You know you're getting old when......

[MAD Boom]

- an aircraft you've flown is now a gate guardian
- a picture of your crew is in a museum
- your local Air Cadet unit has SNCOs that weren't born when you joined

Where does the time go?

[SASless]

Old....when you remember Coffee Grinder ADF's combined with VOR's that had the OBS on the Radio itself.

You know how to use a Loop Switch on an ADF.

You know which way to turn while tracking an LF Airway.

You flew in a new build DC-3 on its inaugural flight.

Security was a bit of chain with an open hook across the gate.

[gr4techie]

Your old enough to (legally) be the dad of the guys who are now coming out of training.

[N2erk]

Or you are technically old enough to be a grandfather of current serving personnel, and all of the previous mentioned things are true- well except the Dak and the crew photo. Also when there is a thread about Leather Flying Jackets becoming uniform again at 400 quid a pop and that's a tenth of your annual salary, with flying pay, when you got out of the mob.
I'm sure someone will outdo us and be a great-grandfather of...

[ExAscoteer]

When you go to the RAF Museum at Cosford, and not only are 5 types represented there aircraft you flew, but those 5 airframes are in your Logbook and one of them is the first aircraft you flew in the RAF!

[West Coast]

When you talk of being based at stations that anyone under 25 years old has never heard of.

[Hempy]

You work with people who weren't born when you started... :-\

[SASless]

You are getting Old when you remember thinking the UH-1A was cutting edge technology.:{

[ian16th]

When your attestation date was closer to the Wright Brothers 1st flight, than your latest birthday is to Gagarin's 1st space flight.

[Wander00]

Your IOT students are retiring as gp capts (or more)

[MOSTAFA]

When you got SFA better to do than read every post.

[thing]

When you flew in a Hastings.

When the mob wasn't run by beancounters and jobsworths.

When you realise that some of the first Lightning pilots are now in their 90's.

When Wg Cmdrs are as old as your son.

When you take your grandkids round one of those living history museums and tell them 'We used to have one of those when I was little, and one of those, and one of'...

When GA flying was £7 an hour :{:{.

[dctyke]

When you served for well over a 1/3rd of the RAF's entire history!

[Offshore Addict]

.. The Drilling Engineer lecturing you, the Radio Operator, about how you should handle helicopters was four years old when you started Air Traffic Control training at Shawbury. And he genuinely thinks QNH is a designer drug.

.. You realise that age and experience have given you the patience to just smile and not throttle the arrogant little waste of skin.

.. Some of the helicopters you use offshore are classed as "old". And they are over ten years younger than you.

.. Every aircraft fleet you served with in the Royal Air Force are now soft drink tins and razor blades and their squadrons are either disbanded or numberplates for something far less than they deserve.

.. You can got to a museum not far from your house to see the front end of the very first Nimrod you flew on as a fourteen year old Air Cadet .. Twenty eight years ago.

.. Your brother passed out at Halton in front of a jet that you last saw on your squadron in RAFG.

.. Your nineteen year old daughter see's a photo of you at your pass out parade, when you were two years younger than she is now, and is genuinely amazed that you had hair back then. Or at all on further questioning.

.. You clean out your Nan's loft to find all your old albums. Said daughter has no idea what an LP is and, on seeing the cover of your copy of Michael Jacksons Thriller, says "That isnt Michael Jackson .. Michael Jackson was white".

.. You know what Betamax was. And it damn well was better than VHS !!

.. You still think of a Snickers as a Marathon and Starburst as Opal Fruits.

.. You can remember a time when the only thing close to a fitness test in the Royal Air Force was measured only by stamina in the bar, binge drinking was a way of life and not a negative social condition, banter was mandatory brutal and damn funny, mission statements were something only NASA produced and your mates from back then, and who shared all the good and bad times with you, still share the mindset you enjoyed and admired so much. And then you realise that maybe being old isn't such a bad thing .. :ok:

[Party Animal]

Ditto all of the above plus last Christmas, I asked a couple of members of staff in the local W H Smiths where I could find 2014 diary inserts for my filofax, to be met with blank stares and no comprehension whatsoever of what I was on about and what on earth was a 'filofax'. :(

[sitigeltfel]

PA, a friend of mine who is in his late sixties uses a Filofax. He attended a French language course last year, and a large number of the other students were Japanese.
This ancient storage and retrieval system bemused them until they saw that he could find the relevant info before they had scrolled and tapped through their iPads.

[friendlypelican 2]

Following on from Post #5.

Called in to Cosford Museum on Tuesday and discovered 10 types that are in my logbooks, 4 actual airframes flown and 1 which I had even delivered to the Museum.
Bl****y heck! I'm old.

On my last tour as an OCU instructor, somewhat chastened to find students who had less years than I had seniority as a Sqn Ldr (to be fair, I was 57).

[Wensleydale]

You know that you are getting old when you stop fancying the WRAF who you lusted after just before you retired!

[Tankertrashnav]

When your attestation date was as close to the outbreak of the First World War as it is to today's date :(

[pbk]

When you took part in the Royal Tournament that celebrated the 1st 50 years of the RAF, and we are only 4 years away from the service centenary.

When the very boyish client who commissions you to carry out some architectural design work has a wing commander's grow bag upstairs and it wasnt his dad's.

When you have been out longer than you were in.

When you can remember how to service a GPI 6 but you cant remember which client you spoke to yesterday. Even worse, you dont care........

[John Eacott]

When GA flying was £7 an hour :{:{.

That much? £1/10s :p

You are getting Old when you remember thinking the UH-1A was cutting edge technology.:{

Or the Hiller 12E

Or that one of your PPL instructors flew Camels. In the Great War.

Or you still remember how to don a starched collar and tie as part of your No 5s.

Or the disgust from the senior officers when collar attached shirts were introduced for normal wear.

And that they weren't allowed to be worn when visiting 'other ships' :=

And recall the original two piece goonsuits. And Mk 1 bone domes.

And aircrew issue string vests: made from string.

[Rocket2]

You know your an old Techy if you know what a Fescalised (spelling?) Portion is & where it can be found :eek:

[zetec2]

Yep ! I do it's the shiny bit on for example an undercarriage the slidy bit !, sorry to spoil the party but I have been out many years longer than I was in & do remember the 50th anniversary just hope I live long enough to see the 100th, PH.

[Dan Gerous]

When the last Marathon you finished, was before they were rebranded as Snickers

[expatfrance]

True Bearing, True Bearing

[Hempy]

.. The Drilling Engineer lecturing you, the Radio Operator, about how you should handle helicopters was four years old when you started Air Traffic Control training at Shawbury. And he genuinely thinks QNH is a designer drug.

.. You realise that age and experience have given you the patience to just smile and not throttle the arrogant little waste of skin.

.. Some of the helicopters you use offshore are classed as "old". And they are over ten years younger than you.

.. Every aircraft fleet you served with in the Royal Air Force are now soft drink tins and razor blades and their squadrons are either disbanded or numberplates for something far less than they deserve.

