Kingman - Father & Son

Wing Commander Tim Kingman served 22 years in the RAF as a Harrier and Lightning Avionics Technician, in both the UK and Germany, at the height of the Cold War. During his time in the RAF, Wing Commander Kingman also supported the Air Training Corps, primarily as the Air Cadet Liaison Officer at RAF Sealand. Upon his departure from the regular service, Tim joined the Air Training Corps as a reservist officer. Over the next 15 years, he served as CO of 1378(Mold) Sqn Air Training Corps and as a Squadron Leader on the Wing staff. In late 2014, Tim was promoted to Wing Commander and appointed as Officer Commanding No. 2 Welsh Wing, Air Training Corps.

Throughout this time, his son Geraint, who was keen on joining the RAF as a fast jet pilot, was also heavily involved in the Air Cadets. Upon completing his A-Levels, Geraint was selected for pilot training and completed his advanced fast jet training on the Hawk T1 in August 2012. Such was his ability, he was ‘creamed’ off at the end of his course, remaining on 208(R) squadron to train as a qualified flying instructor. Now at the end of his instructional tour, Flight Lieutenant Kingman was keen to give something back to the Air Cadets which had supported him so much during his teenage years but also to his father who had encouraged him and helped him make his dream happen.

Flight Lieutenant Kingman said: “My father inspired me to be a pilot since I was young – I’d grown up around fast jets out in Germany and couldn’t think of any other job I would want more. I was very excited to be given the opportunity to fly my father as a passenger – it’s a nice way to pay him back for all the help and the inspiration he’s given me”.

Father and son took to the skies over Wales where Flight Lieutenant Kingman demonstrated a student Final Handling Test – the last event a student pilot completes before moving onto the tactical element of Fast Jet Training. This consisted of low level navigation, medium level handling and circuit work.  

Wing Commander Kingman said: “It was just incredible to see the end result of all of his hard work. Geraint showed me the low level environment and how they can navigate across the UK to hit training targets, all with a map and stopwatch. Next we climbed up and he let me have a go at some aerobatics. It was safe to say, he was much better at flying than me! I would like to thank Wing Commander Chris Kidd, Officer Commanding 208(R) squadron, and the RAF Valley station commander,, Group Captain Pete Cracroft for giving me this opportunity, not only for the passenger flight in a Hawk, but for the once-in-lifetime experience of being flown by my son!”

Editor: Sqn Ldr Williams

© MOD Crown Copyright 2015

This article first appeared in the RAF Website and the RAF Valley Website

Back to News
Archive

Back to Hawk Articles