Apparently my Bearer calls it "work". He spent several hours trying to convince me that he really had to be at Farnborough, doing his important day job - and that they were going to be long days with very early starts. Eventually I was persuaded to join him, even though there was no promise of me doing a bit of parachuting on the side ... I guess I'm just gullible!
Anyway, from what I discovered, "work" seemed to consist of him being charming in all directions, and getting all sorts of people to pose for photographs with me. Oh well, I guess that's my main role in life!
A very early "hit" was General Sir David Richards, Chief of the General Staff. CGS admitted that he had heard of holidays4heroes, which was very nice, and he was very supportive of what we do ... cheers, Sir, much appreciated!
After that, my Bearer started walking me around the Static Displays, where I got to see [and in many cases climb over] a lot of the latest kit ... my thanks to the nice people manning the displays for being so supportive. I'll let you Aircraft Spotters out there work out what's there and what I saw!! Then my Bearer inevitably started to gravitate towards several lovely ladies who, quite understandably, needed to pose with me for a photo! Hi, ladies, missing you already!! xxx
Then it was time to watch some of the flying display. I was obviously most impressed by the PARA's Display Team [envy, envy], was shocked by the sheer size of the Airbus 380, and deafened by the F/A-18. Then, as always, it was time for the Red Arrows to do their immaculate "Up-diddley-up, down-diddley-down" routine. But, of course, there's nothing like the smell and shape and sound of a proper Merlin-engined aircraft, whether it's a Lancaster, Hurricane or Spitfire ...
... or indeed a Merlin-engined Me-109/HA-1112. 
A lovely time was had by all. My thanks to all those kind people who helped me get photographed in nice places, and especially to my Bearer for letting me see him "work" ... I now have an excellent new collection of "chat up" lines filed away for future use!!
And extra thanks to our friends at EADS UK [especially Emma], and Jets Aviation Southampton, and Mark from Rolls-Royce Spitfire - can I have a go sometime?
Show/Hide comment form
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Holidays 4 Heroes is an informal group of people that assists wounded service personnel and their families get a precious break from the routine of rehab, hospital appointments and visits to welfare offices by facilitating holidays away from it all in accommodation donated by our sponsors in the UK and abroad. 
Deals with the cases that either lie outside the normal remit of the main Service Charities, or require a faster response than they can usually provide. Sometimes the cases require financial assistance, a little bit of nudging in the right direction for long-term help, or the application of a bit of expertise.