effortless,
On Dec 8th, 1965, I flew from Jeddah to El Adem, a time of 2hrs:40mins, in a Mk9. I agree with nipva that, deftly flown with full tankage of 230's and 100's, an endurance time of 3:45 should have been possible - interpolating from my old Mk 6 Pilot's Notes.
But I most certainly wouldn't take heed of anything put across on the airwaves by Jeremy Vine. If you read the post by 'fixed cross' in ORAC's reference to Vine's show above, he puts forward the reality of things!