1st December 1935 – 25th August 2013.

Michael was born in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, the elder of two boys, and was educated at the Henry Mellish Grammar School. The school was three miles from RAF Hucknall, a Rolls-Royce flight test establishment, which might have influenced his future choice of career. Certainly he joined the school’s CCF when he was 14, and four years later applied to the RAF for a ‘travelling scholarship’, open to all schools with a CCF. After numerous interviews he was selected to lead a team of 25 cadets to the USA.

At the same time he applied to the RAF for pilot training as an officer cadet, but unfortunately failed the medical because of eyesight. Instead he was offered a place at the REF Technical College and became an engineering officer. After serving in Bomber Command he was posted in 1960 to RAF Khormaksar, as Squadron Engineer with 8 Squadron.

At that time the squadron was equipped with Hawker Hunters which had an inherent fault, resulting in the loss of several aircraft and their pilots. Michael was to a large extent responsible for identifying and rectifying the fault, though some of his colleagues felt he was never given sufficient credit for his work in what was a difficult time for the squadron.

After Aden, Michael was posted back to UK and then to another overseas posting in Singapore. He then returned to UK, attending the RAF Staff College, before taking up his final posting at RAF Kinloss as the first CO of the first Nimrod Major Servicing Unit.

On leaving the RAF in 1973 Michael joined the CAA as an airworthiness expert and over the years worked on various developments with Boeing and Airbus. His duties involved regular travel for meetings with the national authorities in USA, Canada and various European countries. His responsibilities covered both civil and military aircraft.

In the 1990sMichael gave a series of lectures to the Royal Aeronautical Society and was regularly invited to speak at air industry forums. He spoke on more than one occasion to our Club at our annual lunches.
Michael had a deep faith in God and it was appropriate, therefore, that it was on a religious retreat on Iona that he met his wife, Gail.

Michael leaves behind Gail and his children Fiona and Peter.