Doug Bianchi & Neil Williams

Thanks to all who have responded to this post so far.

Much interesting information and great photo’s.

I think it just serves to illustrate how influential they were and the regard in which they are still held.

Exactly my feelings. I have been reading and enjoying every contribution but feel I can add nothing to what has been said, except to recall many great memories.

Neil W

Ah Neil! I was in FTI at Handley Page when he joined as a TP on the Jetstream programme. I actually flew with him in a Hastings – Neil in the left-hand seat and John Tank in the right-hand seat. He also brought a Zlin Trener to Radlett one day and stopped all work at the Park Street end by practising aerobatics in mid-afternoon (he was European champion at the time). He was recalled part way throught the routine and requested to do such things out of hours! He went up again after five o’clock and started again but this time, part way through the routine, the L/H udercarriage up-lock failed and he had to land back.
A lovely story is that when we were out in Pau with the Jetstream, he found a small grass airfield not too far away and asked if he could fly a few aeros in their Stompe. The rather pompous CFI, not knowing who he was, agreed but said he would show him the ropes first and then would let Neil have a go. Neil promptly went through his full competition display and when they landed the only two words the somewhat shaken CFI could utter were Merveilleux, Fantastique!
Lynne, his second wife, was also an FTI engineer at HP, although more senior than me. A great lady.
Both sadly missed

I think the article that made me laugh the most was Doug Bianchi’s tale of a Proctor he’d rescued that made it’s own spare parts as it flew. Definitely don’t make them like that any more.

Goodness, another year gone by…

Thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread.

I wonder what Neil and Doug would make of the aviation scene these days?

Attached is Neil Williams flying Spencer Flack’s first Sea Fury T.20 G-BCOW circa 1976-77.

Out – Roxeth

1970’s aerobatic documentary

Back in the 70’s I can vaguely remember a documentary following a British Aerobatic pilot through the WAC. The pilot was Neil Williams and our family watched with interest as at the time a friend of my father’s was getting aerobatic training from him at Elstree. That friend of Dad’s was Spencer Flack.
Can’t remember the year or location, sorry!, but it was based around Neil and his build up to flying in the competition, together with his views on what was being flown in front of him.
Somebody out there, hopefully can shed more light on this, pretty sure I didn’t dream it…or maybe…!

My last recollection of him was as a young lad in my first visit to Duxford in June 1977, flying the Yak-11 G-AYAK and Spitfire MH434.

i know it is a bit late as now 2009/2010 but I knew Neil and his wife from the tiger club
and he use to tell me how he played the guitar. I remember a few days before he left his wife gave me her tiger club membership card for what reason i cannot remember and I never saw her again . But I do remember the first time I met him I landed at Redhill in my Cub and saw him standing by the hangar and I said “Do you Fly” and he said “Yes sort of” and with that he went off and did the most fantastic aerobatics I had ever seen was my face red when he came back .

Thanks for posting, thats a nice little story there. Its a shame I was too young to ever see him display.

Cheers, Huw:)

i know it is a bit late as now 2009/2010 but I knew Neil and his wife from the tiger club
and he use to tell me how he played the guitar. I remember a few days before he left his wife gave me her tiger club membership card for what reason i cannot remember and I never saw her again . But I do remember the first time I met him I landed at Redhill in my Cub and saw him standing by the hangar and I said “Do you Fly” and he said “Yes sort of” and with that he went off and did the most fantastic aerobatics I had ever seen was my face red when he came back .

is there anyone currently flying who is as adaptable/versatile on so many different types as he appeared to be?

The only person I can think of currently who is anywhere similar to Neil Williams on types flown and displayed well is Pete Kynsey. I’m sure that anyone who has seen him displaying a Jungmann or any high powered warbird will agree.

He is also a product of the Tiger Club and owns the very Cosmic Wind G-ARUL that Neil Williams used to fly.

Comments on the “blasts from the past”

1. Probably a press day publicity photo off the Blackpool beach prior to a display at the airport in either 1970 or 1971. Neil usually flew this aircraft.

2. The infamous and remarkable photograph of Lewis “Benjy” Benjamin about to smite the Sywell runway a mighty blow after he got it badly wrong in a crazy flying act at a Tiger Club airshow in 1963. He was not badly hurt and made a fairly rapid recovery. The aircraft took a lot longer. John Blake added a superb caption to the copy of the photo in the hangar at Redhill – “If this does not kill me then Norman will….!!!”. I was really p****d off since I had entered the Canon Tiger as my aircraft in my first Lockheed Trophy contest which took place a few weeks later. I had to swop to the Archbishop Tiger which was not quite so good an aerobatic machine since the Canon had plywood leading edges back to the spar.

