- This event has passed.
To maximise your opportunity to win one of five fabulous prizes in the Coachmaker Banquet 2024 Prize Draw, tickets are now available to purchase online.
For those who are unable to attend the Coachmaker Banquet 2024 to be held on Friday 17th May, this is your opportunity to enter the Prize Draw, from which all the profits will be shared equally between the Coachmakers’ Charitable Trust and Navy Wings to provide training in the heritage skills necessary to keep vintage aircraft flying and support some of Britain’s next generation of engineers and designers.
To enter the Prize Draw, PLEASE CONTACT THE CLERK ON 07973 272776.
This early-bird method of purchasing tickets enables members to book individual or multiple tickets to enter the draw for £20 each, which is collected by Worldpay automatically as per an event booking.
The Clerk’s office will receive an automatic notification of that “booking” after which the Assistant Clerk will write the name and telephone number of the purchaser on the appropriate number of sealed Prize Draw envelopes which will be included in the draw on the night with those that are entered physically by those attending the Banquet in person.
- There will be a limit of 1,000 entries available into the draw.
- Each sealed envelope constitutes one entry.
- You may enter as many times as you wish
The prizes that are available this year are as follows:
1st – a 45-minute flight from RNAS Yeovilton in a Harvard aircraft
Experience aviation history with an unforgettable flight in one of the world’s greatest trainers, the Harvard. Take to the skies at RNAS Yeovilton for a 45-minute flight with an experienced Naval pilot and enjoy some exhilarating aerobatics over the Somerset countryside.
The Harvard saw service from the 1940s up until the 1980s and was widely used by US and Commonwealth Forces to train fighter pilots. One of the most significant Fleet Air Arm training aircraft of the 1940s-1950s, with its powerful Pratt & Whitney 600hp radial engine, it enabled pilots to advance to their operational aircraft.
2nd – a 60-minute flight from RNAS Yeovilton in a Tiger Moth aircraft
A flight in a wartime de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane with former Royal Navy Air Engineer Jim Norris. Jim, who is now Chief Engineer at Navy Wings, served on Sea Harrier and Lynx Squadrons and his passion and knowledge about engineering and vintage aeroplanes will enthral you. Flying from RNAS Yeovilton, home of the Fleet Air Arm, your 60-minute flight with Jim will include amazing views of the Air Station and local area followed by a private tour of the Navy Wings Heritage Hangar to see the Swordfish, Sea Fury FB11 and Sea Hawk, making the whole experience one steeped in naval aviation history and heritage.
The Master’s own yellow Lonsdale Park Drag
3rd – a day out for four people at Fenix Carriages in Devon to include a drive out atop the Master’s yellow coach with lunch included.
This coach was purchased by the Master Coachmaker, Bettine Evans, in 2020 and by so doing she brought a historically significant coach back to reside in England. Restored in 2021 by the Junior Warden, Mark Broadbent, and his colleagues at Fenix Carriages in Devon, the coach is now housed at the Fenix Carriages Collection. It is used several times a year at Coaching Club meets and other such occasions, and its appearance in the Lord Mayor’s Show on 11th November 2023 was probably the first time in many years since the Master of the Coachmakers’ Company paraded in her own coach.
4th – Two tickets to attend the Coachmakers’ Aerospace Industry Dinner on 21st November 2024 at Ironmongers’ Hall.
5th – Captain Eric “Winkle” Brown CBE DSC AFC RN memorabilia, including the recently published biography entitled “Winkle”, signed by the author, Paul Beaver – a Freeman of the Coachmakers’ Company.
It is a compelling and revelatory biography about the extraordinary life of Britain’s greatest test pilot, Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown CBE DSC AFC RN. Eric Brown’s test flying career spanned three decades during the most exciting and innovative period in aviation history which saw naval aircraft progress from pre-war biplanes to supersonic cold war warriors. Insightful and frequently jaw dropping, Freeman Paul Beaver records a life with more twists and turns than a Battle of Britain dogfight, uncovering the complex and enigmatic man behind the legend.
“Winkle Brown’s life story makes James Bond seem like a bit of a slacker,” – Kirsty Young. Included with the book is an Oxford die-cast model of a Messerschmitt Me 163B signed by Captain Eric himself.