Squadron Leader Simon Jessett
Simon started flying at age 11 , when his dad took him on a 2-day gliding course . Thoroughly bitten by the flying bug , he joined the Air Training Corps and had his first encounters with the mighty Chippy , before joining the RAF straight from school in 1990 . Following flying training on the Tucano and Hawk , he served as a Harrier pilot until its retirement in 2010 . Simon completed 5 tours on the aircraft , accrued over 2100 hours on type , flew operations in the Balkans and Iraq , and spent 9 months on various carriers . After Staff College in 2008 , Simon was posted to a NATO ground appointment in Italy , before being selected as , what would turn out to be the last , Commanding Officer of the Harrier Operational Conversion Unit . Feeling his RAF race was run , Simon left the Service and flew in the civilian world for several years , before the pull of red-blooded military flying became too strong . He rejoined ( on demotion !) in 2020 and has been a Typhoon pilot at RAF Coningsby since then , undertaking operations over Syria and Iraq , and conducting NATO Air Policing in response to the situation in Ukraine .
Simon has over 5500 hours on various types , but knows that his time on BBMF will be the most precious . He lives in Lincolnshire , plays the guitar to a low-average standard and loves to cook . He has just bought a large motorbike , but as this has not been accompanied by leather trousers , he denies any accusation of mid-life crisis . Simon will take over from Paul Wise as OC BBMF at the end of the 2027 display season .