Chugalug (#10519),
No apology needed for the release of this hare, m'dear chap ! These "hares" have always been the life-blood of this incomparable Thread, and the more of them that are running, the more interesting it gets.
Thank you for the links in your (#19508), particularly for the second "Der Spiegel" article.
As for Hess's flight, and wartime air navigation in general, I've always stood in awe of our Bomber Command navigators, who could fly for hours in all weathers over a blacked-out Europe, with only a sketchy idea of the en-route winds, no external aids (until Gee-H came in late-on), and just a bubble sextant, in an aircraft which was constantly 'weaving' to dodge flak and night-fighters - and still wind up within an average of 5 miles error ! It was a bloomin' miracle every time IMHO.
I get annoyed with the tender-hearted souls who now castigate them for not "confining themselves to military objetives". What does a "military objective" look like over a blacked-out city ? How about a black cat in a coal-hole at midnight ? Their hearts may be in the right place - it's their heads that need looking at.
As for my own navigational abilities, they were no more than would be expected of any good Boy Scout (ie simple D/R and map-reading). The last F.414A (22/9/42 after OCU) had a little rubber stamp: "Has he shown aptitude as a pilot/navigator - yes". Mind you, it also said "Ability in air gunnery - Average" (I hadn't fired a single aimed shot on the Course !) Thereafter nobody seemed to be particularly worried whether I could navigate or not (so long as I could get there and come back).
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Octane (#10520),
I don't think we can take it that Hess was necessarily "running away" from Hitler. More likely he was acting in concert with him to sound out the possibility of an "armistice" with Britain along the lines I suggested in (#10509). As you say, we'll never know.
Cheers, both, Danny.