I remember picking a new aircraft up from Warton and being most impressed with the performance, being used to the Batch 2 101 engined ac we had on the squadron. The climb into the Lichfield Corridor at FL180 happened rather quickly and I forgot to select Mach in the HUD. As the speed picked up through 420 kts, I selected Mach to see it clicking over from .98 to .99. Oops. I remember my TTTE supersonic run at 500 ft over the North Sea which seemed to hit a brick wall at well under 700kts which was really disappointing but it did make a really good noise in the cockpit.
Some earlier pre-mod GR1s had a 560ish kt limitation on the SPS Bay doors as I discovered to my cost one night trying to make our TOT at Tain and the £40 000 left hand panel probably still lies on a Highland hillside gathering moss. I told the Boss that I might not have secured the panel properly on the aircrew turnround in Machrihanish, believing that to be better than telling him the truth. Christmas Dinner for me that year was taken in the Airmen's Mess, not that SDO was ever to be used as a punishment. The 27 Sqn display pilot also discovered the problem a few years later during a practice over Marham but I think he lost both panels.
My recollection from Goose Bay was that the GR1 would start going sideways at around 640 kts with the tanks, outboards and CBLS on (if that is B11 fit) so the 600 kt VNE seemed appropriate.
Happy Days.
Well... apart from 25 Dec 85!