I well remember the Varsitys and Vallettas while stationed at Cranwell as a young erk, in the early sixties. I didn't work on them, being on one of the Vampire squadrons, but was able to wangle a lift to Ballykelly once, when going home on leave. I think it was on one of the Vallettas. Before boarding, I was none too politely cautioned that the AOC's secretary, Miss Somebody-Or-Other, was also going to be flying as a passenger, and that I was to be on my best behaviour and treat her respectfully. I expected her to be some straight-laced, flinty spinster, but was pleasantly surprised to find that she was a lovely homely lady, and very easy to get along with
. We landed at Aldergrove to let her off and then continued on to BK. I enjoyed the flight, spending most of the Aldergrove-Ballykelly leg standing between the pilot's seats watching what was going on, especially during the letdown and approach into Ballykelly. From there it was no problem to hitch a lift to my home town of Coleraine. The whole trip probably took about 2 hours tops, which sure beat the heck out of the long train journey to Heysham and then the overnight boat to Belfast.
The next time I came across Varsitys was during a brief tour at Labuan in 1966. Does anyone else recall Varsitys at Labuan? As at Cranwell, the aircrew there were all Master Pilots or SNCO's. I worked on them at Labuan, but seem to recall that there were only two, and most of my time was taken up with the twin and single Pioneers of 209 Squadron.
I also remember the buzz at Cranwell when a groundcrew erk walked into a spinning Varsity prop, when he was seeing it off on a night sortie. Sadly, he didn't make it out the other side
.