John Frederick Farley, (17 April 1933 – 13 June 2018) was a British

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

and

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

who was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for his work in

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

. As a

, he was heavily involved in the development of the

Hawker Siddeley P.1127 The Hawker P.1127 and the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1 are the British experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first ''vertical and/or short take-off and landing'' ( V/STOL) jet fighter-bomber. Devel ...

and latterly the BAE Harrier. During his aviation career Farley flew over 80 different types of aircraft and was the first British pilot to fly the

Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG- ...

Early life

Farley gained his formative education at Hastings Grammar School (which subsequently became William Parker School and today is known as the

Ark Alexandra Academy Ark Alexandra, previously known as Hastings Grammar School, William Parker School, William Parker Sports College, and later as Ark William Parker is a secondary school in Hastings, East Sussex in the United Kingdom. It was the only male single-s ...

Career

Apprenticeship

John Farley joined the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

, Farnborough, as a student apprentice in 1950. This saw him fly as a flight test observer on various programmes, leading to him developing a professional relationship with numerous test pilots. Having been introduced to

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Sammy Wroath, who was aware of Farley's technical ability, he was encouraged to learn to fly. Farley chose to join the

rather than to attend civilian flying college at

Cranfield Cranfield is a village and civil parish in the west of Bedfordshire, England, situated between Bedford and Milton Keynes. It had a population of 4,909 in 2001. increasing to 5,369 at the 2011 Census. The parish is in Central Bedfordshire uni ...

with an aim to becoming a test pilot.

Flying career

Able to husband the unique attributes of first class aeronautical engineer and exceptional pilot, it came as somewhat of a disappointment to Farley that following the

1957 Defence White Paper The 1957 White Paper on Defence (Cmnd. 124) was a British white paper issued in March 1957 setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected wa ...

produced by

Duncan Sandys Edwin Duncan Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys (; 24 January 1908 – 26 November 1987), was a British politician and minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a son-in-law of Winston Churchill and played a key ro ...

, he had to settle for a ground tour having passed out from the Operational Conversion Unit on the

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

. Eager to fly, this led to Farley sneaking into the office of the day fighter poster and highlighting his name on some of the posting forms whilst the officer was out playing sport. His reward was a posting to

No. 4 Squadron RAF No. 4 Squadron, normally written as IV Squadron, of the Royal Air Force operates the BAE Hawk T2 in the training role from RAF Valley. History Formation and First World War IV Squadron formed at Farnborough in 1912 as part of the Royal Fl ...

at RAF Jever,

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, for a tour on the

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

which was followed by a posting to the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at R ...

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

where he became an instructor on the

Jet Provost The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, an ...

. It was during this tour that he was rewarded in 1963 with the slot he most desired, that of a place at the

Empire Test Pilots' School The Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) is a British training school for test pilots and flight test engineers of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft at MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, England. It was established in 1943, the first of its type. T ...

RAE Farnborough The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), before finally losing its identity in me ...

, completing the highly challenging course with a distinguished pass. He subsequently joined the Aerodynamics Research Flight at

RAE Bedford RAE Bedford was a research site of the Royal Aircraft Establishment between 1946 and 1994. It was located near the village of Thurleigh, north of the town of Bedford in England and was the site of aircraft experimental development work. In the ...

which saw Farley renew his association with Ralph Maltby, who had been his apprentice master at the beginning of his career. During 1964 Farley was first introduced to the

which in turn led to his long and successful association with BAe Dunsfold, leading to 19 years of Harrier test flying. He joined

Hawker Aviation Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history. History Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bank ...

as a company test pilot in 1967 following his service in the RAF, leading to him being appointed Deputy Chief Test Pilot in 1971 and Chief Test Pilot in 1978. In this capacity he began work on the development of the

Sea Harrier The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered servic ...

, being the first pilot to undertake a take off with the aid of the 'ski-jump' and demonstrating this to the general public at the 1978

Farnborough Airshow The Farnborough Airshow, officially the Farnborough International Airshow, is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors. Since its fir ...

. One particularly challenging aspect of the test flying programme on the Harrier revolved around the

phenomenon A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

which came to be known as Intake Momentum Drag Yaw. This was an aspect in which the mass of air ingested by the intake of the engine during a

crosswind A crosswind is any wind that has a perpendicular component to the line or direction of travel. This affects the aerodynamics of many forms of transport. Moving non-parallel to the wind's direction creates a crosswind component on the object and th ...

could lead to a state of uncontrolled roll. Farley deliberately flew right into the edge of this condition repeatedly, so that a system to counter it could be developed. He was involved in the conversion course onto the Harrier of the first two

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

pilots in 1967, which at that time consisted of neither a two-seater version of the aircraft nor a simulator being available, and called heavily on all Farley's experience. He was to continue this association with the USMC, utilising his skill on subsequent developments such as the

AV-8B The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that constitutes the second generation of the Harrier family, capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). The aircraft is primaril ...

The Farley Take off

Renowned as the foremost display pilot of the Harrier, Farley developed what was to become known as the ''Farley Take off''. This would see the aircraft put into the hover at around , then using the Reaction Controls, raise the nose to around 60 degrees, adjusting the main engine nozzles to suit, so the aircraft was still hovering, but with a high nose up attitude. He would then apply maximum power and "''rocket climb"'' away. There were no gauges or instruments to aid this, it was all by ''seat of the pants'' judgement.

and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

pilots were forbidden from trying it.

Retirement and subsequent career

Farley retired from test flying with

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

(as he was obliged to) in 1983 on reaching his 50th birthday. He subsequently became Manager of

Dunsfold Aerodrome Dunsfold Aerodrome (former ICAO code EGTD) is an unlicensed airfield in Surrey, England, near the village of Cranleigh. It extends across land in the villages of Dunsfold and Alfold. It was built by the Canadian Army and civilian contracto ...

being on hand to offer assistance to the smaller companies involved in the development of aviation. Following the death of Deputy Chief Test Pilot Taylor Scott whilst testing the Harrier GR-5, Farley, a man of high principle and the utmost integrity, took issue with the way in which the matter, particularly concerning Scott's widow, was dealt with by British Aerospace, which in turn led to his leaving the company. He returned to test flying on a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

basis. In 1990 Farley became the first westerner to fly the

MiG 29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the ...

. This was at the invitation of a Russian pilot, whom Farley had defended from a reprimand at an air show. During this flight Farley performed the MiG's celebrated “tailslide”. Farley retired from test flying in 1999. Highly acclaimed for his aeronautical knowledge, Farley became a visiting lecturer at several universities in addition to which he ran courses to encourage young people to join the aerospace business. A highly articulate writer, he was also a regular and enthusiastic contributor to '' Flyer'' magazine. Farley's autobiography ''A View From The Hover'' is widely regarded as an aviation classic, and essential reading for anyone aspiring to develop a knowledge of test flying.

Personal life

He met his wife, Patricia Fox-Russell at a dance while posted to RAF Valley on Anglesey. She was the niece of Captain John Fox-Russell, VC. He and Patricia had two daughters. In 1981 he married, Adele Sanford (Pattison) and acquired two stepchildren, Alan Sanford and Claire Sanford. John Farley died on Wednesday, 13 June 2018.

References

External links

Interview with John Farley in 2007 from the Imperial War Museum collection

Obituary in FlightGlobal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farley, John 1933 births 2018 deaths British test pilots Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English test pilots Harrier Jump Jet Hawker Siddeley Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Hastings Grammar School Royal Air Force officers People from Hastings