.. You can got to a museum not far from your house to see the front end of the very first Nimrod you flew on as a fourteen year old Air Cadet .. Twenty eight years ago.

.. Your brother passed out at Halton in front of a jet that you last saw on your squadron in RAFG.

.. Your nineteen year old daughter see's a photo of you at your pass out parade, when you were two years younger than she is now, and is genuinely amazed that you had hair back then. Or at all on further questioning.

.. You clean out your Nan's loft to find all your old albums. Said daughter has no idea what an LP is and, on seeing the cover of your copy of Michael Jacksons Thriller, says "That isnt Michael Jackson .. Michael Jackson was white".

.. You know what Betamax was. And it damn well was better than VHS !!

.. You still think of a Snickers as a Marathon and Starburst as Opal Fruits.

.. You can remember a time when the only thing close to a fitness test in the Royal Air Force was measured only by stamina in the bar, binge drinking was a way of life and not a negative social condition, banter was mandatory brutal and damn funny, mission statements were something only NASA produced and your mates from back then, and who shared all the good and bad times with you, still share the mindset you enjoyed and admired so much. And then you realise that maybe being old isn't such a bad thing .. :ok:

Did I write this?!? I think every generation thinks they had it best, and that may be true. But surely the 80's and early 90's were the last of the 'carefree' days...

I agree, being old isn't such a bad thing. At least we can take to our graves experiences that todays kids will never get.

And that is probably our fault!

[NutLoose]

When the last Marathon you finished, was before they were rebranded as Snickers


And you still remember the "That's Life" programme with Esther Rantzen disproving the "A Fist Full of Peanuts in Every Bar" advertising jingle, thus at a stroke making the company withdraw the advert.

[philrigger]

When your attestation date was as close to the outbreak of the First World War as it is to today's date

That will be me then !!!

Philrigger

[PingDit]

When you suddenly remember things like:

Imps
Jubblies
Fruit Polo's
Zubes
Izal toilet paper

and it brings a tear to the eye..... just like the toilet paper used to...

[threeputt]

Your last Station Commander wasn't even born until 8 months after you joined the RAF!


3p:)

[bill2b]

When WOG switches were WOG switches

[goudie]

When you ask, what happened to camouflage?

[gr4techie]

The JENGO giving you a rollicking about how to live your life was 7 years old when you joined the raf.

[Wander00]

Esther Rantzen - hmm - may have started "Childline" but I really would put her at the back of the queue for oxygen

[MPN11]

... You remember you controlled Meteors on your first 2 airfield tours as an ATCO.

... You never even heard of today's Air Marshals until they were one ;)

[expatfrance]

You used to fly with the current CAS when he was a Flying Officer and you were showing him how to operate in NI

[woodring]

When not one of the types you worked on is flying and the only place you can see one is in a museum or scrapyard.

[MPN11]

... And you remember the first time you bought sweets without having to use a Ration Book :)

[ACW599]

You've heard of ACR7 and know what a QGH is...

[CoffmanStarter]

When your 21 year old son says ... "what's that" ... when you show him a vinyl record :ugh:

[Herod]

When your first solo was closer to the first flight of the Sopwith Camel than it is to today.

[CoffmanStarter]

When you know a PAR was called a GCA :ugh:

[zkdli]

when you had three in the circuit, all practicing one in ones and the radar was a S264.
You had to boil a kettle to get the MTI to work :O

[Shack37]

When you thought a T3 Bombsight "computer" was complicated.

[kintyred]

Decca chains?

[ian16th]

... And you remember the first time you bought sweets without having to use a Ration Book :)If you handed in your Ration Book at attestation!:sad:

[big v]

........ when you are explaining to the chap in the museum how to use a piece of kit (GPI in this particular instance)......

Sad isn't it?

Regards,

Vernon

[PFMG]

ARAR/ARAX was cutting edge EW kit

[kintyred]

When your sim instructor was a Master Pilot.

[MPN11]

If you handed in your Ration Book at attestation!

I defer to my elders :D

[goudie]

When 'Zero Reader' was the latest
technical and flight aid gizmo

[PFMG]

An overseas training flight (remember them?) to Valkenburg was a thinly veiled excuse for a weekend in Amsterdam

[ExAscoteer]

When 'Zero Reader' was the latest
technical and flight aid gizmo

Oh dear gods we had one of those on the (pre-Mod) Dominie.

Flying a raw ILS was far simpler than buggering about with that piece of ****e!

Sadly however, the ME Stds QFIs insisted upon us using it for IRTs.


(Bastards!)

[ExAscoteer]

An overseas training flight (remember them?) to Valkenburg was a thinly veiled excuse for a weekend in Amsterdam

We did a Group 2 End of Course run to Valkenburg on a 4-6 week basis on the Dominie.

I generally stayed in Leiden - Amsterdam held no interest for me after my first visit.

[smujsmith]

..... You attend a service function at a former unit, and no one knows what a pair of "shreddies" are, particularly when they claim to be ex Halton apprentices.

Smudge :ok:

[Herod]

When your sim instructor was a Master Pilot.

My FLYING instructor was a Master Pilot.

[Cows getting bigger]

When you've been to more funerals than weddings. :(

When you completely understand those who march past the cenotaph every Remembrance Sunday.

When you smile at the youngsters who are doing the job you did, knowing that they are a precise clone and wishing that you were in their shoes.

When you relate to knackered old sh 1ts who post such sentimental nonsense on Internet forums. :)

[ValMORNA]

. . . when the Link Trainer instructor on 4 FTS was a Sergeant.

[Legalapproach]

When somebody you regularly got pi**ed with as a student becomes a High Court Judge. At least I now have a decent character witness when I need one.

[goudie]

Oh dear gods we had one of those on the (pre-Mod) Dominie.
As a Cpl. Techie at Bassingbourn I was responsible for testing and calibrating the Zero Reader. One day a QFI pitches up in the Inst Bay to see it being tested etc. It had very recently been installed in the T4's and he was having a bit of trouble getting the studes to accept using it, especially on approaches.
After some chat he suggests that I meet him next morning for a trip, with a view to me trying it out for real. So off we go with a stude nav. and he hands over the controls and talks me through some gentle turns, dives and climbs, strictly using just the ZR. Eventually we head for Honington and at the top of the descent he tells me to follow the the ZR down, keeping my head down in the cockpit, until he says ''I have control''.
(God knows what the the young nav in the back was thinking!) This I did, whilst he handles the non-essential tasks such as u/c, flaps, trim, throttles, radio etc. No sooner had he said ''I have control' and it seemed, we touched down, did a roller and headed off back home.
As we walked back to the line hut he said ''thanks corp, I'll be able to tell the studes that if a bloody corporal can fly the ZR so can you!

[NutLoose]

Quote:
When your sim instructor was a Master Pilot.
My FLYING instructor was a Master Pilot.

And we had the last flying one on the OCU, one as a SWO and one in the tower


When bed packs were the norm in training, not duvets, and the toilet paper was the only Government white paper worth a poo..

