Tuc,
spot on again ref the serviceability/airworthiness confusion at least with the other aircrew member and myself. I think it is fair to say that our knowledge of the airworthiness chain was restricted to the chap who signed the F700 and the line chief ! The two engineering members of the team were much better qualified than we to assess the 'snakes and ladders' of the RAF airworthiness structure. We were given the Chinook report to read as a template and tried to follow that as far as possible. I recall that a great emphasis was placed on the concern that counterfeit parts may be infiltrating the system. I do not think we found much evidence of that. What did astound me despite my almost 30 years with the Hercules was the number of people with their fingers in the Hercules 'pie'. Many seemed to be duplicating work already in hand. Not very many had seen the a/c 'in the flesh' and even less seemed to want to.