Your most memorable QFI

[airborne_artist]

As a natural extension of the "First Solo" thread, who was your most memorable QFI?
Mine was Flt Lt Brian Skillicorn (brief bio here) (http://www.area51aviation.co.uk/eagles9.html) - not my regular QFI at RN EFTS, but on the few occaisions I flew with him I had a real workout and came back a much better pilot. :ok:
Marcus MacDonald was one of his regular studes on my course, and worshipped him. Marcus was killed in a mid-air on March 6th 1981.

BEagle wrote:
"1st ever:Chipmunk WP974, 14 Jun 69, ULAS White Waltham. TVM Jerry Brown!"
'twas Jerry who also sent me solo in Feb 1970. Wasn't he a character! The ULAS professional Fg Off QFI who refused to do his 'B' exam, allegedly. Later left the RAF to join BEA, I gather.
The days when 'characters' were allowed in the RAF........

___________________________________________________________

Edit: I've just read Brian's bio again, and see that he became a Sgt Pilot in 1963 on Whirlwinds - when did the RAF stop training NCO pilots?

[BEagle]

Sqn Ldr Andy Whittaker! He was ULAS CFI when Jerry was there. I think he once taught navy pilots to fly Seafires, amongst the many other things he'd done.

He'd ask you a question about flying the Chippie and then say (of your answer) "That isn't entirely wrong" in a gently teasing manner.

Or, when flying over some obscure patch of mud "I used to fly (....)s there!"

Another gem, concerning PFLs. "Don't worry too much about the checks, just fly the aeroplane. I forget the checks completely during my first 3 real forced landings!"

And I don't think I ever heard him raise his voice once.

[Pass-A-Frozo]

Downunder here I had an instructor threaten to command eject me if I didn't hold my altitude in a steep turn.. :D

[Matt Skrossa]

Concur with AA regarding Brian Skillicorn, top bloke. Also enjoyed being taught to fly the Bulldog by Flt Lt Bob Cole, ex TP and spitfire pilot in the BoB film. I still remember his 'Show me some of your spaz aeros' call! Whilst on the subject of QFIs at RNEFTS we must include Flt Lt Pete Freddi, sadly no longer with us, but he loved flying and loved teaching it too and must have taught a whole generation of FAA pilots the basics.

p.s. Can we include QHIs too, or should there be a separate thread??

I'll start with Trevor Lockwood!

[airborne_artist]

Can we include QHIs too, or should there be a separate thread??

I'll start with Trevor Lockwood!

Yep, QHIs also count. Trevor Lockwood, short, dark, bearded - was a trapper when I was at 705? Good guy. What about Nige North on the accordian? Very quiet in the a/c, even when I made a Gazelle behave like a kangaroo on an EOL. Fire crews rolled for that one, but only my drinks tab took much damage. :E

Flew with Flt Lt Pete Freddi a few times too - laid back, good laugh afterwards in the bar. A smoker of the old school.

[L J R]

Pass a Frozo, did it work??

Every QFI has his method!!

[Tonkenna]

Sqn Ldr "Wacky" Wheeler at Cranwell... CGI when I was there in the late 80s. He scared the life out of me!!!! "Party in my office, tomorrow morning... Bring your own hat!!". Ahhh, those were the days:}

Also Shacky Ford... helped me out no end. I clearly remember the 45 minute debrief where he tried to tell me I was not going fast jet any more... lovely bloke!! He was so worried about it... I was just relieved to be honest :)

Tonks:)

[Pass-A-Frozo]

Pass a Frozo, did it work??

Every QFI has his method!! of course not... like everyone else I knew a command ejection would eject him too.. :}

[Cornish Jack]

Re. Brian Skillicorn
I had the pleasure of serving with him at D Sqn Boscombe Down. Apart from being a nice bloke, his demo of reverse figure-of-eight hover taxy in the piston engined Whirlwind (manual throttle!!) was co-ordination at a level I could only marvel at. Super bloke.

[Bob Viking]

The one and only TCL at Valley.
Not memorable in a good way though.
You all know who I mean!
BV:E

[idle stop]

BEagle: got to concurr on Andy Whitaker.
Now what about Ces Crook? He was a fantastic personality, A1 QFI in every sense, and the most glorious p*** artist too. There's also the matter of a missing train in Germany, on which he was either P1 or P u/t.....
Last heard of in NZ.
My most memorable QHI? Has to be Derek Jones. Derek is also one of the very few to be an A1 QFI/A1 QHI, if I remember rightly. I had the privilege of being introduced to the craft of SAR by him....not his fault I went off to be a SH pilot! Later I had the pleasure of working with him in the civilian world.
He is still instructing and examining up in the ABZ area.

