Events and Air Smiles Days
The Biddulph Family from Devon - 19th July 2007 - Mobility Roadshow Kemble Airport
Back in April 2007 Allan Biddulph read fly2help official press launch all the way down in Devon! Allan contacted Mandy at fly2help to see if his daughter Nicole would come within our remit for the experience of a lifetime. On hearing Nicoles story, the response from Mandy was 'Absolutely!'
Nicole was diagnosed with a Spinal Fibro Sarcoma Tumour in Sept 2003. It has left her paralysed. Having read Nicoles inspiring website, it was felt that the whole family, including Nicoles younger sister Lauren, all deserved a short break from reality as well as a reward for managing to face their daily challenges with such gusto and with so many smiles... and so a day of fun for the whole family was arranged!
The
family were coming to visit the Mobility Roadshow at Kemble
in July and despite the long wait, in order to avoid another
long journey from Devon, it was planned that we would fly
the family all together during that same visit! Now it was
just a matter of keeping everything crossed for the weather!!
In the end it certainly appeared to be worth the wait... Nicole
and her family had nearly three months to get excited and
look forward to their forthcoming adventure, and despite the
miserable wet summer we were all experiencing, thankfully...
somehow... it then turned into a beautiful sunny day!! To
everyone's relief, the rare, clear blue skies of July offered
amazing views and the opportunity for some great air-to-air
photographs! These photographs were achieved by sending up
our beautiful, red and white Super Decathlon 'Easy Peasy'
up as a camera ship with a photographer sat in the back. After
a thorough safety briefing and an informal chat about what
the family could expect, the family were lead airside to meet
their pilot and to see their very own private aircraft for
the afternoon. The two aircraft (Malibu Mirage G-GREY) and
G-EZPZ took off in formation and departed over to the west,
where they we able to enjoy the breathtaking views of the
two Severn Bridges and enjoy the unusual experience of flying
in formation with another aircraft. On their return, it was
easy to see that the trip had been enjoyed by all...
To share in the flight of Nicole, Lauren, Allan and Sara, and to see their smiles for yourself, see their photo slideshow (3.84 MB .pdf file - use Right Arrow and Left Arrow keys to view the slides).
In letter of thanks, Nicoles Dad wrote; "We really felt like VIPs during our private flight over to Wales and Nicole hasn't stopped talking about it since!... Please thank everyone who was involved with the arrangements. I remember you asked me for feedback as to whether you could have improved our experience at all, but we all agreed that you couldn't have done anymore for us if you had tried, and we feel very lucky to have benefited from your fantastic service."
Photographs by Graham Kehily - www.bathphoto.com