I heard the news via mail from places as far apart as Auckland and London.
I first met the dear lad on Lancasters. On my 3rd training trip, after taxying to dispersal and parking, I was one of the first out. The groundcrew Chiefy said "Mr Shorthouse your pilot son?" I wondered how he knew until he took me round the front and showed the 13 seagulls in the 4 Merlins. Then I remembered the radar homing on a Cruise Liner that terminated in Paddy's call of "Look, popsies on the poop deck" followed by a lot of dull thuds. A practical demonstration of the fact that seagulls can always be found around the stern of a ship within 100nms of land.
Many more stories were stored after that.
When I started an Association to maintain the memory of the Lancaster's grandson/daughter, he was one of the first to join in 1987. Over the years he has been a friend to me, exactly as described by others in this thread.
Two lovely lights have left the world.
JohnB