Air force careers

[Dr Jekyll]

Watching First Light I was struck by the fact that Sqn Ldr Wellum stayed in the RAF until 1961. Which seemed a long time until I realised he was still only about 40 years old.

Nowadays pilots can spend their entire career on one aircraft. But in the past was there anyone who started on say, Spitfires and ended up on Lightnings, or started on Bristol Fighters and ended up on Vulcans?

[speedtwelve]

I did a pilot nav course as an Air Cadet at 6AEF Abingdon on the Chipmunk in 1986. The chap running the course was still flying (albeit as a reservist), having done his first operational tour on Hawker Tempests.

ISTR reading about at least one RAF pilot who flew operationally on fighters during WW2, yet flew the F4 on his final tour. There were several Luftwaffe WW2 piston fighter pilots who ended-up on Starfighters in the 1960s.

'Bee' Beamont was a WW2 fighter sqn Boss and ended-up flight testing the Lightning & TSR2, amongst others.

I have an autobiography of a US Navy fighter pilot who flew Hellcats in the Pacific, then ended his career flying the F14.

Finally, Deke Slayton flew B25 bombers over Europe during WW2, and orbited the Earth on Apollo with ASTP in 1975.