Chief Pilot
David joined the RAF in 1962. After flying training he was posted to fly Hawker Hunters in Aden, his dream posting. However this ecstasy was short lived, when at the last minute, his posting was changed to the Vulcan. Kicking and screaming and vowing to cut short his RAF career, David soon realised that this new fang-dangled aircraft actually had something about it; beauty, raw power and, strangely enough, charisma. In 1972 David flew with a display pilot who did 7 displays in one day. Totally in awe David decided that display flying was the way ahead for him.
The rest is history, serving on several Vulcan squadrons and completing 2 tours on the Vulcan Operational Conversion Unit, David has amassed almost 10,000 flying hours, nearly 4,000 of them on the Vulcan, and all but his first tour in the RAF involved instructional duties.
In 1997 David joined the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, where he served for 6 years and became the Bomber Leader flying the Lancaster and Dakota. He boasts 179 displays, and claims never to have been frightened whilst flying them. Now retired from active service, he still flies Tutors for 1 day a week on No.7 Air Experience Flight at RAF Cranwell.
Mike Pollitt
Operations Manager
After a variety of civilian jobs, Mike has been in the Royal Air Force since 1974. Having completed flying training on Jet Provosts and Hunters and subsequently being posted to Phantoms; Mike was diverted to the Vulcan Force in 1978 en-route to Coningsby - which you should ask him about one evening, having bought him a beer! Having completed his co-pilot tour in 1981 and qualified as a captain, Mike was posted to the Central Flying School (CFS) to train as an instructor on JPs. He spent 4 happy years at Cranwell as a qualified flying instructor (QFI).
Following a tour at Training Command, which burnt to the ground 4 weeks after Mike's arrival and no one noticed any difference as a consequence, he returned to instructional duties but this time at Scampton on CFS. He had been operational for only one week after his refresher training when he was promoted and placed in command of the Sqn he had just joined!
During this time the RAF introduced the Tucano, and Mike was heavily involved in that process. Following many years enjoying himself at Scampton and a few ground tours including being on an RAF poster to boot, Mike returned to Scampton as the last CFS Chief Instructor in the mid-90s. Unfortunately, after working with some wonderful people at Scampton, the base was closed and Mike proceeded to Cranwell as OC Flying and instructed on the Jetstream and Bulldog as well as flying the Dominie.
Then followed a spate of ground tours most notable as Strike Command Flight Safety officer and on the staff at the Royal College of Defence Studies Ð a time delightfully and thankfully broken since 1998 by being able to return to the Vulcan at Bruntingthorpe and Wellesbourne, to taxi 558 and 655 with David and Barry.
Mike is still serving with the RAF and occasionally flies with the RAF Brize Norton Flying Club. He is married to Rita and his other interests include motorcycling, travelling overseas, French wine and medieval history.
Martin Withers
Pilot
Born in Purley, Surrey, Martin Withers studied at Trinity School, Croydon and then went on to Birmingham University to study Law, where he discovered the University Air Squadron (UAS), and fell in love with flying and the RAF.
Although he did gain his LLB (Hons), it was not long before he elected to change professions.
He joined the RAF in 1968, trained at RAF Stations at Church Fenton, Syerston and Oakington, with spells at Manby and Strubby (all of which no longer exist as RAF stations) and was then posted to the Vulcan. His first tour as a co-pilot was at Waddington on 44 Sqn and he then served as a captain on 50 Sqn, also at Waddington.
In 1976 he became a Qualified Flying Instructor on the Jet Provost. After a tour at Linton-on-Ouse, he returned to the Vulcan as a flying instructor on 230 OCU at Scampton.
When the OCU closed, he moved to 101 Sqn at Waddington as the squadron QFI and Pilot Leader. He was later selected as the captain of one of the crews to take part in 'Operation Corporate', now known as the Falkland Islands Conflict.
For his part in bombing the runway at Port Stanley he was awarded the DFC, with the crew 'Mentioned in Dispatches'.
Martin then returned to Linton-on-Ouse, ending up as Deputy Chief Instructor (DCI) and OC Standards Squadron, before leaving to become an airline pilot.
He flew turboprops (SD360 andF27) before moving up to the Airbus A320 and the old Boeing 757, with Caledonian and Thomas Cook Airlines.
He has recently joined the new airline 'Zoom', as a founder member, flying back and forth across the Atlantic in a 767, to 'keep his hand in', for when he pilots 558!
He is married to Laura, and lives near York with their two children.
Barry Masefield
Air Electronics Officer
Barry is currently self-employed working as a Chiropodist/Podiatrist in his highly successful practice in King's Lynn. He gained his qualifications in 1994 after retraining at the Chiropody College in Sheffield.
