Public Servant Lifestyle

Leaving his light sabre at home, movie actor Ewan McGregor (Star Wars’ Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi) took to the skies in an RAF Tornado jet - helping his big brother’s squadron support a good cause.

Scots-born Ewan - famed for his roles in hit movies like Star Wars, Moulin Rouge, and Trainspotting - flew over his native land from RAF Lossiemouth, in Moray, with his elder sibling, Flight Lieutenant Colin McGregor, at the controls.

Their route include a fly-past at Rachel House, Kinross (one of a group of childrens hospices benefiting from the sponsored flight) and a trip down Glen Tilt - known to all fast jet aircrew as 'Star Wars Valley'.

The one-hour flight marked the launch of XV Squadron's drive to raise funds for their chosen charity. Ewan is already a great supporter of the Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS).

Ewan spoke after the flight about the comparison between acting and flying a jet. "I'm glad they don't trust me to do that," he said.

"When I pulled the canopy down, I felt nothing but excitement, but you cannot have anything but trust for the pilots of the RAF, especially when it is your brother."

Impression

And the high-speed excursion across his homeland made quite an impression on him. "It's unbelievably fast, and low," he said, "and there was this crazy thing, where we went really slowly, and then really fast, and very low, over the sea, and then, before you know it, you're upside down, at 14,000ft, in the blinking of an eye.

"The first time you pull G (G-force) your suit inflates, and your eyeballs are coming out of your head, and it does make you feel queasy. To get back low-level again, you have got to find a break in the cloud, and that felt very Star Wars to me."

"I can't believe what he does for a living," said Ewan, when asked about his brother’s work. "This is the real thing - all I do is ponce about wearing make-up!"

The McGregor brothers were accompanied on the flight by X(R) Squadron’s commanding officer, Wing Commander Simon Dobb, and display navigator Flight Lieutenant Andrea McColl, who will be making headlines this year, as the first female member of a fast jet display team.

Colin is this year’s Tornado GR4 display pilot, and along with Andrea, has pledged to raise £20,000 for CHAS.

Spirit of Speyside Festival

The Spirit of Speyside Festival, which already supports the Squadron, pledged £4,000 to the hospice fund from the event - matching the Tornado payload of four bombs, each of one thousand pounds.

Festival organiser Stewart Buchanan says, "We all felt this is a very worthwhile charity, and we will be aiming at raising many times the first £4,000 for the Hospice".

Agnes Malone, CHAS chief executive, said, "We are delighted that the Squadron has chosen CHAS as their charity of the year. Rachel House costs £1.7 million a year to run, and at this time, when we are fundraising for a second much-needed children's' hospice, we are especially appreciative of this generous donation."

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