Rogue Pilot ! The Unbelievable Tower Bridge Incident of 1968

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When a serving RAF officer with a grudge against the government had a 'meltdown' and took his Hawker Hunter jet on a dangerous high speed / low-level 'mission'...that made history !
He was arrested after landing then discharged from the RAF. BOAC (the fore-runner of British Airways) sent him a keg of beer. In 1982 the RAF officially exonerated the pilot (Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock).
Flight re-enacted using MS Flight Simulator - the London photogrammetry data visible in the video cannot be 'turned back in time' to 1968 - for obvious reasons - there was none ! Hence you will see today's structures as Alan flies down the River Thames such as The London Eye & all the newer skyscrapers such as The Shard, The Gherkin, One Blackfriars etc.
Link to the Wikipedia article on the incident:
en.wikipedia.o...
Link to a later interview with Alan here:
• RAF pilot remembers fl...
Link to a documentary on the incident:
• RAF Hunter Pilot Goes ...
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#msfs2020 #hawkerhunter #towerbridge #raf #fighterjet #militaryaviationhistory

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17 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 141

@johncookson9751 Год назад

I was crossing Hungerford railway bridge that day and saw him approaching from Tower Bridge and really thought he was going to plough into the Thames or hit the bridge. Frightened the shite out of me. I was a young RAF Musician, part of the RAF Choir, about to do a televised broadcast celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the RAF. What a day to remember.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

That must have been a sight John ! Thanks for watching and great comment. Cheers !

@peterfrazer1943 Год назад

What a man, the Battle of Britain Pilot's would have been proud of him. I was in Aden with the Royal Marines and who could forget the Hawker Hunters giving us fire support with Rockets and the Aden Cannons in the Jebels 'up country'. We had a tented Camp on the way to Dhala, alongside an Airstrip. Most evenings around six, two Hunters would buzz the strip on the way back to Aden. We would stand on a sandbagged wall about six foot high and we could look at the pilot's face as they screamed by. Famtastic memories..

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks Peter that's amazing ! I will start to plan out a video showing a Hunter patrol over Dhala and Jebel Jihaf. Thanks for the great comment.

@seltaeb9691 Год назад

Stupidity & could have caused a terrible accident.

@daveyr7454 Год назад

I believe that the Battle of Britain pilots would NOT have been proud of him. They were disciplined!

@yottiechick Год назад

@@seltaeb9691 You've never been in the military have you - skill and training not stupidity.

@yottiechick Год назад

@@daveyr7454 hahaha, no they weren't. They were wild fighting men with huge spirits! My father flew hurricanes during the battle of britain as part of 11 group. I can tell you now that he and everyone in the RAF Association at the time cheered and praised Alan Pollock when they heard about it. I remember them doing it; I was a child.

@jameskruse537 Год назад

Wow! Excellent video and great story. Something like it happened about 60 years ago when an Air Force pilot flew his B-47 bomber under the Mackinaw bridge which connects the two peninsulas of the state of Michigan here in the states. The pilot was grounded for life (at least while he was in the USAF) but was allowed to finish his career.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

That's a great story James - the 47 had downwards-ejecting seats for a few of the crew (at least for the bombardier I think) - that takes some stones... I used to live State-Side for years and was there long enough to know how to pronounce Mackinac like a local :-)

@tcm4891 Год назад

This was a Protest against the Governments Lack of aknowledging and respect for the Anniversary of the Formation of the RAF, and those who SAVED our country at our most criticle time during WW2 !

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Well said !

