DO’ing something different

Nicola Mander – a member of the Blades

When she’s not busy working at Davis Optometrists in Thrapston, Northamptonshire, dispensing optician Nicola Mander takes part in flying aerobatics.

Explaining how her aerobatics adventures came about, Nicola tells DO Online: “We first started visiting the aerodrome a lot when our little boy was born, as he loved watching the planes and helicopters. It’s only a 15-minute drive from our house, so was a cheap and easy activity.

“We all loved watching the Blades practising and taking passengers up at their base there. We then started attending air shows, and the aviation passion fully activated for myself and now both of our children.”

Nicola’s uncle arranged for her son, now seven, to meet the Blades pilots for his fourth birthday. “They were incredible,” recalls Nicola. “He sat in the plane, they explained how it all worked and let him try on the parachute and helmets.

“We were then watching the Blades one day and one of the pilots came to sit with us. He said there was a space on their Ultimate Experience day the following week so I decided to book on – with my husband as my guest.

“When you arrive at the Ultimate Experience day, you have breakfast with your guest, the other passengers and their guests, and the pilots. You then watch a training video and have a brief with one of the pilots to discuss the safety precautions, like wearing a parachute, how to enter and exit the plane, what bits not to touch, how to safety eject and what to do next and so on.

“We then broke into three groups for the different sorties throughout the day. You get to do a driving simulator, a flight in a Tiger Moth vintage bi-plane and your aerobatics flight, which introduces you to formation flying and high G manoeuvres. You also get lunch, drinks and snacks included and a private display in the evening.

“That was August 2020. In August 2021 I did my second sortie, advanced aerobatics, which was incredible. Now our youngest is starting school, I have taken a promotion to practice manager and increased my hours at work. This has made fitting in plane visits more tricky.

“We try to get to a couple of air shows each year, most recently the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford. I’m hoping to do my third sortie, Advanced Formation with some of the Blades Flight Club members later this year.

Nicola in the air

“It is so exhilarating. Chasing clouds and finding the little ‘caves’ inside them is such an amazing feeling. I love G Force, especially being inverted and feeling weightless. The views from above are beautiful and it just puts into perspective how small we are in the grand scheme of things. Every time we land, I have the biggest grin on my face. My dream is to fly as a passenger in a Spitfire, also based at Sywell.”

One thing Nicola doesn’t enjoy about aerobatics is the last moments on the ground before going airside, when she leaves her family behind. “There’s always those little niggles of, ‘what if something goes wrong?’” she explains. “But on the flip side, life is too short to not do things you enjoy. So far I’ve managed to not have to use the courtesy bag but it’s there just in case.”

Every passenger who has completed their Ultimate Experience Day and goes on to complete another module becomes part of the Blades Flight Club. “Those people, the pilots and grounds people have become like family to us. It has a real community spirit of like-minded individuals. Through the tricky Covid times, it was nice to have those people checking in on each other, albeit sometimes online. Catching up in person is even better,” Nicola concludes.

Would you like to take off like Nicola? Visit the Blades website for more information. Also check out the Warbirds and Sywell Aerodrome.