( That had Government property written on each sheet, as if anyone would steal it, you could have waterproofed Noah's ark with it and if I was a betting man it probably still blocking up the local sewerage works. Bio degradable was not invented then. :O )

Lol worse than that it appears someone liked the stuff

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Government-Property-Vintage-Paper-Toilet-Roll-like-Izal-/231131923124

Roll of Government Property toilet paper roll, similar to Izal. Issued in the 40's /50's. The house where we got them from was previously owned by ex RAF so I believe they were obtained then. There are different markings on these rolls, not sure why but the ones I have, have a square at the side of the writing. Each sheet has the same writing in. Apparently quite rare and I cannot find any for sale on the net. They are just mentioned in museums. They are all new but obviously show signs of wear from storage.

[Danny42C]

When you think that the old (DH) Dominie had an u/c to worry about ( sorry, goudie, it was just too good to resist ! ) And you were old enough to spot the error.

When you finally realise that, even allowing for inflation, you've probably drawn more in pension from the RAF than ever you were paid in service.

When you could say "Finals, two Greens".

When people in their fifties have the temerity to appear on this Thread (oh, to be 50 again !).

:(

[thing]

When people in their fifties have the temerity to appear on this Thread (oh, to be 50 again !).
I've been walking with my U3A group today, probably late 50's to early 70's and it's wonderful to know that after six miles my aching ankle is as nothing to the aching hips and arthritic knees. I feel almost young again. I love old people, they make me feel so zestful.

[oldpax]

York railway museum has a diesel that was built in 1957 by the company where I was an apprentice so I had my photo taken holding one of the sand box tops which I had made!!D5500 for those of a spotting ilk!!Our factory was built about 1850 and was pretty much the same when I was there.One reason why I left to join the RAF!!!

[innuendo]

You go to Duxford and see a couple of types you flew when they were front line.
(Sorry if this thought has already been posted, I have not read every post).

You have to explain what a Radio Range approach was, and that you had to do one under the hood once a year to renew your Green Ticket.

[ian16th]

Slight thread drift.

My 1st posting after of Boys training was Bomber Command Bombing School Lindholme. May 1954

The a/c were Lincolns and Varsity's, many of the Pilots were NCO's and a lot of them had Polish names!

The Nav's tended to be officers, but I believe that this was something to do with them also being the instructors.

[FantomZorbin]

... when you remember you could keep NAAFI meat pies warm in the waveguide of the GCA truck and no one had a microwave in the kitchen.


P.S. 'Government Property' loo paper (shiny side down) was superb for covering newly filled dinks etc. on car bodywork - it imparted a wonderfully smooth finish!!

[Haraka]

When you don't understand most modern service acronyms

.
.
.
.

and are none the wiser when they are explained to you.

[1.3VStall]

When there was a Station Flight with an Anson and a Vampire.

[ian16th]

When there was a Station Flight with an Anson and a Vampire. In Bomber Command, Station Flight was usuallly 1 or 2 Ansons and a few Chippies. (Should that be Chippy's?).

As much as I am enjoying this thread, shouldn't it be over in 'Aviation History and Nostalgia'?

[Herod]

As much as I am enjoying this thread, shouldn't it be over in 'Aviation History and Nostalgia'?

Nah; nostalgia's a thing of the past.

[1.3VStall]

Herod,

Yeah - it's not what it used to be!:)

[sitigeltfel]

When, due to the movement of the Earths Magnetic Field, many of the runway headings you knew have changed.

[MPN11]

As much as I am enjoying this thread, shouldn't it be over in 'Aviation History and Nostalgia'?

What?! ;) :=

It would become awash with civilians regaling us with tales of "A bumpy approach to Luton in my Viscount/DC-4" :eek:

[ian16th]

It would become awash with civilians regaling us with tales of "A bumpy approach to Luton in my Viscount/DC-4"I did many more pax hours in civilian life, than in my 13 years service. A lot of it intercontinental, travelling business class :D. The best was the sadly now defunct Varig. A classic example of a national 'Flag Carrier' subsudised by the taxpayer.

So how about a leg from Khartoum to Aden over Ethiopia, thown all over the sky, followed by a so called landing in a Hastings, that bounced at least 4 times at Khormaksar?

Transport Commands finest, made a point of informing us Bomber Command pax, that he'd left the job to his 'newish' No2.

We let him apologise by buying beer.

After 3 weeks at Karachi, where we all got dysentry, the return leg Khormaksar to Khartoum was enlivend by the Elsans spashing all over the a/c.:ugh::ugh::ugh:

Memories of fillet steak and Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the same posting as a Transport Command cardboard boxed lunch and orange squash. Can't get much more diverse than that can we?

[melmothtw]

You know you're getting old when....

Someone starts a thread on PPrune called Should I sacrifice my braces to attempt to become a pilot in the RAF?

[Danny42C]

You remember when you picked up the 'phone and the girl said "Number, please".

[Haraka]

A lot of it intercontinental, travelling business class . The best was the sadly now defunct Varig. A classic example of a national 'Flag Carrier' subsidised by the taxpayer.
Funnily enough my first business trip overseas as a "civvie" was exactly that -down to Rio in a Varig DC-10 in 1982. It made a change from a sleeping bag and ear defenders in a hammock in a C 130 .
However, many years later, courtesy of the S.A.A.F., I took Mrs.Haraka along in a Herc to show her what her old man used to put up with - she loved it.

[nimbev]

When ALL the operational stations you served on have been closed and ALL the aircraft types scrapped

When you remember that the French aircrew in-flight rations you picked up at Istres included a small caraffe of red wine

[oxenos]

Going to a Squadron reunion and wondering who all the old men are. And then discovering they arrived on the unit long after your time.

[ian16th]

When you remember that the French aircrew in-flight rations you picked up at Istres included a small caraffe of red wine Those of us stationed there had unlimited Algerian 'ruff red' with both lunch and dinner :ok:

When I stepped out of the Beverley, I was an innocent 20 year old, who'd never drunk wine or set foot outside of the UK.

I changed :ok::ok::ok::ok::ok:

[goudie]

You know you're getting old when, you'd love to make a contribution to this thread, but you can't remember anything!:confused:

[gzornenplatz]

When one of your studes is in the House of Lords

[MPN11]

You remember when you picked up the 'phone and the girl said "Number, please".

Ah... "Rothwell Haigh, are you still working ... click ... brrr" :*

When one of your studes is in the House of Lords

Oh, VERY cool :cool:

[NutLoose]

When the musket you used had proper dropping power and they tried to convince you the Bren you were looking at isn't a Bren but an LMG.


.

[1.3VStall]

When Abingdon, Acklington, Bassingbourn, Binbrook, Brawdy, Chivenor, Coltishall, Cottesmore, Gaydon, Kemble, Kinloss, Lindholme, Little Rissington, Lyneham, Middleton St George, Manby, Strubby, Syerston, Ternhill, Thorney Island, Wattisham, Watton, White Waltham and West Raynham (and probably others my befuddled brain has forgotten) were all active flying stations.

They were when I joined. Sob!

[Dengue_Dude]

When airways had colours.