After completing his schooling in Torquay, Barry joined the Royal Air Force in 1959 as a radar technician apprentice at RAF Locking. After the three-year apprenticeship he spent a year in the 'field' at RAF Wyton servicing the airfield radars. It was in 1963 that having been accepted to undergo aircrew training as an Air Electronics Operator he was posted to RAF Topcliffe in Yorkshire. Qualifying as Sergeant aircrew he then spent the next 17 years flying Shackletons and Nimrods at bases throughout the world including RAF Ballykelly in Northern Ireland, RAF Changi in Singapore, and RAF Kinloss in Scotland.
In 1979 having reached the rank of Master Aircrew Barry then applied for a commission. He successfully completed the commissioning course at Henlow and was awarded the Best All-Round Cadet trophy. This was followed by a complete change of course in his aircrew career by a posting to the Vulcan OCU at RAF Scampton. On completion of the OCU he was posted onto 617 Sqn. This completed his long-time ambition of both flying Vulcans and serving on 617 Sqn. 617 was disbanded as a Vulcan squadron in 1982 and Barry was posted across the city of Lincoln to 50 Sqn at RAF Waddington.
Shortly after his arrival on 50 Sqn Barry and his crew were chosen to be one of the 3 crews to be trained to participate in the Falklands War in the South Atlantic. His crew flew the bombing raid Black Buck 2. After the conflict was resolved he remained flying on 44 Sqn, the sole remaining Vulcan squadron, which was retained until it too was disbanded in 1983 and was then sent to the Victor tanker fleet at Marham. During his 10 years on the Victor aircraft Barry participated in the first Gulf War in 1993, his Squadron being based in Bahrain. He finally retired in the rank of Squadron Leader from the Royal Air Force in 1994.
Martin Andrews
Air Electronics Officer
Martin Andrews joined the RAF in 1980 as an Airframe Technician before commencing Aircrew training in 1982. Following graduation, he completed 236 OCU on the Nimrod MR2 and was posted to 42 Sqn as an Air Electronics Operator before commencing Initial Officer Training at Cranwell in 1984. After IOT he was posted to 232 OCU at Marham on the Victor K2 before moving to 57 Sqn. After their disbandment, he moved to 55 Sqn where he earned a B Category and flew operationally until 1989.
After that he completed 236 OCU again, before moving to Kinloss to join 201 Sqn. During this tour, Martin was awarded a B Category and Crew Captaincy and represented the RAF and Great Britain in the Fincastle Trophy competition, held at CFB Greenwood in 1993. From 1995 to 96, he completed the Aerosystems Course, which included a trial over the North Pole in Comet 4C 'Canopus' and was awarded an MCGI and CGI Gold Medal for his Project on Future Magnetic Anomaly Detection Systems. Promoted in 1996 he spent 4 months in Sicily as Detachment Commander for 216 Sqn before moving to MOD as Desk Officer for Airborne Communications and then Nimrod R1. In 1999 he was posted to 51 Sqn at Waddington as Flight Commander Training, where he flew as Mission Commander and was involved in numerous operations. He then took command of the Electronic Reconnaissance Operations Support Sqn (EROS), which provides 51 Sqn with their Mission Support. During his Command, EROS Sqn played a vital support role for numerous operations, notably in Gulf War 2. Martin lives with his partner Michelle. He is a keen Game Angler and Motorcycle Club Racer, representing the RAF Motor Sports Association on a 1980 350cc GP machine in the Post-Classic classes; he is also working towards a PPL. His main focus however, away from work, is becoming qualified on the Vulcan B2.
Ed Billings
Air Electronics Officer
The only son of a Polish Air Force officer, Ed's future was pretty much mapped out from the start. After a not particularly glittering school career, he joined the Royal Air Force at 15 as an Administrative Apprentice. He learnt to type, to press his trousers and to polish the floor and then realised that he would prefer to be flying.
With commendable determination he obtained the five O-levels he needed for selection to aircrew and embarked on his 30-year love affair with aeroplanes Ð all aeroplanes Ð any aeroplanesÉ. He began his flying career modestly as a sergeant but rose steadily through the ranks to Master Aircrew.
At that point he was commissioned as an Air Electronic Officer and, whilst not promoted to senior rank, was happy to remain on the flying programme as a popular member of various squadrons, including 6FTS, 101, 201, 202, 203, 50 and 55.
Ed has 7,500 hours on Dominies, Whirlwinds, Shackletons, Nimrods and Victor tankers and includes almost 870 hours on the Vulcan in his total. In a career only a few months short of 40 years, he was lucky enough to have only 2 ground tours, one of which was enlivened by flying on the Vulcan Display Flight.
Ed is delighted to be part of the project to put the most iconic aeroplane the Royal Air Force has ever flown back into her proper environment Ð the skies.
Andy Marson
Navigator and Commentator
Born in Lincolnshire and educated at King's Grammar School, Grantham, Andy decided to join the RAF in 1970 and after completing his training at Finningley was posted as a Vulcan Navigator Plotter on 50 and 44 (Rhodesia) Squadrons.
