Roger Nichols first found his love of flying from birth, at two months old he flew in a Dakota DC-3 when going home from Calcutta in northeast India; he regularly flew in the Dakota until the age of 10 when his family returned to the UK. Roger joined the RAF in 1988 after flying the Bulldog at the University of London Air Squadron and realized that he really wanted to fly aircraft. Roger he went on to fly the Hercules C-130K operationally with 30 Squadron as a co-pilot and captain. Roger is currently serving at RAF Waddington on the Sentinel.
While serving as a flying instructor, Roger was accepted onto the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) flying the Dakota (possibly his first love) and the Lancaster. Roger was also selected to be a Qualified Flying Instructor on the Dakota and Lancaster, training the next generation of BBMF Bomber pilots. He was fortunate enough to be associated with the BBMF for over 8 years and privileged to fly with some veterans and meet many more. He was also honoured to pay his respects at Fred Panton's funeral by piloting the Lancaster for the fly past.
Roger was delighted to be asked at the end of 2016 to continue his association with the Lancaster by taxiing Just Jane and thoroughly enjoys the friendly family atmosphere at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.