Sqdn Ldr Duncan Mason BBMF

Unusual title for a thread, but do read on…….

Saturday 21st August 2010, a flypast was booked for Blyton by PS915 at 15:00.

Phone call arrives at around 11:15am from said pilot to say that he was en route via road back to base at Coningsby after leaving Biggin Hill, and that if any delays crop up, then a further phone call will be made to me.

15:10 and no PS915. Phone call comes with apology from said pilot to say that bad weather has meant flight aborted after take off due to bad weather. Cue 1 disappointed booker of flypast. Caller then goes on to say that as long as we are at Blyton on Sunday, (Which we were.) then a flypast in a Hurricane will be on the cards en route to Blackpool. Excellent news.

Sunday comes along with near perfect blue sky, and a further phone call arrives at about 09:30 with a rather jolly pilot saying that he will arrive at about 11:20 in a Hurricane, (Turns out to be PZ865) and will see you then. At 11:15, said Hurricane arrives and promptly halts racing for about 3-4 minutes with flypast. 😀 Cue 1 happy booker of previous days flypast.

Flypast complete, and Hurricane heads off to Blackpool to buy a kiss me quick hat and a stick of rock. Some 2 hours later, phone rings, and top pilot type bloke asks if flypast was ok, and after some friendly chat and me still bursting with pride at the previous event, I invite him back for a second go on his way back to base, but he politely declines as he has other crowds to please with Hurricane.

On a more serious note…….

I wish to extend my public thanks via this forum to Sqdn Ldr Duncan Mason from the BBMF for “not letting the side down” over the weekend, and agreeing to turn up a day late when it could so have easily been cancelled full stop. I guess that because Blyton is not too far away from Coningsby in the grand scheme of things did help, nevertheless it was a totally professional attitude to the job for which he deserves public praise.

An e.mail to ops at Coningsby has already been sent.

Ken.