Chief Pilot

Mark Linney -  Mark joined the Royal Air Force in 1980 and completed tours on the Tornado GR1 (16 Sqn), Hawk T1 (CFS), and Harrier GR7 (IV Sqn). He is an A2 Qualified Flying Instructor, having been a Central Flying School Instructor on the Hawk.

Mark was the RAF's solo Hawk display pilot in 1990 and winner of the Brabyn trophy in 1990 & 1991. On his last tour flying the Harrier, Mark saw operational service in Northern Iraq (Operation Warden) and Bosnia (Operation Vulcan).

Mark left the Royal Air Force in 1996 and started his commercial flying career with Air 2000 flying the Boeing 757. In 1998 Mark moved to Virgin Atlantic Airways initially on the Boeing 747 classic before converting to the Boeing 747- 400. Mark is also a flying instructor specialising in tail-wheel conversions on the Chipmunk. Mark has flown over 9,500 hrs.

On the civil display circuit Mark has previously flown the Chipmunk, Hunter, Strikemaster, L-39, MiG 15, T-33 & F86A.

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Pilot

Cliff Spink CB CBE - Cliff retired from the Royal Air Force in 2003 after a long flying career which started at RAF College Cranwell on the Jet Provost. He then flew the Gnat and the Hunter before joining his first squadron, Treble One, on the Lightning F Mk 3. He flew nearly 1400hrs on Lightnings with 111 and 56 Squadrons. Cliff returned to 111Sqn, this time on the F4K/M and went on to command 74(Tiger) Sqn on the F4J. In all, he flew 1400hrs on the F4 Phantom. In 1989 he took command of RAF Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands, and, in addition to the F4, flew the C130 and Sea King helicopter. In 1990 he converted to the Tornado F3 and was almost immediately detached to Saudi Arabia, as the Tornado Detachment Commander for the duration of the Gulf War. In 1991, as Station Commander RAF Coningsby, he flew the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. He went on to fly other types such as the Hawk, Nimrod, Squirrel and Wessex. In 1991 he met again Mark Hanna, who had flown Phantoms with him on 111 Sqn, and Cliff became a pilot with OFMC.

In the last decade Cliff has flown most types of prop fighter aircraft including P51, Corsair, P47, Bf109, Sea Fury, Wildcat, Spitfire, Hurricane; and T33, F86 & Hunter historic jet aircraft.

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Pilot

Keith Dennison - started flying early, at the age of 12, and gained his glider pilot’s licence at the earliest possible moment, on his 16th birthday. He earned an RAF Flying Scholarship at 17 leading to him gaining his PPL shortly after his 17th birthday, and all this before he could drive a car.

He joined the RAF as a pilot in 1975 and studied Aeronautical Engineering at Bath University. He completed flying training on the Jet Provost, Hawk and Hunter before spending time on 23 and 56(F) Squadrons at RAF Wattisham flying the McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom in the air defence role. During this, his first tour, he qualified as a weapons and tactics instructor on the Phantom before moving on to 19(F) Squadron at RAF Wildenrath in Germany where he served as the Squadron’s qualified weapons instructor pilot.

In 1988 he attended the United States Navy Test Pilot School and qualified as a test pilot as one the 2 distinguished graduates of Class 94. There followed a tour a Boscombe Down working on a wide variety of projects including all marks of Tornado, Tucano spinning trials and work on the Eurofighter Typhoon cockpit design. He commanded Fast Jet Test Squadron at Boscombe Down from 1995 to 1998 during which time he qualified on all marks of the Harrier and contributed to work on the development of flight control laws for the US/UK Joint Strike Fighter project.

He served again at Boscombe Down, this time as the Chief Test Pilot, from Sep 1999 to the end of 2001. In this period he qualified as a helicopter pilot and flew routinely with all 3 of Boscombe Down’s test squadrons and the Empire Test Pilot School.

Keith left the Royal Air Force at the end of 2005 to take up the post of Chief Test Pilot for BAE SYSTEMS at Warton. There he is responsible for the company's developmental flight testing of Typhoon, Hawk, Tornado and Harrier.

Keith has flown close to one hundred different aircraft types and, as well as flying with the Golden Apple Operations, he is a regular display pilot with the Shuttleworth Collection.

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Pilot

Dave Harvey - is currently serving on 100 Sqn at RAF Leeming flying the Hawk. He gained a PPL in 1979 with a RAF Flying Scholarship before joining the RAF in 1981. After training he flew the F4 Phantom (111 Sqn) and Tornado F3 (25 Sqn). He has also completed several tours on the Hawk at Chivenor (151 Sqn), Wyton, Finningley, and Leeming (100 Sqn). He is a Tactics instructor, Qualified Weapons Instructor, Instrument Rating Examiner and Authorised Checking Officer on the Hawk.

With 4940 hours on type he is one of the most experienced Hawk pilots in the RAF. He has been the Strike Command Hawk Display Pilot since 2003.

2006 will be Dave's first season with Golden Apple.

Airshow Organisers:
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Director of Operations 

Willie Felger - Willie joined the RAF straight from school in 1963 and qualified as an ATC controller.  During his first tour at Coltishall he flew several times in the Lightning, caught the bug, and promptly re-trained as a navigator.  After one tour with 31 Sqn on the Canberra PR7 at Laarbruch he converted to the F4M and joined 6 Sqn, followed by 41 Sqn when it formed in 1972.  A tour with the Luftwaffe's 52nd Recce Wing on the RF4E followed. After a stint as an instructor at the RN College and at sea as a staff officer, he was back on the Phantom with 23 Sqn in the air defence role. He completed the first Tornado F2 course at the factory, but was promoted and returned to his trusty Phantom at RAF Wattisham and later in the Falkland Islands. 

Several staff and instructional tours have involved postings in Germany, Kenya, the Seychelles, Kuwait and Denmark.

Willie retired from the RAF in 2002 but maintained his connection with aviation by becoming a part-time controller in the tower at Duxford.  He is fascinated by all kinds of old machinery - particularly aircraft and cars - and he loves getting his hands dirty.

Willie (Willem) speaks good German and passable Dutch.