When bread, coal, vegetables and milk were delivered - as were clean sheets in Quarters.

When aircraft had Drift Sights and Sextants.

When your car ran on the same oil as your aircraft.

When you used OM15 as upper cylinder lubricant.

When your inflight calculator was made of disks of metal with 'Dalton' written on it.

When a HUD had an emu on the end of it.

When Fire Piquet meant a free night watching a film in the ASTRA.

When the co-pilots carried F6663 en route.

When aircrew wore newer flying kit than UKBAGS.

When en route, we carried SVC.

When part of your flying kit were goggles.

When Walkmans were cutting edge and worked on little green batteries from Stores.

When Stores was called Supply.

That'll do pig . . .

[Wander00]

You open PPrune to see a link to the obituary of a teenage girlfriend's Father - and realise it was 55-odd years ago........................

[albatross]

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e68/midcanada/image_zps0b50b02e.jpg

Ah the great cartoons of Bob Stevens USAF.

[cuefaye]

Saturday nights. When a quid paid for a film at the Odeon for two, four pints and four gin 'n orange afterwards, a packet of fags, and the bus fare home. And whatever the film, it was two seats in the middle of the back row, white thighs, girdle and suspenders, and --------


Now I much prefer a good curry, but in all honesty there's not an option :uhoh:

[lsd]

And to add to 1.3V Stall:
Atkinson Field, Bruggen, Changi, El Adem, Gatow, Gutersloh, Khormaksar, Kai Tak, Kuching, Laarbruck, Labuan, Luqa, Muharraq, Seletar, Tengah and Wildenrath....
and that's just the ones I could have been posted to on completing flying training ....
let alone the others overseas I operated into:
Sharjah, Riyan, Masirah, Salahah, Gan....
all now closed....tempus fugit.j

[threeputt]

When nobody knows what a "cheap Changi" watch is!


3P:)

[cuefaye]

Aside from Gan and Atkinson Field, did them all, and all those of 1.3V's. Not boasting, simply privileged :) How will my grandkids see so much, at no cost? :sad:

[ian16th]

NAAFI tea was 1½d and a ticket to the Astra was 6d

[Danny42C]

You had a schoolboy crush on Amy Johnson.

[Melchett01]

When Walkmans were cutting edge and worked on little green batteries from Stores

What's a Walkman? :confused:

[oxenos]

"When nobody knows what a "cheap Changi" watch is!"

And they haven't heard of the Temple Hill Gorilla.

[oxenos]

"When nobody knows what a "cheap Changi" watch is!"

And they haven't heard of the Temple Hill Gorilla!

[oxenos]

You put a post on here and then forget you've already done it.

[sycamore]

When.....you do an airtest on a J-P 4, 50 yrs after you first flew it at FTS....

[Herod]

"When nobody knows what a "cheap Changi" watch is!"


I eventually had to change "you lie, like cheap Changi watch" to "you lie, like cheap Taiwanese timepiece".

..When you have to explain what a Varsity or radial engine are.

[Danny42C]

When young ladies open the door for you !

[CoffmanStarter]

When you have to explain what Two Stage Amber was ... and before anyone gets any funny ideas ... I was told about it a long time ago and can still remember !

[Wander00]

Trump you Danny - when they offer you their seat in a bus or train........................

[ValMORNA]

Double trump! . . . when they help you across the road.

[Pontius Navigator]

- an aircraft you've flown is now a gate guardian

No, it's still flying 70 years on.

- a picture of your crew is in a museum

No, my picture was in a museum 45 years ago :)

- your local Air Cadet unit has SNCOs that weren't born when you joined

Got me. My local Air Cadet unit has no one that was born when I joined :)

[Pontius Navigator]

When Abingdon, Acklington, Aldergrove, Ballykelly, Bassingbourn, Binbrook, Brawdy, Chivenor, Coltishall, Cottesmore, Finningley, Gaydon, Honington, Kemble, Kinloss, Leconfield, Leeming, Lindholme, Little Rissington, Lyneham, Machrihanish, Middleton St George, Manby, St Mawgan, Stradishall, Strubby, Swinderby, Syerston, Ternhill, Thorney Island,Topcliffe, Upwood, Wattisham, Watton, White Waltham and West Raynham

[Danny42C]

......When the Popes start looking younger....

[zkdli]

when you remember Pontius was a pilot :8

[gzornenplatz]

The date of my commission was as far from the outbreak of World War One as from today's date! :eek:

[Lightning5]

When your mode of transport to Singapore and back was a troopship !!

[Herod]

when you remember Pontius was a pilot

Check user name. I was running the show before Pontius even started flying training. ;)

[Axel-Flo]

Violet 813, Red 850......Red 650 even, and Green 100 are no longer remembered......

Not withstanding all the equivalents are just as pertinent in Afghan..... It still makes you feel old that you knew them......

Wasn't it Dobbo called 747 through the overhead and Jabba got an "Orange Whip" from FL nose Bleed in A JP 5?

[Lowkey]

When the girl in PSF asks you if you are sure that there is a letter in your Service number!!!

[Axel-Flo]

Really? Do service numbers not have a letter in any more?

I looked at a pax manifest the other week and my Army service number is loads x 10 to the power N ( where N is a really large integer) lower than the RSM of a just returned unit from out east....WTF?:\

[Axel-Flo]

I can remember when even if you didn't know the extension, or title or name or really any other details than what they did........The telephone operators at a unit would get you through to the right person first go.....

Never......"so where in 15 Sqn do you want?
" no we don't have a CSRO"
"I have OC C Flt"
"Ok how about Aircrew crew room?"
"No...nothing under that....how about Admin NCO?"

[T-21]

Station Sick Quarters(SSQ) now Station Medical Centre.
Does anybody remember those addictive NAAFI square fruit pies in the sixties ,came in a box and had cherry,blackcurrant fillings. Do aircrew still get flying rations today ? remember Mars bars,chewing gum .

[Wensleydale]

...you remember when you could walk into the Officers' Mess bar at any time during the week and it was never empty.

[expatfrance]

You are actually old when you can remember walking out of the bar!!

[dragartist]

When your first cheap Changi Watch circa 1968 stops working after nearly 50 years and your next one from 2010 stops after a couple of months!

[cliver029]

Just to be clear Boogie street cheep (yes that is the correct spelling):O or Changi Stores cheap?

Never brought a watch in Boogie street until it had been subjected to immersion in a pint of tiger till you finished said pint and checked the cockroach had not drowned:}

CR

[ian16th]

Does anybody remember those addictive NAAFI square fruit pies in the sixties

Yes. :ok:

I'd like to be able to buy them today.

[rogerk]

Remembering jumping out of bed pulling on your flying suit and being ready to take off in three minutes.

Not like today when you crawl out of bed catch your big toe in your yfronts and go arse over head !!

[Herod]

True story. 2004, flying a 737 charter into Akrotiri. Young lady controller asks if I am familiar with Akrotiri. "Not since 1975". Long silence... not surprising, since it was probably before the lady was even born.

