Dining-In Nights

[Not Imprest]

I've just been to the BoB Dining-In at at a very secret (!) military establishment somewhere in the south of England. The best pre-dinner wheeze anyone could come up with was filling the wine glasses with food colouring. All a bit tame! With the wealth of PPRuNers out there, there must be some better stories than this!

I understand the classic V-Force do was a riot but surely in this day and age dining-in nights can still be a laugh....? :)

[BEagle]

A laugh. Laugh? L - a - u - g - h? Oh yes, I remember now. We used to have those - just before 'I hear what you say', 'Executive responsibity budgets', 'cost saving measures', business-speak administrivial jargon, 'robust management initiatives', 'investment in people', 'H&S', 'EO'......

When we just flew and had fun. Honest, we did. Really! And we were pretty good at it - plus some of the aeroplanes were actually less than 20 years old..........

Bloke made a good comment to me yesterday. Anyone with less than 15 years in the RAF will never have known anything but constant cuts and financial belt-tightening..........

[Chris Kebab]

Think you are probably right with the 15 year figure, I would put it at mid/late '80s when it all started changing. Then again the tales the old hairies regaled us with then about life in the 50s on Hunters, Javelins and Beaufort night fighters made us wince a bit!

Haven't seen a car burn at a dining in night since about 1986 or pushed piano parts through a car tyre since about 1988.

Anyone ever do any NATO hangar parties in Germany during the 70s/80s? They really were not for the faint hearted!

We are all so sensible these days..

[teeteringhead]

Ah BEags, as so often you speak the truth ....

I remember the first time I was at the secret helo base near Basingstoke, I was talking in the bar to an Hon mem who'd flown Javelins (?) there in the 50s. He told a tale of the livers-in being barred from the Mess so the Staish could host the local Hunt Ball:

Hon Mem: We didn't like that - so we got all the pigs from the Station Farm and released them in the ante-room. All the hunt people were jumping out of windows to escape.
Young Teetering: Why didn't they go out the normal way?
Hon Mem: Couldn't. We were also racing motorbikes in the corridor......

One of my own favourites dates from flying training on the A 46. We'd manhandled a QFI's Mini-Cooper (his pride and joy) into the foyer. With great style, he went and got his car-keys, roared the Cooper into life, and drove it (Italian Job fashion) at great speed down the front steps.....

And then there are ALL the CFS(H) tales from TH and Strawberry....

There is/was a longish thread on the subject. Can someone cleverer than me post a link???

[D-IFF_ident]

Dining-in nights are not for fun - they are a parade. Please do not interrupt the Staish during his speech etc...

[Reichman]

Just been told of another morale boosting edict from on high. Squadron bow ties and cummabunds (sp?) will no longer be allowed to be worn at station dining in nights as we all have to be seen to be promoting the same corporate image. This is no duff. :mad:

[keiysersaucy]

you should know that humour and spontinaity are all the suits and promotion chacers that, make up the "management" structure of the air force, are trying to stamp out. Platforms for ridicule and individuality must be surpressed or the people at the top will find it harder to pretend things are ok down out the bottom. They will inheret the air force they deserve.

[Huron Topp]

Whoohooa...NATO hangar parties. I'm still amazed that the Dutch government actually entrusted those boys with expensive aircraft. Those were some incredibly crazy b@$tards!!!:eek:

[StopStart]

I stopped bothering with these a long time ago.

[BLW Skylark 4]

Having experienced the RIAT Hanger parties, my mind boggles at what they must have been like in the 'good-old days'....!!!!

[Kiting for Boys]

Dining in
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48124

Best Prank
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48117

[teeteringhead]

Thanks KfB, they're the ones I meant. I'm certain that the traditional D-i-N spirit remains alive and well in many places (and not just CFS(H)!);)

[thom]

Not exactly a funny'ish tale, but my very last dining-in night was on a very hot summers night in a mess in Essex. All the guests were compacted into the dining room. My old mate Tony T was on the bottom table which went across the mess, thus could be viewed by all. Poor lad was hot, sweaty, dieing for a pee and not feeling too good. In the middle of the top table speech, Tony did an exorcist, and vomited right across the table, coupled with a loud 'yucking' noise! To make it even worse, he started to mop the mess up with his jacket, into a neat semi-pyramid style shape. Person next to him then vomited because of the smell !! Everyone else stared in disbelief, except for me. I got a bollo*king for laughing, and was told to help clean up the mess. Tony got extra duties.

Still makes me laugh. I have a poor sense of humour. :D


To add one more:

I used to live in a singlies block in North York's which was next to the WO's & Sgts Mess. One particular night a 'moving party' was held, as a new mess awaited. Officers were also invited. Approx at 2am in the morning, I was awoken by a large crash of glass, and on looking out of my window, I was greeted by the site of the QHI sitting outside the mess on his backside, in a pile of broken glass. He was ejected from the mess via a closed window (for whatever reason) in full mess dress. Large cheers went out from within the mess, followed by singing. :)

[KENNYR]

1986 CFS SHAWBURY, end of QHI course dinner. Waiters come out with large covered platters and the guest big-wig lifts lid and live chickens escape all through the officers mess. A real hoot until the Station Commander would not let us leave the base until we had put all the cricket screens back on the cricket pitch and removed all the barricades from the roads that we had so drunkenly placed there the night before............anyone out there remember the incidents?

[Troy McLure]

No, but I remember the night the QHI grad night firework display got the anti-terrorist police mob called out and on their way until they found out what was really happening.

[teeteringhead]

And then there was Hazel ................;)

[aytoo]

...ah, yes - Hazel!

Heard a tale of a rather po-faced staish who expressly forbade the CFS grad dinner to employ a stripper - so Hazel was booked to turn up naked and then get dressed...

She certainly put on a good show for our grad too...