@leslieirvine1961 Год назад

An Absolute Bravo to that man! One of the RAF's Finest, once again showing the world, who the Greatest Air Force Is...Fact! Such a real shame, his career ended though. Good on him, showing his disgust at the tories and their cuts. Total Respect Sir. 👏 Les Irvine, Co.Durham, North East England

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks Leslie for watching & commenting

@leslieirvine1961 Год назад

@simpaulflights7757 You're welcome and thank you too. 😊

@leslieirvine1961 Год назад

Small world eh. I went to Shotley Bridge Hospital 🏥 back in 1987, at the time we were all experiencing those Great Storms if I remember correctly. Michael Fish's non-finest hour! He was never allowed to forget that, poor bloke. 😔

@yottiechick Год назад

Harold Wilson was LABOUR! It was a Labour govt that he had rage and contempt for.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

@@yottiechick You are both correct. The author of the 1957 White Paper on Defence - which effectively sought to ban all manned aircraft (except the TSR-2...) in favour of missiles only (Flt Lt Pollock's major grievance & a huge bone of contention for the RAF & the entire British aircraft industry) was Duncan Sandys - Winston Churchill's son-in-law, and the Conservative Minister of Defence in Macmillan's Government from 1957-1959. At the time Pollock flew through Tower Bridge the Wilson Labour Government were in power & they wouldn't celebrate the RAF's 50th Anniversary by permitting a fly-past over Central London...I think it's reasonable to say that was the final 'straw that broke the camel's back' for Flt.Lt. Pollock

@nervo6321 Год назад

Brilliant…for some reason I find this extremely moving.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching & commenting !

@alexsmith-gn4tp Год назад

With balls like that, I'm surprised that he could fit in the cockpit ! ❤

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

There was a special 'stones locker' behind his ejection seat - just a quick heave, up & over each shoulder and good to go !

@EdMcF1 Год назад

I heard that Flt-Lt Pook was outraged at the lack of a fly-past for the RAF's 50th anniversary, so he did his own.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching - after the 1957 Defence White Paper it was the Wilson Government's refusal to permit an RAF fly-past that gave Pollock the 'red mist' to finally 'shake up the Houses of Parliament'

@kenstevens5065 Год назад

Such a pity we had no camera phones back then, what a sight tower bridge must have been. Fast forward to today, we're sacking qualified RAF pilots because they don't match the make up of the current population.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Agreed ! There are some YT channels showing re-mastered video of London in the 1920's and even earlier - I find those very interesting - there's one showing the River Thames looking towards the Pool of London and the sheer number of ships is staggering

@tomsurrey2252 Год назад

We need people like him!!! RAF? RIP!

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching & commenting

@125brat Год назад

Not very long ago whilst driving past RAF Cranwell on the A17 in Lincolnshire I got a lovely surprise as there was a Hunter doing a fast low pass along the runway then a zoom climb up to something like 15,000 feet and back home towards Scampton. I had one heck of a job keeping my eyes on the road.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for the anecdote - I was at Wick airport to fly to Kirkwall back in the 80's when a Hunter made an emergency divert & landing - some fuel emergency I think it might have been.

@stevebond6031 Год назад

As both a private pilot who was granted permission to overfly London City Airport at 3,000' (not a foot higher or lower), but who also did several postings in Whitehall between 1979-2009, much of the London scenery depicted here along the River Thames wasn't there in 1968. There was also a red London double decker bus crossing Tower Bridge as the Hunter flew through. There is even an interview with Flt Lt Pollock RAF (Rtd) on a Hunter DVD made some years after the event (so probably available somewhere on the internet) in which he talks through this particular flight. An interesting simulation though.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching & commenting Steve

@richhughes7450 Год назад

What a Top Gun. That's really buzzing the tower.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

I see what you did there - great comment...very witty...

@richhughes7450 Год назад

@@GenXpatPaul lol. Thanks for sharing that. I personally think he should have just got a final warning. Sacking him was a bridge to far in my op.

@stevecuming5317 Год назад

Great respect and awesome control of the skies.

@ianhawdon3680 Год назад

These are thr type of brave pilots we need

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for commenting :-)

@timbo66 Год назад

Legend he certainly is! I knew about this story, your animation brings it to life.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Many thanks

@stephenclay2400 Год назад

Great video what a legend we need them today

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks very much Stephen !

