“Their bond was inspirational”, says Nigel Lamb. His ability to “handle the serious friction of a film production quietly and calmly”, says aerial coordinator Marc Wolff, “with utmost professionalism and integrity” was a testament to the values he inherited from his father. Be it Michael Caton-Jones’ Memphis Belle or James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, Mark’s dynamic flying was a true co-star in many a Hollywood production. John Farley called him “one of the most accomplished warbird display pilots who ever lived”, while aerial filming specialist Simon Werry, who worked alongside the Hannas on dozens of film and television projects, assesses that “Mark was equal to his father in skill and judgement – he never lived in Ray’s shadow”.īy sheer force of talent, Mark asserted himself into the highly competitive film and television industry. Within a short span of years, Brian Smith says, Mark had become “part of the Hanna flying legend”. Some 2,300 of his 4,000 hours were flown on historic aircraft. The pages of his logbook came to reflect a terrific breadth and depth of classic fighter experience, from Fokker D.VII to Messerschmitt Bf 109, and I-16 Rata to Yak-3. Early retirement from the air force in 1988 allowed him to concentrate on his true passion, which he did insatiably as Managing Director of OFMC for the next decade.įirst he flew the family Spitfire, then the Kittyhawk and Mustang. Mark flew the Phantom on QRA duty over the North Sea and on deployment to the Falkland Islands, whilst co-founding a private collection of vintage aeroplanes at Duxford under the Old Flying Machine Company banner. “Mark’s natural talent was clear to see”, his former Flight Commander Cliff Spink recollects, “and one got the sense that he was destined for great things”. Like his father, a career in the armed forces beckoned and enlistment in the Royal Air Force followed a year later. Taught to fly by his father from an idyllic coral strip in the Philippines, Mark went solo at the age of 17. “Every waking moment was spent either playing at being a pilot or studying aviation and military history.” “If ever there was a boy with aviation in his blood!” laughs his younger sister Sarah. By the age of six he was, in his father’s words, “a total aviation freak, absolutely sold on aeroplanes”. Mark Ashley Hanna was born in Berkshire on 6 August 1959 to Ray and Eunice.
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