David Cockburn, FRIN

It is with much sadness that we report the death of David Cockburn on 7 January.

David was born in Glasgow and attended the local Academy, from which he obtained a RAF scholarship direct to Cranwell for pilot training, gaining a Private Pilot’s Licence while still 17 and even earlier flying solo in a glider, for which he became an instructor less than 3 years later.  Whilst holding before taking up his posting to fly Vulcan bombers, he co-piloted Varsity aircraft taking trainee navigators, and during his bomber tour became Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) at the local RAF Gliding and Soaring Association Club.  He went on to become a non-flying Operations Officer on a German-based squadron, but also CFI and Treasurer to the RAF Germany Gliding Association.

On returning to UK, he became both pilot and instructor on Canberra aircraft, training RAF and RN radar operators in electronic warfare. He also won the 1976 Inter-Service Gliding Competition. He then went on the fly Jet Provost aircraft at the Navigation School at RAF Finningley, teaching at both high- and low-level flight; he inevitably also became CFI and Commander of the local RAF gliding club.  This was followed by a return to Cranwell as a Pilot Navigation Instructor, responsible for improving both students’ and flying instructors’ navigation skills.

David’s most spectacular posting followed when he was posted to Berlin to fly a reconnaissance Chipmunk within a 20-mile radius of the RAF base in West Berlin; specified allied aircraft were permitted to do so.  He had to fly from the rear cockpit with an observer in front. He undertook a ‘Special Duties’ course in UK first and, as a very observant pilot, able to converse in French, German and Russian, living with his family in West Berlin and permitted to cross on foot to the East, he became a most valued member of the NATO ‘Brixmis’ Team in Berlin. His later posting back to UK was to teach elementary flying on Chipmunks again, this time at RAF Scampton, to which the Humber Gliding Club had moved and for which he inevitably became CFI. But his performance in Berlin led to him becoming an Arms Control Officer at the Arms Control Implementation Group, a multi-service unit also at Scampton; he had become acknowledged as an expert and became deeply involved in the arms-reduction process, becoming the author of the Arms Control Policy. David was still an Arms Control Officer when he retired from the RAF in 1994; his final working day in the RAF ended in the MOD hotel in Moscow, where the Russian escort officers hosted his ‘dining-out’.

British Aerospace was seeking flying instructors for a contract in Saudi Arabia, and David was interviewed for the position.  Sadly, age was against him as a flying instructor, but BAe wanted to fill a Teaching and Learning Specialist post with the Royal Saudi Air Force, and eventually David accepted their offer. Unfortunately the post lasted for only 3 months and he moved back to UK, where he taught commercial licence theory to students, gaining the licence and instructor rating himself and updating Blackwell’s standard book on Radio Aids for the licence. He also became CFI at Lincoln Aviation, Wickenby. He then returned to the Saudi Air Force for over 3 years as a ground instructor, also writing their training manuals and advising instructors whilst also beginning work on a series of training books for the UK Private Pilots Licence. Then, in 1999, he took up the post of Safety Promotion Officer for General Aviation with the CAA, publishing safety advice and giving presentations throughout the UK. For this he received awards from the UK Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Air League and the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators, of which he became a Liveryman.  He was also an expert within the EU Aviation Safety Agency’s General Aviation Safety Agency, even after the UK withdrawal. He held this CAA post for 15 years, after which continued to fly and instruct as a Registered Training Facility and Declared Training Organisation for teaching applicants for Private Pilot Licences. He became CFI at the RAF Waddington Flying Club and laterly CFI of a flying school in Leeds, until his cancer and its treatment rendered that impossible.

David Joined the Institute in 1994 and was granted Fellowship in 2008, having served on Council and as Treasurer. He was a major contributor to the General Aviation Navigation Group as a qualified instructor and examiner, authoring published pamphlets, giving presentations and attending and running stands at shows; he did so until his cancer prevented him. He will be sorely missed by the Group participants as well as many other Institute members. We pass our condolences to David’s wife, Alison, son John and family.

David’s funeral will take place at 1300 on Monday 29 January in St Columba’s Parish Church, Topcliffe, N Yorkshire, followed by a gathering in remembrance at The Angel Inn, Topcliffe. Members are welcome to attend; please let David’s son, John < coburnj6515@gmail.com>, know if you wish to be present.

David Cockburn FRIN           29 April 1948 – 7 January 2024