10 | Features


Our engineers also work across the whole family of the aircraft as opposed to specialising on one particular type. They are cross-skilled and do so much to keep all the aircraft operational. When it came to our main Centenary event for RAF100 on 10th July, it took all 30 engineers to enable our five different aircraft types to carry out the flypast over Buckingham Palace. Such an amazing feat – we have such great experience and everyone really does care.


Your favourite aircraft – the Lancaster or Dakota?


It has to be the Dakota - the true predecessor to today’s equivalent multi-engine aircraft and of course it relates to me having been a pilot on the Hercules and now the A400.


Highlights – day job and BBMF For my day job, it has to be my first ever operational air drop in the C130J Hercules. My crew and I were having to drop supplies to a remotely based army unit, the weight of which was 16,833 kg. The absolute maximum weight limit for the aircraft was 16,895 kg so we were well packed! I have gone on to do many more since and in many different environments but I don’t think you ever forget executing your first real tactical task, especially after all the training that you have put in.


For BBMF, it has to be the D-Day 70th Anniversary celebrations in Normandy, flying my beloved Dakota. We flew over Pegasus Bridge, 70 years to the day since the invasion and at low level. We provided a parachute drop of personnel – all being watched by Prince Charles.


The emotion I felt whilst on the aircraft hit me like a sledgehammer and I think it’s fair to say it was the same for the whole crew on board that day. Such a moment to replay history.


In the same row of events, another memorable visit occurred when a flypast that we were due to perform was hampered by the wind limits on the aircraft, stopping us going to our original destination. Reactively the team set in place Plan B which involved approaching Caen Airport with a request to do a night stop. This civil airport also happened to be the epicentre of all Normandy events at the time, with VIPs coming in/out as well as other display aircraft so was massively busy. However, they still agreed to take us and you’ll not be surprised to learn that to add to this change of plan, every single hotel, B&B and campsite was also fully booked up and had been for


ENVOY | Winter 2018 Winter 18 | raf-ff.org.uk Honouring ‘The Many’ as Seb boards the BBMF Lancaster September 2018.


some time, so no accommodation was available for BBMF!


This is where the memorable moment comes in as one of the team who lived in Long Bennington in Lincolnshire was active in his own village’s town-twinning project which just happened to be nearby in Normandy - Bretteville l’Orgueilleuse. So, he made some calls and linked us up with a cohort of residents! (Who says the RAF aren’t resourceful and adaptable?!). Not only did the locals join together and host everyone, but they actively encouraged the BBMF Team to join in with their own D-Day celebrations, an offer the team diligently and enthusiastically embraced making some new friends, and appreciating the experience so much more than a hotel room!


Since that event, Long Bennington has since returned the favour by hosting our new friends back here in the UK, during which time we arranged for the families to have a tour of BBMF and their very own personal flypast as a thank you for their kindness.


Town-twinning in its true sense! Scariest moment


This has to be when I was on my qualifying flight as a Captain on the Lancaster. It was actually on the momentous day in 2015 when Thumper caught fire whilst in the air. No 4 engine was properly alight and the crew had already put both of the on-board extinguishers through the engine and it didn’t touch the fire. It took us 4.5 minutes from the fire starting to landing her and I can tell you it was an extremely scary few minutes.


I had three wishes going through my mind at the time: • Preservation of life for the crew • Can we land the aircraft • Can she fly again in the future.


Thankfully we were in the air above Coningsby when the fire started so the fire crews were ready for us as we landed and were able to extinguish the fire promptly. Had we been out over the sea going to/coming back from a function or just generally somewhere we would have taken longer to land, the outcome could have been so different.


The day after the engine fire I had a chat to one of our veteran Lancaster aircrew, who volunteers for the BBMF Centre as a guide. He simply said to me, “you’re one of us now – you’ve landed a Lanc on fire.” That’s the closest I think I’ll ever reach in terms of appreciating what it must have felt like being in Bomber Command. (Even as Seb was recalling this conversation, it was obvious to me how he had reflected, through his break in conversation).


Team rituals for ‘The Many’ The team members are always very mindful of the 125,000 aircrew who flew in Bomber Command and of the 55,573 who never made it home – and if you think about it, the latter figure equates to more than those who serve in the RAF today!


By way of paying our respects, there is a brass plaque, just to the left of the crew door on the Lancaster which says, ‘To remember the Many’. We have a tradition of touching the plaque when we


© Lisa Harding Props & Portraits.


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