IRON MAIDEN Singer "Proud As Punch"

IRON MAIDEN Singer "Proud As Punch" Flying RAF Troops Back From Afghanistan

The following story is courtesy of Peterboroughtoday.co.uk:

RAF heroes returning to Wittering after an arduous seven months in Afghanistan deserved the rock star treatment. And from the moment the engines on the chartered plane which brought them home yesterday (Sunday, 31 August) fired up, they got it.

Because at the controls of the Astraeus aircraft was Bruce Dickinson, the singer with heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN, who leads a double life as a captain with the British airline.

As the sun-bronzed members of 3 Squadron RAF Regiment were reunited with their families and friends after the plane had touched down on the Wittering runway, some were agog at the fame of the flier who had piloted them from Cyprus following a stopover on the island.

Squadron Leader "Albert" Finney, the senior air traffic control officer at RAF Wittering, had a surprise brush with Bruce.

He said: "I wanted to speak to the captain because we are not used to handling such large aircraft, and I needed to check he was happy with the taxi-plan. The captain happened to be Bruce Dickinson.

"I knew he flew for Astraeus, but what were the chances of him being the pilot? He was as proud as punch at flying the lads and wanted to tell me all about his Boeing 757."

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