It goes without saying that Neil McCarthy considers it a huge honour to have been named as the UK ambassador for the European Federation for Historic Aviation (EFHA) and it is a role that he hopes can really make a difference to an industry which he and many others are so closely involved with in the UK.
For those of you who don’t know Neil, he has been flying since the age of 17 and is the founder of the Newcastle Jet Provost Group (NJPG), having started flying the Jet Provost T.3A in 1999. He holds a PPL and is currently a registered CAA test pilot as well as Chief Pilot for the NJPG.
Neil is a popular and well respected display pilot priding himself on delivering the safest and highest quality of performance. In a nutshell, Neil is dependable, reliable and, I’m sure he won’t mind me saying this, one of the most likeable pilots on the circuit. But how did he become the EFHA’s UK ambassador to start with?
“Basically I was contacted by the EFHA Chairman, Harry Haas, and he said the Federation had been watching my progress and thought I would be a good man for the job.
“I actually turned it down to start with as I didn’t think I would be able to commit enough time to the role, but Harry came back and asked again and I decided to go for it. I spoke to Barry Tempest, the outgoing ambassador, and I honestly believe that the EFHA has done some great work already and hopefully I can continue that from a UK perspective.”
The EFHA describes itself as follows: “EFHA is a true European organization. It creates bonds between European countries and brings European citizens together around a common goal; HISTORIC AVIATION.
Thousands of Europeans are busy keeping our European flying heritage alive and millions visit displays and airshows throughout Europe and watch in amazement what our ancestors were capable of. Historic Aviation is a great way to inspire our young and promote aviation in general. Our flying monuments can lead the public towards historical awareness and on to other historical expressions.
Our partner in all this is the European Parliament. This is where we want to present ourselves. As is mentioned above, we contribute a lot to Europe. We guard its history and we bring Europeans of all nations together. That is why we deserve full cooperation so we can preserve the aviation heritage for future European generations.”
In many ways it’s that last part that is of most significance as the EFHA does indeed have a representative in the European Parliament and has already made great inroads in bringing various issues that affect historic aviation to its attention. These cover subjects such as insurance and fuel duties and, with the weight of many nations behind it, there is little doubt that EFHA is a powerful lobbying group that can really bring influence where it is required.
“Anyone can join and it is free to do so,” says Neil, “and that is one of my main aims in this role, to generate more UK based members. The more members we have, then the more power we have, and that can be extremely important.”
It is crucial to point out that membership is open to anyone with an interest in historic aviation and that you don’t have to be an owner or pilot to join. If there is anything that concerns you with regard to historic aviation then you can raise this by contacting Neil who will bring it to EFHA’s attention. For GAR readers from other European countries, incidentally, you can find a full list of contacts on the EFHA website.
“The EFHA is larger and more influential in its founding nations at the moment but I want the UK membership to grow and will do my very best to represent anyone who joins. We have a huge tradition of historic aviation in the UK and this is one very good way of ensuring that we protect it.”
GAR would like to offer its congratulations to Neil and urges all of our readers to join by signing up on the EFHA website. EFHA can rely upon our support as an organisation and we hope it can rely on yours too.
2012-02-08 - Pete Buckingham
Great article, and a thoroughly well deserved appointment for Neil! Having had the great pleasure of knowing Neil for a few years now, I couldn't think of a better man for the task ahead...
Taking just one example - Neil has done more to raise awareness of the JP in recent years than anyone I can think of, and seems to have so much genuine passion for Historic Aviation that i sometimes wonder where he finds the hours in a day ;)
Huge congratulations Neil....
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