John Fairey (1935 – 2009) – Vice President
John Fairey first obtained a PPL on seaplanes in Canada. Subsequently, he was trained on Chipmunks and Harvards by the Cambridge University Air Squadron.
The second son of Sir Richard Fairey, who founded the Fairey Aviation Company in 1915, John was born in 1935 at Iver Heath, and educated at Eton and Magdalene College.
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 were DC3s, Viscounts, BAC-111s, Heralds & F27s. He was also involved with various forms of General Aviation such as basic flying instruction, aerial survey, air taxi and banner towing. From 1978 to 1980, he flew DC3s for the Rhodesian Air Force.
He was involved in display flying for over forty years. The first aircraft which he flew on the display circuit was the Spitfire Trainer G-AIDN. Following the sale of ‘DN’, he organised the construction, and then operated, the Fairey Flycatcher replica which is now in the Fleet Air Arm Museum.
John was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.
Captain John Fairey, died flying his vintage Percival Provost when it crashed in a field as he returned from RAF Waddington, where it had been part of the ground display at the base’s annual 2009 international air show. A full obituary may be found at www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/air-force-obituaries/5895456/Captain-John-Fairey.html