He then served 3 years as a Navigation Instructor at Finningley before returning to the V force in 1980 with 35 Squadron at Scampton. Next came a brief tour with 44(R) Squadron where he was involved in trials flying during the Falklands Conflict. Conversion to the Tornado GR1 in 1982 was followed by 3 years in Germany at Laarbruch and Bruggen before being posted to RAF Cranwell as an Initial Officer Training Flight Commander. He returned to the Tornado in 1990 with 13 Squadron at Honington in the Reconnaissance role. He was Lead Navigator on the introduction to service of the Thermal Imaging Equipment during Gulf War 1 and was then posted to Cottesmore as an OCU instructor on the Italian Squadron.
In 1997, in what was to be his final posting, he returned to Cranwell where he served as a navigation instructor flying Dominies in the low level role on 55 Squadron. In 1998 in addition to his primary duty Andy joined the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and flew in both the Lancaster and Dakota for 7 years before retiring from the RAF in 2006. Andy's total flying hours are in excess of 6600 of which 2009 are on Vulcans.
Kevin 'Taff' Stone
Crewchief
Born in Neath and educated in Port Talbot South Wales, Kevin or 'Taff' as he is widely known, joined the RAF in 1980 as an Electrician, spending 25 years within the service before requesting Premature Voluntary Redundancy (PVR) in 2005, leaving as an Avionics Technician to work on the Vulcan Project.
Taff's career in the RAF started at Waddington carrying out second line servicing on the Vulcan before moving onto the Vulcan Display Flight in 1984 for its first unofficial year. At the end of the year Taff was promoted and posted to the Red Arrows at Scampton working on first and second line as well as flying back seat, before being posted back to the Vulcan Display Team in 1991. When XH558 was flown into Bruntingthorpe in 1993 Taff moved across to the E3D Sentry at Waddington until posted to Coningsby on 29(F) Sqn Tornados at the end of 1994. When 29 Sqn disbanded in 1998 Taff took over the roles of Wiring Husbandry SNCO and Precision Termination Tooling (PTT) Co-Coordinator until posting back to Waddington in 1999 to the Sentry Aircraft Engineering Development & Investigation Team (SAEDIT) writing modification and servicing procedures for the E3D.
Taff has also worked part time as an IT Tutor for a local college. In his spare time Taff enjoys a round of golf and does charity work for the RAF Association (RAFA), where he is a member of the Area and Central Council.
Al MacDicken
Test Pilot
Al was born in Glasgow and joined the RAF in December 1965. In the mid 1960's, early officer training was carried out at South Cerney and it was here that he first flew the venerable Chipmunk. In 1966 he was posted to No. 6 Flying Training School at RAF Acklington. The aircraft flown were Jet Provosts Mks 3 and 4 and by this time he had married, much to the irritation of the training staff!
More interested in developing a social life, he and Ann, his new wife, decided that Cambridge would be more convivial than RAF Valley, so it was to RAF Oakington. Once there the awful impact of the error became evident in the form of the ancient Varsity but it was too late!
On graduation, a posting to Canberras was sought but there were none available. However, a Vulcan had earlier diverted into the base and it was this lucky event, which propelled him towards the V Force.
230 OCU at RAF Finningley was the next stop. At that stage Al realised it was time that he woke up and did some studying. Until then all exams passes had relied more on the power of prayer than hard graft! On completion he was posted to IX(B) Squadron at Cottesmore, a happy coincidence as the Squadron was headed to Cyprus in early 1969!
In 1970, a Captaincy was offered with 50 Squadron at RAF Waddington and promotion to Flight Lieutenant came with the job. Two children were born and life was very happy; until a ground tour was threatened.
Alarmed at the prospect, swift research revealed that application to the Empire Test Pilot School might just confound things sufficiently that some other poor chap might get the ground tour! It was then that Al became crewed with Andy (Sponge) Marston as the Wing Operations Crew, a happy, carefree few months ensued as the duo waxed lyrical in various bars around the world!
The ploy worked and Al was posted to Maintenance Command in 1974. It was hard work but a challenge and privilege to be there. From having flown only about four types of aircraft, ETPS offered a great opportunity to fly all sorts of machines, including helicopters. At the end of the course a posting to B Squadron, Boscombe Down ensued and Al remained here until 1980, as a test pilot and then as Senior Pilot, gaining promotion to Squadron Leader in 1976. A ground tour finally caught up with him but then British Aerospace offered employment as a test pilot engaged on military and civil projects.
After brief forays into management, but missing flying he went back to flight testing in 1989; becoming Chief Test Pilot in 1993. Al has around 10000 flying hours on some ninety types of aircraft, being a display pilot for over thirty years. The zenith of this last activity being with the Shuttleworth Collection. He is now self employed as a freelance test and delivery pilot.