tucumseh, I know this is off topic despite being about Nimrods, but I laughed when i read yours and ZH875's comments about R1s. When I was at Kinloss in 72 a large contigent of groundcrew turned up for Nimrod courses, when asked which station they are posted to (there was a couple in those days) they said RAF Wyton. So two or three of us applied, being Nimrod Q'd etc, a couple of days after our requests went through we had to report to PSF along with the SIB to answer how we knew about an aircraft that does not exist that is not going to RAF Wyton, they also interviewd the new guys on the course to find someone to string up for giving away military secrets.
When I was on 203 Sqd in Luqa an R1 landed (about 75/76) and I was asked to empty/replenish the Toilet, so duly arrived with the trolley on the back of a landrover and positioned it by the front LH side, only to find out that there was no panel. When I went up the steps, there in front of me was a operators station and no toilet, by the time it sunk in that this was not a Nimrod I knew I was being arrested and carted off for questioning. Funny old thing when I was let go and told where the Toilet was on the R1, the crew said I could carry on, I politely declined and left them to do it.
Followed by that in 1978 I was moved from the Hydraulic Bay at Wyton to 51 sqd because of that same Nimrod Q. When a report came out in a newspaper with a picture of an R1 the MOD had a D notice slapped on them and the article withdrawn.
So it is quite strange as you say how things change with regards to these sort of areas.