[PileUp Officer]

A certain AAC SSgt QHI with a popular Welsh name was an absolute twunt.
Went out of his way to be picky about terminology in the extreme, confirmed things like windscreen wiper switches about 3 times before pressing, wrote wildly inaccurate reports at times and was generally just an all round bad instructor.
Everyone I spoke to knew about it and he was universally recognised as the worst instructor there.
He seemed to have a serious chip on his shoulder regarding young officers.
A certain AAC Lieutenant 'gripped' him though and terminated the flight because he was being massively anal. :p
Shame that the young Plt Offs and 'Middies' didn't have the balls to do the same, maybe that would have sorted the problem out.
I'm not bitter :rolleyes:

[Airbedane]

I also have to concur with Beagle on Jerry Brown and Andy Whittaker, both feature in my log book, and both made a longlasting impression.......

We mustn't forget Chris Booth, either - were you there the night he drank the loving cup, Beagle. I've never seen anyone look so grey the morniong after and still be able to walk. AW sent him back to bed as soon as met brief was over. There was also Herb Sutcliff, not a QFI, but an instant party where ever he went. I believe it was his crab apple wine which gave the bath in the block a non-stick surface. Happy days!

[threepointonefour]

BW, Linton circa '87-89. Memorable for all the wrong reasons.

[Jackonicko]

Gliding: Air Commodore Bernard Brownlow

UAS: Squadron Leaders Don Merriman, Colin Patterson, 'Slob' O Brien, and Jock Byrne.

[spekesoftly]

I wonder if anyone can guess who?

Various anecdotal tales involving camels, hunters, a morgan three-wheeler, an overseas dining-in night, a shot-gun, and in the late 60s he drove a red MGA twin-cam.

My first, and most memorable QFI!

[jindabyne]

D H-H ??????

[spekesoftly]

:ok:.....................................

[teeteringhead]

Has to be D H-H! I got collateral damage the night he tested a pint pot to destruction on the PMC's head..... I was a stude on the same squadron when he was a QFI but he's not in my log book.....

[BEagle]

No, Airbedane, I wasn't there when Boot yammed the loving cup. But I heard all about it from the guys who'd seen it!

Herb and that infernal bath - it took the skin off your bum it was so rough after he'd tried to make that $odding wine in it. Ran into him some years ago flying an F-4 back from ASI to UK; he'd made it back to F-Js after being a Herc driver for many years.

How's the Comet coming along?

[STANDTO]

Airborne Artist & Cornish Jack

I am in regular contact with Brian, especially when he works out where the on button is on the computer! Got to know him a few years ago through Prune, when it turns out he flew with an old mate of mine on Hercs. A quality, multi-talented geezer! He hails from the Rock, so can't be all bad!!!

[cazatou]

Tempus Fugit

Mine were Master Pilots!

[Farfrompuken]

Mr Viking,

Would have to most whole-heartliy agree with you. Reckon there's a couple of generations of pilots who have less than fond memories of That CL!

[Cougar]

PAF, i preferred the "Punishment G" under tha bag when you got too close to the edge of airspace.

"Taking over" then continuous 5G Max Rate turns.

"Now, why did we go so close to busting airspace??"

I could never answer as i was breathless at the time and my head had just cracked against the canopy :} The ol' helmet took a bit of a battering.

[ACW599]

UWAS 1973: Sqn Ldr S W T Steve Holding and Flt Lts Peter Skinner, Dave Johnson and Chris Lumb, top blokes all. Emphatically not Steve Holding's successor, an Aussie tosser whose name I've forgotten (Bryan? Bryant?).

[foldingwings]

D H-H! Now there's a legend! Never was my QFI (would have been rather difficult for him to have been) but he was my 'example to follow' when I did Orderly Officer Under Instruction as part of my IOTC at the Aircrew Officer Training School at Church Fenton in 1969. That was about the time of his 2nd court martial, this time for (allegedly) blowing a beer mug out of the S Ed O's hand with a well-aimed shot from his 'blunderbus' from the bar door!!!!What a bl00dy character! I wonder what he would be saying now about his policy on training Iraqi students that were on Chippie PFS at CF then!

If you will permit me, as a Nav, to recount my own Q (small f) I on this CFS-focused thread. Mine would be Flt Lt Reg Drown (ex Master & Spitfire Pilot); my pilot Nav Instructor on JP3s at 6 FTS at Finningley in 1970 during the pre-Bucc LL course. We had 2 low-level areas to plan our sorties in: LFA 11 (North Yorks); and LFA 8 (Derby Dales).

Reg to FW on first introduction: "Don't waste your time planning sorties to LFA 11, 'cos I ain't flying over the f:mad: in' Humber with a name like mine!"

Classic!

