Prize winner Karen has a great day behind the scenes at the BBMF

Club member Karen Shortland was the lucky winner of the RAF Memorial Flight Official Club's April ballot prize - an ‘Experience Day’ at the BBMF at RAF Coningsby, which took place on 4th June. Karen and her three guests were permitted access to the RAF Station at Coningsby, with Clive Rowley, a former OC BBMF, as their host for the day.

 

Spending the day at the BBMF HQ they were able to truly get behind the scenes on a typical weekend flying day for the Flight. They toured the BBMF HQ, which the public do not normally get to see, and were fascinated by the Flight’s collection of memorabilia. They met and chatted with the BBMF ground crew and the fighter pilots on duty that day: Group Captain Jez Attridge (the Station Commander at RAF Coningsby), Wing Commander Stu Smiley and Flight Lieutenant Andy Preece. They also had the opportunity to tour the BBMF hangar and the aircraft prepared for flight outside, getting within touching distance of the aircraft with Clive as their guide. A special treat, which was much appreciated, was being allowed inside the Dakota and up to the cockpit.

 

Unfortunately, both the Lancaster and the Dakota were unserviceable, so both aircraft were cancelled from the flying programme for the day. However, a solo Hurricane and a Spitfire/Hurricane duo flew ‘out-and-back’ sorties. The low cloud, which had plagued the east of England for some days, took longer to clear than forecast. Consequently, the planned sorties and the events they were to attend – mostly flypasts, but also a Spitfire and Hurricane display at the RAF Wittering Families’ Day – had to be slipped until the weather eventually broke into bright sunlight. The visitors were able to observe the decision-making processes and the ‘behind the scenes’ activity that this involved and also attended the sortie briefing for the Spitfire/Hurricane sortie.

 

When the flying commenced in the afternoon they were able to stand close by as the aircraft started and taxied off, and they were treated to their own personal flypast by the Spitfire and Hurricane as they departed. They were also standing right underneath the ‘hangar breaks’ when the aircraft returned. They even got to help push Hurricane LF363 back into the hangar at the end of the day.

When Karen was asked for a ‘one-line’ quote on what she thought of the day, her response was entirely in superlatives: “Wow! Amazing! Unbelievable! The best day!” She also said that should a similar day be offered as a prize next year she would highly recommend it, so perhaps we will.