At a time of great political turmoil, which included the dismissal, the squadron was charged with transporting the governor-general, Sir John Kerr, and Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser around the country, so that he and his fellow members of the squadron were able to see these historic figures first-hand and while they were ''off duty''.

Hurst, who was speaking to Gang Gang about his latest book, which deals with the Canberra bomber and its operations over Vietnam, has no intention of breaching confidences and spilling state or personal secrets.

He does say, however, that although the three major protagonists in the dismissal never travelled on the same flight together - funny about that - individually they were all pleasant and easy to work with.

''We had five planes [for the executive fleet]. Two were BAC-111s, the equivalent of the civilian DC-9, and three were Hawker Siddeley 748 turbo props. These were smaller aircraft and best suited to short airstrips and rough airstrips - particularly if we were operating in New Guinea,'' Hurst said.

While he didn't clock up many international kilometres during his time with 34 Squadron, Hurst did get to know the far-flung reaches of Australia and New Guinea very well.

''We got to go to a lot of places most Australians had never seen,'' he said. ''I remember a visit to Victoria River Downs and the Pilbara so John Howard could see it.'' The one downside was the pressure it placed on family life.

''We were on call,'' Hurst said. ''You could be called away just when you were sitting down for dinner.''

The BAC-111s, like the 737s that have taken their place, were fitted out for comfort - for the dignitaries at least.

''There was a VIP lounge [up the front] with four armchairs. Down the back there was airline seating for the media.''

The two jets had well-equipped galleys and highly trained stewards and catering staff. ''There was the option of silver service dining,'' he said.

Being aloft did not mean being out of touch, even in the 1970s. ''There was a communications suite. You could be patched through to a phone connection using the HF [not VHF] radio.''

Hurst was one of the crew for Gough Whitlam's plane during the 1977 election. ''We went around Australia three times. Because it was daylight saving we had five different time zones. While everybody liked Gough, they were particularly fond of Margaret. She was a very personable lady,'' he said.

''As for Gough, he was the same big, charismatic and over-the-top figure you saw in the media at the time. He was very likeable and very pleasant to us - but he never convinced me to vote for him.''

Hurst's new book, Magpies Over Vietnam, is a labour of love that celebrates Australia's first jet bomber.

''It was a fantastic design,'' he said.