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Old 10th Dec 2003, 16:31
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Tim Mills
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: NSW Australia
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Only just seen this thread:
1974 season:

Manx Kelly leader, Mike Findlay No2, Iain Weston No4, and yours truly hanging on like grim death and trying to keep up with the rest, No3. Brendan O'Brien was commentator, crew transport driver, spare aeroplane pilot, and excellent value. I would have liked to see his Fournier displays.

Manx had to leave early in the season to sort out the Carling Team in Canada, so Iain took the lead, and Neil Williams slotted in at No4, in amongst all his other display duties. Towards the end of the season, when Neil became unavailable, David Perrin joined. He was easily the youngest member of the team, the only one who had not been in the RAF, and had very limited formation and display flying experience. But he took to it like a duck to water, took the No2 position, and Mike flew No4 from then on.

As has been said before, Manx, Neil and David all tragically left us some time ago, particularly tragic in Davids case, a super young man. Iain, who was instructing on simulators at CSE for many a year, sadly died last year. I hadn't heard anything of Mike for ages, hope his wine growing is going well.

I was only with the team for that year, and was just about getting the hang of it, but I became a grandfather about then, and this didn't really fit with the youthful image Manx wanted! Actually, it was by mutual agreement, I thought it was time to get a proper job, and I think I only got the job in the first place because Manx and I had been on the same Canberra squadron in Cyprus and I wandered into the Rothmans hut at Booker to say hello, when he was looking for a pilot, and I was looking for a job!

Great fun, great experience, and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. G-BADX was my aeroplane, sad to hear of it's demise, and the uncertainty over the others.
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