Blood & Ashes
Duncan Bickley
- Regions:
- Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, London, Surrey, Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire
- Notice Period:
- Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
- Type:
- Professional
- Fee:
- Paid: Starting at £50, increasing with distance, inconvenience and time.
- Category:
- Travel
- Updated:
- 10th September 2026
- Tagged:
- Volcanoes | Ash Cloud | Blood Doning | Helicopters
This talk combines two adventures I had in helicopters during my career. "Blood" refers to the Pledge-a -Pint Tour which we undertook to raise awareness of the need to recruit new blood donors. We flew around the coast of the UK mainland and stopped off at hospitals and blood centres trying to get new donors signed up. Ashes refers to the crucial role my company played in getting the total embargo on flights lifted after the Icelandic Volcanic Ash Cloud shut down all Atlantic commercial air travel.
Views: 49 | Enquiries: 0About Duncan Bickley
I am a retired Commercial Helicopter Pilot, Instructor, Examiner and Instructor Trainer with over 20 years and 7,500 hours of onshore helicopter flying experience. I ran my own helicopter company based at Cambridge airport for most of my career and flew sorties that included commercial charter, photography and filming tasks, geographical surveys and critical component delivery. In addition to being a pilot I have worked in Merchant Banking, as a DJ, MC, Entertainer and Event Commentator and I am also a serial quiz show contestant.
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by Duncan Bickley
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