best moments of my time with the RAF Falcons. 20 minutes later the Dakota had reached its planned altitude of 2500ft and everything was in place, but there was one problem… the weather.

Unfortunately it began to cloud over, and it became difficult to see the Dakota which continued to circle overhead in anticipation for the weather to clear. Another 30 minutes passed and there was still no joy. With the calibre of personnel onboard I know they would not give up easily. A further 20 minutes later the DZSO was asked for the all clear for the parachutists to exit the aircraft. The weather began to clear and the words ‘clear live’ were like music to my ears. With 30 seconds to go the Dakota came into the overhead, and the camera I was holding was pointing straight at it to film the whole event.

As white and orange smoke started to appear out of the side of the aircraft, so did the falcons. One, 2, 3, 4… all 10 members of the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team were out and straight into freefall. Seconds later they were all under canopy and the famous stack was beginning to take shape.

Due to the inclement weather, it had to have been the ‘low show,’ which meant the stack had to take shape very quickly, and it did! The Team also had time to perform an alternate split stack, in which half the Team members go in one direction and the remaining in the other direction, eventually meeting back to once again become a full stack. Once they had completed their aerial display they followed the Team Coach into their landing pattern, and as the Team members accurately landed on the Drop Zone one by one, you could see the smiles on their faces because of what they had just achieved.

It was probably one of the best ‘low shows’ I have seen in my 3 years with the Team, but the fact that they had done it out of the BBMF Dakota definitely made it something special.

With the successful completion of 2 practice descents out of the BBMF Dakota, the RAF Falcons and the BBMF will meet again to complete an official display at the Duxford Air Show.

Look out for the pictures of the day we had at RAF Coningsby on the official Falcon Team website – www.raf.mod.uk/falcons