Originally Posted by
meleagertoo
The RN stopped drinking before flying in the mid '70s I believe. Until then it was perfectly normal, according to ex colleagues, to have a pint or two of lager in the wardroom after lunch and then go off on the afternoon flypro. And not just the helo pukes either, Phantoms and Buccs were still in service then. Apparently the signal 'Effective Immediate' was read out in the wardroom before lunch one day by Cdr(F) completely out of the blue and was not at all kindly recieved..
So. Explains this little tale . Early '70's . Friday afternoon . We're all in the 228 OCU crewroom celebrating something or other . An RN crew with us , having just landed , in transit from somewhere or other . In conversation with the pilot , I say- " so , Twiggy , back to Leuchars tomorrow then ? " . He says " no , I'll be off as soon as I've finished this pint ".
Sure enough , 30 minutes later we hear the afterburners of an 892 jet blasting off.