Yellow Tractors
Because there was a lot of responsibility when towing around large lumps of metal costing huge sums of money not everyone was able to do this job. On each squadron there would be several tractor drivers, at least one per watch.
I was on my first squadron - 771 Search and Rescue at RNAS Culdrose when I was told I had to report to the Aircraft Handling section for tractor training. At the time I didn't drive a car, although I had done some driving with my Dad just before joining up so it was a little scary coming to terms with dual gears and big bouncy tyres. I spent a few days practicing driving in different conditions, round bollards and at different speeds before starting to use the towing arm which was then attached to an old Wessex helicopter.
There is only one place to attach the towing arm to a helicopter - the tail wheel which swivels so can be used to steer. However there are two places to attach the towing arm to a tractor, front and back. When pushing an aircraft you attach to the front and have to very carefully use the tail wheel to steer the front of the aircraft to where it needs to go.
When pulling or towing an aircraft you usually attach it to the back and drive as normal (maybe not as fast as normal!) taking care to make sure you have enough width and height to get the tractor AND a large lump of metal through.
I soon had the knack of this and completed my tractor training course, fulfilling the requirements to get a full tractor licence. That meant I had a full driving licence but only when driving a tractor on public roads!
There were advantages and disadvantages of being the watch tractor driver. It meant you got to drive around the base, doing things other than fixing aircraft or sitting around waiting for a scramble.(Search and Rescue call out). In the summer it was great to be out in the hot Cornwall sunshine, wind blowing in your hair as you bounced around on the speed bumps and pot holes.
In the miserable cold winters, it wasn't much fun. The picture above is me in my winter attire. I know I resemble the Michellin Man. I would probably have around five layers of clothing underneath. I had a two pairs of gloves, one of which was always on the radiator. A set of ear 'duffs' as we called them. Woolley hats weren't allowed as they could blow off and be a FOD (Foreign object damage) hazard.'If an aircraft was waiting to start, it was my job to tow the Houchin to the side of the aircraft, plug it into the power socket and start it up. When ready, the pilot started the engines, one at a time using power from the Houchin. As soon as the aircraft was fully running I was told to cut power and towed the Houchin away. Not a problem most of the time, however...
When on standby, the Houchin and tractor would already be positioned beside the Duty Cab (aircraft) ready to start up asap. The klaxon would sound, we would all run out to the aircraft, the pilot climbing up to the cockpit as the Houchin is started, engines/rotors started asap, and the tractor started and moved as quickly as possible to allow the cab to take off.
This is what 'could' happen.
In the haste to get the tractor away the driver would forget to unplug the power lead and rip half the side of the cab away.
The tractor might not start
The tractor starts but stalls
The pin between the tractor and Houchin isn't in properly and the Houchin is left beside the cab.
Although I did stall a few times, I can honestly say none of the others actually happened to me although I know it happened to others.
One job I dreaded getting was picking up the 'vittles' (victuals/food) for the watch from the stores compound. As there was usually quite a bit to collect I had to take the long bomb trailer (16 ft) which had a large box on it. The problem was that the compound wasn't big enough to do a full turn with the tractor attached. You could spend some time manoeuvring back and forth to do it, but I used to unhook the trailer, push it around and put it back on the tractor, observed by many a Stores Assistant who took great amusement in heckling me as I did so.
While in the Training Hangar at HMS Daedalus I often had to move out all the training cabs onto the hardstanding so that Divisions could be held (Divisions was a weekly parade and inspection of the Air Engineering School). They would have to be moved out and positioned neatly outside, the hangar would be swept and scrubbed (it was a huge hangar) by 'us' (Ships Company not the trainees), Divisions would take place, followed by a march past and the all the cabs had to be brought back in and put into a specific position in the hangar which left a gap of exactly two feet between each main wheel. Any more and they may not fit! This was my speciality, I did this in one of the shortest times (we had a competition running between tractor drivers).
I also had my few minutes of media coverage when I drove the tractor pulling a Sea Fury through the streets of a local estate to another Naval Base for respraying and back. Here is a clipping of that.
Being a tractor driver was good fun really. Another string to my bow and I found I got a bit of attention being female, as most were men and made sure that I was as good as them if not better at any cost!
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