Jim Johnstone, aged 95, turned the clock back 73 years when he was once again flying in a Tiger Moth –  thanks to the goodwill of members of the Lodge of St George, No. 5691.

Jim, a valued past member of the Lodge, had a serious road accident some years ago, had to give up driving and resigned from his Masonic commitments at Kings Heath.

However, friends in St. George would visit him at his home in Rugeley and as John Pedlingham said:

“The conversation invariably turned to Jim’s RAF days and his wartime exploits as a Stirling bomber pilot. So we thought it would be marvellous if we arranged for him to go up again in a Stirling bomber, but although 2,500 of them were made, none is now flying.

Then we hit on the idea of a trip in a Tiger Moth, the biplane Jim did his early training in.”

The flight duly took place; John Pedlingham, Martyn Hardeman, Brian Egerton and friend Brian Mitchell, accompanied Jim to Gloucester Airport.

Jim was thrilled, “It was lovely to be in the cockpit again,” he said. “The only trouble was I couldn’t see where I was going; my seat was too low!”

 

Article Source http://www.worcspgl.org.uk/news/jim-turns-back-clock/news-articles-about-people-lodge-article

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