[Tony Y.]

Brilliant. Well done again Graham & everyone connected with this wonderful event.
My vet had a terrific day & that meant I did too.
Already looking forward to next year.
Tony Y.

[morticiaskeeper]

That was a busy day!

As you all came in over the road, I was the photographer on his own, the spotters don't like me because I can't quote serial numbers.

If anybody wants any images, PM me with reg and an email address and I'll send them on.

Well done to everybody involved.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[Charliesixtysix]

Just a quick one to add to the praise above.

A truly great day and faultless organisation on all accounts.

From a personal perspective, my two return trips East Midlands to Gloucester worked perfectly to deliver (and return) Liz and and Eddie Kelly - I even had time to sit in for a superb lunchtime reunion of the 61 sqn boys and then help pull in a half hour with the Berlin Airlift guys outside as the the Hurricane did his stuff.

Perfect venue, well organised and perfect guests too - well done Graham and team

[Paul_Sengupta]

Just made Merville a cup of tea and fed him the sandwich which my mum made earlier before I got notice that we were to be fully catered...and now he's walking home up the hill with the goody bag - wouldn't let me give him a lift!

I echo all the above sentiments, I am extremely grateful for all the hard work that everyone puts into these events, and Merville says he had a thoroughly excellent day out.

Oh, and from my perspective it was great to meet all you forumites!

[MikeB]

A busy but fun days flying Abergavenny-Pembrey-Swansea-Gloucester-Swansea-Gloucester then Gloucester-Cardiff on my motorbike to round it off. In the mass departure I was no.2 at F2 behind Matspt3's motor, was looking forward to a "line up after the departing Porsche" instruction but sadly he zoomed off before ATC could get the instruction in.

Well done and big thank you to Graham, and all the helpers.

[TomG]

A cracking day today. Superb organisation and great company all around.
Very well organised as usual and a real pleasure to be able to fly my Vet again!

A huge thanks to Graham and the PP organisers for such a sterling event, as well as Gloucester airport for the faultless ATC work during the morning and afternoon.

Nice to meet a few forumites and some old faces too!

Good work!


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[patowalker]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/25/second-world-war-veteran-takes-skies-light-aircraft-first-time/

[egbjdh]

I've uploaded lots of PP photos to my Flickr album this evening at :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/egbj/albums

In the Project Propeller 2017 album you'll find the photos myself and colleague, Keith, took of pilots and veterans on arrival. These photos are labelled with the aircraft registration. If anyone wants any high resolution originals just let me know.

For photos of all the aircraft taking part check out the June 2017 Gallery.

Thanks all for coming, it was a great day.

Dave
http://www.flygloster.co.uk

[PaulB]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/25/second-world-war-veteran-takes-skies-light-aircraft-first-time/

Did I spot Rob L and G-BREY in that article (or do I need to clean my glasses.)

P.

[Rob L]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/25/second-world-war-veteran-takes-skies-light-aircraft-first-time/

My ugly mug got mixed up in that Telegraph article; I must ask for it to be airbrushed out!

The gentleman in the right hand seat of my red-and white aircraft is fit-as-a-fiddle 94-year-old Eddie Habberley who flew Spitfires in Burma in the war (and in fact flew his Spitfire from England to Burma...quite a feat back then, when most went on a ship...and he was only 20 years of age or so at the time!) Today he flew me from Sywell to Gloucester (and back), although he did allow me to do the take-offs and landings!

It was a very great privilege and a humbling experience for me to be involved in such a day.

I must reiterate others' thanks to all those concerned with such a successful day:
Graham et al for PP
Our hosts at Staverton Airport: Jet Age Museum & their volunteers, ATC and Darren
A much appreciated "thankyou" to all the airfields which waived any and all fees associated with todays collecting and delivering Veterans
And a special thumbs up to the Air Cadets from Dursley and elsewhere who were all brilliant!

[johnm]

The event featured on BBC. Points west with inevitable inclusion of my regular passengers Mary Ellis and Joy Lofthouse

[matspart3]

Blimey....that was good!

Just put my feet up at the end of one of my most enjoyable days in 24 years at Staverton. Technically, it was my last operational shift in ATC - some of you will know that I've tried, unsuccessfully, on a couple of occasions to 'retire' from ATCOing to concentrate on the day job - but, this time, I really feel like I've gone out on a high.

Sadly, the weather didn't entirely play ball around the country, but the delays and cancellations actually made it all a bit smoother from the ATC perspective. It was hard, but very enjoyable work and the traffic literally melted away at the right moment to give the Hurricane unfettered access to beat the hell out of the marquee.

I managed to sneak away from the Tower on a couple of occasions to the event and, in addition to catching up with forumite friends, got to see the smiles on the faces of a generation of heroes. They may have survived the conflict but their memories, still as sharp 70 years on, reflect their sacrifice for our freedom to do what we all did today. I think I must have got a bit of grit in my eye. This is why I still love my job.

I'd like to offer my thanks to all of you who gave your time to fly, everyone who helped on the ground and behind the scenes, the excellent (volunteer) marshalls who camped on the airfield last night, my brilliant staff and their families, who worked their socks off and, by no means least, Graham, who pretty much puts his life on hold for five months to make this happen.

He humbly says it's all down to the pilots and the venue but that simply doesn't reflect what is invovled and what he puts into it on a personal level. You genuinely wouldn't believe some of the cr@p he puts up with (particularly from me and my inability to answer emails promptly!) The man's a bl00dy legend and we need more like him in GA to make stuff happen.

(What he doesn't know - and this might push him over the edge - is that I'm already thinking of a 'reprise' for our locally-based veterans who didn't get to fly today and maybe some of those who didn't make it in due wx)

Going to bed now, knackered but happy. Thank you

[rats404]

I didn't make it (see above) but I'd echo Matspart3's sentiments above (especially regarding Graham - I respect his efforts so much), but also to add a big thanks to Matspart3 personally. If anyone deserved a gong for "Services to Aviation" , he does.

[Rob L]

The event featured on BBC. Points west with inevitable inclusion of my regular passengers Mary Ellis and Joy Lofthouse

Is there a link, John? [Points West is what I grew up with in Dursley]

Rob

[matspart3]

Lead story tonight on BBC Points West....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... s-25062017