Ronald W. (John) Ford 1922-1958

Mr R W Ford (John) joined the RAF in 1941 aged 19, and after serving in Italy,Greece and Palestine,  became a Test pilot with an RAF MU. He rejoined Fighter Command in Sept 1951 and left the RAF in 1953. He had flown nearly 2,500hrs on more than 35 different aircraft types.


In April 1954 he joined the Fairey Aviation Company at Ringway  as a test pilot. He was seconded to Rolls Royce to assist with development flying on the Conway powered Vulcan in August 1958 following a period with Avions Fairey at Gosselies, Belgium. different types.


He was killed in the crash of Vulcan VX770 on 20th Sept 1958 at Syerston Airfield  during the Battle of Britain Display