Blast33
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Level rocket-firing from 100 feet above ground with level break out had been part of our regular squadron training for over twelve months, and I thought that this would be a very useful means of attacking ships.
One of the certainties was that most operational Ground Attack flying in the Falklands would be at Extreme Low Level, i.e. ‘nap of the earth’ flying (see Appendix 2 - Low Flying). Because of the obvious risks involved, this type of flying had been progressively restricted over the years since I had joined my first fighter squadron in Bahrain in 1970. At that time we were allowed to fly at 100 feet above ground as a matter of course, and towards the end of my tour I was lucky to be selected for a mini Fighter Recce course during which I was authorised to fly at an eye-watering 50 feet above ground over the deserts and mountains of Oman and the Trucial States. The old hands told me, ‘50 feet flying is dead easy - you just try to fly as low as you possibly can and after a couple of sorties you’ll be down around the right height!’
I snapped up to about 100 feet above the terrain, feeling horribly exposed to every gun position on the isthmus. Ignoring the Pucaras, on the north side of the airfield I recognised some camouflaged vehicles by a hedge. This was my target. I pickled and dropped the right wing to look back towards Bob and see the fall of shot of my cluster bombs.
A typical In Flight Task would also be given on the radio by the chase pilot, e.g. ‘I want you to follow the A5 from here to Bethesda and find all the AA phone boxes’. The student would be expected to find and photograph the lot, plot them accurately on his 1:50,000 map, and then give an In Flight Radio Report of the positions to his chase pilot, all the while continuing to fly at an authorised 50 feet above ground level. Sadly, these skills were already disappearing from the front line with the introduction of ever more accurate navigation systems and the ubiquitous moving map display.
I had been firing them from about 50 feet agl with no major problems.27 For retard bomb delivery we would need to climb to at least 150 feet: this was not calculated to enhance life-expectancy in this kind of target area.
Most attacks were from a shallow dive; however, in the early 1980s 1(F) Squadron was given clearance to carry out rocket attacks from level flight at about 100 feet agl. This technique had been shown in trials to give a far better chance of hitting targets that stood up above the surrounding terrain32
The Pop-Up was from ingress height (as low as possible) to a minimum of about 100 feet. The cluster bomb pattern was ineffective if delivered from a lower height. See Appendix 3 - Ground Attack.
Quotes from the Book of Jerry Pook RAF Harrier Gournd Attack Falklands
On one of my first low-level sorties in Germany in the T4, I was flying the grease pen line on my map at 480 knots and 250 feet.
Quote from Harrier Boys Volume 2
To give themselves a chance of getting in under the 909 radar and avoiding detection they stepped their descent to low level, from 500 feet at 100 miles out to less than 100 feet from 50 miles until a final run-in to the target over the last 30 miles below 50 feet. Once they had the target in their sights, they’d manoeuvre to avoid the defences before streaking across at twenty-second intervals in order not to get fragged by the bombs dropped by the previous jet.
Only madmen, thought one of the defending Argentine soldiers, would fly so low. Later examination of the gun camera footage suggested that most of the Sea Harrier pilots were approaching their targets between 5 and 15 feet from the ground. With so little warning of attack, Argentine defences were hard-pressed to respond effectively.
At dusk, a pair of 801 Squadron SHARs intercepted a flight of three Canberra bombers skimming in 50 feet above the waves 150 miles northwest of Stanley. Low on fuel, the Sea Harrier pilots had to break off their attack more quickly than they’d have liked,
To complicate the job of the defences, Iveson was going to fly across the target at 30º off Squire’s track, before Pook then streaked across on the same heading as the Flight Leader. They ran in at 500 knots, just 50 feet above the gently undulating ground beneath them before climbing to a height of 150 feet for weapons release.
Tomba craned his neck to see two of the Sea Harriers swooping down from behind his right shoulder. Two predatory dark grey shapes silhouetted against the pale sky.
Flying barely 50 feet above the rolling ground below, Tomba and Micheloud broke left and right.
Alberto Philippi led the flight of A-4Q Skyhawks at no more than 50 feet above the iron seas. He set his radar altimeter alarm to sound at 30 feet. The harsh electronic tone became a constant companion to all three as they skirted around the south coast of Gran Malvina to Cape Belgrano, the southernmost tip of West Falkland, before crossing the mouth of the Sound on a bearing of 069°. Salt spray bathed the three pale grey jets as they flew low over the waves.
Quotes from Harrier 809 written by Rowland White
And there are a lot more in this book
That is why I wrote this sentence:
Ace @ 50-80'AGL (remember RAF Harriers/Jaguars and A-10's)"
< Message edited by Blast33 -- 11/3/2021 10:58:11 PM >
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RE: Why can't a fighter aircraft fly below 1000'AGL? - 
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