H Peacock,
Great to see a factual post here for a change and well explained (even if only using one colour!). You're right that i had left the bar and was, in fact, dreaming about a particularly tricky off-boresite aiming solution, but was woken by my QWI dog alerting me to your post.
Just one point on the loop height, and you are right to describe the latter stage of the manoeuvre in question as the back side of a loop for practical purposes, although the reference to a (very exaggerated) barrel roll is relevant. I think your estimate of 3500 feet is a bit over the top - if you see what I mean. Let's disregard my memory of both Hawk and Hunter loops for a moment, in the manoeuvre in question the aircraft's velocity vector was very close to horizontal at impact - another few feet and he would have missed the ground. If you truncate a 3500' loop 900' from the bottom, the VV would be (I'm guessing here) minus 30 degrees or more? I don't think it was that much.
I'll check my notes tomorrow for the Hawk loop - I'm pretty sure I don't have that number for the Hunter. My memory says considerably less, but I won't publish an inaccurate guess here lest the vultures grab the wrong number and infer dangerous untruths.
Thanks for your excellent post and the descriptions.
Courtney out.