2. One of my disappearing acts during a crazy flying routine at a Sywell airshow. The foreshortening of the picture by the photographers lens makes it look more dramatic than it actually was. The barbeque guests at the house quite enjoyed it anyway.

Lets have some more “blasts”.

Cheers,

Reaper 69
:dev2: 😎 :dev2:

What a great tribute Skybolt!

I suspect that in the politically correct, regulated, times of today, no-one would be allowed to get away with some of the displays that went on then!

Any comments on these ‘blasts from the past’ Skybolt? 😉

Neil was almost certainly the finest all round pilot this country has ever produced. No matter what the type of aircraft, no matter whether it wore roundels or a civil registration, he would fly it to the very limits of its envelope and then some

I’m not as familiar with Neil Williams as some of the older members of the forum, although I have read his books. Without wishing to appear controversial in any way,is there anyone currently flying who is as adaptable/versatile on so many different types as he appeared to be?

Hangs head in shame! You are of course absolutely correct, but it saved me having to spell Archi… Arki….Arky…….

For `Slicer` ,and a slight thread creep– mixing your ancient aviation dinosaurs, as I presume you meant `Granger Archaeopteryx, and not Westland-Hill Pterodactyl. The A…..X was created after the P….L design of Capt Hill,ie as a design study, but using only a nominal 30 hp to power it.
I did fly it at OW, but only once, and I think it was its last flight (11/4/77), before grounding; it is being refurbished, but I don`t know if it will fly.
Funnily enough, about 12 yrs before I had the misfortune to fly a Westland Pterodactyl…….actually a Whirlwind that shed its tail-rotor and gearbox …,but that`s another story .
Amen to all that has been said about Neil and Doug.. Syc

Skybolt,

Are you sure about it being 40 years ? I have Neils autograph from an airshow where he was displaying the Yak 11 G-AYAK. That must have been 1976-77 which would make it approximately 30 years.I’m 43 now and was a just about a teenager then !!!
Time flies and its scary how quickly,thanks for sharing your memories of Neil and Doug,it would be good to hear more on this thread if you have them please,

Steve

Doug and Neil gone. An awful shock for UK general aviation and the airshow business all those years ago. Is it really thirty years since they died.

Doug was indeed the ultimate engineer. Along with Edna and Tony he built Personal Plane Services at Booker into probably the finest professional warbird restoration facility in the UK up to then. Customers like Adrian Swire and Patrick Lindsey were happy to place their work with them. They kept the Rothmans Aerobatic Team Stampes serviceable in the early days despite problems, even then, of sourcing spares, especially for the Renault engines of the SV4C’s. Even their resident refueller, Bert Goodchild, was a real character as when he finished his shift he would occasionally stroll over to the Spitfire to give it a workout.

Doug’s unique ability as a storyteller opened a mirth provoking window for us all through his tales published by James Gilbert in PILOT magazine from time to time. They really do deserve an airing today to amuse a new generation of aviation enthusiasts in the trials and tribulations of a general aviation engineer with a practical bent and an enormous sense of humour.

How he would have relished the thriving state of UK warbird and vintage aviation today. How he would have deplored the joint efforts of EASA and our own CAA today to inflict ever greater levels of bureaucracy and needless expense on the maintainers and through them the owners and operators of certificated light aircraft with the implementation of Part M and all that it brings.

Neil was almost certainly the finest all round pilot this country has ever produced. No matter what the type of aircraft, no matter whether it wore roundels or a civil registration, he would fly it to the very limits of its envelope and then some.

Our first encounter was not an auspicious one. One day, probably in 1961, Neil had flown over to Snoring in a Tiger from Swanton Morley to drop off a friend who lived nearby. On departure he flew back over the airfield at low level and did a slow roll however the last quarter dished out and he finished up quite close to the ground. I was the duty QFI and was somewhat dischuffed at the spectacle which resulted in a quick call to the CFI at Swanton, a former instructor of mine and a good friend. When Neil landed he found himself grounded for a month at that Club. This was while he was in the RAF stationed at Watton on, I believe, PR Canberra’s.

