Captain John Fairey

[Dangerousdave]

Captain Fairey was at Waddington Airshow displaying a Percival Provost and was killed flying the Provost when he left the airshow.

[Spitfire]

Sad news - I think this stands copying here .....

Captain John Fairey DL. Vice President of the Historic Aircraft Association.

We sadly have to record that Captain John Fairey, Vice President of the HAA, lost his life in a flying accident on Wednesday 8th July 2009, while returning from RAF Waddington, where he had been displaying a Percival Provost aeroplane.

John was an experienced and highly respected aviator and display pilot, with a deep fund of knowledge on both flying and engineering vintage aircraft.

The son of Sir Richard Fairey, the founder of the Fairey Aircraft Company, John was born in 1935 and first obtained a PPL on seaplanes in Canada. Subsequently, he was trained on Chipmunks and Harvards by the Cambridge University Air Squadron.

For most of his flying career he flew for airlines, namely Cambrian Airways, British Airways and Channel Express Air Services. The aircraft that he flew included the DC3, Viscount, BAC-111, Herald and Fokker F27.

He was also involved with various forms of general aviation including flying instruction, aerial survey, air taxi and banner towing. From 1978 to 1980, he flew DC3s for the Rhodesian Air Force.

John was involved in display flying for over forty years. The first aircraft which John flew on the display circuit was the Spitfire Trainer G-AIDN.

Following the sale of 'DN’, he organised the construction and operation of a replica of the extinct Fairey Flycatcher biplane fighter of the 1920s.

More recently, his displays with the Piston Provost and SAAB Safir were noted for their grace, precision and for showing both aeroplanes to their best advantage.

In addition to being Vice President of the HAA, John was Chairman of the Friends of the Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. He was also deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire.

John was also a staunch supporter of the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton, where his Fairey Flycatcher replica is displayed along with other products of the ‘family firm’ which were a source of particular personal pride. These include the legendary Fairey Swordfish and the Fairey Delta 2, which in 1957 claimed for Britain, the title of the fastest aeroplane in the world.

Eye witnesses are reported to have said the engine was on fire - 'like a roman candle' before the crash.

[Saracenman]

very sad

sm

[Gully]

Sad news indeed.

Gully

[Mayfly]

John was a well known and respected display pilot. Very sad news

he was the son of Sir Richard Fairey, the founder of the Fairey Aircraft Company,

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/Queen39s--envoy-dies-in.5450552.jp

[Wedgy]

Very sad indeed

[Mackrick]

Very sad. A great loss of a display from the display circuit