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Other Volunteers
Here are some of the other volunteers who work hard to
make the Vimy Aircraft Project what it is.
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Peter McBride, Photojournalist
Peter McBride is a self-taught photographer and writer whose love
of adventure, cultures and the outdoors have taken him on assignment
throughout the world. He has ventured from the rooftop of the Andes
Mountains and the depths of the Galapagos' waters to the trail of
Mexican immigrants and the
beat of Cuba's streets. In 1999 Peter traveled with the Vimy Silver
Queen flight through Africa as a photographer, writer, videographer,
crewmember and baggage handler and recalls the journey as "the
trip of a lifetime."
His work has appeared in The National Geographic Magazine, Smithsonian,
Outside, The New York Times, and The London Sunday Timesamong
other national and international publications.
Originally from a Colorado cattle ranch, Peter is a graduate from
Dartmouth College who currently resides in the San Francisco area. |
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Erik Durfey, Electronics engineer
and co-pilot
Erik was involved early on in the Silver Queen adventure in regards
to the retrofit of wiring associated with the modern BMW engines
along with the challenge of translating the German electrical specifications.
Before that, Erik was involved in the original electrical design
of the Vimy 1994 flight and hired plane to became air support for
the Australian portion of the flight. |
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Patty Rebholz, Location Assistant
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Linda Hannon, Media Coordinator
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Simon Littler, Events Coordinator
Simon Littler, is an Englishman and founder of the Global Wine
Company. 20 years of global food and wine experience has equipped
Simon with an astonishing range of information and contacts in the
industry. This really means he can serve up a good meal of
bangers and mash and a glass of quaffable plonk for all the supporters
of the Vimy project in any circumstances . In a previous life, Simon
was a former chef in England (ha ha), geologist and wine broker
but more frequently could be found charging around international
rugby pitches in pursuit of the muddiest patch on the field.
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Adrian Perez, Special Assistant to
John LaNoue
Adrian is a
native of Managua, Nicaragua. He has spent the better part of 2005
here in the United States volunteering his services in helping
the Vimy Atlantic Team prepare for the historic Atlantic flight.
He has played an important and integral role in the aircraft
modifications necessary for the flight. Currently, Adrian has returned
to Nicaragua to finish up his law degree. We hope to work with him
again in the near future.
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Bill Tottem, Assistant to John
LaNoue |
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Ed, Assistant to John LaNoue |
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Shawn Mulligan, Mechanic & Co-Pilot |
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Nick, Assistant to John LaNoue |
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Bob Dyer, Philatelist
Bob Dyer has
joined the Vimy team as our resident “philatelist” –
(our “stamp” guy). Bob, now retired in Petaluma California,
has a long involvement in stamp collecting and is an ardent fan
of “Alcock & Brown” and their historic flight, having
researched first hand, in St. John’s Newfoundland, several
articles on the famous flight. You may review his excellent article
on the Vimy web site. Article
Link. Bob
will be working with the Vimy team to organize a celebratory mail
pouch for the Vimy to carry to Ireland much as Alcock & Brown
did in 1919 with the first transatlantic airmail. Bob may be reached
at nrdyer@comcast.net. |
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Patrick Healy, Marketing/Operations
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Chris Barnes, Aircraft Mechanic
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Christopher Ian
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Tina Ziolkowski, Project Medical Advisor &
Co-Pilot
Since her first flight lesson in a Piper J-3 Cub, Tina felt the
interest in vintage aircraft being sparked in her life. The opportunity
to serve with the Vimy crew has been a dream come true. On the England
to Cape Town journey, she compiled lists of vaccinations, good drugs
and helpful hints on disease prevention for the crews traveling
abroad. With a career in Emergency and Critical-Care medicine, she
was a primary choice for building the trauma/first aid kits for
the crew to use in case of mishaps while crossing various inhospitable
territories. Having a smattering of hiking/wilderness experience,
including enduring...er..uh..hiking California's 14,500' Mt. Whitney,
didn't hurt when it came to dealing with emergencies in remote areas.
In her "spare" time she tows gliders at Crystal Airport
in Southern California's high desert in Piper Pawnees. |
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Dave Calderwood, Former Webmaster
The original Vimy Project website was created by Dave Calderwood,
currently Editor in Chief of UK's Pilot
Magazine.
