Pontius Navigator wrote:
I believe they left the fuel system behind - full of fuel. Didn't it all leak out 40 years later?
I don't think the leaks were down to the cousins. One was down to the MPBW/DoE/PSA/what ever their name was at the time, taking a blanking cap off the end of a branch pipe and not telling POL about it before a cross-base fuel transfer. The affected area was near to the big circular pan the Britannias were parked on.
An even bigger leak occurred over at Fairford not long afterwards when the cross-base pipeline burst during a fuel transfer. Many leaks were discovered along the pipe's length during the investigation. Lack of proper maintenance by Works & Bricks was, I believe , a contributory factor.