HP 115 at the Le Bourget Air show
From my log book I see that 18 June 1965 we flew BLEU Varsity 417 Bedford - Wattisham - Manston - Coxide -Cambrai - Laon - Le Bourget, and return same route on 21 June. The flight was as shepherd aircraft for Clive Rustin flying the HP 115 and ? flying the jet flap aircraft (whose name I now forget) to the Le Bourget Air Show. The many stops were because these two aircraft carried fuel for only some 30 minutes or so of flight.
I remember that we arrived just after a USAF bomber had crashed on approach. I also remember Clive complaining about the French ATC directing him to break off his dislay when he was in the middle of the dutch roll demonstration half way down the runway. That same show the Fiat G91 did not quite get right way up from an inverted circuit and ended in the car park short of the runway.
Another memory of that trip - Commander Evans was captain on the last leg into Le Bourget and the we had great difficulty finding the ILS - our navigator (I think John Marsden) was peering out into the mist looking for landmarks. With both little aircraft tucked each side and their fuel running short it was an anxious few minutes.
We also saw the Russian SST, which crashed there at a subsequent show, and at one point on the way nearly had to divert due to an F104 crash. Thankfully, the return flight was uneventful. I guess we are all lucky survivors of those days.