We have a new member of the team to introduce you to this week. To say we get all types of people coming to work with us is a slight understatement. Dean Johnson has his own business as a light aircraft valet engineer. He valets light aircraft, private jets and helicopters and has been doing so for about 9 years.

He had been working as a part of the fire crew at Tollerton Airport when in his down time he started to clean cars that were parked up. His work on the cars was so appreciated that the pilots started to ask him if would consider cleaning their aircraft.

Two of the regular pilots gifted Dean £1,000 to go and buy his first van and the business has taken off from there.

Dean now cleans aircraft at East Midlands Airport, Tollerton, Gamston and Darley Moor. He has mostly regular customers and regularly cleans the aircraft of 30 people. AT the weekend he will also clean the cars of the pilots and usually those of their neighbours too!

Dean, as he puts it will ‘happily paint a white wall black and a black wall white, but not a white wall white…’ By which we think he means that he likes to see a difference in the work that he does.

Dean gave us a call- as many people do telling us just how much he likes tanks. He went on to ask if we needed any volunteers to help with the restoration side of the business. Well, we certainly do! A person who loves cleaning things, likes to see vehicles restored to their former glory and loves to polish metal- yes, Dean, we have some tasks for you to complete!

On average, Dean valets 2-3 planes per week, although he has had weeks far far busier than that!

Dean has always wanted his own tank, but they are not cheap things to own- nor easy to ‘garage’ in an average house on an average housing estate! Instead, he has found us here at Armourgeddon and has started to come and see us on his day off in the week- usually a Monday.

Dean has been working on our T55 tank. T-55 tanks are a series of Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) although not recognised as an MBT by Soviet and Russian sources, instead classifying them as Medium Tanks that were designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just as the Second World War ended. The T-54 entered full production in 1947 and became the main tank for armoured units of the Soviet Army, armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and others. T-54s and T-55s were involved in many of the world's armed conflicts during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Dean is about two thirds of the way through needle-gunning the turret of our T55 which means there is a lot more tank to strip the paint from! The T55 has been taken back down to the workshop for Dean to work on for the next few months and we are hoping to have it fully restored within the next six months.

Dean had found a niche when he discovered a hanger full of dirty planes to clean for his day job. He has now found a perfect hobby, bringing Skye his beautiful Alaskan Malamute dog down to the farm to play whilst he cleans tanks.

Having been a chauffer, a truck driver, a taxi driver and a valet engineer for Porsche GB in Reading during his career to date, Dean loves his volunteering work at Armourgeddon and we are excited by the prospect of a shining T55 by the time he is finished!