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Hi everyone
Welcome to the November 2013 Biggin Hill Users Database Newsletter.… Apologies for it being
slightly later than usual – I had server problems that prevented transmission.
JB’s November edition of the Biggin Hill Airport "BUGLE" is now available online on the Social
Club's website at http://www.bigginhillclub.co.uk As always it is NOT included here - to view
it, once in the Bugle section, via the link on the homepage, click on the appropriate month’s
link – this will open it in a new browser window so you can read it or print it.
As always, please keep those stories coming in for inclusion in future issues. (JB’s direct email
address is [email protected], or you can send items directly to me on
[email protected] to pass on).
EMAIL ADDRESSES
Welcome to the new members of the Database who are receiving this regular Newsletter for the
first time. Current member names can be seen at www.bigginhillreunited.co.uk using the link to
the database members list.
If you ever change your email address, please remember to let me know (and also, please feel
free to introduce new Biggin Hill’ites to the database).
WINTER IS ALMOST WITH US
Summer is but a distant memory now and winter is fast approaching.
This week the UK was hit with very strong winds and torrential rain that cause commuter chaos.
But Biggin Hill Airport seemed to cope well with most aircraft seemingly finding hangar space prior
to the forecast conditions arrival. So, unlike in 1987 (albeit nowhere nearly as bad this time), I think
everything made it through the night undamaged. Thanks to all hangar owners and operators who
welcomed aircraft inside temporarily.
OLD BIGGIN HILL’ITE SEEKING HELP
I wonder if any of the members could help old Biggin Hill’ite, John Quayle?
Although grounded for some years now, John still has a huge interest in commercial aviation in
the UK, especially the historic elements. His home is full of memorabilia, from control columns
(just about every British built airliner of the 50s/60s/70s), though to operations manuals. He also collects cap badges & brevets. He has hundreds of pilots/flight engineers cap badges and tunic wings in his collection, but alas Fairflight & Air Ecosse still eludes him. He has also misplaced his Centreline cap badge (although he has the brevet). Does any member still have these items and would they part with them to a good home. He'd also be interested in any of Biggin's other small operators, commercial or corporate, from over the years (He already has Euroair badges).
If anyone can help, I'd be very grateful. Please contact John Quayle - [email protected]
CHANGE AT THE TOP
As discussed in previous Newsletters, Jenny Munro retired from her post as Managing Director of
Biggin Hill Airport Ltd on 18th October, an appointment she has held since May 2011. Following
her recent marriage, Jenny and her husband plan to take up their new life in Europe.
At a special ceremony at the end of the week, Jenny was presented with a framed picture, a high
definition, low level aerial view of the airport. Andrew Walters, Chairman, paid a tribute to Jenny’s
contribution as the senior Executive Director.
“It has been an exciting couple of years for Jenny, taking over a famous and growing airport,
planning the long run-up period to the London Games of 2012 and the effect of the two events last
summer on airport operations – and then getting married. Early retirement was never part of the
plan, but I am delighted for her that marriage has come along and I wish her every happiness for
the future. I also thank her for being an important part of the Biggin Hill story over the past two and
a half years.
We shall all miss her cheery self and be sure to build on the many of the good things that she has
developed within the business, such as the ‘Good Place to Work’ programme and the vital
LoCATE initiative which helps to attract investment and jobs to the local area” Mr Walters said.
Responding to the Chairman’s tribute, Jenny said that she felt proud to have part of the airport’s
recent history.
“Although I would have liked to have been here longer than two and a half years, I feel entirely
confident that Will Curtis, along with Andrew and the team here, will pick up the baton and
continue to protect the future of this iconic airport. Although my husband and I will be living in
France, I will be watching with interest as to how the aviation debate develops in the UK.
Business and General Aviation will remain a key part of the picture, with low volume but extremely
high value customers creating more opportunities and wealth for the UK than most people realise.
