The most loathsome little aeroplane

Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Richard Johns

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns joined the RAF in 1959 rising through the ranks to become Chief of the Air Staff. He initially flew Javelin night fighters and the reconnaissance variant of the Hunter in operations in Aden. He volunteered to instruct on the Gnat at 4 Flying Training School at RAF Valley and also served as an instructor on the Jet Provost (which can be seen in Hangar 3) where his pupils included HRH The Prince of Wales. Sir Richard was the Chairman of Trustees at the RAF Museum from 2000 to 2006.

Transcript:

‘Well I tell you what, a couple of trips on the jet Provost convinced me that I did not want to do this. I found it the most loathsome little aeroplane, very boring you know, and so on, and teaching people the effects of controls one and two. And so I promptly volunteered for the Gnat, which was the advanced trainer. The Gnat wasn’t a very popular aeroplane at the time for people to go and instruct on, it didn’t have an all that good safety record and it was looked upon as being a bit demanding and a bit…what’s the word - it was technically complicated.’