Many a time as a junior apprentice at Handley Page I was given the unpleasant task of cleaning out the air intakes on Hastings wing sections prior to renovation. Often full of filth, muck and gawd knows what, it was a dreadful job. I remember that such was the corrosion you could flick rivet heads off with your fingers and some of the main spars were fatigue cracked. it taught me a lot about stress and metal fatigue. We often wondered if the aircrews knew what they were riding on.