Well it all started with my parents. My mum’s mother used to work for deHavillands which got her interested and living in Edgeware she used to get alot of aircraft from the Hendon Airshow fly over. This led to trips to Heathrow with her father when it was all tents. Then she moved to Bracknell and met my dad who was ex-RAF and into planes. Dates at Heathrow followed. Then in 1971 I came along. Regular trips to Heathrow as a baby and then on the back of the bike to Blackbushe were the norm. Saw the first commercial flight of Concorde and the Blackbushe airshow in 1977 and from then on I was hooked. Even by ’77 I could identify different aircraft. Then I started to grow a fascination with the Lightning. I remeber about 1980 my parents giving me an exercise book full of pictures they had cut out of Lightnings from various places – this become a prized possesion.I came across a book at school called Thunder and Lightnings ( by Jan Mark ) which was about a young Lightning enthusiast and since then I’ve read it loads of times. By the early 80’s it was IAT at Greenham Common ( the first time I saw a Lightning for real! ) then the old Abingdon Battle of Britian shows before I was old enough to start going further a field. Binbrook was the place to get to – know how do you do it? Thats easy, cycle to the station, train to London, cycle across London, Train to Newark, Train to Market Rasen, cycle to Binbrook. Anybody who tells you Lincolshire is flat should try those hills between Market Rasen and Binbrook. Watching from the fire gate at Binbrook was never a pleasant experiance, it was ALWAYS cold, wet and windy. I used to look on at the lucky people in there nice warm cars with envy. More than once I decided to take refuge in the ditch that ran along the end of the runway by the road and watch them come in over my head. After the Lightnings died my interest fell away until I moved to Cambridge in 1994. Living so close to Duxford and Mildenhall it would be rude not to go. From then on its been full steam ahead!
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