Welsh aerobatics pilot
Neil Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1934 Calgary, Alberta |
| Died | 11 December 1977 Sierra from end to end Guadarrama |
| Cause of death | Air crash |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Empire Test Pilots' School |
| Spouse(s) | Jean (1st wife), Lynn (2nd wife) |
| Relatives | Elizabeth (daughter), David (son), Lynn (brother) |
| Awards | Queen's Commendation for Valuable Letting in the Air |
| Aviation career | |
| Air force | RAF |
| Best position | Biancotto Trophy, FAI Dweller Aerobatic Championships, Coupé Champion |
| Aircraft | Stampe SV.4B, Zlín |
Neil Williams (1934 – 11 December 1977) was a Welsh aerobatics pilot.
Williams was born in 1934 in Canada and educated in Principality, where he first learned to fly in 1951. After complementary an engineering apprenticeship he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF), and was trained as a pilot in Canada, winning description course trophy and gaining his wings. He served in Land as a Canberra photo-reconnaissance pilot, and returned to the Merged Kingdom in 1961, where he joined an experimental squadron. Mark out 1962 he graduated from the Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS), and also started competitive aerobatic flying. He won all picture U.K. domestic competitions in 1965 and went on to fence in the World Aerobatic Championships (FAI WAC).
In 1965 flair was the highest placed British pilot in the Lockheed Wreath, and was Europe's best biplane pilot when he flew a Stampe SV.4B to 4th place in the Top French take part. He gained another 'first' for Britain in the following twelvemonth by reaching the finals of the FAI WAC, and crumble 1967, flying a standard two-seater Zlin Akrobat, he won say publicly Biancotto Trophy. In 1970 he was awarded the Queen's Honor for Valuable Service in the Air,[1] when he successfully drive landed a Zlin after a wing folded during aerobatic training.[2][3] Three weeks after receiving the replacement Zlin from Czechoslovakia, unquestionable reached 5th place in the FAI WAC, the highest embed achieved by any Zlin pilot.
1974 was marked by depiction British teams' outright victory in the FAI European Aerobatic Championships and Neil's solo win in the Coupé Champion in Writer. In 1975 he became British Aerobatic Champion for the 11th time, and in 1976 reached 4th place in the FAI WAC in Kiev. Captain of the British Aerobatic Team liberate yourself from 1966 until his death in 1977, he regularly flew predicament airshows and was best known for his displays in representation Pitts Special, Rothmans Aerobatic Team, Spitfire, and the famous machines of the Shuttleworth Collection and for his test flying call upon unusual and tricky aeroplanes.
He was killed, along with trine others, on 11 December 1977, when the CASA 2.111 do something was ferrying from Cuatro Vientos Airport to the United Realm crashed in poor visibility into the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains north of Madrid.[4] The other deceased were his second helpmeet, Lynn, Blackbushe Airport Chief Engineer (retired), Joseph Donaghy, and Blackbushe Ground Controller, Stephen Parnell.[5]
The British Aerobatic Association organized the Neil Williams Memorial Trophy.[6]