William Patrick Ingram Fillingham (27 February 1914 – 17 July 2003) was an English test pilot for the de Havilland company. Fillingham flew 120 different types of aircraft during his career including all variants of the de Havilland Mosquito.

Early life

Fillingham was born in 1914 in Sutton Coldfield and he was educated at Worksop College and the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School. Fillingham learned to fly with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at Perth in Scotland, he flew his first solo in February 1937. He graduated from the de Havilland technical school in 1939 as an aeronautical engineer and joined the parent company de Havilland as a test pilot.

Wartime test pilot

With the start of the Second World War the company had an increase in aircraft production and by April 1940 Fillingham was test flying 150 de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers a month. By September 1942 he was the chief production test pilot flying new de Havilland Mosquito twin-engine light bombers. In 1943 he went to the de Havilland subsidiaries in Toronto and Sydney to advise them how to test fly the Mosquito, during his stay in Canada he demonstrated the Mosquito at a number of Canadian air bases and also to the United States Army Air Force. With production of the Mosquito in England increased to a five a day Fillingham flew a record 2,200 flights in the Mosquito. As well as the Mosquito he also flew the twin-engined

De Havilland Hornet The de Havilland DH.103 Hornet, developed by de Havilland, was a fighter aircraft driven by two piston engines. It further exploited the wooden construction techniques that had been pioneered by the de Havilland Mosquito. Development of the ...

, at the time the fastest propeller aircraft in the world.

Peacetime test pilot

With the end of the war Fillingham still had plenty to do as de Havilland produced the

Dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

and Heron commercial transports. He flew the prototype de Havilland Canada Chipmunk in Canada in 1946. Military aircraft were still produced and as well as the Dove and Heron, Fillingham is also recorded as flying in the same month

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...

jet fighters, de Havilland Canada Chipmunk trainers and Mosquitos. As the company moved into the 1950s Fillingham test flew the four-engined

de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four ...

airliner and then the three-engine de Havilland Trident airliner. In 1972 he delivered a Trident to China, the first western jet to be imported. By 1975 De Havilland had become Hawker Siddeley Aviation and Fillingham was Deputy Chief Test Pilot when he decided to retire. His last few flying years for Hawker Siddeley he flew the

Hawker Siddeley HS.125 The British Aerospace 125 is a twinjet mid-size business jet. Originally developed by de Havilland and initially designated as the DH.125 Jet Dragon, it entered production as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125, which was the designation used until 1 ...

as well as display flying the then last flying Mosquito. Fillingham had 11,450 hours on 120 different aircraft types during his career. In 1970 he was awarded a

Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air The Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, formerly the King's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, was a merit award for flying service awarded by the United Kingdom between 1942 and 1994. It was replaced by the Queen’ ...

Family life and leisure

Fillingham had married Sonja Couper in 1952 and they had a daughter and a son. As well as his duties as a test pilot Fillingham also flew in air races winning the Goodyear Trophy in 1952 and the

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

in 1953 flying a de Havilland Canada Chipmunk. Fillingham owned a number of vintage motor cars and took part in three Monte Carlo Rallies. Fillingham died on 17 July 2003 aged 89.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fillingham, Pat 1914 births 2003 deaths De Havilland English aerospace engineers English aviators English test pilots Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society People educated at Worksop College People from Sutton Coldfield British aviation record holders Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel