Paul Bonhomme

Paul Bonhomme (born 22 September 1964) is a British aerobatics and commercial airliner pilot and owner/race pilot of Team Bonhomme, the Red Bull Air Race World Champion for 2015.

Paul Bonhomme
Born (1964-09-22) 22 September 1964
NationalityUnited Kingdom
Websiteteambonhomme.com https://www.facebook.com/teambonhomme55

Racing career

Bonhomme was born into a family of aviators. His father was an airline pilot and his mother worked as a flight attendant. His brother is a commercial pilot.

Bonhomme's flying career started in 1980 at White Waltham Airfield as a general dogsbody by cleaning hangars, polishing aircraft and refuelling aircraft.

Bonhomme in the 2010 Red Bull Air Race

At age 18 he gained his Private Pilot Licence taking first the FAA licence at Redbird Airfield near Dallas, Texas and subsequently became a flight instructor. In 1985 he became an air taxi pilot and in 1987 joined Air Cymru, a Welsh charter airline, flying the Boeing 737. He now flies as a captain of Boeing 747s for British Airways.

His aerobatics career started in 1986, flying an Ultimate Pitts. He went on to fly the Yak-50, Extra 300 and then the Sukhoi Su-26 in 1991 for Richard Goode Aerobatics. He has flown over 650 public displays and flies vintage fighters for "The Old Flying Machine Company" at Duxford Aerodrome.

Aircraft types Bonhomme has flown include the Supermarine Spitfire (MkV, MkIX, MkIXT and MkXIV), Hawker Hurricane, P-40 Kittyhawk, F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-63 Kingcobra, P-51 Mustang and AD-4 Skyraider.

Since 1994 he has been flying formation displays around the world with his colleague former Air Race pilot and Television commentator Steve Jones as "The Matadors". They won three gold medals and one silver medal in the FAI series. He has competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship from its inception in 2003 until 2015, achieving an unsurpassed record of 46 podium finishes out of 65 races that includes 19 race wins.

Awards

In 2010 Paul was awarded the Guild Sword of Honour by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.

Bonhomme was the 2009 recipient of the Segrave Trophy.[1]

Personal life

Bonhomme's hobbies include flying his own Robinson R22 Helicopter. He is married with a stepson and three daughters, living in South Cambridgeshire, England.

Paul Bonhomme
at the Red Bull Air Race World Championship
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Points Wins Rank
2003
3rd
NC		 0 0 NC
2004
6th
7th
6th		 2 0 8th
2005
6th
7th
3rd
3rd
5th
3rd
5th		 17 0 5th
2006
7th
8th
6th
CAN
2nd
2nd
1st
3rd
2nd		 26 1 4th
2007
3rd
1st
2nd
2nd
CAN
1st
2nd
3rd
3rd
1st
CAN
5th		 47 3 2nd
2008
1st
1st
2nd
CAN
1st
7th
3rd
10th
CAN
1st		 54 4 2nd
2009
2nd
2nd
1st
2nd
1st
1st		 67 3 1st
2010
1st
3rd
3rd
2nd
1st
2nd
CAN
CAN		 64 2 1st
2014
1st
2nd
5th
5th
1st
5th
7th
5th		 51 2 3rd
2015
1st
1st
8th
2nd
1st
2nd
1st
2nd		 76 4 1st

(* Season still in progress)

Legend:

  • CAN: Cancelled
  • DNP: Did not participate
  • DNS: Did not show
  • DQ: Disqualified
  • NC: Not classified

See also

References
  1. "Paul Bonhomme Receives Segrave Trophy". Life magazine. 28 June 2010. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2010.

[1]

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Hannes Arch		 Red Bull Air Race World Series Champion
2009–2010		 Succeeded by
Nigel Lamb
(2014)
Preceded by
Allan McNish		 Segrave Trophy
2009		 Succeeded by
Adrian Newey
  1. http://www.redbullairrace.com/en_GB/article/bonhomme-hall-and-arch-make-2015-wc-podium
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