airpolice wrote:
No pins to check, but (IIRC) fifteen things to look for before sitting down; 5 reds, 5 blacks and 5 greens.
That was the Folland seat in the Gnat. So simple and so safe....
I think that the aircraft I flew which had the most pins was the Buccaneer - clearly it was essential to ensure that they were all in the correct position pre-start and also before exiting the aircraft.
On one occasion, I don't know why, but after I'd checked my cockpit, something made me go back and check the rear seat after the navigator had climbed out. Wherupon I found that he'd transposed 2 pins into the wrong locations, meaning that one element of the seat wasn't safe as one pin was longer than the other and wasn't doing its job, being in the wrong hole.
So I relocated them into their correct locations, then joined my navigator in the line hut. True to form, being a 237 OCU staff navigator, the first thing he said was "Where the f*** have you been?". When I told him, he said "Rubbish - and how dare you stick your nose in my cockpit"......
Typical of the sort of treatment we students had to put up with in those days.....
