Many moons ago, a friend of mine was training to be a pilot with the Fleet Air Arm. He got the stage where he was ready go solo and he and his instructor flew up to Leeming. The instructor got out and said off you go. Off he went and had gone quite a way down the runway, wondering why the aircraft was so sluggish getting off the ground. It dawned on him that some flaps would be good and he eventually made it.
When he returned, there were scrapes on a skeg beneath the tail and stern faces on the instructor and his colleague. My mate was told that was the end of that and when they returned to base, he was told he was going to be drafted as a navigator on Sea Vixens. He had heard about a poor record for this plane, with the navigator frequently not getting out. He opted for civvy street!