Hi Hh.

I’ve passed this on to lots of people who knew your dad in the Hunter andJaguar world and hope you’ll get some inputs from them. I’ll put my thinking cap on and get back to you.

Good luck

Roj

I won’t do this justice, but had one of my early BFJT sims with Jaguar Bill as we called him. The conversation went something like:

JB: ‘So, going to Sea Harriers then?’
Orca: ‘Hoping so, yes Sir.’
JB: ‘Good. Single seat jet.’
Orca: ‘Yes Sir. Yes it is.’
JB: Leaning forward, menacing: ‘And what do we think of twin seat?’
Orca, sitting back, taken aback: ‘Never really thought about it Sir.’
JB: Both arms out, both thumbs down. ‘No good is what we think!’

Jaguar Bill was the sort of instructor that you wanted; you relaxed when you saw it was him that you had for the sortie - but knew you’d get a good work out and a fair report.

I was a pall bearer at DL’s funeral; the team flew in to ODI from RAFG in one of HM’s HS125s and, despite the gravity of the moment, we celebrated his friendship, expertise and life.
The burial arrangements allowed for a double-decker plot but unfortunately, the funeral organisers had not allowed for this depth when placing the tapes supporting the coffin prior to committal. Come the moment, perched on the astroturf at the graveside, we lowered away horrified that the end of the tapes were in sight but the coffin was far from reaching at the bottom. As one, we bent forward on blended knee to ensure that DL had a gentle final landing.
Sadly missed.

Hh.

Can you PM me your email.

Couple of people want to send you something direct and they’re not on PPRuNe.

Thanks.

I flew my first LCR night check on the Puma with Dick, from Odiham. The visibility deteriorated badly (it was in those terrible days when the farmers used to burn the corn stubble) and he asked my opinion on the matter. I said it seemed to be on the limits. He agreed but asked me to continue until I was no longer happy to do so. My final part of the check was to land at a NATO T, which had been set out in a field by a crew from the other squadron. As we approached, we made the required RT call, only for the pilot of the only other Puma on scene to reply saying that unfortunately he was on the ground but his crewman was outside collecting in the lighting set and he had no way of stopping him. They assumed that we would have already scrubbed and returned to base. Dick asked him to remain on the ground and asked me if I was prepared to have a go at landing next to him. I did and managed it safely. At that point he told me that as far as he was concerned, if I could do that, I was more than LCR. His encouraging words meant a huge amount because I had previously struggled with the Puma at night mainly because I couldn't see over the instrument panel due to all the seat cushions on the fleet being collapsed, thankfully rectified when the seat base PSP was introduced. I know he later kept an eye on me from a distance and was always very pleasant to me - not a privilege everyone enjoyed because in certain circumstances he "took no prisoners".

Later in my career, I became a Puma QHI. During night flying on Salisbury Plain Dick was carrying out a night check on a Wessex pilot.. We were all based at Upavon for the week. The infamous Salisbury Plain fog rolled in. Dick and the pilot he was checking decided to do one more circuit at the remote HLS then recover the training underslung load to Upavon. The visibility decreased very rapidly, but on time they saw what they took to be the NATO T lights in the middle of the airfield. However, when they came to the hover they were somewhat shocked to find they were actually looking at the "Welcome to RAF Upavon" sign on the main road outside the guardroom and had unwittingly flown between two hangars to get there!

Hi Hh, our fathers knew each other well in Oman, your Dad stayed with us on a number of occasions going to/coming back from Home. He made quite an impression on me, and I enjoyed being in his company. I remember going to the range at Thumrait and watching your Dad and his 6 squadron mates bombing and rocketing targets followed by the almost obligatory low passes. Dropped off at the accom afterwards, I would sneak into the mess later and sit listening to the stories of daring doos, Cold War aviating, close calls and all the other talk that was exciting for a young aviation mad kid.

well remember Bang out Bill on II(AC) Laarbruch (the scene of two of his three ejections) Great character. In the early Jag days, boss 'Sandy' issued an edict that II (AC) badges were the only ones permitted and fitted on the sleeve (right?) of the flying suit. Much to the annoyance of many of the newly formed Sqn.

Bill asked me to help out with putting his badge on his sleeve and, for a bottle of dujardin and coupons for 20 litres of super, I was coerced into putting all his other (numerous) badges on his other sleeve, completely filling it!

Oh, how we laughed! 😁

Happy days!