Monday 26th September - 1900 for 1930 hrs - ‘The History of Royal Flying’ an illustrated presentation by Sqn Ldr Graham Laurie, MVO, RAF (Ret’d) covering the early days of Royal flying, the formation of the King’s Flight and the Queen’s Flight up to the present day, he will share history and behind the scenes experiences, along with some personal reminiscences.
Graham joined the RAF as a pilot in 1964, and flew for 36 years, amassing a total of 13,500 hours. In 1981, he was selected for the Queen’s Flight, and in 1995, (after that unit’s disbandment), he moved to No 32 (the Royal) Squadron, at RAF Northolt, completing in all over 2200 Royal flights, retiring in December 2000. During the last 20 years of his career he flew members of the Royal family and Government ministers.
Monday 24th October - 1900 for 1930 hrs - ‘A Tale of Two Lancasters’ - presented by Mr Mike Chatterton who retired from the RAF in 2013, after a career of nearly 40 years. Mike says “that he was kept pretty busy as a multi engine aircraft pilot, having been involved with in recent conflicts involving British forces in the Balkans, Iraq Afghanistan and Libya”.
He flew the Maritime Nimrod out of Kinross and says that “he escaped from Kinloss in 1989, on posting to Station Ops at RAF Coningsby, with the ulterior motive of flying the Lancaster, with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight”.
As a ‘current’ Lancaster pilot in 1995, he was asked to pilot the restored Lancaster - ‘Just Jane’, at nearby East Kirkby, giving passengers taxying rides – which he continues to do. He will be talking about his experiences with 2 Lancasters, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s ‘City of Lincoln’, as well as ‘Just Jane’. Mike is also proud that his father, John, was also a Lancaster bomber pilot in WW2 and they often provided a unique double act at Coningsby and East Kirkby. Sadly John passed away in 2004, but is featured in Mike’s presentation.
AirACES is an aviation talk society, providing its members with regular talks, given by experts in many different fields related to the world of aviation.
The talks are held at the Chichester Park Hotel, Westhampnett Road, Chichester 7pm for 7.30 start. Members £5, visitors £7 and under 16s FREE. Doors open at 6.45 no pre-booking, no reserved seating. For further information about AirACES, please see: www.airaces.org.uk or call David Batcock on 01243 82300