Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

Ernest Derek 'Dave' Glaser (20 April 1921 – 2001) was a British

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) an ...

officer of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, and later a notable

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 Testin ...

Biography

Glaser was the son of a former Royal Flying Corps officer and brought up in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. He was educated at Lancing House and

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school of the British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham, three miles (5 km) from the town of Banbury in Oxfordshir ...

, before being accepted for flying training in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in April 1939.

World War II

In 1940, Glaser was attached to No. 65 Squadron RAF, where he flew Supermarine Spitfires alongside

Jeffrey Quill Jeffrey Kindersley Quill, (1 February 1913 – 20 February 1996) was a British test pilot who served on secondment with the Royal Air Force and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. He was also the second man to fly the Sup ...

and Franciszek Gruszka in the

. His plane became known for its

nose art Nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircraft, usually on the front fuselage. While begun for practical reasons of identifying friendly units, the practice evolved to express the individuality often constrained by ...

, representing The Laughing Cavalier. Glaser was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and in July 1940 transferred to

No. 234 Squadron RAF No. 234 Squadron RAF had a long career within the RAF, being operational on flying boats in World War I and on fighter aircraft in World War II. After the war it remained a fighter unit till 1957. In its last incarnation the squadron was in turn ...

as a flight commander. It was while serving with No. 234 that he was mistakenly shot down on 13 July 1940 by a

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 ...

warship off the English south coast. He was promoted to Pilot Officer in 1941. He became temporary commander of the squadron in October. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in August 1942. In 1943, Glaser was posted to Australia as OC 'B' Flight of

No. 549 Squadron RAF No. 549 Squadron RAF was a fighter squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) operating in Australia from 1943 to 1945. History The squadron was formed at Lawnton Airfield, Queensland Australia on 15 December 1943, made up of RAF Aircrew and RAAF ...

, a Spitfire squadron charged with defending Darwin against

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

air attack. In early 1945 he was promoted Sqn Ldr and posted to command No 548 Squadron RAF, also at Darwin. In 1946 he was awarded the

Air Efficiency Award The Air Efficiency Award, post-nominal letters AE for officers, was instituted in 1942. It could be awarded after ten years of meritorious service to officers, airmen and airwomen in the Auxiliary and Volunteer Air Forces of the United Kingdom ...

Test pilot

After two years he returned home, was granted a permanent commission and posted to Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire. There he was flight commander of

No. 64 Squadron RAF No. 64 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was first formed on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. It was disbanded on 31 January 1991 at RAF Leuchars. History 1916 to 1919 No. 64 Squadron Royal Flying Corps w ...

, a half-strength Hornet fighter squadron. In 1949 Glaser passed 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 ...

and became a test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. He became a test pilot with

Vickers Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, wi ...

in 1952, and was involved in testing and developing planes such as the

Vickers Varsity The Vickers Varsity is a retired British twin-engined crew trainer operated by the Royal Air Force from 1951 to 1976. Design and development The Varsity was developed by Vickers and based on the Viking and Valetta to meet Air Ministry Spec ...

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Vi ...

and the Vickers Valiant. Glaser was also involved in testing the BAC One-Eleven. In 1979 he became flight operations manager and test pilot instructor of Rombac in Romania. In 1983 he retired from

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 Marcon ...

and worked as a successful aviation consultant. He had been awarded the military

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’ ...

in 1953, and was rewarded the commendation for civil test flying in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glaser, Dave 1921 births 2001 deaths BAC One-Eleven British Aircraft Corporation British test pilots English aviators People educated at Bloxham School Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force pilots of World War II The Few Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II