I've flown a lot of aircraft and a lot of hours since then, both fixed wing and rotary, but the sense of satisfaction at the end of a Shack sortie has rarely been beaten
I never did get to fly the Shack, there was only one place on MOTU when I finished Oakington and that went to an ex-siggie. However I did make it into maritime a few years later on the Nimrod.
A few months ago at a little get together 4 of us were discussing our time in the RAF and subsequently. We had all been around a bit and had quite interesting and varied experiences; in short we had all had a "good cold war". However when it came to, "What was the best bit?" we were unanimous, it was maritime.
I know exactly what you mean Shackman, it's something that only those who have gone out over the ocean in a big grey aeroplane truly understand.
YS