06 Jan 2025
A lifelong pilot came face-to-face with his former plane during a visit to the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in London Colney.
Richard ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson spent most of his working life in aviation flying numerous aircraft, both civilian and military. Now retired in Sydney Australia, he enjoys looking at YouTube as a reminder of his flying days.
It was during one browsing dession that he came upon his former de Havilland Sea Venom 438, which was on display at the museum.
Fortunately, Wilkie regularly visits his son in the UK and they recently toured the museum. He explained to volunteer Craig McCallum that he been a Royal Navy pilot in Squadron 891, the Naval Air Squadron.
For most of 1959-60 he was on board an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and the Far East. Pages of his log book confirm that he sometimes flew several sorties a day, nearly all involving a catapult launching and deck landing.
Wilkie’s eight-year short service commission ended in 1963 and he looked for a job in civil aviation. By that time BEA and BOAC had their own pilot training scheme.
Fortunately, QUANTAS, the Australian national airline, was recruiting pilots from the services. He moved to Sydney, and eventually retired as their Manager of Flight Training in 1997. Not feeling ready to stop work, he subsequently qualified as a barrister.
Derek Lamb, the museum’s volunteer press officer said: “Wilkie was a delight to interview, clearly a man with the energy and flair to make a success of several different careers.”
