John Farley
 

Very sad to report that John died peacefully last night.
A great man gone.....RIP

RIP Mr Farley. I hadn't seen him posting for a while and I did wonder if he was ok. A very accomplished life lived very modestly.

RIP Mr Farley, a true pioneer in the age of aviation

My heart sank when I saw the name in the post title.

I loved reading him on Pprune. You could be sure of sense.

Thanks John.

The world is a poorer place without John.
A true gentleman.

Very sad news.

Some years ago I posted a message on Pprune asking for help with a project and John Farley kindly responded. I had the pleasure of lunch with him and Mrs Farley. He was quite the most naturally intelligent and unassuming character. One of Britain's finest aviators and a true English gentleman.

RIP a very great man whose quietly stated contribution to British aviation was enormous.

I did not know him, but I certainly knew of him. A lot of wisdom consigned to the grave - sleep well Mr. F.

Terrible news. The aviation community will be poorer without him. He was an articulate and inspirational teacher, and had been a great test pilot and a persuasive advocate. But above all of that, he was a warm-hearted, quietly genial, generous-spirited and lovely bloke.

Very sad news indeed. God Bless you John +

So very sad to hear the news - was lucky enough to be introduced to him by PPRuNe Pop a few years ago and had a very enjoyable chat; he was explaining how he could put me, a non-pilot, into the VAAC Harrier and have me hovering it straight off! Would that we could have had the chance...

A thoroughly nice man who will indeed be sorely missed.

Amen.
I was lucky enough to meet him at an airshow @, 1988, as you say thoroughly nice. Was flying a Ryan PT 22 I think

Ttfn

A legend and a gent! My condolences to his family and close friends.

A great loss to the body of knowledge within these forums. I picked up his book a few years ago and apart from it being a great read about the Harrier's development, I picked up a few useful things that I could put into practice as a FI. I wish I could have met him, but that's not to be. Rest in peace Mr. Farley.

What a shame. I sent John this scan of page 87 from ‘The Royal Navy – 1000 Years of Peace and War’ three years ago and he was chuffed to bits.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmf...b79380dba6.jpg
My sincere condolences to his family, friends and former colleagues.

RIP sir,
I had a brief PPrune chat with Mr Farley a few years ago on the subject of my moniker.
I'm not at all ashamed to say I was slightly over awed to be pm'd by such an aviation legend.
He came across as a very pleasant gentleman.

Thank Chris for posting the sad news.

Kieron.

Very sad news and a huge loss to the aviation world. Blue Skies

One of the first industry TPs I met at Farnborough in 1974 and I met him several times at later shows. Always friendly and willing to chat:sad:.

Very sad news, we have lost a first class aviator and gentleman.
Condolences to his family and friends.

Very sad news indeed. One of the few commentators on here whose posts i always read with a lot of interest because i was sure i could learn something.

My condolences to his family and friends.

RIP John. You were a true icon of the jet age and a real gent. You will be very sadly missed; my sincerest condolences to your family and friends.

I met John a few times as he lived in Selsey not far from me when I lived down that way. He even rung up once to ask if he could come and fly electric RC aircraft at the farm, but never did (sadly) despite me saying yes. A truly great man who was genuinely helpful and generous to share his huge depth of knowledge. RIP John

Although I have never met Mr Farley but I have interacted a little with him here on PPRuNe...A sad day for PPRuNe, when I first saw this in Tech Log my heart sank...a true legend

Rest in peace Mr. Farley

A great loss to the art & science of aviation.

There are few people on here that hold my attention quite as much as the posts from JF, simply put amazing! I can only imagine that he was just as much a gent in real life.

RIP...

RIP John - will miss your fascinating inputs to this site greatly

I just want to add my little bit to the growing list of those who have memories of such an erudite, unassuming, knowledgeable and thoroughly likable man. I first met John at Kingston when I was supporting the Harrier in industry. For a person of his reputation and standing I just could not get over his incredible modesty and genuine interest in what I was doing. Later on we PM'd on this part of PPruNe on many occasions .One memorable message came when I was wrapped up in the long running Wright brothers thread here and was arguing that three axis control was not essential to controlled flight. John privately remarked that he had flown a demo with the Harrier to the USMC without using aileron throughout . "Not difficult ,once you got the hang of it ".
That was John.

His in depth, yet entirely understandable explanations of the most technical matters were a masterclass.

Blue skies sir

A great pilot who lived the way he wanted to, was liked and/or revered by his peers and died peacefully in his sleep (apparently).

Not sure 'existence' gets much better than that.

RIP John and thank you.

I met him in a pub once, a long time ago, and talked about things aviation.

He said that 'they' were after putting a computerised throttle system in the Harrier and 'they' asked him his opinion.

He said that he told them to let the thing be responsible for the operation of the executive lift for a couple of months. If 'they' were prepared to countenance that, then he was prepared to give it a go in the jet!

A real good bloke.

Read numerous of his articles.
Very sad to hear this, RIP John.

Someone should send these posts to his family. There are few people in this world these days so well spoken of. Irreplaceable!!

Talking of USMC Harriers, little story one of the TPs at Boscombe Down told me.
USMC had a 'rogue' Harrier on an aircraft carrier; every time they did a VTO, it would start an uncommanded roll to the right and they would hurriedly have to put it down again.
Having bent several right wing outriggers, they flew John out to the carrier to see if he could figure it out.
He did a VTO not gaining much height, put it down and shut down. After climbing out, he suggested it might be an idea to put some fuel in the left wing as only having it in the right wing tended to upset the trim!!:D

Some wonderful memories here. Good idea to send a copy of all these posts to the family of the late gentleman. His qualities were of a rare order. By the way he lived, and thought, and conducted himself, he was high in the esteem of others and a peerless example to younger men and women aspiring to forge a career in aerospace. He had the 'Sky Fever' alright. I think the cut of his jib put him clearly in the same class as Sir Geoffrey de Havilland and Harald Penrose

I was a young student who went on the Cranfield schools aviation camp which he was a tutor on.

I used to phone him (on a payphone!) to discuss aircraft designs and corresponded about a new basic trainer. Aged 16 it was very basic.

Fast forward 16 years or so and I have learnt to fly, gone through commercial, CFI certs and teach for Embry Riddle.

Boscombe Down express interest in me and while I didn't get offered to interview, he responded to my queries on email as I was putting slides together.

One day I might get the chance to present them. His book a view from the hover is a great read too. RIP John. Will look out for an obituary.

Alex.