Tag: Air Charter Expo

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A Rainy Day

Typical isn’t it? No rain in south east UK for absolutely ages and then the day you want to wander around outside looking at pretty aeroplanes the heavens open and makes everything wet. I took some work people on a trip to Biggin Hill to attend the Air Charter Expo – a trade event organised by a friend of mine. He gave us free tickets with the aim of getting people interested in aviation based careers. This event covers the charter side of aviation and this is the third time I’ve been. I previously attended in the guise of an RAFAC Officer and wearing that uniform definitely gives you some kudos around the hangar but this time I was a civilian.

Getting to sit in small private jets with values ranging from GBP5 million to GBP50 million was fun. Overall I think I had two favourite aircraft of the day. First was the lovely little Cirrus SF50, a small jet for the owner pilot to take the family out for taking the family out for the day. It was cute. My most favourite was the Cessna Grand Caravan EX. It just looked chunky, solid and had plenty of space inside. The official website shows it can be fitted with floats and so I have decided I love it.

As this was an event for selling things to people of high net-worth there was also a car parked outside with the aircraft. I didn’t really recognise it as my car knowledge is mostly over ten years old but when I got closer I could see it was a Koenigsegg. I think the rain makes it look better, like it’s sweating. Nice looking car.

Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
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If You Have To Ask The Price . . . .

As we have one very busy week end it’s only two more weeks and then I can probably think about organising all the other stuff that needs to be done. In the past seven days I’ve been i/c of two cadet trips, both of which weren’t even known about four weeks ago. If you have any idea how long it takes for authorisation for trips to come through from the “higher-ups” then you’ll know that I’ve pretty much been a one-man miracle for the last month. On the Aerospace Camp I met BW and he had some events in the pipeline and invited us along. It would have been rude to say no and so I got to sorting them out.

The first of these joint trips was to attend the Air Charter Expo at Biggin Hill. It’s a hanger and hardstanding area full of executive jets ready to be chartered. It’s like a car show but for more expensive items. The cadets did some work and I drank some coffee so all was good in the world. I could have done without the rain storms on the way to Biggin Hill and slightly less exciting weather would also have meant the traffic might have flowed a bit better but we got there and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Gulfstream G450
Gulfstream G450

My favourite aircraft for interior, comfort, and friendliness of staff was this G450. I neglected to ask how much it was to charter but then, if you ask those things, then you can’t afford it. The cabin crew I spoke to wouldn’t tell me who the most badly behaved celebratory was, but then again, they wouldn’t tell be the best behaved either. The crew were lovely, really nice people.

I got to sit in the cockpit of a King Air and this was quite strange as I’ve spent a lot of time playing the flight simulator and learning my way around the buttons and switches of this exact type. I didn’t have a go at starting the engines!

King Air Cockpit
King Air Cockpit

While the King Air looked the poorer cousin of the display I would like to mention that the pilot of this craft seemed the most honest and genuine flyer there. He was really chatty and love talking to the RAF Cadets, it’s almost as if he ignored the actual people with money. I suspect he was just pleased to talk aviation and flying rather than trying to sell the plane.

A great time was had by all and the day went smoothly in the end. It’s a hard life sometimes.

This is communication number 1961 and I had forgotten that I was doing this stuff, so here goes, here are some things that happened in that year. The year being the common one used by most even if it’s white colonialism.

  • The Portuguese Colonial War begins.
  • Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth.
  • French police attack protestors, possibly over 200 dead.
  • The first edition of Private Eye is published.
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