Who is your HERO ?

[Babi Melayu]

We need heroes in our lives. Without heroes, we are all plain people and we don't know how far we can go.

I have my own HERO in aviation , my ex-instructor, whom I not only envy but also try to emulate because of the inspiration and strength it "provides".

So who is your HERO and why that person ?

Also, state your ANTI-HERO and why

[BlueEagle]

The guy who invented seedless grapes.

[solotk]

I.K Brunel

What an incredible visionary, and years in advance of his time.....

[canberra]

john harrison, inventor of the marine chronometer anda method of easily finding longitude at sea. a man who had to battle against the scientific establishment.

[Talking Radalt]

Peter Gurney:
Former military and then civilian ATO. His memoirs of Belfast in the late 60s and then London in the late 70s and early 80s put anyone else's bitching about boots not getting through and lack of clothing seem like small fry. What makes his story all the more humbling for the rest of us is Gurney's modesty and matter of fact approach towards what he and his colleagues do. The title of his book reflects this: Braver Men Walk Away.
:o

[Jackonicko]

Is that Brigadier Peter Gurney - who used to glide from Bicester?

My hero? What, just one?

BEagle, naturally, and Lee 'Buddy' Archer, Keith Park, Jimi Hendrix, .....

[WE Branch Fanatic]

Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader.

A man who lost his legs in a terrible flying accident, yet fought back and rebuilt his life, then fought the system to get back into the RAF and becoming an outstanding fighter pilot and commander.

[Sideshow Bob]

Got to agree with Solotk. Never has there been a greater british engineer than Isambard Kingdom Brunel. A hero to all engineers

[ColDurb]

Albert Ball...

and pretty much every flyer, on all sides in WW1 and WW2, who flew them rickety planes...

[BlueEagle]

Seriously:

'Weary' Dunlop.

The Burns Doctor, (McIndoe(spl?)).

[ChristopherRobin]

Chuck Yeager. WW2 mustang Pilot, E&E thru europe, Bell X-1 et al, vietnam... and he's still alive!

Good on yer Chuck!

[ORAC]

Bartholomew Wolfe Bandy. :D

[solotk]

Al Bundy.............:D

[Molesworth Hold]

Anyone fancy being stuck in a lift with WEBF and canberra?

[high spirits]

Sqn Ldr Roger Bushell - the real Big X in The Great Escape from Sagan prison camp in WWII. Having been given his final (escape or die) warning from the Nazis, he organised the breakout of some seventy Officers from Sagan causing untold headaches in the German military machine. Mr Attenborough just about did him justice in the film!

[BEagle]

Brian Dixon comes pretty high up my list.

Ba$tard Bill doesn't.

[I. M. Esperto]

1. Charles A. Lindberg.

2. Smedley Butler, General USMC Retired.

3. George A. Lowry, Captain USN Ret.

[Flatus Veteranus]

Solotsk
Sideshow Bob

Great man, but was he British? I think not.:confused:

[fobotcso]

He was British, old friend.

http://sol.brunel.ac.uk/~jarvis/brunelstory/brunel.html

[jockspice]

Commander Charles Lamb Royal Navy

Really showed what a bunch of guys with inherited obselete aircraft could do. :)

[Wee Jock]

Odette Churchill, Violette Szabo and Edith Cavell. Three of the bravest people who ever walked this planet.

[doh-nut boy]

Ken Dodd

Failed accountant and Jam Butty Miner.

[reynoldsno1]

Keith Richards - for services to the advancement of medical science and pharmacology

[Captain Kirk]

Gene Roddenberry - obviously!

Actually a very forward thinking philanthropist who also gave us all those girls in skimpy outfits.

[solotk]

Asked my father this, to get an oldies perspective

General Slim - the ultimate soldier's soldier

Wellington - well Anglo-Irish, but aren't all the best British generals?

Captain R.F Scott - Come and see how an Englishman dies.....

John Frost - The Parachute Regiment.

My father says when it's his time, he'll find Frost, and tell him how hard Irish Guards tried to get to him and his men

Sir Alexander Fleming

[getupah]

I agree with "arsse", that courage was remarkable.

Also: Lance Armstrong (currently winning the world toughest atheletic contest) who had 20% chance of survival due to cancer and has (so far) won the Tour De France 3 times since recovering.

