Ray Hanna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ray Hanna in the cockpit of Spitfire MH 434 at Biggin Hill, 2004

Squadron Leader Raynham George Hanna AFC (with bar) (28 August 1928 - 1 December 2005) was a New Zealand born pilot in the RAF and a number of civilian companies. During his time in the RAF he was a founding member of the Red Arrows. He also founded the Old Flying Machine Company and regularly flew aircraft from his vintage warbird collection at airshows around the world.

[edit] RAF career

Hanna learnt to fly in New Zealand in 1947/1948 before joining the RAF in 1949. During his intital training he flew types such as the Percival Prentice, North American Harvard and Gloster Meteor. He went on to fly types including the Hawker Tempest, Hawker Sea Fury and Bristol Beaufighter.

His first operational posting was to No. 79 Squadron RAF flying the Meteor FR.9 as part of the NATO 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force. Hanna flew a number of early British jet-aircraft from this period including the de Havilland Vampire, de Havilland Venom, Supermarine Attacker, Hawker Sea Hawk, Supermarine Swift and Gloster Javelin. Early on in his career, Hanna had the opportunity to become involved with aerial display teams, first as the leader of a four-ship hunter display team in 1957, then in 1963-1964 as a member of a Meteor display team operated by the College of Air Warfare.

In 1965 Hanna became a member of the Red Arrows display team as 'Red 3'. In 1969 he became the team leader, 'Red 1', and held this post for a record 4 years. During this time Hanna oversaw the enlargement of the team to 9 Folland Gnat T.Mk1 aircraft, making possible the inclusion of the diamond-nine formation which is a staple feature of the Red Arrows' display routine to this day. During this period the Red Arrows became a permanent squadron as part of the Central Flying School. Hanna left the RAF in 1971.

[edit] Post-RAF Flying Career

Upon leaving the RAF, Hanna flew the Boeing 707 for Lloyd International and spent 7 years with Cathay Pacific flying Boeing 707s and Lockheed Tristars. He then headed a company operating private Boeing 707s. It was during this time that Hanna was asked by the Chairman of Cathay Pacific, Sir Adrian Swire, to display Swire's privately-owned Spitfire LFIXb, MH 434. This was the beginning of a long association between Hanna and this particular aircraft that would last until Hanna's death. In 1981, along with his son Mark, Hanna established the Old Flying Machine Company (OFMC), based at Duxford, UK to operate and display a number of warbird aircraft. In 1983 the OFMC bought MH 434 at auction.

The aircraft and pilots of the OFMC featured in a number of films and television appearances including, Piece of Cake, Empire of the Sun, Memphis Belle, Saving Private Ryan and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Hanna performed for the final time in October 2005 at the annual Duxford Autumn Airshow. He died in Switzerland of natural causes on December 1, 2005. He was buried at Parham Church in Suffolk on December 15, 2005.