TEAM MERLIN HELPS TO MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE

On a cold and misty Saturday morning in October, four members of 28 (AC) Squadron set off in their Merlin helicopter from RAF Benson, to land at one of the busiest airports in the world, London Heathrow. After a short flight from the base, the crew soon found themselves being slotted in for a visual approach to runway 09 Right between a British Airways 747, which had just touched down, and a Gulf Air A340 on long final approach. No time for taking in the views of the newly constructed Terminal 5 passing alongside at this stage! After some careful ground manoeuvring amongst the heavy jets, a parking stand was located outside of the aforementioned terminal, much to the puzzlement of the crew who were expecting to be parked three miles away at British Airways Engineering East Base! A few phone calls and negotiations with ground staff later, the crew started up and ground taxied from one end of the airport to the other, passing parked and moving jets of just about every major airline. Finally, their correct destination was reached at East Base and a welcome reunion with the two Squadron engineers, who had watched with bemusement as the Merlin flew past to the other end of the airport!! So the crew had arrived, but why were they there in the first place? Well, that can be answered in one word - Dreamflight.

For those unfamiliar with Dreamflight, I will try to explain what it is all about and how Team Merlin came to be involved. Dreamflight was born in 1986 when Patricia Pearce, MBE and Derek Pereira came up with the idea of a special holiday to bring some joy and happiness into troubled young lives. In November 1987, a Boeing 747 with 288 seriously ill and disadvantaged children and adult helpers flew off to Florida for 5 magical days of fun and laughter. This original Dreamflight was intended to be a one off trip but it was such a success that it has been an annual event ever since. Today, the cost of sending children on what is now a 10 day trip has increased significantly. Therefore it is vital that the money to do this is raised continually through fund raising and voluntary contributions.

After the success of the previous year’s fundraising efforts by Team Merlin, we decided to continue our support and try and increase the amount raised. So how did we go about doing this? Throughout this year’s air show season, the Squadron has supported many of the main events and displays, as well as a number of RAF Families Days and shows, by sending a Merlin with supporting air and ground Crew. Despite the lack of a full flying display this year, Team Merlin were as equally received everywhere we went and we were able to engage with the public and show them the Merlin up close and personal. This included the distribution of over 8000 posters, stickers and leaflets which were eagerly snapped up (watch out on eBay for the numerous ‘unique’ signed versions!!) At the same time we had collecting tins positioned with our ground display for contributions from our visitors. Thanks to the outstanding generosity of the public these tins soon filled up and we were sending for reinforcements on a regular basis.

As well as the contributions, I was able to produce a range of Team Merlin merchandise which was sold at civilian shows and events, as well as online via the official team website. All profits from these sales were added to the fund raising total. The result of hours of counting and sorting coins into bags and numerous visits to the bank (I am indebted to my better half for doing this) was that we had raised a total of £1128.00 (coincidence?!) for Dreamflight.

OK then, back to Heathrow. Team Merlin was invited to bring themselves and one of their machines to the launch party for the 2007 trip. After arriving at our destination, the Merlin was put to bed in one of the enormous British Airways 747 maintenance hangars, where it looked quite small in comparison! The crew and the engineers then busied themselves at one of the nearby airport hotels, helping to process through the check-in of some 350 plus adults and children. In the early evening, with everyone in their finest display suits, the fun and games (quite literally) began. Turkey twizzlers, chicken nuggets and chips with gallons of various flavoured cordial was the order of the day. The temptation to ‘cut some shapes’ on the dance floor and ‘do the Macarena’ was almost too tempting for some at this point but the kids seemed a lot better at it, so discretion resulted in watching from the side lines. The party was attended by a number of celebrities from the small screen, mainly EastEnders and The Bill, with special mention to ‘Denzil’ from Only Fools and Horses and Konnie from Blue Peter. Oddly enough the latter proved to be the most popular with the crew! One memorable moment was when a certain person asked one of the Met Police Inspectors, who was on duty, which part he played in The Bill. Full of ‘e’ numbers and excitement (that was just us!), the kids were sent off to bed as they had an early start. Coincidentally, the England v France rugby match was just kicking off on the large screen TV in the hotel bar and we all know the result of that!

Moving swiftly on to Sunday morning, the team headed on down to the BA hangar to get ready for the arrival of the kids. Relieved that the helicopter was still there and had not been robbed for spares by BA, we were immediately visited by what seemed half of the Heathrow work force and the kids had not even arrived yet! We were even allocated our own personal guard dog in the form of Merlin, the six year old German Shepherd. Finally, the fleet of buses started to arrive and the kids made an immediate beeline for the Merlin.

After a frantic couple of hours of signing posters, handing out stickers and showing EVERY single child around the aircraft, it was time for them to get on board their special liveried Boeing 747. However, before they all disappeared I had the privilege of presenting Pat Pearce with a cheque for the money that Team Merlin had raised this year. A full military band from the Royal Welsh Regiment played all the favourite hits as the children walked through a miniature Disney castle archway, past a guard of honour made up of BA ground staff. Considering the amount of people boarding, including dozens of children in wheelchairs, the boarding was amazingly smooth and efficient. Soon it was time for me to wave my own personal goodbye, as my better half was a member of the crew and she was closing the aircraft door. The 747 was pushed back with a Police escort of motorcycle outriders, to the sound of Thunderbirds being played, as one of the flight deck crew waved energetically from the emergency roof escape hatch. The aircraft lowly slipped out of sight across the road towards the main runways, so it was time to get the Merlin ready for the return to base.

With a photo opportunity not to be missed, we came to the hover next to (but at a safe distance) some of the big jets, and after waving to our rapidly growing audience of engineering staff it was time to enter the maelstrom of Heathrow main site once more!

Past a wide and varied fleet of airliners once more, we were instructed to head towards our favourite runway, 09 Right. Having 180 tons of aircraft thunder past and get airborne right in front of you is an experience we are not used to in the helicopter world! Soon it was our turn and after using about 2% of the available tarmac, it was gear up, fly the length of the runway, and climb away out over Hatton Cross, looking down on the majestic sight of Concorde parked below. An uneventful flight back to Benson followed and we landed to be met by our own engineers this time who put the Merlin to bed once more, before all heading off home to put our feet up and catch up on some sleep (well, that’s what I did anyway!)

We would like to thank Dreamflight for inviting us and allowing us to be a part of this fantastic, incredibly worthwhile event and to British Airways Engineering for looking after us over the weekend. On a personal note I would like to thank all the volunteers who have helped to keep Team Merlin running throughout this year. This has meant giving up their free time and spending valuable time away from their families, in what is an ever busy environment for the Merlin Force.

For more information on Team Merlin please come and visit us online at teammerlin.airshows.co.uk
Dreamflight details, stories and pictures can be found at dreamflight.org