As regards the "Belslow's" reputation in the RAF; the internal dimensions were capacious in the extreme, but if the flight was in excess of a few hundred miles all that could be carried were ping-pong balls. (No problem about them being damaged-it couldn't climb high enough!)
There was the scurrilous rumour at one time that one of their loadmasters has been Court Martialled- for leaving the payload behind in his locker.
All credit to the civilian world if they managed to operate them at a profit.
I can recall that when they were up for sale, the RAF crew left behind to demonstrate them was told that they could fly them every month to keep in practice...but try not to let anyone see you.
Not an easy task on an aircraft of that size.
PS The C130's purchased at the same time for a fraction of the price are either still in service or sold for more than we paid for them!