I must have led a charmed life during my youth. As a twenty year old Hastings flap and u/c manipulator, and frustrated fighter pilot, I managed to talk my way into flying the Levant Comm Squadron Meteor T7 & F8's during a three month Nicosia detachment in the summer of 1958. My Meteor experience consisted of two one hour rides in the back of a 216 sqn T7 when I volunteered to fly lunchtime patrols over the south of the island. (It was too hot for the Hunters to operate between 1200 -1400) After devouring the pilots notes from cover to cover and passing an aural with flying colours I was expecting at least a couple of dual trips before being let loose on my own. The following day I missed lunch and reported to the LCS for my first dual trip. The CO welcomed me with: "952 is ready, sort yourself out with a bonedome." which I did and waited for him to join me in the crew room. Fifteen minutes later he came in and told me to sign the authorisation book and get airborne asap. Having never sat in the front of a T7 my first attempt at starting it was an embarrassing failure as the throttles were not fully back against the micro-switches. The ground crew put me right and I taxied out with full fuselage and ventral tanks. The next day I flew two one hour sorties in an F8, then gradually built up confidence and experience on type over the following two months, while carrying out my Hastings second pilot duties in a series of large mixed fleet night formation (cock-ups) exercises, practising for an operation that never came off. I did not fly a pure jet again for 18 years, when I converted on to the DC8 in 1976.
Last edited by brakedwell; 23rd Apr 2012 at 15:04.