JAFO wrote:Perhaps you had the wrong heroes.
I spent much of a Waddington air show chatting with Ken Wallis in times where no public were coming up to talk to him. I also spent time chatting with Neville Duke at Popham, Eric Winkle Brown at a couple of places and I met Bob Hoover at Sun'n'Fun. I met and chatted with Bill Goldfinch, the designer of the
Colditz glider, at Old Sarum on a number of occasions. I was also friendly in latter years with the slightly lesser known
Air Commodore Charles Clarke who was at Stalag Luft III at the time of the Great Escape and was one of the driving forces for the Bomber Command memorial. I persuaded him to join Project Propeller! Oh yes, and I was a volunteer at Brooklands Museum, working with
Norman "Spud" Boorer, who worked with Barnes Wallis.
I have to say, all of them were absolutely wonderful gentlemen, and very happy to chat to me. They all had fascinating stories to tell and were happy to tell them. I'm sure I've probably missed one or two, but meeting and knowing the gentlemen above was a privilege.