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Revision as of 11:48, 6 August 2008

Template:Infobox Red Bull Air Race Pilot

Paul Bonhomme (born September 22, 1964) is an English aerobatics and commercial airliner pilot.

Bonhomme was born into an aviator family. His father was an airline pilot and his mother worked as a flight attendant. His brother is a commercial pilot.

Bonhomme's flying career started in 1980 at White Waltham Airfield as a general dogsbody by cleaning hangars, polishing aircraft and refuelling aircraft.

At age 18 he gained his Private Pilot License and subsequently became a flight instructor. In 1985 he became an air taxi pilot and in 1987 joined Air Cymru, a Welsh charter airline, flying the Boeing 737. Now he flies Boeing 747s for British Airways.

His aerobatics career started in 1986, flying an Ultimate Pitts. He went on to fly the Yak-50, Extra 300 and then the Sukhoi Su-26 in 1991. He has flown over 500 public displays and also flies vintage fighters for "The Fighter Collection" at Duxford Aerodrome.

Aircraft types Bonhomme has flown include the Supermarine Spitfire (MkV, MkIX, MkIXT and Mk14), Hawker Hurricane, P-40 Kittyhawk, F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-63 Kingcobra, P-51 Mustang and AD-4 Skyraider.

Since 1994 he has been flying formation displays around the world with his colleague Steve Jones in "The Matadors" team. The team won three gold medals and one silver medal in the FAI series. He has competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Series since 2003.

Bonhomme enjoys also on-road and off-road motorcycling, mountain biking and playing golf.

Paul Bonhomme at the Red Bull Air Race World Series
Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Points	Wins	Rank
2003	3rd	DNS											0	0	NC
2004	6th	7th	6th										2	0	8th
2005	6th	7th	3rd	3rd	5th	3rd	5th						17	0	5th
2006	7th	8th	6th	CAN	2nd	2nd	1st	3rd	2nd				26	1	4th
2007	3rd	1st	2nd	2nd	CAN	1st	2nd	3rd	3rd	1st	CAN	5th	47	3	2nd
2008	1st	1st	2nd	CAN	1st	7th							38	3	1st
Total													130	7	4th

Legend:

CAN: Cancelled
DNP: Did not participate
DNS: Did not show
DQ: Disqualified
NC: Not classified

External links

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 Bonhomme's flying career started in 1980 at [[White Waltham Airfield]] as a general [[dogsbody]] by cleaning hangars, polishing aircraft and refuelling aircraft.
-At age 18 he gained his [[Private Pilot License]] and subsequently became a [[flight instructor]]. In 1985 he became an [[air charter|air taxi]] pilot and in 1987 joined [[Air Cymru]], a [[Wales|Welsh]] charter airline, flying the [[Boeing 737]]. Now he flies [[Boeing 747]]'s for [[British Airways]].
+At age 18 he gained his [[Private Pilot License]] and subsequently became a [[flight instructor]]. In 1985 he became an [[air charter|air taxi]] pilot and in 1987 joined [[Air Cymru]], a [[Wales|Welsh]] charter airline, flying the [[Boeing 737]]. Now he flies [[Boeing 747]]s for [[British Airways]].
 His aerobatics career started in 1986, flying an [[Pitts Special|Ultimate Pitts]]. He went on to fly the [[Yakovlev Yak-50|Yak-50]], [[Extra 300]] and then the [[Sukhoi Su-26]] in 1991. He has flown over 500 public displays and also flies vintage fighters for "The Fighter Collection" at [[Duxford Aerodrome]].

v t e Red Bull Air Race World Championship pilots
Current pilots (Master)	Cristian Bolton Mikaël Brageot Kirby Chambliss Matthias Dolderer Michael Goulian Matt Hall Nicolas Ivanoff Petr Kopfstein François Le Vot Pete McLeod Yoshihide Muroya Ben Murphy Martin Šonka Juan Velarde
Current pilots (Challenger)	Mélanie Astles Florian Bergér Kenny Chiang Kevin Coleman Dario Costa Luke Czepiela Patrick Davidson Daniel Genevey Daniel Ryfa Baptiste Vignes
Former pilots	Hannes Arch Péter Besenyei Paul Bonhomme Glen Dell Steve Jones Jurgis Kairys Adilson Kindlemann Nigel Lamb Alejandro Maclean Mike Mangold David Martin Peter Podlunšek Sergey Rakhmanin Klaus Schrodt Frank Versteegh

Revision as of 11:48, 6 August 2008

See also

External links