Standard Vanguard - V - Olympus 301
PN - The Standard Vanguard CAT 5 incident you mentioned was a 617 Sqn triumph c. 1967
At Scampton the Nav Radar was the designated driver for exercise EDOM. I think it was because he had least reason to climb immediately aboard and so had time to park the car. Anyway a particular Nav Rad on 617 was known for his dynamic, thrusting and highly competitive approach to life. Late one windswept rainy night he was at the wheel for a routine call out. Hurtling round the threshold of Rny 05, as near on two wheels as is possible in a Vanguard, he was determined to beat the 27 and 83 lot to the QRA dispersal. And he did.
But unhappily, he parked the car up the jet pipe of No 1 engine (well almost). Came the call for 'start engines' and the powering up of No 1 for crossfeed, the inevitable happened. The Vanguard was last seen cartwheeling over the Lincoln edge.
On recounting this story, I'm sometimes asked the identity of this devil-may- care Nav Rad. Well, I'm not one to name names. But I somtimes wonder if M.k. B..n..d has ever felt the need to reflect on the events of that day.