Marion Drakeley

1927-1987

Simon Drakeley and Graham Jones are Airline Captains with BMI (formerly British Midland) flying Airbus A320/321 aircraft, and between them, have in excess of 20,000 hours flying time. Their friendship goes back many years and both worked for Dan Air flying BAC 1-11s. They joined BMI after the demise of their former airline flying Boeing 737s on which they both gained their promotion to Captain some three years later. Not only can Simon and Graham fly fixed wing aircraft they are also qualified helicopter pilots.

In 1987 Simon lost his Mother, Marion and in 1993 Graham his Father, Derek to Cancer. These tragic events inspired them to start a Foundation in memory of their Parents. Flight Of Hope was founded, not only to raise funding but equally to raise the public's awareness for deserving Cancer Charities.

This year Flight Of Hope was a one day event, starting in Manchester Simon flew an Airbus A320 to London Heathrow. On arrival he transferred to a Robinson R44 helicopter and flew to Shoreham Airport in West Sussex with Liam Taylor (Flight Of Hope Ambassador). Once at Shoreham, for the rest of the day, he flew 32 different types of aeroplanes and helicopters. It would have been more but the weather was appalling and many aircraft could not get to the airport because of it! It was still an amazing achievement!

Graham was the Operations Manager for the entire event keeping his feet firmly on the ground. He oversaw all technical aspects and safety for the event.