Roll over to preview

Irecently had the immense pleasure of attending a Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN) awards dinner in London where I rubbed shoulders with all manner of aviation glitterati. There were military and commercial pilots, members of the airshow world and attendees from around the world as well as scholarship winning trainees and crews being recognised for their bravery and gallant conduct. As you’ll see from this month’s editorial photograph the evening, which took place in London’s Guildhall, was a very glamorous affair. From left to right the image shows Jon Windover (organiser of the Aviator’s Ball for the Aerobility charity), yours truly, the artist Kate Dove, Air Atlantique Accountable Manager Trevor Bailey, Oliver Wheeldon from the Heritage Aircraft Trust and Ben Griffiths, the Daily Mail’s City News Editor. Living Legend However, the star of the evening was none other than Jim Lovell, the commander of the legendary Apollo 13 mission in April 1970. Mr Lovell flew McDonnell F2H Banshees with the US Navy before being selected as one of the first astronauts in Project Mercury. He went on to be one of only 24 people to have flown to the moon, the first of only three people to fly to the moon twice, and the only one to have flown there twice without making a landing. He was also the first person to fly in space four times and as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he took the first Apollo mission into lunar orbit. But speaking at the GAPAN dinner after receiving the organisation’s Award of Honour, Mr Lovell humbly discussed the near disaster that befell him and fellow astronauts Jack Swigert and Fred Haise when an oxygen tank burst and crippled their spacecraft. In receiving the award he said he did so not for himself, but for team back on the ground who worked so hard to bring him and his colleagues back home to their loved ones.