AJ
I had the pleasure of flying with AJ when I joined my first AAC Sqn in Detmold. These were the days before NVG and he was tasked with showing Capt apple some EOLs that night (The Sqn Comd meant PFLs but that's not what he said). AJ being a new QHI did as he was told and after the sixth Engine Off landing in a gazelle on a dark grass strip we both agreed that they were a bit sporting and we'd had enough! I wasn't at the debrief with the OC the following morning.
Bumping into him along a varied career, I had the pleasure of sharing a cockpit with him in more or less the same roles some 20 plus years later but this time in a Puma in S Armagh - oddly enough in the Mourne Mountains area. His flying skills were legend, although standardisation was not a strong point when he knew you had a little more about you than basic experience.
My endearing memory of AJ was his candour, his complete disregard for bullsh*t and the pinko-lefty-PC brigade and his warmth. He was honest and open - his strength and his weakness and he simply could not leave the f******ng TV remote alone. Remember the remote jammer at Eniskillen anyone?
I am saddened by his loss - I just assumed he would be telling dits to young 'uns well into his dotage.
My thoughts are with his family and friends. The world is poorer without AJ.