[pbk]

Getting back to Fulton Block on Saturday morning after 24 + hrs in sick quarters curtesy of Doc 'arold after your 1st ever night on the p*ss and finding you still have a ten bob note and some change in your pocket out of 30 bob.

When apretty young lady smiles as she passes and you just know your fly is undone....again!

[Danny42C]

.....when you come across that little copper plate that was used to emboss your Cards........

[Wander00]

Thanks Danny, I had forgotten about that

[blaireau]

Tiger Moth @ £4. 10s an hour at Fairoaks Aero Club.

[thing]

Now £177 ph at Cambridge...

[beefix]

Just to be clear Boogie street cheep (yes that is the correct spelling):O or Changi Stores cheap?

Never brought a watch in Boogie street until it had been subjected to immersion in a pint of tiger till you finished said pint and checked the cockroach had not

Hmmm' When I was there it was called Bogis Street !

[Buster11]

£4.00 p.h. solo, £4 10 shillngs dual at Redhill on Magisters, must have been about the same time.

[Danny42C]

......£3 an hour (instruction inc) in a Gypsy Moth when I were a lad....

(not really feasible on my thirty bob a week. Actually, £3 would be a good week's wage for a man in those days; today's equivalent would be £530, so the Cambridge £177 is a steal !)

[NutLoose]

As long as the wings stay on.

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/20140321UKADG20140001E.pdf

[teeteringhead]

Violet 813, Red 850......Red 650 even, and Green 100 are no longer remembered...... Ah best beloved, you must be one of the newer (younger :() fellows.

To be really old (comme moi) you have to remember the 2 figure codes, so BBK was Red 85, Stan Jello was Green 10 etc.

The ones ending in 0 were (active or disused) airfields, while 01 was the HQ, so originally ALDZ was Violet 10, not to be confused with HQNI which was Violet 01.

Yes - of course it was confused, and with those two LSs in particular, it meant that a number of VIPs had their aircraft (never RAF - Scouts' Honour ;);)) waiting at the wrong place. So firstly V10 becomes V81, and then the proliferation of LSs there (again, a background of VVIP cock-ups), led to the third digit there and for neatness, everywhere else. (Mostly with just a 0 at the end.)

History lesson over, class dismissed ......:ok:

[smujsmith]

You know you're getting old when Squadron Leaders appear young on TV interviews. I suppose the meaning of "senior" NCO takes on a whole new meaning.

Smudge:ok:

[Romeo Oscar Golf]

Just for the youngsters.....and it was Bugis Street.

1950s-1980s


After World War II, hawkers gathered there to sell food and goods. There was initially also a small number of outdoor bars set up beside rat-infested drains.

When transvestites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestites) began to rendezvous in the area in the 1950s, they attracted increasing numbers of Western tourists who came for the booze, the food, the pasar malam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasar_malam) shopping and the "girls". Business boomed and Bugis Street became an extremely lively and bustling area, forming the heart of Xiao Po. It was one of Singapore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore)'s most famous tourist meccas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecca_%28disambiguation%29) from the 1950s to the 1980s, renowned internationally for its nightly parade of flamboyantly-dressed transwomen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transwomen) and attracted hordes of Caucasian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whites) gawkers who had never before witnessed Asian queens in full regalia.

The latter would tease, cajole and sit on visitors' laps or pose for photographs for a fee.

Others would sashay up and down the street looking to hook half-drunk sailors, American (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) GIs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._%28military%29) and other foreigners on R&R (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26R_%28military%29), for an hour of profitable intimacy. Not only would these clients get the thrill of sex with an exotic oriental, there would be the added spice of transgressing gender boundaries in a seamy hovel.

There was an adage amongst Westerners that one could easily tell who was a real female and who was not - the transvestites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestite) were drop-dead gorgeous, while the rest were real women. The amount of revenue that the transwomen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transwomen) of Bugis Street raked in was considerable, providing a booster shot in the arm for the tourism industry. Some Americans referred to it as "Boogie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogie) Street" in the wake of the 1970s disco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco) craze.

Veterans recall that the notorious drinking section began from Victoria Street (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Street,_Singapore) west to Queen Street (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Street,_Singapore). Halfway between Victoria and Queen Streets, there was an intersecting lane parallel to the main roads, also lined with al fresco bars. There was a well-patronised public toilet with a flat roof of which there are archival photos, complete with jubilant rooftop transwomen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transwomen).

One of the "hallowed traditions" bestowed upon the area by sojourning sailors (usually from Britain, Australia and New Zealand), was the ritualistic "Dance Of The Flaming Arseholes" on top of the infamous toilet's roof. Compatriots on the ground would chant the signature "Haul 'em down you Zulu Warrior" song whilst the matelots performed their act.

Over the years this became almost a mandatory exercise and although it may seem to many to be a gross act of indecency, it was generally well received by the sometimes up to hundreds of tourists and locals. The Kai Tais (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kai_Tai&action=edit&redlink=1) or Beanie Boys (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beanie_Boy&action=edit&redlink=1), as the transwomen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transwomen) were referred to by Anglophone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language) white visitors, certainly did not mind either. By the mid-70s Singapore started a crackdown on this type of lewd behaviour and sailors were arrested at gunpoint by the local authorities for upholding the tradition. By this time those sailors brave enough to try it were dealt with severely and even shipped home in disgrace. Though many locals accepted this part of Singaporean culture, many conservative Singaporeans felt that it was a disgrace and it defaced Singapore's image.

[BEagle]

1. Strait Street, Valletta, was known by a very different name to all servicemen!

2. When there more aerodromes on the left side of the 411H than on the right.....

3. You didn't even need to show your ID when driving onto nuclear bomber stations.

4. You could park outside the squadron without everyone assuming you were a terrorist.

5. If you weren't flying, the squadron closed for lunch and all officer aircrew spent an hour or so in the OM bar.

6. You could drive across the UK and guarantee seeing low flying military aeroplanes.

[Shack37]

Cheap Changi watch
When your first cheap Changi Watch circa 1968 stops working after nearly 50 years and your next one from 2010 stops after a couple of months!



Khormaksar watch 1966, still going strong......as long as I wind it up every couple of days.

[Ascend Charlie]

You know you are old when the cadet you taught to fly retires with the rank of Air Marshal. And you are still working as a flying instructor....

[thunderbird7]

Just to be clear Boogie street cheep (yes that is the correct spelling) or Changi Stores cheap?

Never brought a watch in Boogie street until it had been subjected to immersion in a pint of tiger till you finished said pint and checked the cockroach had not

Hmmm' When I was there it was called Bogis Street !

Last week it was spelt 'Bugis Street'... but it ain't what it was... ;)

[Georgeablelovehowindia]

Tiger Moth @ £4. 10s an hour at Fairoaks Aero Club.

G-AOAC ... and 'Wingco' Arthur (certifying your logbook as 'Royal Aero Club No. 100') was your instructor.
:ok:

[dubbleyew eight]

I still have my slides of the transvestites of Bugis Street.
my mates have been in raptures at the beauty of the "women" and not one has believed me when I said they were men.

might scan a few.....

