Dave Ed
Yes I believe people used to fly down to the Channel Islands to service DF, I believe the trip out by boat was quite pleasant.
My greatest memory of DF was flying round the Emperors palace in Tokyo, we had finished the air test, and got all the figures, when my little Japanese pilot said "have you ever seen the Emperors palace", "so I said no", so we circled the green roof tops of the palace.
Later that night we had a Chinese meal in Yokohama, (my guide did not like Japanese food, having lived for some time in Hong Kong). We returned on a night sightseeing flight over Tokyo by AS355. Talk about global warming, try Tokyo at night from a Helicopter.