AlienFTM Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 definitely remember that the RAF had to shoot it down because it was a hazard to Heathrow traffic. Even now Ossama Bin Laden has a hundred martyrs with footpumps blowing up pigs to wreck the skyways of Britain..... Meanwhile CrabAir have one old Hawker Hunter warming up at Leuchars to save the country from Bears and balloons. Tally Ho Ho Ho. From the Battersea Power Station website: http://www.batterseapowerstation.org.uk/floyd.html Photographs for the cover of Pink Floyd's Animals album were taken in early December 1976. For the photo shoot, an inflatable pink pig, made by the Zeppelin company, was tethered to one of the southern chimneys. However the pig broke free of its moorings and rose into the flight path of London Heathrow Airport to the astonishment of pilots in approaching planes. The runaway pig was tracked by police helicopters before coming to ground in Kent. Whether the pig escaped, or was released on purpose to increase publicity, is not known. Animals was officially launched at an event at Battersea Power Station in January 1977. Mason's "Inside Out" says pretty much the same. It doesn't mean the Red Tops didn't have a field day reporting EE Lightnings shooting it down. According to http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/lightning/history.html (as I suspected): The Lightning force draw-down began in 1974; the first Jaguars were being delivered, freeing Phantoms for pure air-defence. By early 1977, only 5 and 11 squadrons still operated Lightnings. So in December 1976, the odds were long in favour of Jaguars and against Lightnings doing the job anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Why let the facts get in the way of a good legend. It just sounds brilliant. I only think of Lightnings for hazy reasons of romance - although I've always liked a Phantom (the last time I saw any was a pair of yanks burning air over the Forest of Ae during the 1984 RAC Rally. It was one of those unforgettable moments. I'd just been chatting to a new kid on the block named Lars Erik Torph, who is now dead. That's rallying. Minutes after this chat the stage started and a stone flung up by Timo Salonen's Nissan 240RS fractured my skull. The brain damage still causes me problems....Those were the days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Why let the facts get in the way of a good legend. lol a stone flung up by Timo Salonen's Nissan 240RS fractured my skull. ouch!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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