[goudie]

True story re. Bugis St. from the '60's.
Mrs G and I were spending the evening in Bugis St with friends. The six of us were sitting at a table enjoying the sights and sounds (Mrs G peed off 'cos the 'ladies' had nicer dresses than hers!) when a dozen or so Aussie matelots sat down at the next table, ordered beers and commenced to banter, well laced with the usual profanities.
Mrs G turns to me and says ''tell those young chaps to stop swearing!''
Survival instinct kicked in and I declined. ''Right, if you don't I will'', she cries. And with that she stands up and says to the guys '' would you mind not swearing in front of ladies. It's very bad manners you know.''
They all looked at her dumbfounded then one chap says ''sorry luv no bloody offence meant, wot's yer name sweetheart?
Somewhat mollified she replies ''Kathy.''
To a man they all stand up and commence to sing 'I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen''. This reduces her to tears and she then insists I buy them a drink, which I do. They joined our table and a cracking night ensued!

[AARON O'DICKYDIDO]

When the girl in PSF asks you if you are sure that there is a letter in your Service number!!!

When you can remember a time before the letters were added to service numbers !


Aaron

[Bill Macgillivray]

Letters in service numbers? What will they think of next? Probably Lance Corporals in the RAF Regiment !!!

[ValMORNA]

Service numbers? Surely they are now Alpha-Numerics?

[Tengah Type]

You know when you are old when the RAF was 43 years old when you joined and 94 years old when you left!

When you still have the issued Flying Clothing of :
Gauntlets, Flying, Left, Each 1 and
Gauntlets, Flying, Right, Each 1. One was produced in Scotland and the other in Northern Ireland and only became a pair at Station Level to reduce "leakage" in the Stores system.

When you can add: Andover,AstonDown,Booker,Bovington,Colerne,Dishforth,Duxford ,Elvington,
Horsham St Faith,Hullavington,Manston,Newton,Oakington,Ouston,Swanton Morley,Swinderby,Tangmere,Thorney Island & Upavon to previous lists.

But I cannot beat Lightning 5's Troopship to Singapore- I had to make do with a British Eagle Brittania with hosties in stockings and suspenders.

[Danny42C]

Letters in service numbers ?...Never 'eard of 'em...When did they come in ?:confused:

[Bill4a]

'Twas Bugis Street in 1964 and we had the Happy World for the mud wrestling!

[ExAscoteer]

Letters in service numbers ?...Never 'eard of 'em...When did they come in ?:confused:

I joined my UAS as an APO in August 1981 and had no letter in my Service Number. By late 1981 / early 1982 I had a letter suffix added to my Service Number. At the same time the Cadet Pilots had a letter prefix added to their Service Numbers.

I was told it was something to do with the Pay Computer.

[FantomZorbin]

The letters were only introduced as a 'check' on the numeric number and limit typos when PSF et alia input your number. Somewhere in FZ Towers I have the gorillarithm (algorithm) for it ... v. v. sad :8

[woptb]

Letter in my number,joined 1978.

[Haraka]

I seem to recall that the "check " digit ( expressed as a letter) was first around in the early 70's at least- if not a bit before. IIRC it then went away as far as we were concerned and then came back again some years later.

[kilwhang]

I was a Boy Entrant at St Athan between Sep '63 and April '65.

At some point in that time (my memory isn't THAT good) we were lined up in a hangar and given a piece of paper with our new prefix letters.

I would guess late '64.

[goudie]

Certainly had a letter pre-fix for some time before I left, in 'Jan 74

[Wander00]

When I rejoined in 1980 they gave me my old "Towers" 608+++ number and then or shortly after gave me the suffix letter. ISTR the letter was a "check digit" to confirm the numerals were correct

[MPN11]

ISTR the 'cheek digit' was used mainly for Pay & Allowances purposes, thus ensuring the wrong person couldn't accidentally receive £0/3/6 due to someone else ;)

[BEagle]

When I joined as a Flt Cdt in 1968, my allocated number was S802****. Then, when I was commissioned as an APO a year later for University, it changed to 802****S.

[Haraka]

Ditto of course Beags, but wasn't the check digit in a bracket at one stage? eg
802****(E)
It all seemed pretty irrelevant to our minds at the time!

[ian16th]

I understand that the 'check character' was added in 1965. When the RAF was 'computerising' its personel records.

I commenced my demob leave in Feb 65 and I was apparantly one of the last people not to have one :{

But at that date I entered the computer industry and soon learnt what a 'check character' was.

Check characters are added to long numbers, such as account numbers, part numbers and service numbers, to aid verification, and highlight keying errors when being entered into computers.

The same calculation that creates the check character is repeated as the number is keyed in, and the newly generated check character is compared to the keyed in check character. If this compare is unequal, it is assumed that the operator has made an error when keying.

At this point most programs ask the operator to re-enter the number.

This function was also built into dumb data entry machines such as card punches, that indicated check character anomilies in other ways.

[teeteringhead]

Check digit certainly there when one joined AOTS in early '68. During training one was enlisted as an airman, so the number was 802****Q.

When commissioned, it changed (sic) to Q802****.

[blaireau]

Wingco Arthur was no longer actively flying then. My instructor was Charlie Parker. CFI was-----Bishop who went in with 3 others in a Piper Caribbean later that year by hitting the trees on take-off.

[pbk]

Sept 66, G196....

[alwayslookingup]

My late Father, join date 01.04.1957, number L420****.

At that time was there not something about National Service entrants having a different style of number, maybe without a letter? He certainly used to tell me anyone could tell if you were NS or Regular from your number.

[goudie]

used to tell me anyone could tell if you were NS or Regular from your number. Yes they could. NS Nos. started with a 2 Regulars with a 4. Your father's 420***** denotes, I believe, that he was a Regular who had been in the ATC. The L pre-fix came later.

[ian16th]

My late Father, join date 01.04.1957, number L420****It is not just a matter of when he enlisted, in 1957 we did not have the check character, it was a matter of if he was still serving at the time of the change.

Yes there were seperate groups of number depending how you started your service.

National Servicemen had two groups of numbers, one was used for former ATC members and the other for 'ordinary' National Servicemen.

There were two similar groups for Regular's.

There were the well known numbering scheme for Apprentice's and Boy Entrants.

With the latter, most of us could work out the Entry of anyone within +/- 1 Entry, just form his service number.

[Lightning5]

Tengah Type, greetings.

I'm know how you feel. I to, did the Singapore run courtesy British Eagle. Two tours at Tengah, 60 /62 on 60 Sqn and 67/69 with the 74th (Wiwols again !). First tour happy days down Bugis and single. Second tour married with kids!! Happy days though on both.

[MPN11]

The Tengah Troop here seems very numerous! :ok:

ATCO WSRT, 67-70.
British Eagle out, RAF VC-10 home ;)

[Tengah Type]

Lightning 5. Greetings to you as well.

I only managed one tour on 45 Sqn between 63-66. But may have tanked you on your second tour.

