50+Ray, I went along on some of those Dom trips whilst holding between a ME refresher course and the '10 OCU. I would agree with you - as no doubt would the pilot who was flying us one day. After making sure he knew where we were whilst the baby navs confused themselves in the back, he suddenly exclaimed "F*** it!" and extracted a piece of paper from his pocket. "Err, Captain to Signaller, you have just obeserved (long list of Sovietski boats) at this position with a MLA of 270 at 20 knots.....which means that in about 10 minutes half the Russian navy will bump into Flamborough Head. Send message to (boat peoples' HQ)".
"Signaller to Captain, Roger"
Much shuffling of bits of NUCO, NAMAT or something, then some demented woodpecker noises for a few seconds....
"Signaller to Captain, the HF has just packed up"
"Ah well, you did your best, so I'll give you a tick for the trip. I suppose if the navigators can find out where we are sometime soon, we can always phone your report in!"
I always said that a weekend in a wet tent plus a couple of hours in a Chipmunk would be one of the most cost effective pilot aptitude methods the RAF could have. If people can put up with turning their ankles on that b*****d turks head terrain, plus a couple of nights watching rain pour down the inside of a leaky tent, feasting on oatmeal block and compo bully beef hash, they should be able to cope with most things military!