[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by jim

BTW Today I heard the news that one of the greatest exponents of the P40 has passed away at the age 85. He was flying his plane when he was taken ill but managed to land safely, sadly he died later that day.
Neville Duke was one of the worlds greatest ever test pilots .His wartime kills numbered 27 with 3 probables from 1941 to the end of WW2.
He flew Tomhawks/ Kittyhawks in the Mid East and gained 8 confirmed victories (2 109s in one sortie) making him the RAFs highest scoring pilot in that theatre and was decorated for gallantry 6 times at the ripe old age of 22.
After the war he became chief test pilot for Hawker and established a world record of 727.63 mph.
He was a fearless aviator and flew at a time when lttle was known of the effects of supersonic flight.
In those days he was every small boys hero.

If you want to know more then check out the site, telegraph.co.uk/obituaries

Thanks for the link, Jim. I read about his accomplishments from an old AIRPOWER/WINGS magazine issue. He will be terribly missed.