Jonathan Smith

Former member of Armed Forces, and now a RAFAC instructor, husband father and friend for life

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

Raising funds today for a group dear to our hearts, RAFAC, community 🇬🇧

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@Rowetta we thank you for the show and the joy you bring along with @shedseven

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@shedseven @Ricktw1tter Not a bad pic by me, even if I say so myself🌈

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@Ricktw1tter thanks very much for the shout out tonight for our 25th anniversary. Lisa was a very happy lady so that’s me in the good books for a bit anyway 😉👍

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@Ricktw1tter Hi could I please get a shout out on Friday in Castlefield Bowl? My wife Lisa has put up with me for 25 years (Silver wedding anniversary) and made me the happiest man alive!

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@MurWalls @petercrouch @Courtney_Neary Actual size too 1:1 scale

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@NickLFC82 @Davolaar @Robbie9Fowler Yes mate and in the 70s and 80s we just walked the ground and paid on the turnstiles, On the Kop stood on a stool so I could see the match, imagine taking a home made wooden stool to the match now 😂

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@unionjackclub Ujc socks it to em! Best accom in London for vets and serving 🇬🇧

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@elonmuskTN Reverse

[BritishArmySingh @BritArmySingh]

Sikhs and Gurkhas ⚔️ #BritishArmy #Sikh #Gurkha #WeWillRememberThem

[Ian Mc @McGlynnimino]

Liverpool are going to be the first team in the history of football to win the league without playing anyone.

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@unionjackclub The only place we stay in London 🙏👍🇬🇧

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@NickLFC82 Came from an Oxford University study says 1 in 100 head of population is an illegal immigrate in the U.K. 1 in 600 in France and so on. U.K. came out with highest figure. Doesn’t only include those who came over in boats but others whose visas have expired etc.

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

I've #justdonated to Zoe's Place Baby Hospice - Liverpool on JustGiving. Donate on @justgiving and support this great cause https://t.co/TTTq3hreGA

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@Ricktw1tter You guys are the talk of the town 🌈 🍻

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@AnfieldWatch 9 out of 12

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@NickLFC82 @StephenNolan Peaceful and tranquil, give me a break! I know lads who came back from that tranquil place forever changed by what they bore witness to.

[Jonathan Smith @Smith063]

@RadioCityLeanne Thanks for making the changes to this mornings show Leanne most appropriate.

[floridanow1 @floridanow1]

@Morbidful We should use this technology, seems to make sense.

In Switzerland, a mobile overpass bridge is used to carry out road work without stopping traffic.

[Irish Ranger (Sevvy) @VeteranIrish]

Help! I'm flying blind: RAF hero guides down 65-year-old pilot unable to see after a stroke.

A pilot who suffered a stroke at the controls of his light plane found himself totally blind at 15,000ft.

Jim O'Neill, 65, was alone in the cockpit of his four-seater Cessna and frantically radioed a mayday alert.
Air traffic controllers attempted to guide him to the nearest airfield, Full Sutton, near York.

But so complete was his loss of vision that it proved to be an impossible task. Thankfully, an RAF Tucano used for training military pilots was already in the air and was soon alongside the stricken pilot.
Having established radio contact Mr O'Neill was ordered to turn left and right, go lower or straighten up.
He was guided the 15 miles to RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire and after three failed attempts he touched down.
'I should not be alive,' said Mr O'Neill, from Marks Tey, near Colchester, Essex.
'I owe my life - and those of dozens of people I could have crash-landed on - to the RAF.
From his hospital bed in Romford, where he is undergoing tests, he added: It was terrifying.
Suddenly I couldn't see the dials in front of me.
All there was in front of me was a blur. I was helpless at the controls.'
The astonishing drama happened as Mr O'Neill headed for Earls Colne airbase in Colchester after taking off from Glasgow Prestwick airport following a holiday in Scotland.

The stroke put pressure on his optic nerves, rendering him completely blind.
Fit Lt Terry O'Brien, Linton's Air Traffic Control Officer, said: When Mr O Neill contacted us we knew he had a vision problem but we thought he had been dazzled by the sun.
'He just kept apologising for not being able to land. He kept saying he couldn't see the airfield but I didn't realise he was blind.

'He came in but missed the runway, even though we are on a massive airfield.
'We then realised he couldn't see the runway and clearly the problem was getting bigger and bigger.
Wing Commander Paul Gerrard, 42, a former Tornado display pilot, was then contacted in the Tucano.

He flew within 300ft of the Cessna and guided it down. It landed at high speed, bounced twice and stopped at the very end of the runway.
Group Captain Mark Hopkins, station commander at Linton-on-Ouse, said: 'The RAF has the best pilots and air traffic controllers in the world.
'Shepherding aircraft in this way is something we do from time to time, but this is a very strange case.
Mr O'Neill runs a travel, hotel and conference booking agency.
Doctors are confident some vision will be restored when the swelling in his brain recedes.
His wife, Eileen, 63, said: 'It's a miracle Jim is here today. The RAF are heroes. They were so cool and calm and talked Jim down. Without them, he wouldn't be alive.

'We are a very religious family and I believe there was an angel on his shoulder as he came in to land, helping Jim alongside the RAF crew.'

Credit: Paul Sims for MailOnline
07 Nov 2008,