![]() It was his task to make an initial assessment of the military equipment, weapons and aircraft left on the island. At the end of the Falklands War in 1982 he was on one of the first aircraft to land at Port Stanley after the Argentine surrender. In December 1976 he joined the Defence Intelligence Staff in MoD, specialising in technical intelligence, in particular making assessments of the performance of foreign aircraft. He took the opportunity to fly and test most of them himself. In 1971 he was appointed deputy superintendent of flying at the A&AEE, Boscombe Down, co-ordinating the test flying programme of aircraft ranging from light aircraft and helicopters to heavy transport aircraft and a wide range of high-performance fighters and ground-attack aircraft. He flew a wide variety of aircraft, testing the carriage and release parameters of air-delivered weapons and their effectiveness.ĭavis’s test-flying career continued for a number of years. In 1963 he attended No 22 Course at the Empire Test Pilot’s School before joining the Weapons Flight at Farnborough. After attending the Central Flying School (CFS), he instructed cadet pilots at the RAF College Cranwell, before returning to CFS to train future flying instructors. He converted to the Canberra bomber and served at Gütersloh in Germany with 103 and 59 Squadrons. He joined the RAF in September 1952 and trained as a pilot. ![]() Soon after the outbreak of war he was evacuated to the Bahamas but returned later to attend Stowe School. John David Davis was born on Maat St Marylebone, London. An aviation journalist wrote: “No man has had a greater influence on the governance and safe conduct of British air displays. He particularly enjoyed co-ordinating the flying sequences at the “Music in the Air” events at Middle Wallop with picknickers attending the spectacular late-afternoon show.īut the Shoreham Airshow crash of 2015, and the blame game that followed, persuaded Davis that almost 30 years was probably enough. His favourite displays included those at the former RAF Abingdon and the Chalke Valley History Festival – one large, the other small and compact. He took his expertise to Europe, masterminding the Malta Air Display in September 1993, working harmoniously with at least three Maltese government departments. In 2009 Davis played a key role in the formation of the British Air Display Association, to create a voice for an industry which sees five million people a year watch flying displays. When the Ramstein air display disaster happened on August 28 1988, resulting in the deaths of 67 spectators and three pilots, Davis was able to reassure the CAA that such a disaster, caused by the Italian team flying towards the crowd, could not happen in the UK. For the next 20 years, he was involved in the creation of codes of practice in Britain and in Europe. He threw himself into the planning with zeal and created a framework which he would go on to improve when he left the RAF and joined the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 1988.Īt that time, no spectator had been killed at a flying display in Britain since 1952, and Davis was determined to maintain that record. Wing Commander John Davis, who has died aged 89, was an RAF flying instructor and test pilot who became a leading authority on air safety matters at national air shows.ĭavis had only recently taken up a post as a test pilot at the Aeroplane & Armaments Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Farnborough in 1964 when he was asked to prepare a major air display for the Queen.
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