Mandy

Our new book An Officer and Her Gentleman is out today! ✈️📚 So excited to share this one with you especially because I’ve written it with my husband Craig. It’s a story of courage, failure, resilience and flying! Link in comments. If you read it, we’d love to hear your thoughts. #BookLaunch #NewBook #Aviation #Avgeeks

@NGAutoArt Great work! You are a real talent!

Well, this A3 sized pencil drawing has turned out much better than I dared hope! The absolutely gorgeous, menacing, Panavia Tornado GR4 at operational height! I wonder if @MandyHickson might approve? 😊 I hope you all like it. Tomorrow: Typhoon FGR4 #RAF #Tornado #avgeek

@ShaikMa04451481 @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell It would take a lot to fake that crappy camera quality! 😂😂😂

@MandyHickson @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell fake

7 years ago today! The final Fin Flight… What a fly past! #TornadoGR4 @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell

@Martinf683 @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell Sound of freedom

@MandyHickson @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell Saw a few decent fly pasts. Sea day in the Falklands, marham air day.....kids screaming car alarms going off, beautiful

@JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell I love that… breaking a few minor aviation rules!

@MandyHickson @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell I am led to believe that 'someone' wrote a little about that day....😂

@JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell I can only imagine! It was a brilliant night- loved it!

@MandyHickson @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell A most exceptional day, and then evening, involving the Mess, pianos, fire & patios. I watched this flypast (it set off many car alarms) alongside much of the Air Force Board. There was some discussion about who was 'auth' for that final flight. & who was the 3* Duty Holder..😂

@MichaelNBooks @DavidRo02674885 @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell How funny!

@MandyHickson @DavidRo02674885 @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell Doornob was one of my students!!

@DavidRo02674885 @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell He was Doornob was one of my old instructors. Bamber Beardmore was in the back seat

@MandyHickson @JohnNicholRAF @chinnychick @scottiebateman @stuartroxy @gregbagwell I think my friend Ian Dornan was flying it.

@gregbagwell The voice of reason yet again… you are one of the only reasons I stay on X these days. Keep up the great work and sage advice Baggers

Some are putting out a story that Sir Rich Knighton (CDS) should resign over recent events in Cyprus. Some say he’s lost the confidence of the PM, some say an RAF officer can’t appreciate the Navy’s capability and some say he is not a warfighter. Let’s address each in turn: 1/12

@scottiebateman What terrible news

Sad news is emerging of the loss of a US Air Force KC-135 tanker aircraft in Iraq. Aircraft like these rarely make headlines when everything goes right. Yet they are among the most essential machines in modern military aviation. Tankers extend the reach of every other aircraft in the sky, fighters, surveillance aircraft, transports, quietly enabling operations hundreds or thousands of miles from home. They do their work in the background, often at night, in demanding environments, and under constant pressure to deliver fuel precisely where and when it is needed. But aviation, especially in operational theatres, carries risk. Been there, done that. Even when a mission is routine, even when the aircraft is not engaged directly in combat, the margins can be thin. Weather, fatigue, complex airspace, mechanical failure, all the same hazards that civil aviation manages every day are present, often amplified by circumstances. Moments like this are a reminder that war is never a safe profession, even away from the immediate violence of conflict. The risks of accidents, the quiet, unforgiving side of aviation, are always there. For those of us who fly, these stories land heavily. Behind every aircraft tail number are crews, families, colleagues and friends whose lives are bound to that crew, those machines, and the mission they serve. Whatever the final details of this tragedy may be, tonight the thoughts of the aviation community must be with those who may have been lost, and with the families, crews and units now carrying that burden. Blue skies and tailwinds to those who didn’t make it home. #IranWar‌

I'm watching "One of RAF's first female combat fighter pilots on highs and lows of her career" itv.com/watch/news/one… via @ITVX

@scottiebateman @chinnychick @JohnNicholRAF @Veterans_Can Annoyingly I could have made it today!!!!

@MandyHickson @chinnychick @JohnNicholRAF @Veterans_Can We really must. You’re always galavanting.

Well as Mondays go, that was a good one! Sun was shining and had a lovely afternoon finally grabbing a brew with the charming @scottiebateman ! We almost chatted as much as the first time I met @MandyHickson ! Scottie has some epic stories to tell, his latest book has only just been released and is definitely worth reading! Thanks for the coffee, chat and signing my book! 🙏 @RoyalAirForce has given all 3 of us some great ‘dits’ to spin for sure!👌

@chinnychick @JohnNicholRAF @scottiebateman @Veterans_Can @scottiebateman and I really need to get together!

@JohnNicholRAF @scottiebateman @MandyHickson 😆🤣 your name did come up…😜 I’m the fondest of ways of course! Need to get @scottiebateman along for the next @Veterans_Can event you’re attending!

@chinnychick @JohnNicholRAF @scottiebateman @Veterans_Can It wouldn’t be possible to chat more than us!!!

@GeriatricEmt 4.8 on the initial acceleration! Not bad!

@MandyHickson I'm going to have a completely ignorant guess... 2-3 on initial acceleration, -.5 over the top and 3-4 at the bottom of the drop...😬

Did I have a go????? How much G do you reckon this pulls?

@scottiebateman 😂😂😂😂

@MandyHickson I have no idea what you mean. 😂😂

I’ve been caught cheating. Using my little blue friend to get up… and around Hong Kong. Before you jump to conclusions… I’m talking about GPS on my phone. The quiet blue dot that now guides almost every step we take. But how did it get there? The answer, in part, traces back to a tragedy involving a 747. On 1 September 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747 strayed into Soviet airspace after a navigational error and was shot down, killing all 269 people on board. It was a devastating event, geopolitical, human, and technological. At the time, GPS existed only as a U.S. military system. In the aftermath, President Ronald Reagan announced that once fully operational, GPS would be made available for civilian use, so that such a navigational tragedy could never happen again. That decision quietly reshaped the modern world. Today, satellites orbit 20,000km above us, transmitting timing signals so precise they can measure billionths of a second. From those signals, your phone calculates position, speed, and direction. It guides aircraft, ships, emergency services, and yes, slightly jet-lagged pilots wandering around Hong Kong. A 747 tragedy helped unlock a technology that now underpins global aviation, banking, communications, logistics, even the way we hail taxis or find coffee. That’s what fascinates me about the 747. It wasn’t just an aeroplane. It sat at the centre of moments that altered the trajectory of the world, technologically, politically, culturally. JUMBO, released in just two days, dives into this story in depth, and many others that show how the Queen of the Skies changed far more than air travel. If you enjoy the hidden threads between aviation and everyday life, this book is for you. Pre-orders are open. Nearly there. #JUMBOBook #Boeing747 #AviationHistory #KAL007 #GPS #RonaldReagan #QueenOfTheSkies #AvGeek #AviationLife #SpaceTechnology #HowItWorks #HongKong #BookLaunch #HistoryMatters

Who do we know who’s in sponsorship activation and would like to help Veterans Can... out? We’ve got some big things bubbling!