Reminds me of the occasion on 90 Sqn. circa 1964 when a Valiant had a hose that would not retract, he flew low down the runway at Honington while we chased it in a landrover to signal when the hose jettisoned. After a few attempts the hose was seen to be missing, and the crew reported it had detached roughly about A flight at the end of the airfield. We searched most of the night without success, eventually it was reported in a garden near Thetford a good 5 miles away! Incidentally during the early days of fighter refuelling we had a few cases of the probe shearing of and remaining in the Drogue (a design feature). These were removed, a red ribbon tied around it and posted back to the receivers squadron with a suitable greeting card.