Met Dick several times over the years....including doing a couple of air tests in a Chippy with him..."interesting ride"
.....last met about a year ago over dinner in a Bicester pub....conversation ranged from his opinions of MTBF...he worked on the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it " principle and a detailed explanation of the primitive "Q" feel sytems he worked on. The meal was quite good as well
Watched his delight once when he found a bogus part..Chipmunk rudder trim cable...and off he went with a huge grin on his face.
A very practical engineer whose contribution to UK aviation will be sorely missed.