RAFRochford,

I certainly will suggest it to him!

The current MAA regulations allow pilots to fly military registered aircraft to age 65 so long as they maintain the required medical standard. This includes single seat, high performance combat aircraft. They have to undertake the same periodic competency check rides as all other military pilots so their performance is assessed regularly. With respect to high performance aircraft, g tolerance does not reduce with age. There are not many pilots over 60 still flying fast jet types under UK military regulation but there is at least one who is current on 4 fast jet types (plus 3 lower performance types), is a current air combat leader, facilitator of high g onset rate training and flies high g aviation medicine trials. In fairness, that person has been flying fast jet aircraft continuously for almost 40 years which is one factor in maintaining the skill sets required. And then there are some pilots who, at whatever age, will never have the ability to undertake such flying tasks.

Beware of generalisations!

One of the great privileges of my life was to have known Ray as a friend and a fellow pilot. He would always greet me warmly with the question “How is your family?” Only then might we talk about flying. I have a few very vivid and special memories of some trips that I have flown over years; very many of these were in formation with Ray (and indeed with Mark and sometimes both of them). He was the most polished formation leader on whose wing I have had the privilege to fly. To combine that skill simultaneously with always providing a stunning spectacle for an airshow crowd is a very rare ability. Ray’s style of low flying was unique and was one of the most talked about facets of display flying over the last few decades. It will still be talked about for many decades to come, although sadly we will not see it again other than in the many wonderful film and video clips which are his legacy to us all.

For me, Ray had always been there throughout my time display flying and was, when I was growing up, a household name as leader of the Red Arrows. He will be sorely missed both as a pilot and as a wonderful person.

Deepest condolences to the Hanna family and to the Old Flying Machine Company from all of us.

With great sadness

DS

While the Bf109 has poor directional stability characteristics on take-off and landing, a pilot who is experienced on the Spitfire or similar is quite capable of flying a Bf109. Like any aircraft, the 109 needs to be understood in order to fly it safely. The biggest aspect of this understanding is whether a given runway and the wind are suitable or not. Strong crosswinds, tailwinds, wheeled landings, high speed taxy tests are all guaranteed to cause problems. One of the problems is that, as with any other unstable response, the 109 on take-off and landing is “cliff-edged”. If you fly from long, wide, flat grass strips with no tailwind and less than 10 kts of crosswind, it is no worse than most other warbird fighters. But, confidence grows and may lead a pilot to try short, concrete runways in a crosswind and suddenly it all goes wrong! The 109 is not a straightforward aircraft on take-off and landing but there are warbird pilots who do have the capabilities to fly it safely. Therefore, we should “keep ’em flying”.

In answer to a previous question, compared to the 109 the Wildcat is very straightforward for directional control on take-off and landing. The problem with the Wildcat in a crosswind is poor lateral control.