Simon Footer

Following Initial Officer Training at Cranwell in 1979, Foots completed the fast jet training courses on the Jet Provost and Hawk, and moved on to flying Jaguars at Lossiemouth in ‘82.  Having got all the way to this point, he promptly lost lost medical category for ejection seats and was posted to the Hercules.  He completed many very enjoyable tours on the Hercules, mainly in the Special Forces role, achieving the position of Flight Commander of that small unit on 47 Squadron. He also enjoyed a 3-year exchange tour in America, at Little Rock Air Force Base, over the period of Gulf War 1 – very interesting times.

Of course the highlight of his career was commanding LXX Squadron flying Hercules at Lyneham 2000-02, during the busy build-up period in Afghanistan when the Squadron deployed as a formed unit to Thumrait in the Oman. It was a defining period for the Squadron, which did a fabulous job in difficult conditions. Many highlights of his command tour involved the work in support of 16 Air Assault Brigade with Brigadier Peter Wall in charge. LXX was the lead crew for a number of 14 and 15 formations, and Foots had the privilege of being the Air Commander. Other notable events include drops in Normandy for D-Day commemorations, and the first operational para drop since Suez with LXX and 47 responsible for dropping the RAF Regiment into Sierra Leone.

In 2003 Foots decided to leave the mainstream RAF and became a full time reserve QFI at Cosford with the University of Birmingham Air Squadron, where he spent almost 9 years teaching potential RAF pilots.

In 2012, he left UBAS and became a regional director for the RAF Benevolent Fund based at RAF Brize Norton for 4 years before returning to Cosford to complete his long flying career – he retired in 2020 but still has flying suit to fly cadets with the AEF at Cosford .

Foots is delighted to be involved with LXX again in his capacity as the Chairman of the Association and looks forward to catching up with lots of old mates and colleagues.