John Fairey

Fairey was the second son of Sir Charles Richard Fairey, founder of the Fairey Aviation Company.[1] He was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge.[1][2]

Fairey gained his pilot licence in Canada, flying seaplanes.[1] While at the University of Cambridge, he joined the Cambridge University Air Squadron and flew de Havilland Canada Chipmunk and North American Harvard aircraft.[2] In the 1960s, Fairey became a pilot with Cambrian Airways,[3] flying Douglas DC-3, Vickers Viscount and BAC One-Eleven aeroplanes.[2]

After emigrating to Rhodesia in 1978, he joined the Rhodesian Air Force,[1] returning to England after the Bush War.[3] He flew with Channel Express until his retirement in 2000.[3]

After his retirement, Fairey continued to fly in displays, particularly in his Spitfire trainer.[4] He later sold this aircraft and commissioned the construction of a Fairey Flycatcher, which is now on show at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.[2]

Fairey died on 8 July 2009[5] when the Percival Provost T1 he was piloting crashed in a field near Bishop Norton in Lincolnshire.[2][3] The aircraft, which had been on display at RAF Waddington, was based at Brimpton Airfield in Berkshire.[1][4] He is survived by his daughter, his three sons predeceased him.[3] He also had a second wife, Beverley, née Halford.