My last run to the real Bugis Street was in 82, en-route to Hong Kong, where one of the Kaities demonstrated "her" operation to a very bemused WRAF Wing Commander passenger on the trip! The next time in 95 to the new Bugis Street was a great disappointment.

[gzornenplatz]

Out with British Eagle, back by VC10 which was much less painful apart from the smoke pouring out of the air conditioning vents, forcing a longer stopover at Gan.


My Dad's number was 343*** (1921 vintage)

[ShyTorque]

You mean some of you got more than three numbers?
No, I'm not that old....

I did feel quite old when I saw an actual airframe in which I'd done some of my flying training arrive as the station gate guardian. But a whole lot older when they took it away again because it had become too old even to be the gate guardian.... :eek:

Now they've changed it at least twice more! :(
But at least I'm still getting airborne.

[26er]

I was called up for NS in Nov '49 and allocated a number 3124*** which I was told indicated I had been in the ATC. As I had volunteered for NS pilot training before actually going to Padgate I must have mentioned the ATC thing at the recruiting office in Ealing. As far as I know nobody had actually confirmed my ATC service. Others had numbers starting 4******. After two years I became Plt Off Bloggs RAFVR with the same number. After a few months I rejoined on a short service commission, retraining the same number. In 1956 I was granted a permanent commission and the number stayed with me until I retired in 1969. In 1976 I joined the RAFVR(T) and still kept that number until they kicked me out kicking and screaming in Dec 1996. Incidentally when I joined BEA my staff number ended in ***75 which I was told indicated a pilot. Don't know if BOAC had a similar system.

[alwayslookingup]

Goudie, #165, correct, he was a Regular, but not ex ATC, unless he BS'd about ATC and it wasn't checked.

Do families still have to quote "last three" when going to eg medical centre on camp. In fact, do families still get cared for by medical centre/dentist, or is that another "you know you're old when...?

[ExAscoteer]

IIRC the requirement for Service Medical Care for Families was binned in 1997.

[Mr C Hinecap]

The Med Centre at Wittering certainly covered families in 2009 - I can't say after that as I was posted.

[thing]

white thighs, girdle and suspenders, andWe used to call the white thigh gap between the top of the stocking and the knickers the Giggle Zone, 'cos if you got there you were laughing.

Then someone who should have been publicly hung invented tights...I've lost count of the number of women who are bemused by the male delight at a stockinged leg. As I always tell them, you don't have to understand, just indulge us.

[oxenos]

Hope begins where stocking tops end.

[goudie]

alwayslookingup

Apologies, my error re. ATC. Former ATC's Nos started... 320 or 350 not too sure which...must be getting old!:sad:

[1.3VStall]

We used to call the white thigh gap between the top of the stocking and the knickers the Giggle Zone

And the suspender clasp was always known as the "chuckle buckle"!;)

[26er]

Goudie, see my post #172. 3124*** ?

[MadsDad]

Thing, you said Then someone who should have been publicly hung invented tights

I have to point out that it was my uncle Harold, who worked for Pretty Polly at the time, who built the first commercial machine to manufacture tights in bulk, in the early 1960s.He didn't deserve hanging, a good old boy was Harold (if somewhat under his wife's thumb).

[goudie]

Goudie, see my post

Cheers 26er:ok:

[Wander00]

So what was Harold's nick name then, "Spoilsport"?

[John Eacott]

The late great cartoonist, Tugg Willson, was a fan of stockings and WRENs who wore them:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/64157_10203158233059452_262526760_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t1.0-9/1466036_10203158233499463_2091506462_n.jpg

[John Eacott]

I joined my UAS as an APO in August 1981 and had no letter in my Service Number. By late 1981 / early 1982 I had a letter suffix added to my Service Number. At the same time the Cadet Pilots had a letter prefix added to their Service Numbers.

I was told it was something to do with the Pay Computer.

FWIW, the old man had a 6 digit number as NCO aircrew which was then changed to a completely new number when commissioned during the Second World War, no letters involved. Mind you, he also had to change his Stalag Luft IVb prisoner number when he swapped places with a fusilier in Stalag IVd so that he could escape, and at 91 he can still remember all of them!



You know you're getting old when you remember that you didn't have a service number: Naval Officers were only issued them in times of hostilities and the cold war didn't count.

[Danny42C]

"Never let a sailor get an inch above your knee !"

[goudie]

"Never let a sailor get an inch above your knee !"I've made a note of that Danny:ok:

[Ogre]

You know you are getting old when someone pays you a compliment......

.....which is immediately caveated with "for a man your age"!

[gopher01]

Joined on January 5th 1965 as Craft Apprentice 202nd Entry with no letter, shortly after letters were affixed to service number, however usual cock up as my letter was the letter " O " , promptly used as zero by all and sundry, yet again very shortly changed to " P " and still can't forget the thing, comes in handy for passwords and pin codes on cards!
And old is when you can remember the torqe loading on a Beverly prop securing nut ( 720 lb ft )!, and moving them into a hangar sideways as the fins wouldn't go under the roof if you tried it the normal way, oh what a laugh that was!

[ian16th]

On the day that the Royal Air Force is 96 years old, you realise that it was only 34 years and 7 weeks when you joined :bored:

....and not quite 47 when you were demobbed :uhoh:

Happy Birthday!

[Danny42C]

When you realise that the RAF is only three years older than you are ! :(

Many happy returns ! (maybe sometime soon they'll give you a few aeroplanes as a birthday present).

[Saratogapp]

.....when you answered the telephone with 'Windsor 252'

After a perfect landing and taxi, you find that the HF antenna is hanging in the fence.

[thing]

Up until 1988 my telephone number was South Cockerington 628. Them were the days eh. Talking of phones do you remember public phone box handsets always use to smell of the sickly sweet odour of decaying tobacco. Ugh. There was also a ruse that I can't remember clearly now where if you pressed button 'A' (youngsters-don't bother asking) a certain number of times as soon as you connected you got a free call.

[Haraka]

Ah yes. Then there was "Tandem Dialling" when you dialled a long code which put you in ,then out, of exchanges along the way , enabling you to make long distance calls at local rates , or so I am told.:O

[500N]

Then you had Steve Jobs and Steve Woznak, who started Apple who worked out that certain tones sent down the phone allowed free calls !!!

[BEagle]

500N - that was known as 'phone phreaking'. There was also the famous 'Cap'n Crunch whistle', which came free in cereal packets in the US. Some kid discovered that it was the exact frequency used by single tone dialling systems and it was possible to bypass the toll system by blowing the whistle at the appropriate rate.....

In the UK, before DTMF tone dialling, in the old 'button A and button B' public phone boxes, it was (allegedly!) possible to make free local calls by tapping the cradle to simulate the number of pulses caused by the dial. Long distance calls (allegedly!) required a special code to be dialled, knowledge of which was passed around amongst university students during the early 1970s.

The solution was simple - just reduce the cost of phone calls so that there was no point in phone phreaking!

