My trip in a Hastings was at Livingstone in 1953...We had a Hastings accompanying us on Operation Longtrek. On that day we Venom Pilots all clambered aboard the Hastings for a trip to view Victoria Falls...In flight I managed to get down through the floor hatch in the flight deck, into the under cockpit floor compartment in the nose with a view through the transparent nose. I lay prone on a built in floor padding and watched out through the nose as the pilots flew through the spray from the falls and it was very exciting and I lay there watching for the whole series of exploring dives and turns to see the wonderful landmark Falls the the natives called "Smoke that Thunders". As we headed back to Livingstone airport, I thought I had better return to my seat...However, there were a bunch of fellow squadron Venom pilots standing on the hatch and ignoring or failing to hear my fists banging on the bottom of it! In the end I just lay prone again and braced for the landing. That approach and landing was also pretty exciting and I enjoyed it very much
It must have been crowded up there Peter. Perhaps they were up there for a smoke?
We were allowed to smoke on the flight deck. Keep the ash and dog-end in a plastic cup, then remove the Very Pistol from the cabin roof, hold the cup up to the hole, and sluuuurp ... it's gone!