Derek got a phone call saying that due to severe crosswinds, the SE5A flown by Neil Geddes could not land at Lamb Holm and he was hunting for a flat field to land.
Helped by Torquil Clyde it transpired that he had land at Quanterness. We rushed out to greet him but when we got there it was blowing a hooly so between us we wheeled it to the far side of the field but that still did not give enough protection.
Thanks to John Bain, Loganair pilot and Norman Brass who was coming through to Kirkwall, the plane was sheltered by Johns van and Neil made it to the hangar in time.
Derek and I rushed off at 1735 to ensure we could make the function. Thanks to my wife, my suit jacket was waiting on me and we had time to start pouing the drinks for the guests.
Many thanks to Chris Wild from Craigies taxis who provided a shuttle service from the terminal to the hangar as parking was limited. Also a big thanks to Richard and William Shearer who picked up John Moffat at his hotel in their beautiful vintage car.
After my introduction, Sheena gave a very interesting talk on what life was like as a trainee pilot in the war and she had also prepared displays which everyone could read during the event.
This was followed by a fascinating talk by John Moffat who recounted his experiences to all.
Then it was drinks, nibblies and meet the guests, including the main visitor PT462. I will hand over to the pictures for the next part.
There was a surprise in store at the end of the night. We had managed to obtain the services of an outstanding stunt pilot for the night as a special treat. At 1900 the guests were introduced to Jim McTaggart and his plane G-JIII, a Starduster. He suited up strapped in and proceeded to put on an outstanding display. The gasps from the crowd were plentiful as he displayed over the airport for the next 10 minutes.
Photos will follow tomorrow, sorry but I have run out of typing time again. Worth waiting for, promise.
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