Chapter 1: Tempest

Flameout! Pilot Wing Commander Dale Latham’s Tornado zoomed groundward. As the aircraft stalled, rolled and flipped over into a spiral dive, its altimeter decremented at an astonishing rate.

He had to act fast. Initiating the engines start-up procedure, he managed to engage one RB199. Singing into life the turbofan generated thrust, allowing Latham to push the stick forward making the aircraft nose down, then increase throttle setting to full power. Miraculously, the Tornado settled, enabling him to apply back pressure to the stick levelling the wings, the aeroplane regaining steady-state flight, Latham recovering altitude as he tried to ignite the second RB199.

Approaching RAF Lossiemouth, backtracking from a combined RAF-Luftwaffe sortie over the Rhineland, navigator-weapons officer, Flight Lieutenant Harry Beaumont, warned of severe hailstorm conditions ahead. As the Tornado slowed from supersonic speed and descended from 30,000 feet over the Moray Firth channel, she hit the inclement weather. Far worse than expected, a freak set of climatic conditions had conspired to generate the mother of all storm clouds, cumulonimbus building a trail blazer of epic proportions.

As the Tornado passed beneath 15,000 feet, she encountered heavy rain and tennis-ball- sized hailstones, the contaminants ingested into the engine’s inlet ducts leading to dual-turbofan flameout.

Whilst Latham struggled to re-start the second RB199, Beaumont contacted Lossiemouth Air Traffic Control, advising their predicament. Asked if the Tornado wanted to register a Mayday call, Beaumont answered in the negative. Confident of Latham’s flying skills, he knew the pilot would be reluctant to pull the ejector seat handle, releasing the canopy and sending both aircrew into space, abandoning the Tornado to crash into the Moray Firth.

Latham had never lost an aircraft. He certainly did not intend to let the £14m fighter-bomber end up in the drink. Albeit, the second engine refused to spark into life, further ingestion of the life-threatening hale defeating his attempts. Though capable of flight on a single engine, prudence dictated under the tempest onslaught, having both turbofans operational equated with minimising further danger. Gaining height, the Tornado rose above the cumulonimbus wrecker, permitting the second engine inlet duct to clear of ice debris. Sustaining the re-start protocol, at last the stagnant RB199 burst into life, the gained extra thrust making the aeroplane nose-up. Deciding not to risk landing at Lossiemouth through the storm, Latham called RAF Leuchars, requesting permission for an emergency landing.

South of Lossiemouth by 90 miles, Leuchars allowed the Tornado to land without any further troubles, her aircrew reporting the flameout incident, and staying until clement weather prevailed over the Moray Firth locale, allowing then to return to Lossiemouth.

Beaumont’s assessment of Latham had been spot-on. Wholly aware that the UK taxpayer owned the platforms he carried out missions on, spanning his RAF flight career, Latham had made it his business to ensure any aircraft allocated to his charge remained in one piece from take-off to landing. A trait inherited from his father; a sense of responsibility in all matters came to dominate his life from an early age.

Sometimes the quality resulted in gladness and fulfilment, whereas on other occasions, it got him into hot water, his innate sentiment to duty subduing imperilment factors.