Fields had far more to do with VS than has been implied so far;
"It was not Richard Branson’s idea that he should own an airline. The idea was brought to him by Randolph Fields, a 31 year old barrister, who owned a ‘paper’ airline, British Atlantic, which had applied for a license to fly Gatwick to Newark airport in New Jersey, which is close to New York City. Fields had applied for the right to fly on a route that had been vacant since the collapse of Laker Airways two years previously. Fields had examined the feasibility of a new transatlantic airline and had made enquiries about purchasing aircraft. Fields, however, had no money to establish the airline.
For Virgin to move into the airline business did not make sense. Branson knew nothing about airlines. all of the expertise at Virgin was based generally on the entertainment business and specifically the record industry. Virgin had grown by a process of related diversification and so a move into airlines would be a radical departure. there was also the risk that the large investments needed to establish a presence in the airline business could ultimately force Virgin to bankruptcy. Nevertheless, Branson was persuaded of the attractiveness of the proposition and within a week of meeting, Branson and Fields agreed to be partners.
Field’s original concept had been of a dedicated business class service between London and New York. But Branson was uneasy with the notion believing that it did not have the right image from Virgin’s point of view. Instead he preferred the idea of a cut-price airline, partly because discounting was what Virgin had been built on. the American cut-price airline People Express had recently become successfully established as a transatlantic carrier and research convinced Branson that the market was big enough to support two cut-price carriers. also Branson came to believe that an airline was not that far removed from the principle of expanding into related businesses. In running a cut-price operation the potential customers would be the same people, young, mobile, relatively affluent - who for years had been buying records by Virgin artists in Virgin record shops. More recently they would have been buying Virgin books and videos and watching Virgin Films.
The agreement between Branson and Fields, drawn up in April 1984, gave Fields responsibility for the day-to-day running of the airline, while Branson considered the broader picture. Branson soon became disillusioned with Field’s ability to run his side of the operation and in September 1984, Virgin and Fields agreed that his contract should be terminated, with a sum of £125,000 paid in compensation. Fields remained a director and shareholder in Virgin Atlantic until an agreement was reached in 1985 to buy out his share holding for £1m, he was also given unlimited free travel on Virgin Atlantic. Branson now had total control of the airline."
Sadly, Randolph Fields died about 3-4 years ago. He lived in Jersey and was only in his late forties.