I've flown with Ascoteers many times, often on the flight deck, and their sheer professionalism, punchiness and obvious calibre has always filled me with respect. (It's hard to believe that the ME stream doesn't get the best from FTS, judging by these blokes!). The average Lyneham Loadie is also worthy of great praise, since most of them present a superb ad for the calibre and quality of NCO aircrew. Maybe I'm lucky. Maybe they only let journos fly with a handful of crews, but I seriously doubt it.
They do a great job, in often difficult circumstances, and this thread demonstrates that they can do it while retaining a sense of humour, and without taking themselves too seriously.
The remark about calibre has nothing to do with StopStart's girth and propensity for pie-munching......