22 Jan 1986 saw OP DHONANYI, the recovery of the RSAF Lightnings to the UK. I was the co-pilot on the last VC10K taking the last jets home.....
The beat-ups at Tabuk were getting ever lower and ever faster as the jets left, each one outdoing the previous. 'Our' Lightnings took off and did their 'visual circuit
' whilst we took off in ZA141 ('The Lizard'). The air-to-air TACAN spun down at an astonishing rate as the Lightnings caught us in the climb..... If they weren't actually supersonic, they must have been very close to being so!
Handed them over to a Victor over Sicily and popped into Palermo to refuel, then on to Brize.
It must have been a heck of a long time to be strapped to a Lightning; about 4 hours from Tabuk to Sicily and probably a bit more for the remainder of the trip to Warton.
Where they all landed serviceable!