I now look back at Finningly ITC with a smile on my face, and, I must thank Aunty Betty for funding my initial steps into the world of aviation. My Flt Cdr was Jock Penman; a thoroughly tough nut, but a very fair and decent bloke. As with all groups of professionals, there will always be the odd one or two who will slip through the net and cause mayhem whilst climbing the ladder to their perceived platform of stardom.
Without any shadow of doubt I can say that 99.9% of everyone I met as a FE (or Air Eng) were true professionals and that this is, perhaps, testament to the quality of training that we received at both Topcliffe and Finningly.
I believe that the best (RAF) aviation years (within my timeline) were the 70's and 80's where we still had the financial backing to fly training sorties to all parts of the globe. Sadly, such things as H&S, new rules & regulation, politics, and finance etc, brought about many changes that weren't palatable and that the thin end of the wedge was firmly in-place when I demobbed to BA in 1987.
As a civilian (QinetiQ) FE I was very fortunate to, very briefly, return to fly the RAF TriStar and it was a joy to be able to fly with the RAF boys again. Great memories of a fabulous aeroplane!
My civilian FE flying career has now, just like the military, run its course and, without any three-crew aeroplanes remaining available, I've been fortunate enough to maintain an aviation related desk job. Had I not been stubborn to keep searching for FEs jobs around the planet I should have studied for a pilot position whilst I was young enough to do so. So, that's my message to all of you younger FEs... take a firm grip of your youthful brain cells and get sat in the right-hand seat. You've got everything going for you... do it!
TCF