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Some other related items available from this site. | ||||
  The Sentinel by Ivan Berryman. |   Lightning Tribute by Stephen Brown. |   Clipped Signature - Chris Taylor. | Lightning Tribute by Stephen Brown | |
| Signatures on these products | |
| *The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature and is for the unmatted version where available. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
| Name | Info |
  Jimmy Dell OBE (deceased) Died : 2008 *Signature Value : £50 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Dell, Jimmy (Jimmy Dell OBE (deceased)) Jimmy Dell joined the RAF in 1942 and after the war flew F-86Es and the first radar equipped F-86D with the USAF. He was the first RAF Lightning Project Test Pilot and later became Chief Test Pilot at English Electric/BAC test flying Lightning, TSR 2 and Jaguar. One of a unique breed of aviators who have achieved great career success as a fast jet test pilot within both military and commercial environments. Probably best known for his work on the English Electric Lightning, Jimmy Dell has used his skill, courage and intimate knowledge of aerodynamics to reach the very top of a highly demanding profession. Joining the RAF in 1942, Jimmy Dell did his initial pilot training in Southern Rhodesia. By 1944 he had already become a Flying Instructor for advanced trainers. After the war Jimmy performed various training and test flying roles on aircraft such as Spitfires, Meteors, Venoms and Hunters. He also led test flight teams to the USA and France to work on aircraft such as the F-100, F-104, F-105, F-106, Mystere 4 and Mirage 3. In 1960 he joined English Electric on the Lightning development programme and was Chief Test Pilot from 1961 to 1970. Jimmy also worked on the TSR2 programme and flew 12 of the aircraft's 24 test flights, before its untimely cancellation in 1965. He worked on the French / UK Jaguar programme, and finally became Director, Flight Operations with responsibility for all Tornado test flight activities across the three participating countries. Jimmy Dell retired in 1989. Amongst his awards was the OBE for services to test flying. Sadly, Jimmy Dell died on 25th March 2008. |
 Flight Lieutenant P V Boothroyd *Signature Value : £20 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Boothroyd, P V (Flight Lieutenant P V Boothroyd) Joined the RAF in 1964. After Flying Training he joined No 23 Squadron RAF Leuchars in September 1967 at the tender age of 20 flying Lightning F3 and F6 aircraft. This was followed by a ground tour on the Lightning Flight Simulator at Tengah, Singapore, in 1970 until the British withdrawal from the Far East in 1971. The ground tour was completed at RAF Coltishall until September 1972. After the ground tour he was posted to No 11 Squadron RAF Binbrook flying Lightning F3 and F6 aircraft until 1975 when he was posted to No 92 Squadron based at Gutersloh, Germany, operating Lightning F2A aircraft, until the withdrawal of the Lightning from 2 ATAF in May 1977. A CFS course and a tour as a flight commander at RAF Cranwell teaching on the Jet Provost came next from July 1977 until March 1980 when he was posted back to Binbrook on the Lightning Training Flight and became the CFS agent and CIRE on type. This was a long, but very pleasant tour and it finished in March 1986. In September 1986 he was seconded to British Aerospace as an instructor flying the Bae Strikemaster at the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This was followed by a posting to RAF Valley on the Hawk aircraft in 1989. The call of the Middle East and overseas adventures resulted in a loan service posting to the Sultan of Oman's Air Force (Royal Air Force of Oman - RAFO) to teach Omani students to fly the Strikemaster on the island of Masirah. This was early in 1993. As RAFO had purchased some 16 Hawk aircraft (consisting of 4 two-seat trainers and 12 single seat fighters) the Commander of RAFO was keen to employ him on the introduction of the aircraft into RAFO service. This was such a pleasant task, in such a pleasant part of the world, that he left the Royal Air Force and joined RAFO in 1996 to continue to fly the Hawks in Oman. RAFO then promoted him to the rank of major and henceforth his family referred to him as 'Q'. This was, at least, better than previous nicknames awarded by the family. All good things come to an end and he left RAFO in 1999 to join BAE Systems to assist in the running of the new Hawk Flight Simulator Complex at RAF Valley. He accumulated a total of about 7000 flying hours of which 2400 was flying the Lightning; 2000 flying the Hawk; 2200 flying the Jet Provost and Strikemaster and the remainder in training and flying sundry aircraft. And if he had his life all over again he wouldn't change anything. |