@milesbrown8016 Год назад

Bravo, well done. Salute…He earned his wings double…

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching & the kind comment Miles

@rodsinclair2573 Год назад

After getting fired he should have joined the Rhodesian Air Force, he would have got all the excitement he wanted.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Like this ? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--olbJp74n7o.html

@XXSkunkWorksXX Год назад

This is a stunning recreation and a story I was unfamiliar with. Thank you for your efforts, fantastic! (Oh and the goons bemoaning the fact that the London Eye was not there in 1968 - well f*** me, if that is all you take from this excellent video then I'd suggest a full frontal lobotomy, which is preferable to a full bottom in-front-of-me)

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Haha thanks very much for the kind words ! Speaking of comments - I removed one or two written by individuals who were trashing the pilot himself and were frothing at the mouth, lining themselves up to toss his legacy into the river. In hindsight I should have left them as a source of entertainment in themselves

@denniscater4914 Год назад

I met him a few times great guy.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Wow - that's great !

@paulhumberstone4843 Год назад

great video of a brave pilot flying a great british jet

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Many thanks!

@SpreadEagled Год назад

I flew the same stunt in the Mosquito, Spitfire, Fw-190 in the Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

I reckon quite a few others did too

@GenXpatPaul 2 года назад

Thanks for the comment Rob. Cheers….Paul

@adriandarcy-taylor6429 Год назад

...apart from all the buildings that weren't there at that time, ie. The London Eye...

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Yep a lot has changed since 1968 - RAF Tangmere / Dunsfold Aerodrome / RAF West Raynham / Wattisham handed from RAF to Army Air Corps

@maseratifittipaldi Год назад

We need more of this calibre.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching & commenting !

@frankquevedo3453 Год назад

And DAMM RIGHT He should be. Bloody Great show mate!

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Many thanks Frank

@seafire14 Год назад

Incredible story nicely recreated, 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thank you so much 😀

@robhandley8412 2 года назад

Brilliant.. I didn't know about this incident. Well done my friend! 👏

@GRD383 Год назад

I cannot believe that happened so long ago

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Is that a certain MSFS Hunter designer there ? If so - again very well done ! I credited you at 5:35 in this video.

@Danko05 Год назад

Another great video...!!!

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Glad you enjoyed it

@captpugwash3510 2 года назад

Hi Paul, great video, far away better than anything I've managed on several attempts. I desperately need a new GPU, far too much stuttering at low-level high-speed

@GenXpatPaul 2 года назад

Very kind comment Captain Pugwash - thanks for that. I put up a few RAF Hawk videos too - feel free to 'have a butchers' on the channel. I fly in native 2k resolution which is pretty good on the system (mid range i7 / RTX3070) but recording video uses a fair bit of processing power too - compression on the files to MP4 standard for RU-vid is cranked all the way up…and that is key…just a pity it’s finally displayed in HD 1080 only. Native 1080 videos with standard compression look a bit sad I think. Worth the extra effort I reckon. Cheers...Paul

@DaveTaste Год назад

I think this is real footage, not a game.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

@@DaveTaste That's a real compliment 🤗

@raymondfunnel6856 Год назад

Well done Flight Luitenant Pollock

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching Raymond :-)

@dovidell Год назад

The London eye was built/constructed in WHICH year ?!!!!!!

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

She was finished on December 31st 1999, I was on London Bridge that evening for the Millennium Fireworks with a backpack full of cigars & champagne. What a party !

@TheByard Год назад

It took a while for me to calm down when that happened, I was driving a tower crane at Deptford just down river from Tower bridge. I didn't see the plane, but I did hear it, thought a flight into Heathrow had troubles as they came out of the stack in that area of London. Then I saw what had happened on the 9pm news. Didn't the pilot get sent to a mental institution.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

That's a great story ! When I was working my first summer job at 16 years old I had to go up a gantry crane around 100-150 feet up with another guy and haul-up an electric motor to the cab. Yikes - looking straight down that access hatch in the floor as we hauled this dead-weight up. It took ages. Flying or leaving fully-serviceable aircraft on purpose never bothered me at all.

