You know you're getting old when......
That much? £1/10s 
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.
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.
Last edited by John Eacott; 19th Mar 2014 at 11:10.
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Just over the road from Bicester airfield
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getting old !
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.
Join Date: Oct 2002
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.. 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 ..
.. 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 ..
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!
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When the last Marathon you finished, was before they were rebranded as Snickers
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: In the workshop, Prune-whispering.
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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...
Imps
Jubblies
Fruit Polo's
Zubes
Izal toilet paper
and it brings a tear to the eye..... just like the toilet paper used to...
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Often in Jersey, but mainly in the past.
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... 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
... You never even heard of today's Air Marshals until they were one
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Often in Jersey, but mainly in the past.
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... And you remember the first time you bought sweets without having to use a Ration Book 