This aspect needs due recognition within the context of the whole scheme of aviation. Biggin Hill
Airport is, in fact, the only airport in London completely dedicated to this segment of the industry.
The airport has a capable and enthusiastic team and, on a local level, creates jobs and
opportunities for around 1,000 people as well as the knock-on benefits to local markets. It creates
maximum opportunities for minimum disruption compared to most other airports and, while
remaining viable as a business, it is able to continue Biggin Hill’s long-standing place in aviation.
I think that that this is a very special combination and look forward to seeing it flourish in years to
come” Jenny Munro said.

We all wish her well and thank her for the open way she engaged with tenants and users during
her tenure. We trust she will remain in contact with us all as a Database member and past user of
the airport.
Will Curtis has now taken over as Managing Director following Jenny Munro’s retirement, and I
understand that he intends to continue the tradition started by Jenny to write a few words for the
Database membership each month. Welcome to the post and good luck from all of us.
BROMLEY BUSINESS AWARD FINALISTS
As included in last week’s Newsletter, well done to Falcon Flying Group at Biggin Hill Airport on
your nomination for one of the coveted final places in the Lloyds Bank sponsored Best Medium
Sized Business category at the 2013 Bromley Business Awards. Unfortunately though there can
only be one winner, and that honour this year went to FLR Spectrum Ltd, but Falcon Flying Group
received a commendation, so very well done. Hopefully next year guys! The awards were
announced at the annual Awards Dinner on 17th October.

MONTHLY REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF WILL CURTIS
With more than a little trepidation I took up my new post as Managing Director at the beginning of
October. My first three weeks were spent working alongside Jenny Munro and taking a full
download of all the many details that make up the day to day business that is Biggin Hill Airport. Jenny completed her assignment on the 18th October and Vic Faloon, our Chief Telecoms and Radio Aids Engineer (responsible for keeping all our radio aids and communications working) piped her out on his “cloth octopus” in true Scottish style. It was really quite emotional and very sad to see Jenny leaving for the last time – but she is now enjoying the sunshine in the south of France so I expect she is bearing up under the terrible strain of parting! Jenny did a great deal for the airport and apart from her many achievements within BHAL, it is perhaps her engagement with the local community and the many airport users for which she will be best remembered. I am sure that you will all wish to join me in wishing Jenny a long and happy semi-retirement. I am quite certain that she has made the right decision because, as the ancient Chinese proverb tells us, “It is later than you think”! October has been a steady month for business jet movements – a little above 2012 levels but below the exceptional level of 2011 October movements. It is not clear why but we do know that weather plays a large part in year on year monthly variations. Light aircraft movements for year to date sit at 24,000 against a 2012 total of 31,000. Whether or not light aviation beats its 2012 total will, again, depend largely upon the weather over the coming months. Let us hope we escape the heavy snowfalls we saw last winter, because these bring a complete halt to most aircraft operations. I am personally keen to see light aviation flourish at Biggin Hill and I will be working with my colleagues to see how we might better support existing light aircraft operators and also encourage more aircraft to base themselves here at London Biggin Hill Airport. Sadly, General Aviation, nationwide and as a whole, has suffered something of a decline in volume since the 2008 financial crash and presently it shows little sign of sustained recovery. Perhaps the youth of today have less enthusiasm for aviation than their parents’ generation – judging by my own experience they are all too busy slaughtering virtual enemies in a virtual world to be worried about learning to fly a light aircraft! Coming from the aircraft operating sector and being a keen light aviator, I understand only too well quite how thin the margins are in a buoyant market and indeed how non-existent they are in the current market. Last year, Avgas prices reached the point at which I simply elected to sell my own aircraft, a Piper Aerostar 700, because at 43 US gallons per hour burn in the cruise (and 70 US GPH in the climb) it was no longer much fun to operate! So in my new position, I will do whatever I am able in order to give GA the best chance of success at London Biggin Hill Airport.

