Again, not someone with a lesser-known past as an aviator, but Brian Lecomber's 'Dead Weight' is a cracking thriller... Very much in the Dick Francis vein, and with the attraction that the flying elements of the book are not impossible works of a fiction author's mind, but very credible.
He also wrote 'Turn Killer' and 'Talk Down' which I enjoyed. I thnk it's rather a shame he hasn't written more...