Support the Test Flying Memorial Project

Compilation of a Roll of Honour, commemorating all British test pilots and other flight-test personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty over the last 100 years, is now well under way. The first section (1939–45) has been posted on the Web for specialist and public scrutiny, amendment and additions — click here to see it.

Meanwhile, funds are being raised to pay for calligraphers and bookbinders to produce the finished Roll of Honour in a leather-bound volume for permanent display at Farnborough — the cradle of British aviation — in time for the Centenary of Powered Flight in the UK in October 2008. For details of how to make a donation, click here — and for more details of the project, click here. If enough money is raised it is hoped that, in addition to the Roll of Honour, a Memorial in stone and metal can be created; initial design ideas are already being considered.

A series of postal auctions in aid of the Test Flying Memorial is being run by Aeroplane — click here to view and print PDFs of the first two auctions in the series.

The Test Flying Memorial Project is a joint venture between Aeroplane magazine and the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST), which is a Registered Charity. The Roll of Honour will be permanently housed in the FAST Museum on the former site of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, and the proposed Memorial will be sited nearby.

Click here for more details