Thanks Old-Duffer, I always liked the story, but wondered if even back then anyone would have subjected such a venerable old gent to the rigour of fast jet flight!
Reading all the way through this thread it is depressing, as well as startling, to see just how many crashes there were. On the V-Bomber crash near Marham, someone quoted just how many aircraft and aircrew the RAF lost between 1948 and 1998 and it reads like an earthquake disaster.
I have always held the RAF in great regard, but these figures increase my respect immensely.
Roger.