What is it about the Wessex that makes people so fond of it?

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Nope - if you say "je suis Dave" to anyone who was on the Corsica detachment (he and his crew had arrived at the FFL base and were seeking to gain entry, so he decided to talk to the fella on the gate. Turned out the guard was that rare bird, a Brit in the Legion) they will know of whom I speak.

The nose-door saga started when - as a Flight Commander on 72 in SH Det days - he was flying LHS on a sortie which finished on Omagh's square. That's the square which has a distinct slope. Handling pilot shut the aircraft down, part of the process including holding pressure on the footbrake (RHS pedals only...) while applying the pinch-together parking brake gadget on the centre console. Dave had a bit of post-flight admin which kept him slightly longer than the HP (who'd already climbed out), after which he took off his bonedome and prepared to lower the armour and climb out. Problem was, he'd put his bonedome on the centre console, where it tripped the spring-loaded parking brake 'off'. Cue slow-trundle runaway Wessex, with Keystone Kops antics from Dave and remainder of the crew (I think it rolled-over or flattened the folding chock) trying frantically to get into the RHS to apply the brakes. They were unsuccessful, but more serious damage was averted by the nose-door bringing the aircraft to an expensive (but not quite as expensive as the aircraft falling onto the lower carpark) grinding halt on the kerb around the edge of the square. The nose-door was presented as an ornamental keepsake, which Dave tried to leave behind on posting... several times. It always found its way home, helped by willing hands who knew the story.