Re court mounting versus traditional "swing" mounting. There is absolutely no reason why a swing mounted group should look scruffy if it is done properly. This was the standard form of mounting up until recent times. Originally court mounting tended to be restricted to cavalry and other mounted units to prevent damage to the medals as they clashed against each other, and of course as the name implies it was required for court dress.
Personally I prefer to see properly swing mounted groups to court mounting, but I acknowledge that court mounting is now required in a lot of the military - not sure what the rules are in the RAF.
Anyway, I wont be getting my solitary GSM for South Arabia court mounted!