President & Vice Presidents

Gerald Howarth’s parents both served in the RAF in World War 2; he was educated at Haileybury Junior School, Bloxham School and Southampton University. At school, he was awarded an RAF Flying Scholarship, obtaining his PPL on Jackaroos at Thruxton in September 1965. At Southampton, he joined the University Air Squadron, logging 120 hours on Chipmunks. He was commissioned in the RAFVR in 1968.

After 12 years in international banking in the City, culminating at Standard Chartered Bank, he was elected to Parliament in 1983, winning the Staffordshire coal mining seat of Cannock & Burntwood from Labour. The only Conservative to serve two terms at Cannock, he lost in 1992 but in 1993 he was selected to fight Aldershot in succession to Sir Julian Critchley and has held the seat since 1997.

In Parliament, he served as an officer of the Conservative Aviation Committee in the 1980s, became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Energy Minister Michael Spicer and in 1991 was appointed PPS to Margaret Thatcher whom he served until she left Parliament in 1992.

In 2001 he became Vice Chairman of the Defence Select Committee and was appointed as Shadow Defence Procurement Minister in 2004, serving until 2010 when he became Minister for International Security Strategy at the MoD where he was responsible for defence exports, the EU and Defence Diplomacy, a post he held until 2012 when he left Government and was awarded a Knighthood.

Still flying with the RAE Aero Club at Farnborough, Sir Gerald is also President of the Historic Aircraft Association, a Trustee of the Vulcan to the Sky charity, a Trustee of the British Forces Foundation and joint Patron (with Lady Howarth and Buzz Aldrin) of Aerobility – the British Disabled Flying Association. He became a Freeman of the Honourable Company in 2004 and was elected a Liveryman in 2012. Among the aircraft he has flown he counts the Tiger Moth, the Edgley Optica, the Hawk, the Spitfire and the Pilatus PC-21.

Barry joined the RAF in 1963 as an RAF Halton Aircraft Apprentice and graduated on a cadet-ship to the RAF College Cranwell. Awarded his commission and pilots’ wings in 1968 he went on to a full RAF career specialising in air-to-air refuelling (AAR) (Victor K1 & K2 and VC10 aircraft, and KC-135 & KC10 aircraft on exchange with the USAF). He was an AAR Instructor and a USAF Instructor Pilot, and was awarded a Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air for AAR operations in the 1982 South Atlantic Conflict. His last 7 years in the RAF were spent in flight/aviation safety during which time he gained a Certificate in Aviation Safety Management from the Southern California Safety Institute (Safety & Risk Management, Aircraft & Incident Investigation, and Human Factors), and was the UK representative to the NATO Flight Safety Working Group. He also monitored military aircraft participation in civilian flying displays and, in 2003, became an Air Display Association Europe (ADAE) certificated flying display director. On retirement from the RAF he founded, and is Managing Partner of, Aviation Safety Associates llp, an aviation safety consultancy specialising in safety & risk management, human factors, and flying display safety. He was the display advisor for the 2000 Royal Military Tattoo, London, and the 2002 Queen’s Golden Jubilee Visit to the Armed Forces, Portsmouth. He has been flying display director at Guernsey (currently), Plymouth and Elvington, and on flying control committees at Guernsey, Kemble, Babbacombe and Dawlish (currently). Barry is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a former member of ADAE and a founder Member of BADA.

In the 1980s, John flew Phantom F4s with the Royal Air Force in Germany, instructed on the Hawk, graduated from the Empire Test Pilots’ School, and commanded the Experimental Flying squadron at RAE Farnborough.

In 1990 he left the RAF to join BAE Systems as an experimental test pilot where he flew Tornado, Hawk, Eurofighter, MT-003 gyrocopter, Nimrod MRA4, ATP and BAe146/RJ and was a Cessna 421, ATP and BAe146 Captain for the company’s airline. He became Chief Test Pilot Nimrod & Strategic Aircraft in 2003 and Director Flight Operations in 2005, with responsibility for the governance of all flying activities conducted by or on behalf of all the parts of BAE Systems plc and BAE Systems Inc. word-wide as well as overseeing and acting as ‘pilot’ for the first flight of the large twin-engine Mantis UAV.

He displayed the Hawk 1992-95 and the Eurofighter/Typhoon at RIAT in 1995, Farnborough in 1996 and at Berlin and Farnborough in 1998. He also displayed the BAE System’s Blackburn B2, an Avro C19 (Anson) and deHavilland DH60 Cirrus Moth and the Shuttleworth Collection’s vintage aircraft. He has served on Flying Control Committees at East Fortune, Farnborough, Clacton, Samlesbury, Southend on Sea, Southport, Margate and Warton and has been Flying Display Director at Farnborough since 2014.

In 2010 John set up John Turner Aviation Consultants Ltd, providing a source of independent and expert advice on aviation matters. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Liveryman and Director of Aviation Affairs of The Honourable Company of Air Pilots, a member of the A|D|S Flight Operations Committee and a Non-Executive Director of Farnborough International Ltd.

Matt Wilkins is the Event Organiser of the Old Buckenham Airshow. He is the CAA Accountable Aerodrome Manager of Old Buckenham, also managing all non-aviation activities and buildings, as well as the airfield’s Authorised Person; Training Officer of Rescue Fire Fighting Services and a CAA ROCC Examiner.

In the world of Air Displays; the Old Buckenham Airshow has grown to become the largest Air Display in two counties and one of the top five events in Norfolk. The winner of a prestigious Tourism Award for ‘Family Event of the Year” the Airshow also made the Country Life list of the 100 best events for “The Greatest Summer Ever in 2012”, the only Air Display to feature. Wilkins has held an FDD Accreditation since 2018 which has recently been successfully renewed. He’s been on the FCC at IWM Duxford Showcases and Shadow FCC for the Battle of Britain Airshow on several occasions, as well as being DFDD at Stow Maries in 2020.

The recently appointed Chairman of the General Aviation Group of the CAA/ DfT’s new Combined Aerodrome Safeguarding Team, Wilkins’ background as a property developer and manager has assisted in the successful defence against planning applications at Old Buckenham, and part of his new remit is to create guidance for Local Planning Authorities and Applicants about the issues their projects may cause to aerodromes. He’s expanded the initial brief to also include the risks to Air Displays at Aerodromes. He’s a member of the CAA’s FDFG and of the APPG on GA.