Their formidable skills, both technical and piloting, coupled with the ability to communicate with and influence, often recalcitrant management, is hugely impressive to me and thus in order to bring some of their lights out from under their bushels or, sadly, their gravestones I have started this thread.
What other pilots and technicians or mere mortals would ops-normalisers add to this list. Electing to mention oneself is to be encouraged and even test flying a home built light aircraft or even a self designed and built balsa model would make for interesting reading! Don't be shy, I can think of a number of flights in well know and simple types that have become trials and bona fide test flights after maintenance and the like. Let it all out, you know you will feel better for it!
The first person I have chosen fits into the gravestone category unfortunately but he definitely fits the good test pilot characterisation having worked for Hunting Aviation (amongst other very well know companies) and was an integral part of the team that tested the successful Jet Provost Trainer. Sadly he was killed when the testing the Jet Provost T.Mk.4 just as the aircraft was coming into production for the RAF and other air forces all over the world.
https://thetartanterror.blogspot.com/20 ... -1960.htmlLieut-Cdr J.R.S.Overbury served in the Royal Navy from 1943.,being granted a permanent commission in 1950.. He served with No 816 and 810 Squadrons (HMS Ocean and Theseus). He took the CFS course in 1950 and was a graduate of No.12 Course ETPS at Farnborough 1953. He was on Naval Test Squadron A and AEE between 1954-1956. He set several record, as listed below.
Flying a Sea Hawk F.B.3 from Bovingdon to Schiphol he set a new point-to-point record in Class C.1 from London to Amsterdam. He flew the 224miles in 23min 39.7sec at a speed of 571.5mph. on the 29th July 1954. Another point-to-point record was set on the 2nd July 1955 between Ciampino, Rome and Luqa, Malta. Lieut-Cdr J.R.S.Overbury with Lieut-Cdr G Kable as navigator flew a Royal Australian Navy Sea Venom F(A.W).53 the 422 miles in 47min 24sec at a speed of 538mph.
He joined Saunders Roe as a test pilot in 1957 and joined Hunting Aircraft at Luton as a test pilot in 1959. On 16th November 1960 he was killed whilst flying Jet Provost T.2 G-AOUS. The aircraft disintegrated over Langford, 3 miles south of Biggleswade, Beds.
Hunting Jet Provost
Jet Provost, The Little Plane with the Big History – Bob ClarkeTragedy struck the programme on 16 November 1960, when G-AOUS, piloted by Lt Cdr J.R.S. Overbury, a Hunting test pilot since 1957, took off from Luton on airspeed trials. The aircraft was recovering from a dive at the maximum design speed, when the positive G encountered forced the nose leg to descend into the airflow. The leg and both nose undercarriage doors were promptly ripped off, forcing the aircraft to violently pitch, nose upward. The rapid change in attitude caused both wings to detach and the fuselage to break-up. The pilot was killed. An obituary appeared in Flight on 25 November 1960. Jack Overbury It is with regret that we record that Lt Cdr J. R. S. Overbury lost his life on Wednesday of last week in an accident to a Jet Provost which he was test flying. Jack Overbury joined Hunting Aircraft from Saunders Roe Ltd, where as chief test pilot he had concluded the SR.53 prototype trials, in March last year. In 1954 he was awarded the de Havilland Trophy for a point-to-point London - Amsterdam record (at 571.5 m.p.h.) he set up in a Sea Hawk; and in 1955 he established a Rome - Malta record in a Sea Venom at a speed of 538 m.p.h. He had a serious accident at Sandown, IoW, in 1958 while demonstrating a Druine Turbulent. His injuries necessitated four operations and he was grounded for several months, only his determination to fly again bringing him back into the test pilot’s profession.
Caco