Late 1973 I was posted to #1 AD (Air Defence) Course on the F-4 Phantom. Part of the lead-in was for the six navigators to do a bit of radar prediction from topo charts, prior to a trip in an NBS equipped Hastings. Once airborne we took it in turns to overlay our acetate sheets with what we expected to see on the flickering display.
Three of us at a time for a four hour sortie, each one doing about an hours worth of jiggling the gain control and trying to find out where the hell we were. Naturally, as the junior nav I was last to have a go - in theory - as it always went u/s long before my turn.
The Hastings was from 1066 Sqn and picked us up from Waddington, even though we were based at Coningsby/Finningley. As we were exiting from the aircraft after another DNCO, I noticed a metal plate above the steps which read something like "This is a/c no xxxx. When it is time expired do not use for fire practice, as it took part in the Berlin Airlift. Preserve for posterity"
If I wasn't lazy I'd dig out my logbook and give the exact serial. Maybe later, it's been a long day . . .
