We sadly have to record that Captain John Fairey DL, Vice President of the HAA, lost his life in a flying accident on Wednesday 8th July 2009. He had been returning from RAF Waddington, where he had displayed 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.
16/7/2009. Funeral Information has been announced:
John’s burial will be on Tuesday 21st July 2009 at 3pm at Bossington and is for family only.
There will be a Memorial Service at Romsey Abbey 18 September ’09 at
11am to which all are invited.