Talking of noses...British Eagle had Viscounts that were pressurized into the nose. They wanted - indeed did - fit 12" dishes for the first radars. This meant that they had to create a pressure bulkhead behind the nose area. Fine, they'd got the jigs...or had they?
Story goes - or went, it was some time ago
That the company had sold the jigs shortly before the requirement for the mod. 14k quid. You can see why they were tempted, you could buy a fine house in acreage for that sum in those days.
However, now they had to pay for the aircraft to be modded. 14k quid. Each.
I did some of the first flights with the new kit, and these stories were fixed in my mind. Mind you, I'm open to suggestions that they are apocryphal, or that my brain is fading, it was a long time ago.