The first flight of the BAe 146, at Hatfield on Thursday 3 September 1981, provided a unique opportunity for those privileged to be on board, such events being rare even then. The crew of four were all former apprentices: Mike Goodfellow, Ron Hammond and I at de Havilland's Hatfield plant, and Peter Sedgwick at Vickers. Mike and Peter had been in the RAF, and had both been trained and had instructed at the Empire Test Pilots' School. Mike's RAF background was primarily the Hawker Hunter; Peter's was the Lockheed Hercules, hence his recruitment as an experienced chap on a four-engined, high-wing aircraft. Ron and I had stayed on at Hatfield after our long-ago apprenticeships, he in the instrumentation department and I in the flight development department.
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