[Swifty_N]

If i put the chap who sent me solo do i get to do that nav route on the next course...you know who i mean! :)

[Cornish Jack]

STANDTO
When you next contact him, please send best wishes from the 'Ops Room pipe-smoker' -mid 70s:ok:

[STANDTO]

Cornish

I send Skilli an email last night with a link to this thread. He was pleased to be so fondly remembered.

The thing that amazes me is the timescale. I don't think he lets on but I am sure he had something to do with the Wright Bros early successes :)

I think the word 'capacity' is the one that sorts the very best from the merely best

[Farfrompuken]

I guess my most memorable QFI is....Me! Get to look at his ugly mug every morning! Won't leave me alone!

Other than him, I must mention Ken Fillingham (Ex-Lancs, I believe) who taught me at OATS, Kidlington, in the summer of '92 on my Fg Scholarship. Lovely bloke. Next must be H F-S - JETFS circa '97 - what a character!

TCL goes down as joint loser with VB, a French QTI who's only phrase was "Youuu arrre sheeeet!", well at least with me! Helpful words. :ugh:

LT, a fantastic artist (208 Sqn Circa '99-'00)-another A1 top bloke. Hi if you're reading this, BTW.:)

[D SQDRN 97th IOTC]

Concur with comments about Brian Skillicorn. I remember him jumping out the aircraft saying "and how do you fancy doing a circuit on your own" before he sent me on my first jet solo.

Not sure if the picture on the link is so up to date though - he was sporting a beard last time I saw him! Doesn't the helmet strap for your bike helmet get caught in that occasionally Brian?

[Fournicator]

No one has yet mentioned the legendary Dick Fallis yet, surely a pretty major oversight...........

[pma 32dd]

Most memorable.........a certain Fg Off creamie on the JP for all the wrong reasons......come the revolution....

Dick Falllis, top bloke, still in too. Always a pleasure to fly with and a gentleman too

[A2QFI]

My recollection of the D H-H blunderbuss incident is that a senior officer wished to find some excuse to get D H-H out of the bar and picked on the fact that, while dressed in No 1 uniform, he did not have the newly issued "Hi Dome" buttons on his uniform and was thus improperly dressed. H-H went back to his room, loaded his buttons into said blunderbuss and came back to the bar and fired the buttons into the ceiling.

[spekesoftly]

I guess there's bound to be a few variations after all this time - thought I heard he was having ... um .... a 'disagreement' with the bar staff over closing time, and ended up taking pop-shots at the optics!!

Whatever, I always enjoyed his instruction in the air, and he took great trouble to ensure that his studes were well versed in the York social scene!!

[small_dog]

Had the pleasure of being briefly taught by Dick, they were great flights where you learnt a lot and enjoyed yourself immensely in the process. His phrase "sh!tty lord, the engine's stopped!" which he uttered during a PFL exercise still makes me chuckle to this day when I think about it. As mentioned before, a true gent.

[cobaltfrog]

Without a doubt Charlie Brown. Not only did he teach me not to crash an aircraft (No mean feat!!) but had loads of fun going off on Navex's to Audley End where he would get me to land, he would get out, I would shut down by which time he would be firing up a Spitfire!! What a sound!

Charlie, If you are reading this - Thanks!:ok: :)

[Art Field]

My most memorable QFI was a Welsh Master pilot on the staff of CFS in the mid 60's. If you did not give an exercise back word for word as he gave it then he would reduce you to a gibbering wreck. His recovery to base technique was to do what he called "Free Let Downs". descending to cloud break without bothering Air Traffic because he always knew exactly where he was. 2knots slow on the approach and the screaming started again. Did wonders for the confidence for this ex Valiant co-pilot!!!. Thank goodness for Chas Maynard, totally the other end of the scale.

[theboywide]

I remember Lloyd Grose, Rodge Wilkin and Dick Fallis from my days at Bristol UAS. All legendary guys in their own way and great chaps!

[15thManofTain]

I remember a certain "instructor" on the island of broken dreams, remember him mostly for the wrong reasons. Still I hear he's got a ground job now.

At the other end of the scale DM from Linton, crazy face whiskers but an awesome instructor. Shame they sent him to sandy places to probably be replaced by a multi co-pilot.

[BEagle]

Yup - another plug for Dick Fallis! I knew him when he was a Hawk QFI on 63 Sqn at Chivenor when it re-opened in 1980. Wonderful place - so nice that the RAF gave it away, of course....:confused:

Not just an excellent QFI, but he was also a very skilled model engineer - and knocked up some very useful perspex gizzers to help with SAP planning etc.

[funflier44]

South Cerney, Church Fenton and Oakington 65-67.

Flt Lt Freddi on Chipmunk.
Fg Off "Hoof" Proudfoot and MP Watson the PNI on JP.
Flt Lts Pete Perry and Laurie on Varsity.

They all gave me encouragement and showed me the wonder of flying.
Something that still gives me thrill after all this time.