Browsing my local newsagent magazine stall and picked up the latest UK "FlyPast" magazine. It was the June 2015 issue with a impressive picture of the Avro Vulcan on the front cover.
An article at page 113 deals with flying the British delta wing Gloster Javelin night fighter in 1958. One of the classic comments said:
"First solo consisted of taxying round the peri-track, and not everyone made this the first time....There was no nosewheel steering, no asymmetric thrust - due to the engines being close together - and the toe brakes were reputed to be the worst ever produced"
The bit I really liked though was the following" "A minor problem was that the fuel gauges could read zero in flight which was due to moisture or water in the tanks affecting the gauge sensors.
One remedy was to invert the aircraft (interesting on a black night) and move the control column forward and aft to clear the sensors. Navigators did not like this.
The Pilots Notes for the Javelin stressed that the navigator must be warned before deploying speed brakes due to the deceleration. The speed brakes were so effective that a descent from 40,000ft to sea level took two minutes".
