Did a year on the T3 as an F/O. My line training was conducted by two TCs. The first was a rather grumpy older chap (RM) who told me off when I said I was enjoying the experience. 'You're not here to enjoy yourself,' he growled. The second chap was younger and more laid back (JM). He asked me to hand fly a departure one day. After a while it seemed to me there was a problem with roll control – the a/c seemed to have become very sensitive in roll and I found I was overcontrolling. Afraid to admit my lack of knowledge – obviously some factor had intruded that I should have known about from the ground school course – I persevered. The overcontrolling got worse. I looked across at JM, not knowing how to proceed. To my surprise he was grinning. 'Do you want the dampers back in now?' he asked. He'd switched them off without me noticing, presumably to demonstrate their necessity. He was a great character. He could devour an RE2 between landing and parking (with the F/O taxying).
A boost story. Oslo to LHR, mid-winter, full load of pax (140?). Contaminated runway, but TO perf okay with boost. Taxi out, light the boost just before entering the runway. P1 advances the throttles – the boost flames out! Taxi back to the gate. The engineer can't help – 'you'll have to take it boostless back to LHR'. Rework the TO perf w/o boost. Can only take 40-odd pax. I don't know how the ground staff did the cull but we left behind 100 odd v angry pax.