The whole thing was reminiscent of that music-hall turn, where plates are spinning on canes, and the juggler has to dash round furiously to keep them up. As a way to set up a mid-air collision, it could hardly have been bettered. We didn't have any fatal ones, but we did have the closest near-miss imaginable.
It brings to mind the ingenuity of those auto-changer record players of the 60's. First record finishes, tone arm is run out towards the centre of the disc, lifts, retracts to the side, allowing the stack above to release the next one to fall onto the first, tone arm moves to above the start, lowers and commences to play. Nothing can possibly go wrong...go wrong...go wrong...Until the whole stack is released simultaneously to land with a crump on those below!
Also reminds me of "Exercise Tense Caper", the most aptly named ever! Having had a met briefing that lied like a cheap Changi watch, a stream of Hastings waited to launch on a dark and wet night. We were about number 8, and just as number 7 was about to roll ahead of us, the stream leader broadcast an abort. Those already airborne had carried out the "Scatter Plan", which to cut a long story short put each one on a diverging heading and height. They were then on their own and for the rest of the evening they arrived back, shut down, and converged on the bar. Many were the ingenious measures related to ensure that they could do just that, including filing airborne flight plans in order to join Controlled Airspace. Eventually the last one made it.
"What did you do?"
"We thought the best thing was to go where there was no-one else, so we held in Pxxx (a Prohibited Area near Bath)"
"Oh! So did we, what Altitude were you?"
"x,000 Feet"
"Oh! Which way round were you holding....?"
More please Danny.
Cliff, check in, please.