From
Wiki:
" He was then a journalist for the
Financial Times before serving with the
Royal Air Force, during which he flew
Meteor and
Vampire jets and once had to break open the cockpit canopy of a burning
Meteor 8 aircraft to escape from it.
[5] On leaving the RAF he joined
BOAC in 1953 as a pilot, during which time he was an official in the
British Air Line Pilots' Association. He flew
Argonauts,
Britannias and the
Boeing 707."