@bilplaymo6121 Год назад

I like "crazy dog" pilot ! a pilot must be like that.........200% Right Alan is a legend ! don't know this story, many thanks for sharing, take care : )

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Glad you enjoyed it

@gern7535 Год назад

A mans gotta do what a mans gotta do.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

I suspect if his colleagues knew what was about to happen in terms of military budget cuts, his entire squadron would have followed him through the bridge that day...

@saxx001 Год назад

Hero for Hero's

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching and commenting

@phildane7411 Год назад

Arrested? Career ended? Some people just have no sense of humour.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Indeed - I liked the fact that BOAC (BA's fore-runner) sent him a keg of beer as a 'Job Well Done' gesture though !

@MartinHarris-ol6ko Год назад

That's a fly past!

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

It's a passable fly-past re-creating past events, passing through Tower Bridge before passing over RAF Stations - one or two from the past

@pommygeezer9309 Год назад

‘Turned out nice again?’

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Carry On...There's a Good Chap ! (I think I saw what you did there)

@iamcarbonandotherbits.8039 Год назад

Knowing the military that pilot probably lost not only his career, but his pension and the rights to membership to any RAF affiliated clubs, therefore any contact with other serving officers he was friends with.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Alan did OK out of this - the RAF at the time had to be 'seen to do something' politically whilst no doubt cheering him on privately & discreetly behind the doors to the private dining room at the RAF Club in London's Piccadilly. Do check out Alan's television interview with the UK's ITV channel - the link is in the video description.

@senianns9522 Год назад

Strange how he flew past the Shard, Canary Wharf and the London eye in this 1968 clip?

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

...video description thanks. 🙄

@alansinclair7659 Год назад

Nice shot of the London Eye which didn't go up until 2000. Other than that, good video.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks Alan :-)

@seltaeb9691 Год назад

I hope he was Court Martialled for this. It could have been a terrible accident. Rogue servicemen are a danger to discipline that any armed services need to function.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Hi there, thanks for watching & commenting! It's certainly been a fascinating few days seeing the different viewpoints - especially from those who knew the pilot personally or witnessed the actual bridge event. I am sensitive to respect Alan's memory & his son would certainly hope for that...so I had put further info into the video description (click on the video title above) along with links to Alan's news interview rather than dwell on that in detail at the end of the video.

@raylumley5019 Год назад

Two of my favourite brits. this bloke and col. "mad Mitch of the Argylles who took his men into "the crater" and had a ceillegh. both were out of course. patriotism does'nt sit well with labour

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Ha ha - I was actually wondering about doing an Aden, Oman or Suez video - mmm...you might enjoy the Hawker Hunter Bush War video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--olbJp74n7o.html thanks for watching Ray :-)

@lbco5229 Год назад

… not sure he’s a hero for going rogue and acting like a daredevil.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching & commenting

@andyb.1026 Год назад

At 0:44 the BillyBunter has elevators, not a slab tailplane 😊

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

The later production run of the Hunter F.6's were configured with new dogtooth leading edges and all moving tail-planes (the latter was to address the lack of control authority & stability during transient supersonic flight…on previous versions as well as the earlier-built airframes of the F.6 from 1954 onwards).

@andyb.1026 Год назад

@simpaulflights7757 we learn something every day. Back in the 80s I worked for Omani Air Force, they had ex Jordanian Mk 6s with saw tooth leading edges, but with Elevators. I was a rigger & spent many hours tweaking them. Also did many jollies in the T bird, great kite to fly 👍 🤔

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

That’s awesome Andy B, I spent nearly 2 years in Saudi, visited Dubai several times much more recently & only airport stop overs in Kuwait & Bahrain. My only Omani experience so far…was at Seeb in August 1990…(showing my age there)… Nimrods all over the apron…the sub-hunting MR2s. Thanks for watching and commenting!

