At 54 Bob Lindo is one of England’s most successful winemakers, following an illustrious and dramatic career flying jets for the RAF.

Bob Lindo

Bob Lindo, A successful wine maker

Was joining the RAF always a schoolboy dream of yours?
Not at all. I come from a very ordinary background, on a large council estate in Suffolk, where aspirations were usually low. I always knew, though, that I would achieve something and I was only one of four kids from that particular estate to win a place at the local grammar school.

So how did the flying career come about?

Vulcan, a spectacular aircraft

I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but eventually graduated from the University of Essex in electronics. However, a friend had heard that there was the possibility of some free flying lessons at Biggin Hill, so we went along to find out. After the training I achieved some of the highest marks and it was suggested that I consider a career flying aeroplanes. I joined the RAF with the Cambridge Air Squadron and spent many years thoroughly enjoying myself, flying jets in Saudi Arabia and many other locations around the world. I flew mainly Vulcans, but also enjoyed training other pilots, eventually achieving the rank of Squadron Commander.

How was your exit from the RAF dramatic?
Having got married I had always planned to leave the RAF at the age of 38, instead of staying on until 55, the maximum age. My wife, herself a graduate, comes from a farming background, also in Suffolk, and as an investment in our future, in 1982 we’d bought a run down farm in Cornwall, which eventually became our new life. On June 6, 1986, at 11.40am, two miles high in the skies above Yorkshire, the plane I was flying collided with another while practising a manoeuvre known as tail-chasing. I was badly injured, but luckily was able to eject.