Thanks again everybody for your questions and comments.
Nutloose, yes, the RAF Bulldogs have the green cross marker for the first aid kit on the starboard side just behind the canopy. The UASs did have a cold war role as airborne observers assisting with the defence of critical UK infrastructure. We were told we would be in the right seat with binoculars providing information to security forces on the ground. I suppose the thinking was that if the Soviets rolled into West Germany, they would activate their sleeper cells to wreak havoc across Europe. Frankly, I could never hold binoculars stable enough to see much of any use on the ground while a low and slow Bulldog would have been easy prey to small arms fire.
Regarding your question about civilian versions to compete with Cessna and Piper, the Bulldog was derived from the Beagle Pup which was an attempt by Beagle Aircraft to compete in the civilian market. Although the Pup was a highly capable aircraft (with a loyal following today), I believe Beagle saw their future with the Bulldog which was developed as a military trainer for the Swedish air force. Beagle was acquired by Scottish Aviation who, in turn, combined with BAe by which time the focus was firmly on the military market. The Bulldog airframe is heavy and rugged - designed for +6g to -3g, inverted flight, rough field landings, etc - and is ideally suited to four/five military instructional flights a day. However, the same virtues make the Bulldog less suited to civilian touring in terms of comfort, useable load, endurance, etc.
Meleagertoo, there was one Bulldog which was custom built for the British Ambassador to Venezuela and delivered to Caracas in the late 1970s. I saw photos of it years ago which included a rich leather interior and autopilot. Probably a different experience to a sweaty climb to height for spins, trussed up in a Mk 43 parachute and Mk3C bone dome!
Shaft109, when MOD disposed of their RAF Bulldogs, all maintenance log cards and the most recent volume of F700s were included with each aircraft. When the aircraft were put on the civilian register in the UK, these documents formed part of the "new" logbooks. Although not a requirement in the US under the Experimental Exhibition category, most Bulldog owners have retained the original MOD documents. I received complete MOD and civilian log books with XX552 and XX553. "Will it (XX552) be a flyer?" - my gut instinct says "Yes", but it will be a labour of love (a.k.a. lots of time and quite a bit of money) and I will have to trust that the project will not exceed life expectancy.
Red Line Entry, great name recall and immense thanks for helping me fill in a few ULAS blanks from the past. I thought you might appreciate another which I believe is 1985 Easter camp at RAF Abingdon. I seem to recall it was combined with a survival exercise.
Keep those stories and photos coming!
Many thanks,
ABL262