@AVMamfortas Год назад

Salute

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks !

@rephill54 Год назад

If you intended to simulate an incident from 1968 you should have done a better job of depicting the buildings and structures of the time. The Shard, the London Eye? Uh, no.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

I explained why in the video description

@tsr207 Год назад

These days he would have been shot down.....

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Yes, it was a different world then - oh and thanks for spelling "would have" correctly instead of "would of"...an increasingly rare event these days 😔

@ricogreen2538 Год назад

If you have been under a Squadron Is trangular f22 about high rise level it like tank bus overhead and knowing those sencer have pick ypu up already 20 miles Out those arm could destroy a major city in minutes

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

uhm...ok...thanks🤔

@ricogreen2538 Год назад

@simpaulflights7757 lol this is the independent behavior That dies not Serve socity as a whole because the thought is unpredictable There humans are bring dummy down by controlling There perception. Control their perception then you control there reality A man went Rouge because funding had stop Therefore He begain judge and jury When the reality their was no money This is played often in society but those who control must always operate from a strong portion. They say we stop it When the reality there no funds to continue Then someone who if you really took a close look he to Would have questions of integrity In views and how he has treated others If anyone to blame is the British Air force allowing this man though in becoming He could have hit that bridge

@mikearmstrong8483 Год назад

Video should have included his reason for doing this and the results of the stunt.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

I briefly explained his motive at around the 25 seconds mark via the caption and elaborated further in the video description. Thanks for watching !

@mikearmstrong8483 Год назад

@@GenXpatPaul You are correct about the caption. I should have said "elaborated" rather than "included". As for the results, it is my understanding from other sources that not only was the pilot punished, but also public outcry caused a reversal of the government's decision on budget cuts for the RAF, which is a significant point.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

@@mikearmstrong8483 Thanks Mike - that's interesting to know - actually one of the main reasons I didn't really elaborate further was because Alan's motive was due to actions by the government - and I didn't want to make political points in a flight sim video - much as I may have wished to...ie the cancellation of TSR2 / the stupid missiles only policy etc

@mikearmstrong8483 Год назад

@@GenXpatPaul White Paper. Toilet Paper. What's the difference? 🙄

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

@@mikearmstrong8483 I'll bite - more $#%# on a White Paper ?

@sandradean-nl4cm Год назад

And he got away with it in the end well done him.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Hi Sandra - thanks for watching & commenting !

@itsnotrightyouknow Год назад

Legend is not the word I would use. Arrogant yes, no regard for any civilian aircratf that may be about, no regard for the public if his plane had malfunctioned, and just because he wanted to throw his teddy bear out of his pram.

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Thanks for watching & commenting, you might find his interview on ITV interesting - the link is in the video description

@kevinnorthfield5097 Год назад

And you've never taken a chance in life, just as well you don't effect policy decisions.

@bennoakes2477 Год назад

later exonerated...why? Desperate for pilot in case Falklands got out of hand?

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

Hi Ben, the Falklands conflict wouldn't happen for a further 14 years (in 1982) but that's a good question ! In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Pollock's unit was posted to North Africa without him while he remained on a charge. He was subsequently invalided out of the RAF on medical grounds. This avoided a court martial and the embarrassment to the government of Pollock publicizing the reason for his stunt and perhaps receiving the support of the public. The RAF placed Pollock in a "psychiatric hold" for two days. Demonstrations of support for his conduct was expressed by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), which sent him a keg of beer, and six members of the House of Commons spoke on Pollock's behalf in Parliament.

@chrischambers5466 Год назад

@@GenXpatPaul Word for word from wikipedia😊

@GenXpatPaul Год назад

@@chrischambers5466 Good catch Chris - I think I might have changed some minor incorrect grammar at the time "Tut tut"...but yeah - I was tired and did (mostly) an old school "CTRL C / CTRL V" Guilty as Charged - Send me to The Tower 😜