RIP John "Awacs" Wilson

[chequePilot]

John Patterson Wilson, a.k.a. "Awacs" passed away last week in Trinidad after flying for 32 1/2 years , having arrived in Dec 1976 .

John was a Bristow pilot and flew out of Galeota for 14 years before resigning to join National Helicopter Services Ltd, where he flew for a further 18 1/2 years up to the time of his passing which was quite sudden.

Bristow pilots who served in Trinidad between 1977 and 1989 would recall the many laughs that John would provide such as walking between the crewhouses in his white uniform shirt and black shoes with a towel wrapped around his waist at 2:00am while doing laundry.

Prior to coming to Trinidad, John flew in the Middle East and served in Vietnam.

The passing of another Bristow great. Rest in peace John and hope the fishing is better !

[Alan Biles]

Sorry to hear that. John was a real character.

There was some particularly bad weather offshore Galeota Point and John was the only pilot airborne while the weather blew through. The CP, whose name escapes me, called him up and asked how the storm was and John replied, "What storm?"

At the time he was single pilot in a fixed-float equipped 205. The name 'awacs' may have stemmed from that episode.

He was sometimes known as 'cherry-lips' too but only during Carnival.:)

RIP John

[C.C.C.]

Worked alongside John at Galeota from 1986 to 1988.

There is a story behind the 'Awacs' nickname but I cannot remember it now.

Always remember the famous line from John that he had more hours 'In Flames' (having survived 2 tours in Vietnam) than we had 'IF' - we were talking about Instrument Flying hours then.

I trust that you have some great fishing now.

RIP John.

[flyer43]

I enjoyed some amusing fishing trips with John in the boat he owned at Galeota Point. 3 of us went out in his boat one evening to fish near Poui (?) Alpha flare. We spent quite a few hours wandering around without any bites at all, then saw some dolphins splashing around, which probably explained the lack of fish for us. We all moved to the back of the boat and John opened up the throttle, aiming for the two lights at the bar where he moored his boat. We could see little else on the way back as it was so dark, but we did hear two loud thumps at the front of the boat while we motored in. On arrival at the mooring we found that two flying fish had jumped into the boat to make up for the lack of success we had earlier!
I'm sure that John is flying with the fish himself by now as it was one of his real passions.

John was also one of the few pilots that I base-checked who had to prove that he could fly with the AFCS on. From his time in NAM he preferred not to rely on stab systems as they invariably failed in combat arenas. He still flew with his seat fully down, his right arm out like a ramrod and the AFCS switched off. He could fly better than most with the stab in, so part of the test I gave him was to demonstrate that he could cope with a "reverse failure", ie, the unlikely happening that the AFCS would cut in! It was not a problem of course.

Happy fishing John.

[chequePilot]

CCC, if memory serves me correct, john was on final approach to pad 2 or 3 at Galeota when he observed a Caiman(local alligator) in a pond , just as he crossed the shoreline, and called it in.

Fred Kissinger, the Chief Pilot then remarked that if you could see an alligator, you're too damn low !

The name "awacs" was born. Best "SFENA" off pilot I ever flew with.

Lots of funny moments at the crew house in Haji Khan.

Probably trying to get Alan Bristow into fishing right now.

[flysmart2]

I found today, that another gentleman of the air has departed, for those of us who had the fortune to have met and work with him. I never went fishing with him, but for sure will miss his distinctive Scottish accent while giving position reports to Galeota radio on 130.10

Adios amigo ! :D

Flysmart2

[brownell01]

Very sad to read about John Wilson's passing. Also worked with him at Galeota with Bristow's flying the 205's on fixed floats and 212's. The old guard is slowly being whittled down.

RIP John.

PS. Am glad to see that Alan Biles is still bashing about.

[Christopher Maingot]

I crewed many times with John during 1990-92 at NHSL. John would quite often be offered a nice meal for lunch by the staff on the Pelican platform, who obviously knew and appreciated him and, it usually meant a plate for me as well. The last flights in were especially worth it too...it would most times mean a large cup of Trini coconut ice cream, and good conversation for the return trip. John was probably one of the most laid back "easy going" people I have worked with, and he obviously enjoyed the whole concept of flying in a place like Trinidad. There were many times that John would offer to stay, to do the ground runs for the evening compressor washes, and regardless of my objections and assurances that it was my turn, he would insist that I could go home.
I will always have these wonderful memories of having met and worked with John Wilson...God blessed you John.

[24126559]

I am Johns cousin, I am looking for any information you may have on his life/death, he was estranged from his family in Scotland for reasons that have been lost to the mists of time, thanks for your time, Ian McLaren.