Reg, your tale of the panting FO meeting the aircraft on arrival reminded me of another practical joker, on Hastings, who for the sake of the DPA we'll simply call "Frosty". Although he was the aircraft captain, he would follow the passengers onto the aircraft wearing an Air Movements Officer armband. Briefly he would tell them the flight time to their destination, the Captain's (ie, his) name and wish them a pleasant flight. He then disembarked, the door closing behind him, but would now nip under the wing unseen to enter by the crew hatch via a forward ladder. At the destination the procedure was reversed, the same "AMO" greeting the passengers on arrival. Problem was no-one would notice, one AMO looking much like any other! His other japes included positioning a crate of empty Gin bottles on the flight deck and once every hour opening the door and rolling one out into the cabin. The most contrived was the old favourite of tying off two strings, one to the LH control wheel, the other to the RH one and paying them out as he made his way aft to the loo. Towards the rear of the cabin he would hand the two strings to a lucky recipient asking him if he could ensure that the aircraft remained on course while he attended to a call of nature, explaining that if it started turning left to pull this one and likewise the other if it turned right. Though the Flight Deck door obviously remained open, the Co-Pilot crouched low in his seat out of sight. His Auto Pilot heading control was conveniently mounted to his right side and he could thus start a turn going until the appropriate string tightened when he resumed heading. This would go on until sufficient fun was deemed to have been had, when Frosty would emerge refreshed and retrieve the strings from a relieved and perspiring passenger. Sometimes though fate would take its revenge. When instructing at 242 OCU, Thorney Island, one night he took control as usual on a roller landing when a car entered the Runway ahead of them, crossing right to left. A public road crossed the runway there controlled by lights and barriers but obviously they had not been activated on this occasion. Frosty fed in full power and pulled back, managing to stagger into the air in time and thus avoid disaster. He made the next landing a full stop, shut down the aircraft and then made his way to the Mess for two stiff Scotches. Eventually he arrived home, where his wife demanded to know why he was so late. He apologised to her and began to explain that he had had an alarming experience and had to steady himself with a drink when she cut him short. "Never mind your alarming experience, what about mine? I was nearly run down by an aircraft earlier!", she complained.