[BANANASBANANAS]

I now fly for an airline and just had a serious 'you know you're old' moment when I checked into our crew hotel in downtown Bangkok, a stone's throw from Pat Pong and all I was interested in was how comfortable my bed was and what time does breakfast start!

Get up and go well and truly got up and gone.

[ex-fast-jets]

My wife and I emerged from the theatre in Chesterfield at about 2230 one November night.

The wind was blowing and cold, the rain was torrential and horizontal, so I pulled up the collar of my coat, wrapped my scarf around my neck, pulled my hat down, and considered if we could make it to the car without developing hypothermia or drowning on the way................

I looked across the street from the entrance to the theatre - which, in Chesterfield, is lined with bars, pubs and other venues to make it "party town" for modern yoof - and saw streams of young "ladies" scantily dressed, tottering along the pavement in the highest of heels, shortest of skirts, and with only limited covering of their firm, smooth breasts....................I digress :E

They were clearly on their way to a holiday in the Caribbean, or their meagre benefits/allowances/minimum wage payments meant that they simply could not afford proper clothing.

We ran to the car, turned the heater to max, and drove home.

That's when I knew I was old.......................:eek:

[thing]

and saw streams of young "ladies" scantily dressed, I've actually driven up Silver Street in Lincoln in a snow storm and seen the same queueing to get into a nightclub. Yet if you gave them all the right kit and asked them to go on a refreshing five mile walk on a frosty morning they would look at you like you had two heads.

Off to take the grandson to the Space Centre in Leicester now, no doubt there will be stuff there which will give me the opportunity to regale him with 'I remember that' moments.

[Richard Woods]

BomberH - nothing's changed since your visit. :ok:

[HTB]

...you become eligible for a free bus pass, winter fuel allowance and a bowel cancer test kit drops through your letter box (I regret ignoring the last one)...

Mister B

[Danny42C]

.......when you can remember when there was cream on top of the milk......

(Mister B: [last item] Been there, done that. Scar healed nicely. No recurremce [yet] - GO FOR IT).

D.

[Exrigger]

You know you are getting old when you and the wife come out of the supermarket wife gets into the front passenger seat and you put the shopping on the back seat then get into the back seat with it and wonder where the steering wheel is and your wife nearly has a heart attack laughing so much.:\

The other one is when you decide to do a bit of google searching, so open the computer, start google and look blankly at the screen wondering what you wanted to search for.:confused:

[Photoplanet]

You've got towels that have been in RAF service longer than the new guy on Sqn has been alive....

[500N]

"The other one is when you decide to do a bit of google searching, so open the computer, start google and look blankly at the screen wondering what you wanted to search for.:confused:"


:ok: :O

Or sitting at the computer and thinking while doing something else that
you must look up such and such.

Then 5 minutes later, after having shut the computer down, you remember that you wanted to search for something :(

[Halton Brat]

What?

HB (I think)

[1.3VStall]

I loved the Matt cartoon of the retirement age protest march: "What do we want, what were we saying, why are we here.....?"

Why am I posting?;)

[ian16th]

You've got towels that have been in RAF service longer than the new guy on Sqn has been alive.... I've been demobbed 49 years and we still have some RAF towels!

I honestly wish we could buy more of them.

They don't make 'em like that any more.

[Surplus]

I loved the Matt cartoon of the retirement age protest march: "What do we want, what were we saying, why are we here.....?"

I like the:

"What do we want?"

"A cure for Tourettes!"

"When do we want it?"

"#%$^!"

[Blacksheep]

When your attestation date was closer to the Wright Brothers 1st flight, than your latest birthday is to Gagarin's 1st space flight.In a couple of years, my attestation date will be closer to the Wrights' flight than my latest birthday. But I'm not old.

[con-pilot]

When the old joke about old guys never passing up an opportunity to take a pee and never trusting a fart.

Becomes the real facts of life for you. :(


Back on a the aviation theme, one of the DC-3s I used fly was only three years older than I was and it flew in World War Two.

You fly with the granddaughter of one of your old co-pilots and she is a former Air Force pilot.

[MPN11]

When the old joke about old guys never passing up an opportunity to take a pee ....

My wife remarks on my ability to navigate, anywhere we go on 2 Continents, via Gents lavatories.

I regard it as a life-skill, rather than a problem :cool:

[NutLoose]

You read and reply to this thread..... Oops I'm old :{

[Danny42C]

You find your Maths papers from your HSC exam (nearly 80 years ago) at the bottom of an old trunk, and try to understand the questions ! :confused:

[CoffmanStarter]

Don't worry Nutty ...we can have you Carbon Dated if you like :p

[smujsmith]

...... When your most comfortable (mentally and physically) evening wear includes an old pair of green flying socks, that somehow you managed to retire with. Seriously, nothing is warmer, nor more cosy.

Smudge:ok:

[oxenos]

When your old flying socks are white.

[effortless]

When you realise that your old grey flying socks used to be white

[thing]

When your most comfortable (mentally and physically) evening wear includes an old pair of green flying socks, Tell you what, there's nothing like putting on a pair of old cape leather flying gloves. Trouble is all of the touch screen kit in aircraft these days works better with a naked finger.

[NutLoose]

When like Bruce Willis's teeshirt in Die Hard, you remember when your now green aircrew socks used to be grey and before that white..

[goudie]

You know you're old when you empathise with all the other posts about 'you know when you're old' and don't give a sh!t anyway.

[ValMORNA]

. . . when you can remember the 'secret sign' on your Dad's betting slip (illegal in them days, of course) which you took to the bookie for him, or your Mum's Co-Op 'divi' number (2563) but can't remember the PIN for your Barclaycard and have to wait for the bank to open to get some cash.

[Fareastdriver]

I can't remember what I was going to write.

[Rocket2]

Your getting very old when you can tell the youngsters how we used to FLY our shiny new aircraft before scrapping them :ugh:

[FODPlod]

The girl at the checkout asks whether you would like help packing your shopping (or even worse, help to your car).

However, this is my personal favourite:

You know you’re getting old when you stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you’re down there.

[It's Not Working]

...when you don't know how old you are without working it out from your date of birth.

[SOSL]

Nice post FODp. George Burns certainly knew what he was talking about! Also when you stoop to tie your shoe laces and the back fasteners of your braces ping off your trousis, embarrassing when it happens on the main concourse at Waterloo!


Rgds SOS

[effortless]

You get to top of climb and you have to go back down again to remember why you were up there.

[Fareastdriver]

I still can't remember what I was going to write.

[goudie]

you stoop to tie your shoes


Velcro fastened shoes or 'slip ons' are the old mans friend. I have several pairs!

[ValMORNA]

... you go to fasten your shoes (laces/Velcro) and find you haven't got any on.

[goudie]

find you haven't got any on.


And you realise that cracked and dried skin has a strong resemblance to crocodile shoes.

[MPN11]

Oh, God, is this my fate?

Where's the Mess Webley when you need it?

[ian16th]

Where's the Mess Webley when you need it?

I've forgotten.

[Rocket2]

"Where's the Mess Webley when you need it?"

I gave it to the wif....................................................