John "BJ" Aldington |
Hunter Display Team Chief Pilot.
John Aldington began his flying career at Hamble.
He converted on to the Jet Provost, Gnat and Hunter. and was later loaned to the Royal Navy, where he flew the Sea Vixen.
Converted to the Phantom in RAF Germany, John then joined the maritime force flying Avro Shackletons from Ireland and Malta.
His next posting was to Binbrook and the Lightning, his last RAF flight on the Lightning was also the last flight of a RAF Lightning when he delivered an aircraft to Cranfield in 1988.
He converted onto the Hawk in 1989 as a QFI.
John is currently employed by Scot Airways and flies the Dornier 328 passenger aircraft.
John is the gentleman pilot and the king of the slow roll. |
Brian Grant |
Began his flight training at RAF Ternhill and Swinderby on Piston Provosts and DH Vampires.
Flew Javelin FAW.5s with RAF 151 Sqn at RAF Leuchars, then later Javelin FAW9's with No.29 AWF Sqn firstly at Leuchars and then at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
In 1964 he completed an exchange tour with the Navy, serving with 899 and 890 NAS' equipped with Sea Vixens, including service on H.M.S. Ark Royal. Returned to the RAF in 1968, Brian converted onto the Folland Gnat as a QFI. at RAF Valley, amassing over 1000 hours on type.
He left the RAF in 1970 and joined Airwork Ltd, where he flew Sea Vixen, Canberra and Hunter aircraft of the Fleet Requirements and Air Direction Unit (FRADU) based at RNAS Yeovilton. In 1977 joined the FRADU 4-ship Hunter display team "The Blue Herons", flying in the No.3 position for 3 seasons before the team was disbanded in 1980.
He continued to work for the FRADU, becoming Chief pilot in 1983, until retirement in 1994. In 1995/96 he was asked by the FRADU to help ferry some of their fleet of BAe Hawks to their new base at RNAS Culdrose, acquiring 300hrs on type.
Brian currently has the highest amount of Hunter hours in the world, having amassed over 8,000 hours on type. |
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John Hurrell |
John is an ex-RAF QFI with tours on Buccaneers, Tornado GR.1's and Hawk T.1's. He saw active service in the Gulf War as part of the RAF's Tornado force.
He currently works for BAE Systems based at Warton as a Hawk QFI, part of a small team of instructors that train fellow pilots using a small number of former RAF Hawks in preparation for overseas deployments.
He also provides fast-jet refresher training for experience pilots that have recently returned from ground tours.
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