OFMC Chief Pilot

Lee Proudfoot - Professional formation display pilot since 1991 and has flown 8000 hours in over 60 different types of aircraft. Lee has flown for various commercial airlines and spent 7 ‘exciting’ (and very cold!) years as chief pilot, ‘Bush’ flying in the Antarctic for the British Antarctic Survey.

Lee lives in Cambridgeshire with his wife Lucy and their two daughters.

Nigel Lamb - forty four year old Nigel first flew for OFMC in 1993 when he flew MH434. Following the tragic death of Mark Hanna in 1999, he took over the day-to-day running of OFMC until 2003. Today, Nigel competes in the Red Bull Air Race along with Paul Bonhomme, another OFMC Pilot (see below).

Nigel has been a professional air display pilot since 1981 and has flown approximately 1,500 public displays in 24 countries world-wide. He has been British National Aerobatic Champion in the Unlimited Class 8 times.

Born in Africa in 1956, Nigel's interest in flying was kindled by his father who flew as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War ll. Joining the Rhodesian Airforce on leaving school, Nigel flew helicopters on counter-insurgency operations during the late 1970's. He left the Airforce in 1980 as an Instructor and went to England to join a professional aerobatic display team flying the incredible Pitts Special. From 1981 until 1993 we flew high performance aerobatic aircraft in professional formation aerobatic teams. By 1993, he and his wife owned the operating company and took the aerobatic team to the Far East for the next 5 years. Their team was the first civilian team to fly in China in 1996. When not flying for OFMC or his own aerobatic team Nigel flew as a captain on DC8 freighters with UK Based MK Airlines.

He is a very keen scuba diver and also enjoys skiiing, squash and tennis. His wife Hillary is also keen on competition aerobatics and won her second contest flying a Bucker Jungman bi-plane. They have three sons, Max, Daniel and Ben and live in Oxfordshire, England.

Brian Smith - joined the Old Flying Machine Company in 1986, following a background of aerobatic and display flying with the Tiger Club, during which time the association with Ray Hanna was made.

A professional pilot by trade, Brian has amassed over 20,000 hours flying time on many different types of aircraft ranging from ultra-lights to Jumbos. He currently flies 747s for Virgin Atlantic.

Although an infrequent flier with the OFMC nowadays, Brian is privileged to continue to fly with the other private collections based at Duxford, and proudly continues to display historic aircraft in the true Hanna tradition.

Alister Kay - first flew on an RAF gliding course, aged 16. Since then he has achieved 14 UK gliding records including the fastest 750km triangle and a height climb to 36,600 feet. He has been UK Gliding Champion 8 times and has represented Britain 8 times at World and European Championships.

Alister has been flying powerful single engine aircraft since 1974 and in 1987 entered and won his first aerobatic competition. In 1988 Alister began air-display flying in Pitts Specials. He now has 8,500 flying hours on 150 types of mainly tailwheel aircraft and gliders.

Alister was based at Booker Airfield, which used to be home to many historic aircraft including MH434 (the OFMC Spitfire); to fly piston fighters was always his ambition, but one that seemed quite impossible.

In 1998 Alister flew the OFMC Harvard, progressing to the P-51D Mustang, P-40 Kittyhawk and the Spitfire MH434. He flies for OFMC throughout Europe.

Paul Bonhomme - Red Bull Air Race Pilot Paul Bonhomme is relishing the thought of another year of flying OFMC's Spitfire and P-51D Mustang. 

It all began for Bonhomme as a “hangar rat”, cleaning planes as a boy in an Aero Club, and by the time he was 17 he had a flying licence and he started training in aerobatics immediately. His father was a pilot in the British Army Air Corps and later an Airline Captain, and his brother is also in the aviation industry as an Airline Captain too. It’s little wonder then, that the youngest member of the Bonhomme family also ended up as a professional pilot flying as Captain on the Boeing 747. 

Paul, who enjoys motorcycling (when he can find spare time!), likes to focus his off-duty hours in pursuit of his calling. He has flown in over 500 airshows since 1986.