Jock Reid MBE

Jock Reid was born and raised in Renfrew, mid-way between the old and new Glasgow airports. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1966 and after training, flew the Lightning operationally before completing an instructors course and spending 2 years teaching on the Folland Gnat. He attended the US Navy Test Pilots School at Patuxent River, Maryland in 1976 before returning to the UK to spend 3 years testing fighter and trainer aircraft at the Aeroplane and Armament Establishment Boscombe Down. His final 3 years of RAF service was as an instructor at the Empire Test Pilots School, also at Boscombe Down.

He joined the Civil Aviation Authority as an airworthiness test pilot in January 1983, becoming Chief Test Pilot in 1995 before retiring in September 2003. During his CAA service Jock has flown most types of aircraft from the very small to the very largest and fastest. He admits to a great fondness for the Boeing 747 but it is Concorde which remains the focus of his affection. Jock converted to Concorde in 1989 and flew the aeroplane on a regular basis until his retirement in 2003. During that time, he was privileged to participate in all the flight test activities which arose, including in particular, the return to service tests after the Paris accident as well as participation in ceremonial flights such as the opening of the Scottish Parliament and the Queens Golden Jubilee.

Honours and awards include the Royal Aeronautical Society's British Gold Medal, 2002 and the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators Derry and Richards Memorial Medal, 2003. He was appointed MBE in January 2004.