mary meagher, the last time I met the pilot in question was some 25 years before the fatal accident. I was surprised even then that he was still flying as his condition was clearly acute - but I was astonished to learn about his later accident as I assumed he would have given up flying years earlier.
Certainly in the late 1970s, the word was:
1. NO aerobatics on a cadet's first ever flight.
2. Subsequent flights could include aeros if the cadet asked.
However, since when did AEF pilots ever obey the rules?