Following the success of the Jersey International Air Display this week, Express spoke to two of the people working behind the scenes of the popular event…
“We’re all display pilots of the past”
Flying control committee member and helicopter expert Neil Airey joined the Air Cadets at the age of 16. Now at 67, he comes back to the island every year for the Air Display.
He works as part of a team of people responsible for checking the necessary paperwork and presenting it to the Director of Civil Aviation (DCA), who then authorises the air show to go ahead.
Mr Airey said: “We’re all display pilots of the past, so we know the game, we supervise them and make sure they comply to all the regulations.”
The helicopter expert explained that he has been flying all his life.
“At 16 I went solo in a glider for the first time on my own,” he said.
“I got my wings then as part of the cadet programme with a view of going into the Air Force.”
Mr Airey served in the Royal Air Force for 20 years as a combat helicopter pilot and instructor.
When he retired, he went on to fly the north west air ambulance emergency helicopter in Blackwell.
“Whilst I was up there flying the air ambulance, I met a very rich businessman who had a passion for aviation,” he said.
“He bought himself a retired ex-Royal Air Force Gazelle helicopter. It’s a government surplus.
“They’d come to the end of their military life, but they were still able to be flown in civilian life. I used to instruct on them.
“We struck up a friendship, and I basically taught him to fly. I did it in the military, and then I did it as a civilian. After he got his pilot’s license, we’d fly together.”
Mr Airey then started flying a Vietnam Huey, a helicopter he had been interested in after flying similar in the Air Force, and has been doing so ever since.
“It’s a vintage machine, and it’s iconic,” he said.
He displayed the helicopter in Jersey for the last time five years ago before moving to a more behind-the-scenes role.
“Loving every minute” of flying after retirement
Jersey-born pilot John Harmsworth learned to fly at the Jersey Aero Club. Both his father John Harmsworth and uncle Bill Stewart were wartime pilots.
“My uncle gave me my first job as an airline pilot, I then went off into the world and worked for various airlines and private jets, including for the Royal Family in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Mr Harmsworth retired at 60 after finishing his career flying Boeing 747s in Hong Kong.
Now 69 years old, he has been flying the Catalina for seven years now after “missing flying in retirement” – and is “loving every minute of it”.
The flying boat does 115 nautical miles per hour and was designed to pick up airmen that had been shot down in the sea.
Mr Harmsworth explained: “The original [planes] never had wheels, those have been added later.
“They also used to put depth charges and torpedoes under the wings and go out into the Atlantic and hunt submarines.
“They sunk quite a lot of boats during the war, so its a very useful aeroplane.
“The fact it’s slow would be a disaster today, but in those days it was fine, because they could turn tight circles and attack the submarines, because they would often surface when attacked.”
GALLERY…
See some of the highlights of the 2025 Air Display…
