Timelord,
Loved every minute of my 32 weeks at 2 ANS Gaydon in '66 - great Course Cdr for 88 ( Ted Mears sadly long gone ), great Flt Cdr GD Stu Ward later Sqn Ldr Ops at Gan then Akrotiri and lot of others I could name. Sadly I didn't like 1 ANS Stradishall, partly because on AL between the 2 units I started going out with a girl back in Camberley I had fancied for a couple of years - the lovely Anne, now my wife of 52 years - and also we had some right arseholes on our instructional syndicate ( mainly ex-bomber men ), 2 of whom we named Noddy and Big Ears. The latter died last year. I found it nauseating that a 40+ Flt Lt ( Noddy ) grovelled and shook in front of a 32 yr old Sqn Ldr!
Thankfully a new proper instructor arrived, the great Brian Weatherly ex-Hastings and Brits. It was he who told me that there was a possibility that someone from our course would be posted to the, as yet ,not in service Herc' and that would be me. As it turned out I was to be the first of an avalanche of 1st tourists posted onto the Herc' from '67 onwards.
So, as far as we, and those posted onto the Andover, Argosy, Twin Pioneer etc , were concerned Nav' School was doing a good job in preparing us for our roles. The not so good students were posted to be back seaters on pointy things!