Lovely gentleman and I still recall the very 'proper' and perfect flow of his patter
Quite so. During my CFS instructors course at RAAF East Sale I did my first dual Vampire flight with Ken as the instructor. I had previously only flown the single seat Vampire since when I first flew the Vampire there were no dual versions at the time. .
We taxied in before take off as there was a radio defect. The canopy on the dual Vampire was a clamshell type and operated by a button in the cockpit. Once the canopy was fully vertical (i.e. open) there was a locking device on the telescopic rod that kept it open.
Having divested myself while seated of various accoutrements like radio leads and ejection seat attachments, I put my hands up to the front windshield to lever myself out of the cockpit prior to climbing down a short ladder to the tarmac.
A I placed both hands on the top of the windshield, Ken quickly warned me to always double check the locking device was indeed locked lest a wayward wind would cause the canopy to be blown shut. I thanked him for his thoughtful advice and deciding it would be good manners to let him egress the aircraft before me, I sat back down on my parachute which was used as a cushion. Age before beauty or Squadron Leader rank before Flight Sergeant, as it were.
With that, Ken put his hands on the top of the windshield to lever himself out of the cockpit. Unfortunately a real wayward gust of wind blew the canopy shut because he had failed to ensure the locking lever had locked the canopy vertical.
The canopy fell down on both his gloved hands trapping them under the canopy bow. This in turn elicited a frightful oath of "Scheisenhausen" from Ken, who, as it turned out now had a broken finger. He could have said WTF in a loud voice but such vulgar language was not Ken.
I didn't know what "Scheisenhausen" meant but it was obviously a naughty word uttered by an officer and a gentleman and I vowed to add that to my limited vocabulary when the occasion arose; even though I was a lowly NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer).
I then made a fatal mistake. I said to Ken in an admiring voice "That was a bloody good demonstration, Sir."
"That's not bloody funny, Flight Sergeant" replied Ken through gritted teeth as he wrung his busted hand in pain. "Oops - sorry Sir" I said, managing to hide a grin behind my oxygen mask.
For the next two weeks Ken had his hand in a sling.