Page 86 - Demo

84feet further on, making a total strip length of 2500 feet. As captain of the Hercules, all I had to do was to land the aircraft within the %u2018box%u2019 and, by using maximum braking and reverse thrust, the aircraft would, in theory, stop before the end of the strip. The Hercules is a remarkable aircraft and, despite its large size, can stop almost on a sixpence. The tactical approach speeds are not far above the stall speed, and around 25 knots lower than for normal operations. Of course there are lots of performance characteristics such as weight of aircraft, wind, temperature, altitude etc that would affect the overall performance, and these would be considered in the planning stage.On the night, all I had to do was to land within the %u2018box%u2019 - simple!Prior to landing, and in order to achieve a rapid unload, troops take positions in their vehicles and all restraints, with the exception of a final restraint, are removed. The rear door of the Hercules is partially opened, and then the engines of the vehicles are started. On landing, the rear door is opened further, so that it is almost touching the ground (ready for the aircraft to stop) and the vehicle final restraints are removed. As the aircraft stops, the door is fully lowered, as are the tactical ramps, and the vehicles rush out of the aircraft to their tasks.The ramps are then folded, the door closing commenced and, as soon as the door is clear of the ground, the aircraft starts its tactical takeoff run. In all, this whole procedure only takes a few seconds to carry out and is most impressive to watch.Landing on a long strip or runway means that the aircraft does not need to make a 180 degree turn before taking off, saving lots of precious time. As we were landing on a runway, that was our plan on this occasion. We would immediately take to the air, and then await the call to return and make a tactical recovery of the troops and vehicles, assuming that their mission had been successful. On our final departure, small charges that had been laid on the edge of the runway would be remotely exploded, simulating runway destruction charges. A rehearsal of the airfield assault was scheduled using another similar airfield, one that we had used during the day and were familiar with.