Null,
just picking up on your fuel gauge comments as I recall the early experience with those guages in the 'K' was interesting. Whilst I was on my 'K' OCU we had an engine wind down as we landed at Gib. Partly the fault of the student Air Eng but the gauges were as truthful as Pinoccio . As I recall the test equipment was either non existent or poorly calibrated and the groundcrew left to get on with it. We were instructed that a fuel tank had either to be full (and overwing visually checked) or empty when the a/c was refuelled.
This led to the set fuel loads with which we operated in the early days.
Oh yes and the 'twelve o'clock drop' !