 Flt. Lt. George Fenton *Signature Value : £20 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Fenton, George (Flt. Lt. George Fenton) Joined the RAF as a cadet at RAF College Cranwell in March 1966. He served with 29 and 11 Sqn as a Lightning pilot. He then converted to the Converted to F4 Phantom in 1975 and flew with 892 Naval Air squadron aboard HMS Ark Royal before returning to the RAF with 29 Sqn. In 1980 George went to RAF Chivenor as an instructor on the Hawk and remained there as a QWI until retirement from the service in 1985. Spent the next few years instructing in the middle east. First in Qatar then in Saudi Arabia. Returned to the UK in 1999 to join the instructional staff at the BAE operated Hawk simulator at RAF Valley. |
 Squadron Leader Chris Taylor MBE (deceased) Died : 2019 *Signature Value : £20 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Taylor, Chris (Squadron Leader Chris Taylor MBE (deceased)) Joined the RAF as an apprentice air radar fitter in 1961. He began flying training in 1966 flying the Jet Provost, Gnat and Hunter. He completed the lightning OCU at RAF Coltishall before joining 56(F) Sqn at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. A further tour on the Lightning back at the OCU was followed by selection for instructor training at CFS. He instructed on the Gnat at RAF Valley and then joined the team to bring the Hawk into RAF flying training. He flew both the Gnat and the Hawk as a member of the Standardisation Unit before an exchange tour with the USAF took him to Randolf AF base in South Texas. Returning to RAF Valley he completed tours as a Hawk Sqn Commander, Operations, and Deputy Chief Instructor before retirement from the RAF in 1998. He then began a second career as the Training Manager in the Hawk Synthetic Training Facility at RAF Valley. He died on 17th October 2019. |
 Squadron Leader Grant T Taylor *Signature Value : £20 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Taylor, Grant (Squadron Leader Grant T Taylor) Joined the Air Force in 1960 as an Apprentice at RAF Locking and then as a Cadet at RAF College Cranwell. Initially served as a QFI at RAF Syerston before converting to Hunters as a Fighter Reconnaissance pilot on 8 Sqn in Bahrain. In 1971 he converted to Lightning's serving as a QFI/IRE on 23 Sqn at RAF Leuchars. In 1975 he converted to the Phantom and served a tour on 29 Sqn RAF Coningsby as QFI/IRE before taking up post on the Phantom OCU until 1986. During this period he also flew the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for four years. In 1986 he flew BAC 167 aircraft at the King Feisal Air Academy in Saudi Arabia returning to UK in 1988 to train flying instructors on Jet Provost and Tucano aircraft at the Central Flying School at RAF Scampton. In 1990 he was posted to the Central Flying School Exam Wing as a Basic and Advanced Command Examiner and Command IRE on Hawks, Jet Provost and Tucano aircraft. He served his last tour on 55 Sqn at RAF Cranwell flying the Dominie (HS125). In 1997 he retired from the RAF to become an Aviation Officer and continued to fly the Dominie until 2003. He then joined the instructional staff at the Hawk Synthetic Training Facility at RAF Valley. He has a total of 9500 hours. |
 Air Vice-Marshal George Black CB OBE AFC *Signature Value : £45 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Black, George (Air Vice-Marshal George Black CB OBE AFC) Air Vice-Marshal George Black CB OBE AFC was born on the 10th of July 1932 in Aberdeen and joined RAF in 1950. Black was awarded the first flying scholarship in Scotland, gaining his private pilots licence at Strathtay Aero Club, Perth. e left No.107 (Aberdeen) Squadron Air Training Corps where he gained the rank of Sergeant to commence National Service duty in the RAF. After undergoing flying training in Canada he joined No.263 Squadron RAF at RAF Wattisham in the rank of Flying Officer. George Black served as a fighter pilot. In 1952 his National Service was converted to a permanent commission and he was seconded to the Fleet Air Arm as a carrier pilot. Flying Officer Black returned to the RAF in 1961 in the rank of Flight Lieutenant and served with No.74 Squadron RAF flying English Electric Lightnings. After a period as a flying instructor at HQ Fighter Command, in 1964 he became squadron commnader of No.111 (Fighter) Sqdn (1964-66,) and ldr of the Lightning Aerobatic Team in 1965. In 1967 he became Cdr Lightning Operational Conversion Unit (1967-69,) then Cdr No.5 (Fighter) Sqdn between 1969 and 1970. On promotion to Group Captain in 1972 Black was appointed Station Commander at RAF Wildenrath in Germany. He became Commander Allied Sector One, Brockzetel in May 1980 on promotion to the rank of Air Commodore and was later appointed Aide-de-Camp to HM The Queen in July 1981 until 1983. Air Vice-Marshal George Black retired from the RAF in July 1987. He was awarded an Air Force Cross in 1962 while with No.74 Squadron and achieved a bar in 1971. He was awarded an OBE in 1967 and became a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1987. Air Vice Marshal Black is a member of the RAF Historical Society and during his career recorded over 5,000 flying hours on around 100 different types of aircraft. |
