Page 1 of 1

Mike Lithgow and 'Jock' Bryce general nostalgia

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 7:19 am
by TheGreenGoblin
I was recently reading ex Fleet Air Arm and later test pilot Mike Lithgow's biography 'Mach 1' by Charles Gardner and thereafter read a rather wonderful tribute to him written by Vickers' chief test pilot G R 'Jock' Bryce which might be of interest to some here...

A TRIBUTE TO MIKE LITHGOW

Bryce was also a fantastic chap who only died recently (2014) at the age of 94, having worked as a volunteer at the Brooklands Museum in his latter years.

Gabe 'Jock Bryce' Obituary

Bryce.JPG

Re: Mike Lithgow and 'Jock' Bryce general nostalgia

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 4:55 am
by TheGreenGoblin
'Jock' Bryce was a test pilot with the prototype Vickers Valiant and skillfully allowed his rear crew to escape (remember they didn't have ejector seats) when a prototype caught fire and crashed. Sadly the co-pilot (with an ejector seat) was killed when he struck the tail fin as he egressed the aircraft!


Valiant Prototype WB210

WB215.JPG

A bit more Valiant nostalgia


He was also chief test pilot on the VC10 programme.

Jock Bryce on the VC10