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airborne_artist
19th Jun 2009, 10:58
Anyone care to name the oldest flying instructor still working? Whoever he/she is, they'll struggle to beat John Davies (http://www.leeflyingservices.co.uk/Instruction.htm) of Lee Flying Services :ok:

ShyTorque
19th Jun 2009, 11:33
But I heard on the radio news only this morning that the oldest man in the world is thought to be only 113 (a WW1 veteran).

airborne_artist
19th Jun 2009, 11:37
They clearly don't know about Mr D, then :ok:

Rodent1982
19th Jun 2009, 11:45
Wow, I wonder if he trained the Wright brothers.

Rodent1982
19th Jun 2009, 11:47
Power - Attitude - Trim!

Pull back, and cows get smaller, forward, and we'll have roast beef tonight.

flybymike
19th Jun 2009, 12:15
Pull back too far and cows get bigger again.

kevmusic
19th Jun 2009, 15:46
If oldness and boldness are mutually exclusive, Mr. D. must rank with the positively petrified!

Deeday
19th Jun 2009, 16:58
Wow, I wonder if he trained the Wright brothers.He may well have trained the Montgolfier brothers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgolfier_brothers), and he must have been already in his hundred and nineties, when they flew their first balloon.

Lister Noble
19th Jun 2009, 18:08
The CFI who taught mew to fly has well over 50 years professional flying experience.

callum91
19th Jun 2009, 19:43
Nothing compared to Mr Davies then! :)

Rodent1982
19th Jun 2009, 19:58
He may well have trained the Montgolfier brothers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgolfier_brothers), and he must have been already in his hundred and nineties, when they flew their first balloon.

Nay my friend. It's just states how many years instructor experience he has. Doesn't tell us how old he was when he became a qualified FI. Maybe he's gone through evolution from a bird to man...

sycamore
19th Jun 2009, 21:12
Must be a Dead-loss then..(Daedalus, geddit,guy who told Icarus to stay in the circuit on his first solo !) Bloody students-never do as they are told-wannabees!!

LH2
19th Jun 2009, 21:57
Well, seeing as the first FI ratings were only issued about 90 years ago, he must have travelled to the future for much of his instructing career. :cool:

Whirlygig
19th Jun 2009, 22:04
Perhaps he instructed without a rating? :}

Cheers

Whirls

Molesworth 1
20th Jun 2009, 14:59
I met one at Stapleford who is in his '80s

Then again, according to the fly leaf of my edition of "Stick and Rudder" the author Wolfgang Langewieshe "first soloed in 1834 in Chicago"!

BHenderson
20th Jun 2009, 18:17
Nothing compared to Mr Davies, but one CFI in the North is in the region of 73 last time I counted and is still blitzing his class 1! He had to stop using his cane a few years ago now.

IFMU
21st Jun 2009, 01:13
The oldest instructor I had the pleasure of flying with was Rudi Opitz, who hung up instructing for my old glider club in his early 90's. A mere 70 or so years under his belt, falls a little short of Mr. Davies but was phenomenal none the less.

-- IFMU

PatagonianProud
21st Jun 2009, 03:12
Evelyn Johnson Was Born In 1909
Has 58,000 Hours , More Than Any Woman, Has Given More Endorsements Etc Than Any Other Cfi And Last Renewed Her Medical In 2003 At The Age Of 94 And Last Renewed Her Cfi Ticket At The Age Of 95 In 2004 !!! She Currently Works As The Airport Manager Of Morristown Tn

MartinCh
25th Jun 2009, 01:38
58k TT, OMG. That's 6.62 years of non-stop flying time. Think the only time she used legs to 'move around' was to get to airport and doing pre/postflight.
If you consider this was probably career instructor, the time is even more mind-boggling. Those LH airline guys logging +-10h PIC or SIC for 20min hand flying and rest of it 'flight management'.

Fake Sealion
25th Jun 2009, 10:24
Airborne Artist - you should know this one!

It must surely have been the instructors at the RN Chipmunk flying grading course at Plymouth!:ok:

Dave Gittins
25th Jun 2009, 10:24
The oldest FI I know is good 'ole Rudy Welch at American Aviation nr Colorado Springs.

When he did my FR a couple of years back he admitted to having done a little instructing in the UK during WW II.

He is one wonderful guy

hollywood285
26th Jun 2009, 20:21
hope i reach that age never mine be flying!!!
lol

Say again s l o w l y
27th Jun 2009, 00:33
Oldest FI I know is Dick Fox. Must be in his late 80's and still takes no rubbish from anyone!