After the ice came the water. Days of rain caused “MKAB” to gradually turn into a mud hole with the runway partially flooded. Apart from the aviation problems, this of course also meant a lot of stress for the soldiers in the camp. The forces of the "Friesland" object protection regiment probably suffered the most from the whims of the sky: their comrades secured the German "field camp" 24/7. They patrolled the container village and the flight operations area, monitored the erected fence and operated an access gate. At any time, in any weather.
Among the pilots, the young wingmen in particular had to struggle with the difficult conditions. Just put yourself in their shoes:
"Completely out of breath, you reach your plane, greet the maintenance team and climb into the cockpit. The wind blows the rain into your face and as soon as you get in you notice that the cockpit doesn't stay dry either. You close the canopy, but the water does searches its way through the shrinking gap between the windshield and the hood until the last second. Your equipment is wet, the displays are covered with drops of water and the clock is ticking. On the radio you can hear the "scramble order" from the "Ironman" command post like your flight lead ", shortly afterwards the taxi clearance follows. You watch as a water tornado forms on the engine inlets of the lead aircraft, then you set your EUROFIGHTER in motion and report that it is ready to take off. Shortly after the lineup on the runway, the afterburners of number 1 bring your own Machine to tremble. Its fiery tail only blinds you briefly before disappearing in a thick wall of spray and water vapor. You have no choice, the lack of visibility must not stop you. You fully load the thrust levers and accelerate into the white nothingness. You concentrate on keeping your machine on course, then you take off. Everything around you is gray-white, this condition will not change for the next 90 minutes. Welcome to action, comrade."
"Monsoon"
Gerald Groß