I was a plane nerd as a kid as my dad was a pilot in the RAF. Living on bases we used to see all sorts and I’ve had any number of dinner invitations with dad’s old friends from around the world. Chatting to Indian Airforce retired Wing Commander about the dissimilar training they’d often do with loads of western air forces (as the Indians flew MiG-21s) was a particularly memorable evening.

I remember also getting into trouble for telling my school friends in Hong Kong that there was a U2 on the pan at Kai Tak when “There most certainly was not” according to my dad…

@eskimonumber1 That sounds fantastic. It is beholden on you to post the vid (please).

I was a plane nerd as a kid as my dad was a pilot in the RAF

Keep going….. What did he fly?

there was a U2 on the pan at Kai Tak

As opposed to a 747 in the nullah… I was there when it went off the end whilst landing in a typhoon. It was full of Macau GP racecars and other expensive goodies. The British army blew the fin off as it was obstructing other stuff trying to use the runway.

Like this:

Keep going….. What did he fly?

Javelins (very short stint for 43sqn) then Hunters, again 43sqn, with a tour in Aden then with the Day fighter school in Chivenor, Lightinings with 92sqn Germany, stint on the ground in Kai Tak, then to Lossie with Tactical Weapons Unit, again Hunters. Was looking to go to either Phantom or Tornado, but chose to end his career at Strike Command instead

One year they had an SR-71 on static display, that was quite a thing to see, with big puddles of fuel underneath it where the tanks leaked.

Wasn’t this one was it?

TBH I can’t remember whether that was Fairford or Mildenhall but I saw one fly at one of them.
I was surprised at how ‘not very big’ they were but surprised at how massive these are..

Here’s a TR1 at some airshow.

I remember taking a walk through a C-5 Galaxy once. That impressed me. Not sure where though – could’ve been Finningley but more likely Fairford. Never went to Mildenhall.

Thanks nickc. What was he fondest of?

What was he fondest of?

Nick’s brother. Nick was so depwived… 🤪

A few F-15s flew oer us in the Lake District this summer, quite slow and low, I was surprised at how big they are.

What was he fondest of?

Nick’s brother. Nick was such a depwived child… 🤪

When I was in my early teens, my mate lived on a farm bordering the BAE place at Woodford, where there was an annual airshow. I have memories of sitting on a farm gate, about 50 feet from the runway, as a Lightning flew along, sat on it’s rear-end and went skyward on full chat. That was loud.

The Vulcan’s were always there too, both at the airshow and fairly regularly through the year. And Nimrods, loads of Nimrods.

What was he fondest of?

He loved flying the Hunter, apparently it was almost vice free, quite powerful for it’s day, and was stable, but he was of the opinion that it wasn’t much air to air though. He loved flying Lightinings, but honestly there were few that didn’t, it was a rocket ship and in the right hands was formidable, but was convinced it was going to kill him one day. He’s said on more than one occasional that of all the planes he flew you needed to be on top of it all the time, and flying in German weather was just plain scary  He also got to fly in a two-seat German F104 which he thought very similar to the Lightining.

He also flew in Mirage, back seat in a couple of Phantoms, (USAF and Royal Navy) and US Navy A-4.