The Pilots
Lee Proudfoot - OFMC Chief Pilot |
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Aerobatic and formation display specialist since 1990.
Professional formation display pilot since 1991 and has flown 10,000 hours in over 60 different types of aircraft. Lee has flown for various commercial airlines and spent 7 ‘exciting’ (and very cold!) years as chief pilot, ‘Bush’ flying in the Antarctic for the British Antarctic Survey.
Lee lives in Cambridgeshire with his wife Lucy and their two daughters. |
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Alister Kay |
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Alister began flying, aged 16, on an RAF gliding course. He has achieved 14 UK gliding records including a height climb to 36,600 feet; he has been UK Gliding Champion 8 times. In 1987 Alister entered and won his first aerobatic competition in a Pitts Special and began air-display flying the following year. He now has 9,000 flying hours on 150 types of mainly tailwheel single engine aircraft and gliders. For many years Alister was based at Booker Airfield, which used to be home to MH434 (the OFMC Spitfire) and this inspired his ambition to fly piston fighters. In 1998 Alister flew the OFMC Harvard, progressing to the P-51D Mustang, P-40 Kittyhawk and the Spitfire MH434. He displays for OFMC throughout Europe. .
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Ferocious Frankie's pilots also include all three of the UK's Red Bull Air Race competitors |
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Nigel Lamb |
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Nigel first flew for OFMC in 1993 when he flew MH434. Following the tragic death of Mark Hanna in 1999, he took over the day-to-day running of OFMC until 2003. Today, Nigel competes in the Red Bull Air Race along with Paul Bonhomme Nigel has been a professional air display pilot since 1981 and has flown approximately 1,500 public displays in 24 countries world-wide. He has been British National Aerobatic Champion in the Unlimited Class 8 times. He is a very keen scuba diver and also enjoys skiiing, squash and tennis. His wife Hillary is also keen on competition aerobatics and won her second contest flying a Bucker Jungman bi-plane. They have three sons, Max, Daniel and Ben and live in Oxfordshire, England. |
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Paul Bonhomme |
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Paul enjoys all types of flying, comes from an aviation family and describes himself as “not too bad” at Air Racing. As the current World Champion (2009) he has achieved an unsurpassed record of 30 podium finishes out of 44 races that includes 11 race wins. He caught the bug from his father, Colin, a British Army pilot who went on to a successful airline career. His mother also flew as a stewardess with BEA in the late fifties….. and his brother is a Captain flying the Airbus A320. Paul’s passion for aerobatics started when he worked at White Waltham airfield near London where he helped Richard Goode prepare and maintain his Pitts Special aircraft. Paul went on to fly aerobatics displays for Richard in the Pitts, Yak 50, Extra 300 and Sukhoi 26. He continues to display Russian aircraft alongside former Air Race pilot Steve Jones as the Matadors. |
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Steve Jones |
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Steve had his first flying lesson at just five years old. His first flight was in 1965 in a Cessna, and although he was too short to reach the rudders and was on the knee of a family friend, the impact of this event has had a lasting impression on this fantastic pilot, who went on to be a British Aerobatic Champion. Steve has been a competitive Red Bull Air Race pilot since the first ever race in 2003, and of course, the first UK race took place in Kemble in 2004. He retired from the Air Race at the end of 2008. Steve along with Paul Bonhomme have been flying competitively and as display pilots in their SukhoiDuo and later "The Matadors" Team since 1994. They have taken their magnificent show around the world from the UAE to Japan and China. Steve flies as the wingman. A position of great skill and as many describe "the one with the most work to do!" His spare time spent building an old wooden racing aircraft, and maintaining his two 1950's racing cars, to fulfil his love of engineering! |
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