Born in Farnborough, Kent, in 1942, Ray grew up in South-East
London and went on to study at William Penn Technical School before
joining the Royal Air Force. On passing out in December 1959, he
was posted to the Central Flying School (CFS), before arranging an
exchange with a fellow radio mechanic on the DH Vampire T.11 line.
Much to Ray's delight, the squadron was also responsible for
handling Hawker Hunters the CFS Type Flight whenever they paid
visits from their operating base at RAF Kemble. The opportunity to
work on the 'queen of the skies' kindled a passion that has
remained with him ever since.
His career in the Royal Air Force involved service in Aden, where
he lived for two years, working on a busy front-line operational
squadron equipped with the more potent ground attack and fighter
reconnaissance versions of Hawkers impeccable aircraft. He also
worked at RAF Little Rissington on the Varsity squadron, a posting
that was followed by time spent at the CFS Gnat Base Engineering
Team, where he became familiar with the Gnats operating with the
Red Arrows Aerobatic Team and 4 Squadron CFS.
He left the RAF in May 1967. A year with the RAE at Farnborough
was followed by a 25-year career in computing with IBM. Early
retirement enabled Ray to dedicate his free time to carrying out
in-depth studies of his favourite subjects; RAF Little Rissington
during the CFS years and Hawker Hunter operations in the Middle
East.
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