QSY
For the funny, the weird, the wonderful and the just plane strange…
Helicopter pilot turns green for fun run
Taildragger tops
SCAA
W
hen this year’s Great Scottish Run was cancelled, regular runner and helicopter pilot Dave Young was faced with a tough decision: where should his fundraising alter ego, cartoon ogre Shrek, exercise his jolly green feet? The answer? A 10km run around the perimeter of Perth Airport where the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance is based. Dave, normally Chief Pilot with Police Scotland, is also a stand-in pilot for the SCAA. Dave, 52, from Greenock, said, “I’ve seen for myself just what a brilliant charity this is. I was scheduled to fly for SCAA on the day of the run so decided to take to my heels at Perth instead and see if I could put something in their charity coffers.” SCAA’s Helimed 76 crew was there to wave Dave off and 1 hour 29 minutes and 13 kilometres later they welcomed an exhausted Shrek back.
Above Love the ears, Dave, not so sure about the donkey...
“It was pretty challenging on the rough muddy ground but I just ploughed on,” Dave said afterwards. “SCAA’s crews have to go out on their missions in all weather conditions so I can’t complain. Funding an emergency helicopter air ambulance service on public donations alone is a huge
achievement by SCAA and I’m happy to do my bit to support them.” However, Dave reckons increasingly painful knees could call a halt to his fundraising runs. “A lifetime of boxing, rugby and running has taken its toll and my knees just won’t take many more miles at that pace,” he said. You can donate to Dave and his Shrek run here.
Total Aviation Person – that’s David Curtis who has won this year’s Vintage Aircraft Club Liz Inwood Taildragger Scholarship. Not only is 24-year-old David flying the club Cessna 150 at Eshott Airfield but he’s assisting in the airfield’s engineering hangar working on a rare MoraneSaulnier 315, Chipmunk and Auster AOP6 aircraft. AND he’s bought a nonflying Evans VP1 Volksplane without an engine from Old Warden to restore back to airworthiness. The man deserves the Taildragger Scholarship!
Legends move
The Flying Legends Airshow is moving to Sywell Aerodrome and will hold its first event at the Northamptonshire airfield on 10-11 July 2021. One of the world’s top airshows, Flying Legends is staged by The Fighter Collection which said in a statement that it was a mutual decision with the Imperial War Museum to end the airshow’s 25-year run at Duxford.
Heroes & Villains HERO Occasional FLYER ‘Forumite’ Ross Edmondson, who posts under the name ‘Katamarino’, is flying around the world in his 1981 Cessna 182, nicknamed ‘Planey McPlaneface’. Ross alternates flying legs with work as an engineer back in Iraq. His latest photo report is from New Zealand and you have to say, the blue skies in his excellent photos really make you want to go there (if only…). You can catch up here.
VILLAIN ‘A guy in a jetpack’ was reported by an American Airlines pilot on approach to Los Angeles International at about 3,000ft and about 10 miles from the airport. A second pilot flying for SkyWest confirmed the sighting which was reported to LAX controllers. The FAA, FBI and LA police are investigating. HERO Martyn Wiseman probably wouldn’t term himself ‘hero’ but what else are you if you rescue the world’s only intact Blackburn Beverley from the scrapyard? The huge ex-RAF air transporter aircraft
was being sold on ebay with the only interested parties being scrap metal merchants until Martyn and a partner agreed to go halves. Martyn is the man behind Condor Aviation and plans to move the Beverley to his airfield near Selby and convert it so it can be viewed by the disabled. A crowdfunding page has been set up here to help with the project.
Red appeal
The annual Aerobility Grand Auction opened on 13 November and will run to 28 November, the day of the charity’s annual Aviators Ball, held this year online. Among the items up for auction is the red flight suit worn by Red 1’s Martin Pert during a recent North America tour. Other prizes include flights in a Spitfire and former RAF fast jet trainer, the Folland Gnat. Full details here.
Send your QSY submissions to QSY, PO Box 4261, Melksham, SN12 9BN or to qsy@seager.aero 78 | FLYER | January 2021