BIGGIN HILL AIRPORT SOCIAL CLUB
Thanks again for all that have renewed again for 2013. Your support is much appreciated
Full details can be found at www.bigginhillclub.co.uk
Please remember, if you are a new member applying, we need a completed application form with
your contact details, a head and shoulder photo for each person the application covers, a
Stamped addressed envelope so we can send back your membership photo-card – and of course
your cheque for the appropriate membership fee payable to Biggin Hill Airport Social Club Ltd (if
you don’t supply a photograph, we can’t produce the card…
That’s it for this month
John Willis
Biggin Hill Airport Users Database
(And Finally: Oldies reminiscing for the old ways, followed by a couple of jokes. Thanks, as always, to everyone for sending their contributions.… ) QUOTE……………. Under the age of 40? You won't understand this bit……. My mum used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread butter on bread on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake or at the beach instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then. We all took PE . and risked permanent injury with a pair of Dunlop sandshoes instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors that cost as much as a small car. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now. We got the cane for doing something wrong at school, they used to call it discipline yet we all grew up to accept the rules and to honour & respect those older than us. We had 50 kids in our class and yet we still all learned to read and write, do maths and spell almost all the words needed to write a grammatically correct letter., FUNNY THAT!! We all said prayers in school and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention. I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself. I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or hundreds of TV stations. We weren't!! Oh yeah . and where was the antibiotics and sterilisation kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed! We played on piles of gravel left on vacant building sites and on bomb sites and when we got hurt, mum pulled out the 2/6p bottle of iodine and then we got our backside spanked. Now it's a trip to the Doctors, followed by a 7 day dose of antibiotics and then mum calls the lawyer to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel or other dangerous ruin where it was such a threat. To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family. We never needed to get into group therapy and/or anger management classes. We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we ever survive? Aaaah, those were the days!!!! I, and I’m sure most from our era, wouldn’t change it for anything! …………UNQUOTE QUOTE……………. Two women friends had gone for a girls' night out. Both were very faithful and loving wives, however they had gotten over-enthusiastic on the Bacardi Breezers. Incredibly drunk and walking home they needed to pee, so they stopped in the cemetery. One of them had nothing to wipe with so she thought she would take off her panties and use them. Her friend however was wearing a rather expensive pair of panties and did not want to ruin them. She was lucky enough to squat down next to a grave that had a wreath with a ribbon on it, so she proceeded to wipe with that. After the girls did their business, they proceeded to go home. The next day, the husband of one of the women was concerned that his normally sweet and innocent wife was still in bed hung over, so he phoned the other husband and said: "These girl nights have got to stop! I'm starting to suspect the worst. My wife came home with no panties!!" "That's nothing," said the other husband, "Mine came back with a card stuck to her backside that said. 'From all of us at the Fire Station. We'll never forget you" …………UNQUOTE QUOTE……………. The Psychiatrist A psychiatrist was conducting a group therapy session with five young mothers and their small children. "You all have obsessions," he observed. To the first mother, Mary, he said: "You are obsessed with eating. You've even named your daughter Candy." He turned to the second Mum, Ann: "Your obsession is with money. It manifests itself in your children's names, Penny, Goldie and Frank." He turned to the third Mum, Joyce: "Your obsession is alcohol. This too shows itself in your children's names: Brandy and Sherry. You even called the cat, ‘Whisky’ “. He then turned to the fourth Mum June: "Your obsession is with flowers. Your girls are called Rose, Daphne & Poppy." At this point, the fifth mother, Kathy, quietly got up, took her little boy by the hand and whispered: "Come on, Dick, this guy has no idea what he's talking about. Let's pick up Fanny and Willy and go home." ………UNQUOTE If anyone else has good examples of, for example: - Governmental stupidity and removal of the population's right to live a normal life, or simply any funny, unusual and interesting stories or anecdotes that you feel may interest or amuse our readers, please email them to me as a possible inclusion in a monthly "and Finally".)

Source: http://www.johnwillis.co.uk/theclub/newsletter01nov13.pdf