John Romain – BBC Look East

Methinks the latter is because of the former.

Methinks MOTF has right on his side.

Bu**er – he’s got me at it now!

John Romain with Karel Bos – owner of Historic Flying limited and the green two seater Spitfire 161.

Bloody hell. That’s a good cammo job on the Spitfire. I can’t spot it, even blown up in Photoshop.

Great bloke none the less.

Moggy

Methinks the latter is because of the former.

I’m not sure luck has much to do with it. Hard work and dedication yes. Luck, no.

Hard work and dedication, and maybe Karel Bos!

John Romain flew Ed Russells Hurricane for it’s first flight today
Then he took the Spit up
All in preperation for this weekends Friends and Foes over the falls airshow

That’s great to hear thanks for the headsup!
MK912 is one of my favourite Spitfires, liked it so much i painted my 1/6th scale model in the same colours. It’s good to hear that his Hurricane is up and about again. He has a fine collection over there, especially with that 109E of his, hmmmmm.

Any pictures Birddog?

John Romain flew Ed Russells Hurricane for it’s first flight today
Then he took the Spit up
All in preperation for this weekends Friends and Foes over the falls airshow

stewart1a
if your serious about helping to keep them flying then contact ARC
we do look out for future engineers and pilots to help us
contact me by private email and see whats available

JDK,
who told you about the maths? 😀
yes i am set to pass, and my aeronautics are comming along nicely. as you know im very keen (to keen some might say) but all i want to do is learn and help keep thes lovely machines where they should be. in the air and not in concrete woodlice!

Heh.

Let’s just say I’m a bit tired of “I coulda been a contender” type remarks from people who underestimate what it takes. Luck’s nice, but hard work is required.

JDK

So eloquently put. That ought to see off any potential future warbird fraternity who were sitting on the fence:rolleyes:

Get cracking Stewart, no time to loose. Oh and there’s a few a/c at Old Warden that could do with some spit and polish. (…yes I know AR501 was from a Czech squadron before anyone says anything.)

I think he was abit younger & started out at DX restoring IIRC vehicles before joining OH-B. He also designed & built probably the most economical car ever which did over 1000 miles on a single gallon of petrol.

As JDK said, John Romain started out as a boy enthusiast at about 15 or 16, on the first Blenheim.

See, all it takes is 25 years of total dedication.

Some luck, but a lot of hard work. John started out as a boy enthusiast – yes, in the same arena as Steward1a. So it’s perfectly posible for Stewart (or anyone else his age) to get there – but before you think it’s a done deal, tick off the list below…

Having met and interviewed a lot of pilot/restorers etc, the main factors in common would be:
1. Work very hard, with periods of not enough money 24/7, often 365 days a year, for years
2. Sacrifice many of the other things that make life worthwhile
3. Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer
4. Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer
5. Still don’t take ‘no’ for an answer
6. Make ‘No’ into ‘yes’.
7. Face going bust and keep going.
8. Put up with the knockers and wingers and smark alecs telling you what you are doing is pointless.
9. Go bust, but start again
10. Put up with people asking stupid questions or expecting really stupid answers

And there’s usually an-anti bonus: 🙁 See close friends die*

If you want to fly a Spitfire, you can. It is just a lot of hard work, sacrafice and dedication; about 1,000 times more than most of us would bother with. Luck plays it’s part, but most people who are sucessful make their own luck, IMHO. Most of us just don’t want to fly a Spitfire that much after all.

So Stewart – it doesn’t matter if ARCo say yes or no, it depends on how much you realy are prepared to do. Oh, and stop wasting so much time here and put in some study on maths (most important) and aeronautics! 😀

There’s another route – it involves starting with a big fortune and making it into a smaller one. And if you think that’s easier, the friend/death ratio seems to be higher there. 🙁

On a lighter note, John may not be tall, but he can fit in more aircraft than most of us and take high ‘g’ better. As well as being a very good pilot, engineer and manager. I’m not envious…

just some thoughts!

*Sorry if that’s a bit grim, but there’s a memorial bench outside ‘Blenheim Palace’ at DX listing the Blenheim team members no longer with us. Old age and accidents take a toll.

He must be stood on a box in that pic…. I think it was Hoof who named him “Shetland Pilot” 😀

OOps

He must be stood on a box in that pic…. I think it was Hoof who named him “Shetland Pilot”

Chair actually.

John Romain taken at ARC/HFL open day last year. Who? John Romain?????

He must be stood on a box in that pic…. I think it was Hoof who named him “Shetland Pilot” 😀

Oh, that John Romain. I thought I’d heard the name but couldn’t recall exactly. Thanks. I’m not constantly at Duxford like many people on this forum.

Thanks Mk12

Brian

I’m not sure luck has much to do with it. Hard work and dedication yes. Luck, no.

I meant lucky as in i’m jealous,athough theres always a stoke of luck in anything that goes well.Being in the right place at the right time,making the right choice at the crossroads when a decision could’ve gone either way.

John Romain with Karel Bos – owner of Historic Flying limited and the green two seater Spitfire 161.