The Luftwaffe had rather more reasonable attitudes to such flights back in the '90s. There was an RAF exchange officer who was sorting out his civil commercial licences and needed to do the UK FRTOL exam. So he came over to Brize with his WSO, airways for most of the way, then came over to the Flying Club to sit the exam! Passed with 100%, then back to Germany! He told me that a couple of other squadron crews had asked to go to Norway, much to the surprise of their Boss. "Ah - there's a great seafood restaurant we've found..." "Really? OK, I'll come too!" was his reply.
A Luftwaffe F-4 was a common visitor to RAF Wattisham in the early '80s. The crew always greeted the customs officer cordially, declaring a bottle and 200 each. Then they stood around until he'd gone, before unscrewing the access panel on a modified centreline tank, out of which came all manner of things - which were transferred to a minivan from TTTE Cottesmore. Including on one occasion a complete Mercedes Benz exhaust system to replace one wrecked by Rutland's roads!
Last edited by BEagle; 24th Mar 2024 at 18:03.