  Air Vice-Marshal Peter Collins CB AFC (deceased) Died : 2017 *Signature Value : £40 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Collins, Peter (Air Vice-Marshal Peter Collins CB AFC (deceased)) Commanded No 111 Squadron and Royal Air Force Gutersloh. Reformed No 11 Squadron. Served on AFDS and Handling Squadron, Boscombe Down. He died on 17th April 2017. |
 Flt Lt Ian Black *Signature Value : £30 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Black, Ian (Flt Lt Ian Black) Ian flew tours on the Phantom, Lightning and Tornado. He was the last RAF pilot to qualify to fly the Lightning, flying with No.11 Sqn, and also spent 4 years with the French Air Force flying the Mirage 2000. He flew operations in the Gulf and Bosnia, flying over 250 combat sorties. He is currently a Senior Captain on the A340/A330 and last flew the Lightning at 'Thunder City', South Africa. |
  Air Commodore John Mitchell, LVO, DFC, AFC (deceased) Died : 2016 *Signature Value : £50 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Mitchell, John (Air Commodore John Mitchell, LVO, DFC, AFC (deceased)) John Mitchell had a remarkable career. An RAFVR officer, he was mobilised on the outbreak of war and just missed going to join a Fairey Battle Squadron in France where he would have undoubtedly been killed. He was instead posted to 58 Squadron flying Whitleys, surviving a tour of operations in 1940/41 including ditching in the North Sea. Awarded the DFC, he was sent to the US, helping to develop the first navigation training simulators with the famous Link Trainer factory. He was later awarded the US Legion of Merit, signed by Harry Truman. Returning to the UK in 1942, he was selected to join the crew of Winston Churchill's personal aircraft, the famous Avro York – Ascalon. For two years he navigated 'The Owner' – as he was known – around the world from North Africa to Italy, the Middle East to Moscow, including to the famous Teheran and Yalta conferences. He flew 'General Lyon' (aka HM George VI) on several occasions (for which he was personally decorated), as well as some of the great military leaders of their time from Alexander to Alanbrooke, Smuts to de Gaulle. After the war he continued to enjoy an eventful career. He was Senior Navigation Instructor at the RAF College, Cranwell and then held a similar post at RAF Manby where he undertook long-range exercises over the North Geographic Pole in the converted Lincoln, Aries III. He later returned to Air Attaché duties and was appointed to Moscow during the Brezhnev regime, finishing his career in the Air Intelligence world of the MoD. John Mitchell died 5th February 2016. |
  Flight Lieutenant Hedley Molland (deceased) Died : 2012 *Signature Value : £50 Editions signed : Pilot Presentation edition of 5 prints. | Molland, Hedley (Flight Lieutenant Hedley Molland (deceased)) Flying Officer Hedley Molland. During air combat training Flying Officer Hedley Molland while Flying a Hunter made a cine attack on his target and followed it into a dive from 37,000 feet. At 31,000 feet the dive steepened uncontrollably, the aircraft diving vertically into the sea 7 miles east of Brawdsey, Suffolk. Flying Officer Hedley Molland survived the supersonic ejection at 25,000 feet, mach 1.1 - his left arm was broken on ejection as he only used his left hand to initiate ejection. He also suffered two black eyes and a fractured pelvis. His crash helmet, watch, gloves and one shoe were blown off during ejection. The parachute opened automatically at about 10,000ft and speed of descent was normal. Molland was unable, because of his injuries, to inflate his dinghy in the water. He is thought to be the second man ever to have baled out successfully at such a speed - the first was an American. Molland was rescued. The accident was finally attributed to the probable effects of using flaps at high speeds as an aid to combat manoeuverability. While with 111 Sqd RAF Flt. Lt. Hedley Molland also ejected from a Lightning over Battisford Hill, near Wattisham on the 29th September 1965. He died in February 2012. |
| Squadrons Related to This Print |
| No.29 Sqn |
| Aircraft Related to This Print |
| Lightning (RAF) |
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Signature(s) value alone : £130
Signature(s) value alone : £215