Page 222 - Demo

218of the Air Display although Bella had a budget for that and came up with several of the displays. I remember she arranged for the Royal Jordanian Falcons team to display. When they arrived a day or two before the display, ATC told them to vacate the runway next right but meant next convenient right. The pilot landing saw an exit just ahead of him and braked hard. This tipped his Pitts aircraft onto its nose and damaged the propeller. They had to get a new one and then the pilot had to do an air test which included an aerobatic display. On the day, someone dropped out for some reason, but I was able to get the solo Falcon pilot do his display as I had seen it. There were lots of meetings with the local authorities and police to agree the background stuff. The display itself was demanding in that generally there was 1 minute between each one. I had to ensure the safety of this and the various holding areas and times and so stood in the control tower keeping everything flowing.Prior to the display day this required lots of meeting with the SATCO and we worked well together. I note however, that the SATCO and his staff got a thanks mention in the official program but not me! One problem that came up at the start was that in the past the station personnel could watch from one side of the runway, while the general public watched from the other. The authorities had banned this sometime before and all spectators had to be on one side of the display line. Church Fenton had ignored this so when I insisted, there was a lot of ill feeling. In the end we put an enclosure for station personnel somewhere and they had to put up with it. In reality, station personnel had little to do with the whole thing and it gave them very little extra work to do. I also had a row with the NAAFI who insisted that only they could sell refreshments. I think I lost that one. The family came to watch and had VIP seats but I spent my time in the control tower. In the weeks leading up to the event, my phone was ringing constantly with some display pilots wishing to change things and no end of queries. The chaps on the Squadron just let it ring when I was flying and I