We next met at the Tiger Club at Redhill while Neil was doing the Farnborough ETPS course. He had discovered a real home for his talents and rapidly became both a superb competition aerobatic pilot in the Super Tiger, Stampe and Cosmic Wind along with the Arrow Active and was possibly the mainstay of the Tiger Club’s airshow activity. He would often fly many different aircraft in a two hour show and all of them superbly.

His first World Aerobatic Championship was in Spain in 1964 flying the Cosmic Wind. Perhaps the most incongruous aircraft ever to be entered. His efforts have been well described by others including himself. His last WAC was in Kiev in 1976 where, but for politics, we could well have had the first ever UK champion.

I think the only Tiger Club aeroplane he expressed a dislike for was the prototype Rollason Condor fitted with a 75hp engine which probably only put out around 65 ponies at best. Maybe it was his flight test report on this aircraft that contained the words “Access to this aircraft proved difficult. It should be made impossible…..!!!”.

Having left the RAF he became a test pilot with Handley Page and subsequently a freelance professional pilot.

His occasional displays in Adrian Swire’s Spitfire MH434 were sublime as were all his demonstrations with Shuttleworth Trust aeroplanes at Old Warden. I well remember that characteristic jutting chin as his leather or cloth helmeted figure perched on the Boxkite coaxed every last bit of potential out of the aeroplane to the delight of those watching.

He was a founder member of the Rothman’s team under Manx Kelly in 1970 and rejoined the team for another season in 1971 in the number 3 slot. I filled the number 2 slot and we had a really memorable season of airshows in the UK and Europe. Today, along with the then team commentator Nick Daniels, I am the only one still alive and enjoying aviation in as many forms as possible.

It was indeed ironic that his almost uncanny skills in low level poor visibility navigation ultimately let him down and killed him in that Spanish built Heinkel 111. Along with his new wife and some fine engineers in those cruel Sierra Guaderrama mountains north of Madrid on a bad weather winters day.

We still have Neil’s books “Aerobatics” and “Airborne” to remind us of a fine author and a magnificent pilot. If you have not read them then I suggest you do so.

For a few years while I was with the CAA Neil’s son from his first marriage, David, worked for me in an administrative role. I knew him as a keen glider pilot but had no idea that he was Neil’s son until a year or so had passed by. He was a great benefit to the work of the General Aviation Department as then was while he was with the Authority. A chip off the old block indeed.

Cheers,

Reaper 69
:diablo:

neil williams

hi Yes as many people probably have already replied I knew Neil Williams and his wife from the Tiger Club at Redhill.

I had just got my PPL and flew to Redhill in a Piper Cub and was watching the aerobatics and saw Neil standing there and went up to him and said

“Do you Fly”

and with that he went up and did the most fantastic aerobatics
I still fly G-LIVH but I will always remember him not only for his aerobatics but for his guitar playing advice.

Sad but great thread. Neil will always be inextricably linked with Old Warden for me. I used to find it remarkable that he could fly all those varying types of aircraft and display them at their individual best. Particular highlights would be any display he flew in any Spitfire…that low curving approach around the crowdline from the left end, apparently coming THROUGH the trees…magic and unforgettable. Aerobatics in a Tiger Moth, including a falling leaf..not seen often, I think Alan Wheeler also did it in the 504K…..flying the Pterodactyl…did anybody else ever fly that a/c?….and do you remember the time he had to put the Bleriot down in the field short of the main runway in full view of the assembled masses..and Roger Hoeffling (the regular commentator) organised a whip round from the crowd to pay for the damage.

A great great pilot and sadly missed after all these years, but just wonderful to have enjoyed his peerless flying.. It was a real shock to hear of his death in the Heinkel..he just seemed indestructable.

Thanks to all who have responded to this post so far.

Much interesting information and great photo’s.

I think it just serves to illustrate how influential they were and the regard in which they are still held.

My mother was pregnant at the time that Neil Williams died and my mother and father decided to call my baby brother Neil William!:)

Well, when MH434 was based at Booker in the care of PPS in the early post BoB film days, I too thought Neil Williams was the principal pilot.

With his delicate and more gentle handling he was certainly Doug Bianchi’s preferred pilot. 🙂

Mark

This was also my understanding until i asked Ray. When Adrian Swire purchased ‘434 he went straight to Ray & asked him if he would fly it, to which Ray obviously said yes & they were practically inseperable. Ray told me that Neil only flew it when he was not available to.