Whatever happen to…

Hi All,
Only to glad to help as many of you are at work and do not have the luxury of time to surf the net on a regular basis….:eagerness:

Geoff.

Not likely to stay in that scheme for defence contracts especially if they do DACT with US Forces or RCAF as well.

Thanks for the update, wonder if she’ll remain in the starburst colours or revert to a military scheme?

Goodbye 🙁

Geoff – thank you so much for posting Jonathan’s Epilogue. True to the man – right from the heart.

Always loved that colour scheme.

Absolutely gutted by this news :apologetic:

The former owner is simply referring to cost and difficulty to operate the Hunter as compared to other display types.
That of course would be pre-Shoreham…

Yes, it seems expensive to laymen, but to those accustomed to writing large cheques and doing training and paperwork….:)

I read into his remarks a bit of dismay/regret that in the UK, warbird owners/operators are fixed on certain piston WWII types. I believe the lack of a of a flying Mosquito in the UK (to name one type) confirms this.

Sad to see it go, and saddened that I never got to see this (or any other) Hunter display. At the same time I’m not too surprised, unfortunately.

As for the charged text above, “I knew how easy she was to operate and couldn’t fathom why nobody serious came forward, not even to ask how I managed to operate a Jet warbird at a profit and could they do the same with her” just seems a bit naive. I’m not exactly too surprised that there wasn’t a lot of interest in operating a Hunter on the civil register!

Hi All,
Having a mooch around the web as you do and came across this piece of sad/good news about Miss Demeanour. Looks like it’s off to pastures new which
is the sad part but will be flying in Canada which is the good news at least….:eagerness:

Courtesy of the Global Aviation Resources Facebook page:- https://www.facebook.com/globalaviationresource?ref=hl The below text is for those like myself who cannot access Facebook directly.

Miss D is heading for Canada……:(

Probably not the last post I’ll make on Miss Demeanour’s FB, but enough to call this an epilogue.

Miss Demeanour has now been sold and will go to Canada to Lortie Aviation Inc.I’m saddened that no one came forward to continue displaying her and I
know from the people and numbers who frequent her FB, there will be many who will be disappointed she will never display again. Because I had flown
her for 16 years flying over 300 displays, I knew how easy she was to operate and couldn’t fathom why nobody serious came forward, not even to ask
how I managed to operate a Jet warbird at a profit and could they do the same with her. With all the big engine single seat Hunters being snapped up to
return to a working life, the opportunity to fly such a high performance yet benign aircraft for the shear pleasure of it, is vanishing or has vanished, forever.

Those lucky enough to have flown in a two seat Hunter, baby or not, will know what a delight a Hunter is to fly but will not know how much greater the
feeling is when flying a single seat Hunter. Imagine a street legal F1 and no speed limits or traffic. Perhaps one day there will be Hawks available. I’ve never flown a Hawk but the performance differences put them miles apart. So I doubt that there will ever be another high performance single seat jet available that a PPL could aspire to fly in the UK or EU. It’s something to fly an aircraft at sea level + 50′ when the limit becomes a Mach figure, pull the
stick back to vertical and top out at 20,000’+I never had any doubt that Miss Demeanour would succeed on the display circuit but the ultimate level of
success and number of years did surprise me.

A snippet of the journey. The normally way of getting in to a Hunter is to clip a Hunter specific ladder on the side. In the early years when there was no
ladder, I would run at the side of the cockpit, jump and place my left foot in to the spring flap covered recess for the ladder and grasp the cockpit rail so the other leg could reach over in to the cockpit. People were amazed not at my agility but that my left foot always found the roughly 6″ square flap. There
came the days when the jump wasn’t high enough and I did a fair impression of the Road Runner slapping in to the side and sliding to the ground!

I’m proud of what I did to turn Miss Demeanour in to a glass cockpit 21st Century aircraft. This meant I could spend most of the time looking out for other
bits of wood or aluminium sharing the sky with me. The only thing she lacked was an autopilot for the long transits where holding a flight level ± 50′ took
concentration. I’m forever grateful for the London & Scottish Military radar services, who, outside the Radar Corridors, would give me a 1000′ box and
freedom to take in the view of all the UK from 45,000′. At that height, it’s a very small country. Annie, my wife, whilst not exactly jealous of my other
lady, almost broke my heart when, after I had stopped displaying Miss Demeanour, said she played and sang along to Caro Emerald’s song “Stuck”, when
I was away displaying. The line “Why am I sitting in the middle of nowhere, standing here with nothing to do, wondering if I really love you, oh oh, I guess
that I do”.

