Tandem Tutor
Ah! The old Mk 3. I knew it well!
I first met XE790 when I was on the staff of No 2 Gliding Centre at RAF Newton in Nottinghamshire. My first flight in it was on 24 February, 1959. The Centre's main purpose was to train and re-categorise instructors of Air Cadet weekend schools but the secondary role was ab initio training of cadets on week long courses so we did a lot of circuit bashing in Mk3s.
The unit moved to Kirton Lindsey (N Lincs) in September 59 and XE790 appears many times in my log book until 10 August 1961. Presumably it then moved away to one of the weekend schools.
As to the longest flight in a T-31, I can't help. My own highlight is 1 hr 10 mins climbing to 4,600' in the sea breeze front near Sunderland. I suspect we came down deliberately because of the cold. The front cockpit is relatively draught-free, but the instructor in the rear suffers.
Any soaring flight in a T-31 is noteworthy. I racked up 13,500 launches and the average flight time was 3mins 44secs. Being positive, I suppose the Mk 3 gave more landing practice per flying hour than most other trainers.