Lovely, Danny - beautifully written too! I think anyone - military or civil - who's taken that great first step solo knows exactly what you're on about.
Petet,
I've seen somewhere a photo of a big group of the front fuselages of various different heavies all lined up in a big hall, ostensibly at St Athan during the war. Something about being procedures trainers? Unfortunately I can't remember where I saw that photo. I'll give you a shout if I come across it again.
Adam