In the 60s I once had an MT (Mechanised Transport) Officer who thought it would be a good idea to attach (at a suitable angle) an engine from a Comet MkII to a "bogey" and tow it behind a 4X4 Land Rover to blow snow off the runway. He got the idea from a film of snow-blowers operating in Canada. A fuel tank was fitted into the back of the Land Rover to hold sufficient aviation turbine spirit and a rig to control the thrust was placed in the front of the vehicle with a co-driver to control it whilst the driver simply had to maintain a straight line down the runway
On the first run the Landy reached an estimated speed of 160 MPH and the driver shat himself before his "co-pilot" managed to shut the thing off. The snow remained on the runway. Adjustments were made to the angle of the engine, it was fired up and a second driver "volunteered". The Land Rover lurched forward and stalled, the jet engine burned a hole in the tarmac.
The project was abandoned and "Operation Blacktop" as it was known returned to the time honoured tradition of a line of Erks with shovels and brooms.
