Aviation Talks in Nottinghamshire – Jerry Pook (16 Nov) and Tony Blackman (23 Nov)

Two aviation talks / booksignings featuring distinguished guests coming up in the next couple of weekends in Nottinghamshire.

Saturday 16th November

Squadron Leader Jerry Pook, MBE, DFC – During the Falklands war Jerry Pook, a pilot in No. 1(F) Squadron RAF, flew air interdiction, armed recce, close-air-support and airfield attack as well as pure photo-recce missions. Most weapons were delivered from extreme low-level attacks because of the lack of navigation aids and in the absence of Smart weapons. The only way he could achieve results was to get low down and close-in to the targets and, if necessary, carry out re-attacks to destroy high-value targets.
During a twenty-five year flying career in the RAF, Jerry Pook flew Hunter Fighter/Ground Attack aircraft in the Gulf, Harriers in West Germany, the supersonic Starfighter with the Dutch Air Force, the Harrier in Belize, Central America and the Tornado bomber at the Tri-national Tornado Training Establishment where he trained German and Italian pilots and navigators.

Saturday 23rd November

Tony Blackman OBE, M.A., F.R.Ae.S – After joining the Royal Air Force as a Maths and Physics Instructor, he learnt to fly, flew Vampires and Venoms in Germany, trained as a test pilot and then joined A.V.Roe and Co. Ltd. where he became Chief Test Pilot. During his time at Avros/Hawker Siddeley/British Aerospace, he helped develop the Vulcan, Nimrod, Victor Mk 2 tanker and the Avro 748/RAF Andover.

Venue: Storytellers Books (and Home of Wing Leader / Red Kite Publishers) 7 Eldon Street, Tuxford, Notts, NG22 0LB
Times: Doors open at 18.45 for 19.30 start
Price: 10 pounds per evening

Additional info: Lots of free parking around including some on-street spaces after 18:00 and the public car park 100 metres from the venue. Tuxford is ideally situated just off the major A1 road. About forty seats still available for each event. PM me to reserve seats. Events are designed to be friendly, entertaining and informative with the special guests first giving a talk about their exploits, members of the public are then invited to ask questions, followed by a photo opportunity and a booksigning (an additional fee if collectors come along bearing their own items to be signed). Event normally lasts around the 2hr+ mark but we go with the flow.

Also out of interest Commander Ade Orchard author of ‘Joint Force Harrier’ detailing his exploits with 800 Naval Air Squadron in Afghanistan is lined up to make an appearance sometime in January.