The world is changing and for me, many of the things I used to do are now forbidden or lack the freedom of expression. I quote from something I wrote for an article Richard Paver put together:- The display world has changed dramatically in my almost 30 years of displaying. As at today’s date, post Shoreham, has safety really improved? For display pilots, yes it has. For them, Rules have made display flying safer, they have not made it safe.
The sad truth is that reading the AAIB’s findings, had all the new rules been in place in August 2015, they would not have prevented the crash, just that the location might have been 220 metres further away. Western society is ever increasingly risk averse but all that seems to have done is breed Risk
Assessments so that should something tragic happen and say the pilot was amongst the fatalities, given a lack flight recording or obvious aircraft
problems, others can be lined up to take the blame. Is displaying the fun it used to be? no it isn’t but I have no doubt that human nature will endure and
what today seems unburdenable, will become routine. Was I lucky enough to have displayed in the best period? No, the ones I used to watch before I
started displaying had the best period and I sure that they said and each further iteration of display pilots will say the same about their period!

I look back on the past almost 20 years of owning Miss Demeanour as a tremendous privilege more than an achievement. All the people I’ve met that I would never have met. The obvious pleasure Miss Demeanour has given to many hundred of thousands. Finally, all the Display Organisers that made it possible and understood that not everyone wanted to see yet another drab military aircraft flying. In particular, thanks to the late Jock Maitland who gave
us our first big break at Biggin Hill, TSA Consulting’s Ray Thilthorpe, Ian Sheeley and latterly Dave Walton who with their whole team, recognised Miss Demeanour was designed for air shows as did Brian Lewis with his shows. Thanks also to the engineers throughout the years, from Jet Heritage, the short
period at Delta Jets and finally with John Sparks and his engineers at Exeter and then St Athan. In the 16 years of flying her, I can only recall two displays I was unable to attend or complete due to serviceability.

So, thank you all again for being on the journey with me and your love and enthusiasm for Miss Demeanour. For 2018, I’m planning on producing a “coffee table” book compiled of the photos I’ve had taken or sent to me. Primarily of Miss Demeanour, but also other photos that are just too good to remain on my hard drive or hanging on my wall. Where I can, I will credit the photographer but some I simply don’t know who took them. To those, I thank you.

I think the above post was a very emotionally charged effort.
Geoff.

Hi All,
Paul Thayre – Black Knight – Tony C – Trumper – Agree with all of you, lovely looking aircraft sorry to say I have never seen it fly as I suffer from agoraphobia…:apologetic:

As for the price you do actually get two aircraft one a flyer the other could be with a lot of work and extra money….;)

Geoff.

By far the best looking display aircraft since Flacks squadron. From what i’m told waaaaay overpriced for a single seat Hunter. Though if my lottery numbers come in, I wouldn’t hesitate buying her.

Geoff – top bloke “Flapjack” Whaley. Met him a few times and for my money he and his “Miss” were one of the best display acts around for several years. And certainly the best looking girl on the circuit!!

I would guess the buying it cost wise is the tip of the iceberg.The other costs involved i would think are horrendous.

Thanks for that and while I have no experience in buying airframes, £275,000 doesn’t seem that much – not that I could even consider buying it – for a well known (airworthy?) Hunter!

To clarify, if its possible to spend £200,000,000.00 on someone to run around a football pitch, twice a week then complain that you’re tired, then £275,000 in the world of aviation doesn’t seem much!

Back in the real world, I still think a fiver is a lot and guess it just needs the right person at the right time to buy and fly!

Hi All,
Tony C – Here you are matey if your interested also to note the sale comes complete with a second hunter ‘Swiss Air Force J4083,
the link to the web page also includes a good few stills of ‘MD’. So you could say the ultimate 241 sale…;)

https://www.historicandclassicaircraftsales.com/hawker-hunter-miss-demeanour

Some good low flying not to mention his attitude ‘Mature Hooligan’…..:D

Geoff.

And still for sale I think. £250,000 and she’s yours!!

Parked at St Athan last I heard .