Who We Are

Background Information on the Team

Neil McCarthy

Born on 20th March 1973

Neil has been flying since the age of 17 learning to fly at the Newcastle Aero club and was a member of the Air Cadets before that.

The founder of the Newcastle Jet Provost Group, he has been flying the Jet Provost T3A since 1999 with over 500 hours on type and has been displaying the aircraft at airshows for over 11 years, completing well over 30 displays in the UK in any one year.

He holds a display authorisation and is currently a registered CAA test pilot as well as Chief Pilot for the Newcastle Jet Provost group.

Known for his reliability on the UK air display circuit, Neil is a popular and well respected display pilot and has never missed an airshow booking, priding himself on delivering the safest and highest quality of performance.

In 2012 Neil underwent conversion on to the Hawker Hunter T7 G-FFOX under the guidance of Chris Heames as part of the Hunter Flight Academy, and flew the Hunter to various displays around the country.

In his day job, Neil is an electronics medical technician with the NHS and is married to Amanda and they have two children.

Neil is also a member of the newly formed British Air Display Association (BADA) and the Historic Aircraft Association (HAA)

Amanda McCarthy

Born 5th May 1971

Amanda has a keen interest in aviation with many flights in the Jet Provost T3A, usually to attend all the main UK air shows including Farnborough, RIAT, Leuchars, Waddington, and numerous RAF families days.  Back in 2003 Amanda even travelled on Concorde fulfilling a childhood dream trip of flying supersonic in Concorde to New York and returning on the QE2.  

Currently a Project Manager in the NHS, qualified to PRINCE2 Practitioner standards, she has previously worked as an IT Training Manager running Microsoft and ECDL testing centres, regularly presenting to large groups of staff.  Amanda completed her degree in Adult and Further Education in 2007.

Having had their second son, Nathan in February 2012, Amanda is enjoying her maternity leave; but being kept on her toes by Ryan, almost 3, and her husband’s busy flying schedule.

Pete Buckingham

Born 20th June 1962

Pete joined the Royal Air Force in 1978 as an Airframe Technician after some years in the Air Training Corps and a keen interest in Aviation. Working on diverse types including Hawks, Hunters, Meteors, Jet Provost, and Tornado; Pete also gained a vast experience of handling many other visiting aircraft types until leaving in 1989. Served at RAF Brawdy and RAF Cottesmore.

In 1994, Pete started a long association with the Midland Air Museum at Coventry where he became responsible for looking after one of his ex-RAF Brawdy Hunters XF382. His interest in Brawdy led to a visit in 1999 to the former RAF Kemble to be reunited with a famous Meteor "Winston" VZ467 which was by then in private ownership. That visit also led to an equally long association with Kemble's airshow events which he has become known for to the present day.

Pete met Neil McCarthy during these Kemble Airshows, and their friendship led to an invite to attend Waddington's 2012 Airshow as part of the groundcrew on G-FFOX the Hunter Flight Academy's own T7. 2012 also saw Pete reach the grand old age of 50, which was celebrated in style with a flight offer in G-FFOX by the owner Colin Boyd departing from RIAT shortly after the Waddington Airshow!

Pete's passion for Aviation and Event experience led to a call from Neil to work together, which was snapped up...

In his day job, Pete is a Tram Driver in the Midlands, as well as owning his own PC Repair Business.

Pete lives with his partner Anna and her twins.

Anna Tempest

Born 3rd February 1958

Pete's partner Anna first got involved with aviation in 2011 when accompanying Pete to his Kemble events as part of the volunteer team. Almost immediately she found a new interest in historic aircraft when able to get up close to the BBMF Lancaster for the first time.

She quickly became part of the established team involved with setting-up and running airshow events dealing with both traders and public alike...

As well as the new interest in aviation, Anna is also a keen photographer covering a wide range of subjects. As part of the Spit4Hire team, Anna will be available to capture shots of people in the cockpit.