Which must have come as a great surprise to the Captain RN who was Naval Attache in Bonn, now Berlin, unless of course your dad was a Commodore at least!

Good to see that the OP makes a clear distinction between acronyms and abbreviations such as STO.

Jack

Hi FB
Given the rank of Wing Commander - I would still perhaps lean towards 'Senior Techical Officer' (or similar),I could not find a good online guide to the history of the Technical/Engineering Branch.
The forces are past masters at changing job titles etc so these things were changing every few years sometimes.
A couple of years later the subject job title could have changed to 'OC Eng Wing' or Wingco Eng depending on the fashion of the day.
rgds LR

Back in the 60s the Senior Technical Officer designation STO was used to refer to the OC Eng Wing or his deputy.

I once described a Senior Technichal Officer as "that ancient Chinese gentleman Oh See Tek Wing". Luckily he was amused.

I suggest unfathomable/ impenetrable/ mysterious/ incomprehensible

Hi Longer ron and to Nil Orifice, I think we've arrived at the answer. I recall before it became Eng Wing, it was technical Wing and before Ops Wing, we had Flying Wing!

Therefore, I think Senior Technical Officer wins the prize.

FB

I certainly couldn't arrive at a satisfactory answer without confirmation from someone in the know. Beyond my Ken. How's that!

FB:)

PS What's a Tartiflette by the way?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartiflette

It is a very enjoyable dish of peasant origins ( because you used up scraps of cheese, ham ,old spuds etc ) which is particularly popular in Savoie/Haute Savoie and with the tourists in the many ski-resorts. Its hot "solidity" with cheese , bacon, onions and potatoes is a delight when sitting down at table and it's cold and snowing outside. Its rise in popularity was due to an advertising campaign in the 70's/80's financed by the Reblochon cheese-makers ( Savoie cheese used in this dish ) to increase sales , and long-term has been rather successful. Lots of recipes there, try it out and imagine you are in a little mountainside restaurant ! Bon appétit !

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...7&ff=361225793
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...7&ff=361224198

That would be Tiroler Groestle without the egg, then?

Nope - there's no cheese in that. The tartiflette looks more like a lasagne - claggy and cooked in a bowl/pot in the oven.

Thank you. I will stick to my Tiroler, served with a German 1/2 litre by a comely lass in tight dirndl, leaning well forward as she marks my beer tally.

Do ,you manage a portion of Kaiserschmarr'n for dessert ?

Tartiflette Fan, I'm seriously considering changing my handle to Tartiflette Fan 2!

FB

My kids loved tartiflette as did I. Funny how some of the peasant dishes really hit the spot. Pizza started the same way I believe.

On the culinary thread drift, I recall in Germany, especially the first time round, when at Neubrucke (Ramstein), scrambled eggs and smoked ham, mixed, like the Tartiflette. This was piled as a mound onto a large, plat size, slice of buttered whole meal bread. It was simply Fruhstuck, or even more simply, Breakfast. It never had a specific name, when ever I headed into the Guest House and perused the menu Fruhstuck is how it was billed. But very nice.

FB

TF2... I wouldn't go that far but definitely another fan, tasty way to keep out the winter cold.

Regarding Senior Technical Officer I believe Signals Units had them during WW2 and probably after.

As I may have said before TACAMO is my favourite acronym but I always see it as being uttered wearing a Stetson while impersonating John Wayne.

When starting with a new course, back in my instructing days, I would advise that the scourge of aviation was the uneducated use of abbreviations and acronyms and that, therefore, I would expect all students to question any abbreviation or acronym I used that they did not know. As incentive I would ask the meaning of any unquestioned abbreviation or acronym after the third use in my lessons. Always took a couple of lessons before they got into the swing of things.

Late in my career one of my subordinates complied a list of aviation acronyms and abbreviation from a number of sources. Many different meanings and uses in a 300 page document I still have on file.

In the Census question on language I always tick "other" and write in "Aviation.

Now, here's a challenge: Compose a single sentence using "ATM" three times with different meanings.

Gne

.

Today I used an ATM for cash whilst under a pressure of 1 ATM and I cannot think of anything better ATM.

Cigar?

The Officer Commanding Base Squadron was known as the S Blunt O. He didn't like the Sharpies at all.

On leaving school, I went to a college to study marine engineering and had to be enrolled as a: Probationary Student of the Institute of Marine Engineering - short title PSIMarE. This was quickly translated to: "Practical Sex Instructor of the Institute of Marriage Education". Sadly, this was not the case!

Old Duffer