I go quite regularly (was there last Saturday,) and a lot depends on the nature of the file. Some are on microfilm, so merely require you to run through, picking out the pages you require.
For files which contain papers, you will need a Reader’s Ticket, which requires two “proofs of identity,” preferably with a photo, e.g. passport and driving licence.
Once you have your ticket, you select a computer terminal, book a table, order the file(s,) then wait around 30-45 minutes for them to arrive.
There are tables with columns, to which you can attach a camera, so there’s no need to pay for photocopies.
You’ll need to leave any coats in a downstairs locker, and take only a pencil (without a rubber on the end,) with which to make notes.
Your best (initial) bet would be to ask someone, who’s a regular visitor, if he/she would be good enough to have a look at the file, and report back, then you would know if your intended trip would be worthwhile. All visitors are allowed a maximum of 21 files, per daily visit, so it isn’t that difficult to fit in the odd one; I checked one, for a friend in the U.S., only last week, and am planning my next visit for Saturday week.

There is no forecast for the rest of this year.

Follow the blue 2013 line, and you’ll see it goes to the end of October.

The problem is always people posting stuff without checking facts first, then the gullible requoting / retelling it in the naive belief it is ‘fact’

Rather like not looking closely enough at the graph, which shows that, at today’s date, the ice level is now greater than any of the previous five years, not just last year? Also, I note that the graph shows the level (dipping, what a surprise) right to the end of this October, which is another 50 days away; I think I’ll ask them to do my lottery numbers. Remember that it was their forecasts which led the BBC to tell us that the Arctic would be completely free of ice by the end of this year.
In the 1960s, shrieking headlines told us we were heading for the next Ice Age; last year we were told to expect the worst droughts in history; this year we were to have more floods than ever before.
Tomorrow it will be Thursday, September 12th., and that’s as far as my prediction will go.

I pass EVERYTHING on my way home

I thought that you said the op was a success? You’re not on those adult nappy thingies, are you?

During a symposium, back in the 1970s, to introduce the reprints of the Spitfire and Hurricane manuals, John Tanner told me that the original plan was for the airfield to remain “live,” and become a second Duxford. Ken Livingstone, then leader of the GLC, had promised that there would be no building on the airfield’s land; obviously he shared the view of my (ex) girlfriend, “Promises are like piecrusts, made to be broken.”

It’s because the handle of the tray gets too hot.

The modifications, to carry bombs under the wings, were “Special Order Only,” and could be fitted to either “E” or “C” wings; one was simply to fit deflectors over the ejector ports, so that empty cases did not hit the bombs, but the other appears to have needed a working party (at least,) possibly the attention of a repair facility, since it required work to be done in the cockpit. Under-fuselage bombs normally needed shortened vanes, to avoid contact with the ground. In all cases, the aircraft needed the four-spoke (i.e stronger) wheels.
The introduction of the “E” wing was held back until the arrival of the gyro gunsight, since the Air Ministry favoured the extra delivery, from the four .303″ guns (even though the bullets were lighter) rather than the slower-firing .5″, because it gave a better chance, in a deflection shot (at which a lot of the pilots were not very good,) of disabling the enemy pilot. With the new gunsight, there was a better chance of the pilot actually hitting what he was aiming at, so the .5″ came into service.
Years ago, a friend of mine found out that the .5″ was moved inboard, and forward, to make cocking them that much easier; apparently, in the outboard/aft position, armourers were ripping their hands on the aft part of the gunbay, and the cannon didn’t have the same problem.

In Aylesbury, there is (or was, I haven’t been there for years) a building, shaped like a parallelogram, and completely clad in blue glass; nicknamed, locally, the “Blue Leany,” it won several awards, until autumn, when approaching drivers found that the low-level sun was reflecting back, and blinding them. During winter, the council hit on the splendid wheeze of transplanting complete trees, and planting them in front, so that the leaves covered the glass, trumpeting their wondrous cleverness, in the local press, as they did so; unfortunately, they chose deciduous trees, which shed their leaves during the autumn………….
Maybe they should plant the super-growth Leylandii trees in front of that building.