I can't give you any gen about the flying circuses, but the man himself was certainly one of the greats. I had the pleasure of meeting him whilst I was acting as an usher for the Queen's visit to the RAF Club in 1968 to commemorate the 50th anniversary. As a young APO I was stationed just outside what was then 'The Smoking Room', and all I had to do was to bring the room to order and introduce Her Majesty to the assembled throng of aviation worthies, for which we had had a long and intensive briefing. He was one of the first to arrive, and took pity on me being stuck outside so bought out a couple of glasses (of Champagne) for me to wet my thirst. He then went round the room encouraging most of the others to do the same. He even bought out some nibbles, and then collected the (by now) large pile of empty glasses as Her Majesty arrived. The next 10 minutes are better glossed over, but he subsequently deflected the b********g which came my way, and spent the next hour or more talking with me about aviation in general and service flying in particular.