Now that's Balls far ya! ;-)

[canberra]

i forgot to add my 2 other heroes.
1, field marshal sir william slim, unusually for a british army officer he had no private income and had to write short stories to help make ends meet. montgomery didnt want him to replace him as cigs, i wonder why?
2, admiral william bligh. forget the film! as a warrant officer bligh was baggage master on cooks last voyage. after cooks death bligh took over the navigation, this included surveying prince william sound in alaska. exxon valdez ran aground on blighs reef.

and finally to molesworth hold if you wish to have a go at me i will give you my email address. why do you wish to use this forum to have a go, is it because i served in the ranks? perhaps i should tell you about the 18 months i spent serving in the raf edinburgh rescue co-ordination centre helping to rescue mindless morons like yourself? in closing may i say molesworth hold if you are still serving then start bahaving like a comissioned officer, if not then **** off. webmaster please delete me from pprune. tvm.

[Vortexadminman]

Homer Simpson Cleary that man has his priorites sorted
A/ Beer
B/ Food
C/Shirking at work

What a Guy!!!:D

[Molesworth Hold]

I got a reaction out of Canberra and I claim my £5!

You way off the mark matey. I’m a former TG9 JNCO who has found the lazy way that you post a real irritation. I also find it remarkable that you are able to add your “wisdom” to almost every thread. I would also like to point out that most people who read this forum have done difficult and important jobs, even me occasionally. I may have had the odd dig at you but I think it’s beneath you to resort to name calling, so the same to you with knobs on.

[BEagle]

canberra - you are well informed regarding Admiral Bligh. Whereas 'Mutiny on the Bounty' focuses on his alleged treatment of his ship's company (which was no worse than the norm for those times), in fact he was regarded with contempt by his superiors as he chose to become the equivalent of a Specialist Aircrew officer of his time rather than a desk-sucking promotion-hungry bum-licker. He had remarkable seamanship and navigational skills, but little tolerance for the rich kids playing at officers on his ship.

Sound familiar?

[Ralf Wiggum]

Mr Spike Milligan.

Not only the inventor of modern day British humour, but a real war hero. Thank God for Spike.

[Brian Dixon]

Beags,
thank you for your kind comment on page 2. I'm both overwhelmed :o and overrated. I do no more than many others.

For the record, I have three heros:
1. My father (sorry, but it's true).
2. Those who serve their country.
3. Those who lose their life in the service of their country.

Regards
Brian

[I. M. Esperto]

Terrance was an Irishman, of course, son of an Irish Captain in the RA.

http://www.fireflycafe.org/spike/bio.html

[Rude C'man]

The Canadian, at RIAT last weekend, who pulled the largest breasted lady I've ever seen!! Only two things wrong with her , she was only 5' and had had an arguement with a big stick! Still good skills fella. My hero .:eek:

[Flatus Veteranus]

Fobotsco

Born in England from a French Dad? I suppose under current regs we better settle for a dual-national I K Brunel. Thanks for the link anyway.

My Heros? Admiral Lord Cochrane, whose daring made him the prototype for the heros of most modern naval fiction. The more incredible exploits of Hornblower, Bolitho, Jack Aubrey et al., usually have their origins in the real-life feats of Cochrane. Pity he was a Jockistani Fishead! Ernest Shackleton runs him a close second. That voyage through the "roaring forties" in a whaler to S Georgia and crossing of the island in winter to fetch help ranks as one of the great feats of navigational skill, endurance, guts and leadership.

Dad, who worked for him in WW2, would have nominated Gen Bill Slim. :) :)

[The Brown Bottle]

Ron Middleton V.C.

[Broken Wings]

I was lucky enough to meet my hero and fly with him:

Ginger Lacey DFM and Bar

He was the top scoring pilot during the Battle of Britain, flew the first Spitfire over Japan, shot down the Heinkel that bombed Buckingham Palace, baled out six times - one of the greatest of The Few.

He once told me that he was duty pilot and asked if he could go to a Mess dinner but was politely told no as he was on duty. During the meal he decided to "borrow" a Hurricane and beat up the Mess. The PMC called for his scalp but as he'd not authorised it, signed for it and had the groundcrew on his side keeping shtum nobody could prove it was him!

A great pilot, loved his beer and hated bull**** and senior officers - my hero.

