P1B May Newsletter

How did we get here and what have we done …

We could move a large Jet Fighter or live in a large hangar at Manston .. Talking Heads wrote a song about us .. years ago!

Now before I forget and before Nurse Crotchet tells me my memory is failing faster than a Lightning fuel gauge… Aces High Gallery are putting on a Lightning Day on Sunday 19th July - (yes that is RIAT weekend) but no excuses about being busy polishing your garden shed or attending your auntie’s vegan barbecue.

I’m hoping to round up a few ex-Lightning pilots as well which means there is a very high probability of close to the wire stories & selective memory.

Aces High have commissioned a fabulous new painting and we’ll be signing prints, having a good chinwag and giving a talk with room for a Q&A afterwards - so if you’ve ever wanted to ask a Lightning pilot an important technical question like “did it actually leak fuel standing still?” this is your chance, stick it in your diary - this is definitely not one to miss!

April was an epic month on the P1B front. Whilst my two assistants have been having spa days and falling off bikes and horses, yours truly has had his nose firmly in the dirt… I am joking, of course (!) - also, a really good way to catch up would be via Steve Davies 10 Percent True you tube channel - we filmed the second episode at the beginning of the month so all recent stuff - you can watch it by clicking below:

For any of you sadists that like reading this newsletter, let's start with the round Britain whizz...

Early April my private Jet (thanks EasyJet) dropped me off at Gatwick and it was a short hop to Junction 8 on the M25 to meet my wingman Victoria…(Budge)

We had a plan that was more complicated than Stevie Wonder doing the Rubik’s cube... blindfolded.

We were off to meet aviation royalty... Milton Roach our Lightning Guru who knows more about the Aluminium Death Tube than Teddy Petter... show him a bolt and he’ll say “ahh that’s from the Hobson throttle box just behind the lower flange bracket that holds the reheat switch in place”

He’s won pub quizzes with his encyclopaedic knowledge of aircraft.

And we were always due to meet some other guy who flew F-4 Phantoms, F-5 Freedom Fighters in the Aggressor Squadron, as well as F-15 Eagles and oh yes and secret Migs…but back to Milton…

The plan was ambitious and we had to have a brainstorm, so we retired to the Prince of Wales pub for refreshments - top tip, if you have 2 hours to kill at Reigate station try the pub - 5 star Google review for its loo roll.

Rob was running late - having done his talk with Runway 25 at RAF Cosford, Rob “Z” man Zettle was now trying to get from the Black Country to leafy Surrey on a Sunday in the UK.