"It was fantastic to be relaying the latest news of the Silver
Queen's progress on its historic journey from London to Cape Town,"
said Dave, "and the articles from the Educational Team were
a joy to edit and web-publish. I feel very privileged to have contributed
something to the project." |
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Lang Kidby
Peter McMillan was an entrant in Lang Kidby's England to Australia
Vintage Air Rally in 1990 where he and Lang became good friends.
The pair came up with the outrageous scheme to build a 1919 Vickers
Vimy and fly it across the world. With Peter managing the overall
business and Lang the operational aspects, the Vimy flew only one
year later!
Lang did the initial test flying, then he and Peter flew 14,000
miles from England to Australia. Recently he had an opportunity
to fly the Vimy again in South Africa before disassembling it and
sending it back to its home in USA.
In 1998 Lang restored then flew a tiny 1927 AVRO AVIAN biplane completely
alone from England to Australia. With 15 years as an Australian
Army pilot and another 15 in General Aviation with 71 types in his
logbook (most of them historic or "interesting" planes) he continues
to follow the Vimy and hopes to be able to help out on its summer
US tour.
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Gary Isaacs
One of Gary's first real adventures with vintage aircraft started
back in 1990 when he and Mark Rebholz entered a 1947 Bellanca Cruise
Air into the "World Vintage Air Rally" hosted by the Australians
and Lang Kidby. Here they would retrace the original 11,000 mile
route first flown by the Vimy in the1919 race. This is also where
he would first meet fellow air rally competitor Peter Mcmillan.
His other love of adventure has been in mountaineering where he
spent several years as a professional mountain guide and had the
opportunity to climb mountains all over the world. This included
a first attempt on the North face of Mt. Everest during a 1982 climbing
expedition through China.
Gary has actively flown for over thirty years with over 17,000
hours of flight time in everything from small experimental biplanes
to large commercial jet aircraft and has also spent several years
competing nationally in precision aerobatics. Open cockpit biplanes
are his first true love in aviation.
Gary lives in the Pacific northwest where he is a Boeing 737 Captain
for Alaska Airlines, and is helping to plan the June 2002 Atlantic
flight of the Vimy. |
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Gary Kent
Flying since age 13, Gary has had an unquenchable thirst for aviation
all his life. From his solo in a J-3, to hauling skydivers in Howard
DGAs and DC 3s, to hauling freight in Beech 18s, to crossing the
Pacific in 747s, Gary has always wanted to try his hand at flying
as varied a range of aircraft as possible.
Now, 17,000 hours after solo, Gary is a 727 Captain for a major
airline. (When not flying slow, loud, and high-fuel-burn classic
aircraft on days off, he flies fast, loud, high-fuel-burn classic
aircraft at work!) His hobbies include helping plan the Vimy Atlantic
crossing, learning celestial navigation, and flying his own 1943
Howard DGA. |
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Jeremy Palmer
Jeremy took his first flight at age 4 and wanted to be in the sky
and nowhere else ever since (although he has since discovered scuba
diving and skiing — scuba diving when he was flying Boeing
747s in Australia in 1994 and snow-skiing since he was 14, although
there was a gap of 20 years before he took it up again).
He obtained his pilot's license at age 17 and starting instructing
at age 21, which he discovered is a major love. He continues to
instruct on most types of airplanes, from Tiger Moth to Boeing 747.
Jeremy lived and worked in Africa (Nigeria) for three years flying
an executive jet (Hawker Siddely 125), first as Co-Pilot and then
as Captain. He left Africa to join British Caledonian Airways flying
BAC 1-11 and then DC-10 aircraft, until the company was taken over
by British Airways in 1988.
Jeremy is now a Captain for British Airways, flying Boeing 777
aircraft. He also runs his own company, Palmer Aviation Ltd, which
deals in aircraft management, sales and charter. He has a small
but successful operation based at Fairoaks near Heathrow, England,
operating a Piper Seneca III. He hopes to expand this year with
his first jet aircraft. He also owns a 1967 Maule aircraft, which
he keeps at his home airfield at Headcorn in Kent. He bought the
aircraft in Orange County, California and flew it across America
with his girlfriend, Julia, before crating it for its journey across
the Atlantic. He and Julia have enjoyed flying the aircraft throughout
England and France for the past 3 years |
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Dan Downs
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