George Peter Aird A.F.C 1928

Development & Production Test Pilot
de Havilland Aircraft Company 1961 - 1983

Service experience
1947-49 Training at No. 1 ITS, Wittering; No. 7 FTS, Cottesmore, flying
Tiger Moths and Harvards; No. 203 AFS Driffield, Meteor T7 and
Vampire F1; No. 226 OCU Stradishall, Vampire FB5.
1950 - 51 No. 3(F) Squadron, Gutersloh, Vampire FB5.
1951 - 53 No. 118 Squadron, Fassberg, Vampire FB9 and Venom FB1.
1954 - 57 No. 111 Squadron, North Weald, Meteor F8 and T7, Hunter F4 and F6,
’A’ Flight Commander and IRE. Founder member of the ’Black Arrows’.
1957 Awarded Air Force Cross for work on Treble-One.
1957 - 59 No. 229 OCU Chivenor, Hunter F4 and T7, Vampire T11.

Civilian experience
1959 No. 3 CAACU Exeter, flying Vampire 9 and T11.
1960 Short Bros. Rochester, ferrying Naval aircraft, eg Sea Venom, Sea Hawk,
Sea Prince and Sea Devon, Hunter T8 and Meteor TT20.
1961 - 70 de Havilland Aircraft Company, Hatfield; primary tasks included propeller
de-icing trials using the Hastings prototype to carry a cropped Brittania
propeller on the port inner engine; air to air and air to ground missile trials,
using a Meteor NF12, Canberra B2’s, Hunter F6A,Sea Vixen FAW1 and 2
Canberra SC9 and pre-production Lightnings. We also used a Comet 1A
for basic IR research and data link trials. I assisted the production and
development testing of Comets and Tridents and the inter factory comm.
flying task with the Dove and Heron aircraft.
1967 Appointed Chief Military Test Pilot, Hatfield and Chester.
Awarded Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.
1970 Moved to Chester ( Hawarden ) on production testing of HS125’s and
maintenance testing of all de Havilland types including RAF Comet C2R’s
1981 Appointed Chief Test Pilot Chester.
1983 Retired from test flying.
1985 - 88 Executive Islander pilot, Glensanda, Argyll, Scotland.
1989 - 91 JEA Captain flying Short 360, HS748 and Fokker F27 aircraft on short
haul routes..
1991 - 93 HS748 Captain on night cargo work with Janes Aviation based at
Blackpool.