[Fox3snapshot]

My Hero,

Don Scott. The most gifted, relaxed and un-conceited gliding instructor you or anyone, will ever fly with.

There are many Commercial and GA pilots out there today who can attribute their basic flying skills to this man. And in my case, flying an aircraft before I could drive a car was only possible through his gifted wisdom. As a controller I am proud to have achieved what I did as a pilot under his instruction and guidance, the skills assisted in my powered flying and subsequent ATC training and I will try to give back some of these skills faithfully to the aviation community, a community that Don Scott has become a foundation of.

8 FLT Amberley

LAC Bloggs

[I. M. Esperto]

I had the pleasure of yanking the gear for George Gay when he was a TWA Captain.

[kippermate]

John Cruickshank VC. The boy!

[Downwind.Maddl-Land]

Surprised no-ones' mentioned Guy Penrose Gibson VC DSO* DFC*.

Anyone who goes pelting up to a defended target, at night, at 60', showing lights, with nothing but a pair of .303s up front, as many times as he did should get everyone's vote for coconut! :eek:

[Zoom]

Damn, Brian Dixon beat me to it, except for his father read my father, if you see what I mean. My father fought as an infantryman for 4 years continuously in the jungles of India and Burma and for another year in Korea, was seriously wounded twice, escaped capture more than once and won some top medals. He only spoke of his experiences when pushed and I regret not being able to persuade him to write about it all. I have admired many great people from the pages of history but my Dad was my single role model and, sadly, I have come nowhere near matching his high standards, nor those of the other heroes BD mentioned.

Don't worry, I shan't be in that lift.

[niceheading]

At a risk of being non-serious....There should be a Nobel Prize for Services to Mankind for the guy who invented thongs ...and mirrored sunglasses.:rolleyes:

[I. M. Esperto]

NiceHeading - Nice thong:
http://www.790thezone.com/Interactive/NewBabeOfTheWeek.asp?Actionvar=Show&PictureID=12

[Sloppy Link]

Captain Charles Upham VC*

The only fighting soldier to have been awarded VC and Bar. Not much more can follow that. There have been two other equally brave men, both from the Royal Army Medical Corps, their devotion to saving life at the expense of their own is hard to believe. Respect

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/upham.html

[I. M. Esperto]

I nominate Gen. Smedley Butler USMC.

Two CMH's, and the guts to expose government interventions, such as we are now undertaking in Afghanistan:

Smedley Butler on Interventionism

-- Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.

War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of
people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the
expense of the masses.

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight.
The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes
overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two
things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other
reason is simply a racket.

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out
enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss"
Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty-
three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the
Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that
period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the
Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military
profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended
animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba
a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen
Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify
Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name
before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see
to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I
could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I
operated on three continents.

[Fox3snapshot]

Do you mean the thong that girlies wear (that some shouldn't!!!), or the ones that those Aussie mob wear on their feet??? Cause either way they are both quite unique...come to think of it even the Aussies are unique!!

[The Croppy Boy]

Francis Hughes

[Murphy]

I have the great pleasure of flying on a regular basis with one of my heroes.
He is the Instructor I wish to be when the Corps have deemed me grown up enough to teach.
Although not as prominent as the men mentioned above, he knows his job, he knows other peoples jobs, and will stick to his guns whenever he is right no matter who it upsets.

Watch out Corps I WILL be the new ***!!!!

[Mr_Grubby]

Got to be Zippy, Bungle and Geofrey.

They have had a great influence on my life.

Mr G.

[WE Branch Fanatic]

Mr G

What about George? Why does she (it was a she surely) always get left out?

Awwwwwwwwww Geofreyyyyyyyy

[Mr_Grubby]

WE Branch Fanatic.

I deliberately left out George because she did not have the same
domination, magnetism and control over the formative years of my early life.

Andy Pandy is up there somewhere as is Muffin the Mule, but I understand you can get into trouble for that now.

Mr G.

[brit bus driver]

So C'man...

Which fleet was the deviant canuck from, and which trade? Odds are he was from my current unit......

:D :D

[EI_Sparks]

In flying - probably Richard Bach. Might not be the world's greatest test pilot, but the guy knew how to put words together.

[Murphy]

And could string a cracking bit of classical music together as well!!!!