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My father used to fly with the RAF - he told me that old pilots who were about to lose their licenses due to age/health used to 'go out with a bang' flying unde
by sephamorr 5y ago
My father used to fly with the RAF - he told me that old pilots who were about to lose their licenses due to age/health used to 'go out with a bang' flying under a bridge rather than quietly aging out of their license. IIRC, Tower Bridge in London was a favorite. This was decades ago, but I'm curious if the motivations were similar here.
- darrenf 5y agoI don’t know that it was a favourite, but there was certainly a famous incident in 1968 where a pilot decided to buzz Tower Bridge as a protest against the MoD not recognising the RAF’s 50th anniversary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter_Tower_Bridge_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter_Tower_Bridge_inc... (My father was also ex-RAF, though his role was to jump out of planes - and teach others how to - rather than fly them)
- rambambram 5y agoWhat a story. Anybody interested in seeing this Alan Pollock, I guess this is him: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YhGsknrK8Io/SE-QN8bsQDI/AAAAAAAACwA/eP2AG2ywY3c/s320/alan+pollock.jpg https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YhGsknrK8Io/SE-QN8bsQDI/AAAAAAAAC...
- comrh 5y agoHoly crap that is an insane story. Here's the man himself telling the story: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80027439 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80027439
- masklinn 5y agoAccording to a followup article she'd also turned her ADS-B off before going under the bridge (which is apparently why her license was revoked rather than suspended). So the hypothesis seems credible at least.