Vocal Voices

you have to laugh 2inches of snow expected
And chaos
I can remember the snow of !my childhood
Walking to school snow over the top of !my wellies
No electricity at home mum cooking over the coal fire
Sigh clothes all wet fingers freezing

Apparently 15 flakes fell on the South Downs and police are warning people to stay home put on extra jumpers and drink lots of soup.

15? 14 too many.

I recall flying into Heathrow from India one December (23rd), I had left Stockholm to fly to India, snowstorms and all.

I had not checked my luggage through to Stockholm as I intended to switch flights to Paris once I hit Heathrow.

Foiled, there were snowflakes in the air and a light gossamer of snow on the ground. Chaos. 5,000 people in departures being fobbed off by BA staff.

I managed to get out on the last Eurostar back to a place where chaos didn't reign.

In Germany those of us who had to drive military vehicles on the airfield were given "snow and ice" lessons - cadence braking, move off in 2nd or even 3rd gear, turn into a skid, handbrake braking to slow down yet keep the steering (front) wheels turning etc..

And I have been involved in keeping many a runway clear of snow. It's not hard if you are organised and have the kit. All of the ploughs, brushes and blowers are only fitted to bowsers and tugs once snow is in the air, for the rest of the year they are parked up.

I passed my dual (hgv3 and UK car), test in a 4 ton truck in 6" of snow on the 18th of December in Detmold.

I have had little fear of driving in snow since.

I understand a lot of the chaos in UK airports is crew that are unable to make it in. Won't drive in any snow at all.

I assume you remember the BFBS winter driving infomercials??

The equivalent in the UK seems to be "don't drive, stay home"

Hardly the way to learn to drive in the snow.

Suff wrote:I assume you remember the BFBS winter driving infomercials??

Those where snowfalls were described in tens of centimetres?

"For those in the Paderborn, Bielefeld and Osnabruck areas be aware that snow of 25 to 30 centimetres could fall over the next few hours. Drive carefully and enjoy the skiing."

I can remember the winter of 1939/40. We had just moved to a new house in the country. The wind blew the snow aginst the side of the house so that
it covered the bedroom windows on the first floor. Can remember ice forming on the overhead electric cables. The weight of the icicles broke the cables.

Only heating was a coal fire.
Like Suff, I was in Germany in the RAF. I cannot remember flying being stopped because of snow. Seemed to miss the heavy falls as we were down near Aachen.

Went to New York one year in early December. The local forecast saud it would snow at 1.00 p.m. Went into a store in sunshine just after noon.
Came out at 1.00 p.m in heavy snow.
The return flight was delayed as there was a queue of aircraft waiting to have deicer sprayed on the wings before take off.

Workingman wrote:"For those in the Paderborn, Bielefeld and Osnabruck areas be aware that snow of 25 to 30 centimetres could fall over the next few hours. Drive carefully and enjoy the skiing."

That's them, but also the filming of what to do with your vehicle, actual movies of snow clearing, ice clearing, accidents cause by trying to drive as if it were warm dry weather.

I served within 50km of Paderborn and Bielefeld for 5 years. One year we had - 25 for a week along with the snow. Even though I had radiators in the top (7th floor), flat, it was single glazed and we had 1 inch of ice at the bottom of the windows and 6" ice free at the top.

We all drove to work and life simply went on. Where it was not possible to clear the snow, they threw fine gravel on it.

We hear of the billions lost by Heathrow and Gatwick every time a few flakes of snow fall. I flew out of Stockholm for 5 winters, I can guarantee that the 7 articulated snow clearing machines didn't cost hundreds of millions, let alone billions.

Suff, BFBS TV was only just starting towards the end of my last tour, before then it was radio only.

When snow started the brushes brushed a couple of strips either side of the centre line. The ploughs then moved it, strip by strip, to the side of the runway and the blowers lobbed it over the runway lights on to the grass. The only specialist piece of kit was the urea spreader. It was a hopper with double spreader discs, similar to a council grittier, and was fitted to a Bedford TK in times of need to spread de-icer pellets onto the runway. Once the operation started it just kept going till the snow stopped.

Cruiser, where were you stationed in Germany? I was at Laarbruch and Wildenrath as main bases, and did detachments to Gutersloh.

Arlanda Airport in Stockholm has 9 specially made ploughs. Plough on the front, brushes in the middle and a liquid urea spreader at the back.



7 ploughs do the main runway, staggered formation, in one run with the last snow ploughed off the edge. 2 ploughs did the gates constantly.