The French exchange officer QHI who instructed at Shawbury on the Whirlwind 10 during my time as a student (Jean V) had flown most of his time in early Alouettes and had apparently never flown an aircraft with a fuel computer before (and he spoke very little English). His students hardly ever got to fly computer in!
However, after one student engine off landing, which had unusually been flown “computer out”, a slight mishandling of the flight idle stop/throttle combination when trying to get the Gnome engine wound up again from ground idle (rather than the usual flight idle) resulted in a spectacular plume of flame from the jet pipe and an unserviceable engine. A new entry appeared in the Flying Order Book within hours, banning computer out EOLs.
By coincidence, I worked for a short time with the previously mentioned Bren Spikins, in the Far East, when we were both civilian pilots. I was unaware that he was no longer with us.
Last edited by ShyTorque; 31st October 2021 at 22:30.