In the early days of the VC10K the" Powers that be" had decided to save money by not having ALMs on the crews. The "Cabin Supervisor" duties could be carried out by a spare aircrew member. We had also acquired a stock of ex-BA First Class cutlery and crockery. It was also agreed by Accounts that, to save money when down route, they would pay $10US per head to self cater which was a big saving on the cost of airline meals trucked in from miles away. It became a matter of pride to do a great job of catering if you were the Cabin Supervisor, sometimes with unforseen circumstances.
On one trip across Canada we had 2 VIP seats installed on the port side of the cabin for a 4* and his PSO. VIP meals were trucked in at vast expense for them . After they had been fed their very nice but very small VIP meals, they were able to watch the groundcrew the other side of the aisle enjoy the usual home cooked meal. Fish Platter as starter, 16oz Steak cooked to order with Onions, Mushroom and Baked Tomato served with Jacket Potato and sour cream, Salad and choice of Dressings .This was followed by a choice of several Ice Creams and Cheesecakes. Together with a glass of Chilled Grape Juice, all this on Gold Rimmed Crockery with proper cutlery. Jealous!
This was a better service than the F4 crews received on one flight between FI and Ascension. They had requested bite sized sandwiches, Mars Bars, apples and containers of drinks. After a few hours airborne the first box was opened and found to contain All the sandwiches. The other box on that aircraft had All the Mars Bars!! The other crew had all the apples and all the drinks!!
Still that was better than a subsequent Tornado F3 flight where the in flight meals contained Pot Noodles - our suggestions for a scource of fluids to use were not well received.
My best memory was when we had two VC10Ks operating over Northern Iraq with the entire RAF fast jet contingent. It was my 50th Birthday and the other crew had baked me a birthday cake, over Iraq on an operational mission. Thanks Rupe.
#27 Fareast driver ref Sepulot. I flew in to there in a Twin Pin in Dec 63. The resident company of the KOYLI had been on Stand To over night, and when one of the crews returned to their gun pit, after breakfast, they found a 15ft python in it which had probably been their all night. We had it for lunch!!