Double Zero,
'Snakeman'... which is what some people call me (!) had already gone so 'Snakecharmer' it is... doesn't answer the question of how I acquired the name but, if I were to explain that the 'Snake' is an affectionate nickname for a popular vintage aeroplane, you might get a clue!
Llanbedr / SHAR - I know that the pilot in my pics was Taylor Scott - there's even a note on one of the slide frames to that effect. Unfortunately, I can't lay my hands on my old notes re date etc. You'll understand how I can be so sure re the name when you read below (!).
Yes - Llanbedr was certainly 'different'! To give you a clue how different, my father was posted there in 1978 as Deputy OC Flying (Manned) (!). You can guess the title of the individual with whom he shared an office! Apparently the Jindivik controllers could tell where they were (they had a radar screen) and where they'd been... they just didn't have an instantaneous heading readout anywhere. Apparently, part of his job involved routinely formating his Meteor on the Jindi for damage assesment prior to its recovery. Another part of the job involved the periodic testing of the Meteor's own 'remote control' by the simple system of remaining in the cockpit while the thing was flown from the ground!
I guess you must have worked with my father at some stage - I remember him taking the Llanbedr Canberra to Valley (Llanbedr wouldn't open for the weekend!) on the 'Falklands weekend' to support the (rather short notice!) GR3 / AIM9 firing trials.
All exciting stuff for me as a teenager on school holidays - watching all this hilarity from the sand dunes on Shell Island! Watching the FR test pilot being bounced down the runway in his Sea Vixen, which was being 'flown' from the ground, is a memory that will always remain!
I also remember the Llanbedr aircrew crewroom after lunch one day... a few dozing pilots.. my father emerging from 'ops'... I'm taking the Metoer - anyone want to come?! As each pilot slowly wakened, the mutterings of "I'll take the Canberra / Hawk etc" built! A young me observed this atmosphere and it clearly influenced my future career choice! Imagine my surprize at the Cranwell regime some years later!
PM to follow re pics