Backing up a bit, and adding a bit of nostalgia. sabredog asked:
Where was the asbestos blanket to protect the tailplane?
I don't remember Marshalls using asbestos blankets at Shawbury in 1968, when I had my first ride in a Vampire. Was that an SOP for RAF Vampires and Venoms?
I flew in the Vampire before I filmed Brett starting up for his flight home to New Plymouth. I mentioned to a friend that the cockpit seemed to have shrunk over the last 44 years and he charitably commented that it must have been a 3/4 scale Vampire!