"Brian Sharrock" wrote:

Against this background , I recall, but have been unable to find a reference
for, units were anxious to engage in 'my aircraft is more 'rough field' than
yours!' stunts.

I recall Harriers being scattered under trees in a married patch in Germany
and being marshalled through the streets while kids wended their way to
school. "See! _We_ don't need a runway!".

The Sepecat Jaguar advocates demonstrated their prowess by using a completed
but not connected portion of a Motorway [I believe it was the M55 ,more or
less adjacent to the Warton airfield]
to operate Jaguars from ; ' See!, We can use a motorway/highway!'

When the Harrier crowd retorted; 'We can use Motorways too!', the Jaguar
adherents cried' True! But we didn't have to resurface it afterwards!'

All from memory of three(?) decades ago .... facts may have changed !

SEPECAT ran a series of ads in magzines like Flight showing the Jaguar
on a motorway. Which wasn't such a big deal because Swedish Drakens
and Viggenst had been routinley operating from motorways.

My all time favourite, and one has to bend the imagination here,
aerospace ad was the one that claimed, "Softly, silently the Harrier
steals in on Dowty landing gear."

Eugene L Griessel

A man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a
hog, sail a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders,
cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyse a problem, pitch manure,
program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialisation is for insects.

- I usually post only from Sci.Military.Naval -