I've been thinking that it is about time that the RAF renumbered all their Sqns, starting at 1 and going consecutively up to however many Sqns we actually have now. All these numbers, 47, 70, 99, 101, 617, to highlight a few, give the impression that we have a larger air force than we actually have.
There is no disrespect aimed at any of those, or any of the other higher numbered Sqns, but if the Sqn number plates represented what we actually had, then perhaps joe public may realise just how small the RAF is now.