Fly Past

DISPLAY FLYING VINTAGE PAIR

112 FLYPAST November 2018

of a plus-point when vintage aircraft

flying is the goal.

Jon gained a degree in

Contemporary Lens Media, and

a master’s in fine art from Lincoln

University, and has worked as a

freelance photographer on and off

ever since. But flying has always

been – no pun intended – his main

focus. With 400-plus hours on

Chipmunks and having flown many

solo routines after gaining his Display

Authorisation (DA) in 2009, Jon

now has the aircraft ‘in his blood’. He

has fond memories of his first display

at Rougham, Suffolk: “I found out

about getting my DA sometime

before the scheduled display, but

there was a delay with it being issued

and I remember actually chasing the

postman the morning of the air show,

to get the document. Talk about

cutting it fine. Flying publicly for the

first time, though, was a huge thrill.”

It was at Guy Black and Angus

Spencer-Nairn’s Historic Aircraft

Collection that he met David

Petters, as both were volunteering as

groundcrew at the Duxford-based

operation, to forge a path into the

usually difficult-to-access warbird

world. Jon said: “Having helped

Charlie with David’s formation

skills and subsequent DA, forming

our own display team seemed the

natural progression. Our aim is to

carry forward the Vintage Pair name

/ brand, so we can display different

types in formation, such as the

Harvard. My dream has always been

to fly the Spitfire. I know it’s a long

road, but hopefully not too long!”

Flying friendship

David’s drive for excellence is a

major factor in his desire to fly

formation displays. This is obvious

while watching him and Jon while

they walk through the display

on the ground, paying attention

to every single detail. Soon after

joining HAC, David began flying

Tiger Moths with the Tiger Club,

then based at Headcorn, Kent, and

moved to piloting the Chipmunk

and Harvard at Duxford, with

instruction from Jon’s friend and

mentor Charlie Brown. He also

received formation tutoring from

HAC and Red Sparrows display

pilot Howard Cook. It all led

to David receiving his Display

Authorisation this year. With more

than 300 hours amassed on the

Below

The Vintage Pair over

Leicestershire recently.

Right

David in the cockpit of

Chipmunk ‘1350’. He’s a

member of a syndicate

that shares the aircraft,

which is based at Fenland

Airfi eld, near Spalding,

Lincolnshire. DAVID PETTERS

Right centre
Jon prepares for his fi rst
Chipmunk fl ight in WG308,
in 2000. He was just 11.
JON HIGGINS

Far right

David Petters in ‘1350’,

nearest the camera,

practises with fellow

Vintage Pair pilot Jon

Higgins in WG308. ALL

AIR-TO-AIR PHOTOS

CHRIS HAYBALL