Sir Charles Masefield

In 1963 he flew a single engined Beagle Airedale from England to Australia and flew a 1936 DH90 Dragonfly biplane back from Australia to England. The next year he flew the DH90 from London to the US establishing a record time for biplanes between London and New York. He won the 1967 Kings Cup Air Race in his own own P-51D Mustang. And in 1968 became the British national Air Racing Champion.

He Joined joined Hawker Siddely Woodford as a Test Pilot flying HS748, Shackleton, Nimrod and Victor aircraft. Pilot in command on the first flights of both the Nimrod MK2 and Nimrod AEW Mk3. And was appointed Chief Test Pilot in 1978. He became General Manager of Woodford and Chadderton and the Managing Director of BAE Commercial Aircraft Division responsible Hatfield, Woodford, Chadderton and Prestwick. Marketing Director of Airbus Industrie at Toulouse responsible for all Airbus sales and in 1994 appointed to the MOD Whitehall as Head of all UK Defence Exports He was Knighted in 1997 for Services to UK exports and became became Vice Chairman of GEC the following year. From this he became Vice Chairman of and President BAE Systems. Currently Chairman of then Swiss Financial Services firm Helvetica. He is a former President and is Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers In 2000 he became the only non American to receive the US James Doolittle Award for services to the world aerospace industry.