Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation
Michael Horace b: 14 Jan 1928 r: 22 Aug 1981 d: 8 Oct 2016
CBE – 2 Jun 1973, AFC – 1 Jan 1969.
Plt Off: 29 Sep 1949 [27 Jul 1949], Fg Off: 29 Sep 1950 [27 Jul 1950], Flt Lt: 27 Jan 1952, Sqn Ldr: 1 Jan 1958, Wg Cdr: 1 Jan 1965, Gp Capt: 1 Jul 1970, Act A/Cdre: 26 Aug 1975, A/Cdre: 1 Jul 1976, Act AVM: 10 Jan 1981.
RAFVR(T): Fg Off: xx xxx xxxx, Act Flt Lt: xx xxx xxxx
xx Jan 1947: Flight Cadet, RAF College
29 Sep 1949: Appointed to Permanent Commission
xx xxx 1949: Attended No 204 AFS (Mosquito – Brize Norton)
xx May 1950: Pilot, No 264 Sqn. (Mosquito NF36)
xx xxx 1952: PA? to Wg Cdr – Operational Requirements, HQ Fighter Command
xx xxx 1954: Pilot, No 87 Sqn (Meteor NF 11 – RAF Wahn)
xx xxx xxxx: Staff Pilot, All Weather Development Unit, Central Fighter Establishment.
xx Jan 1958: Officer Commanding, Javelin Mobile Training Unit.
xx xxx 1959: Flight Commander, No 23 Sqn.
xx xxx 1961: Attended RN Staff College, Greenwich
12 Mar 1962: Staff Officer, Directorate of Organisation and Admin Plans
15 Nov 1965: Officer Commanding, No 60 Sqn.
27 May 1968: Staff Officer, Air Secretary’s Department.
xx xxx 1970: Attended Joint Services Staff College.
xx xxx 1970: Attended Refresher course, RAF Manby.
4 Jan 1971: Officer Commanding, RAF Gutersloh.
10 May 1973: Group Captain - Operations/Training, HQ No 11 Group.
26 Aug 1975: SASO, HQ No 11 Group.
8 Nov 1975: Commandant, Royal Observer Corps.
15 May 1977: Director of Control (Airspace Policy), National Air Traffic Service.
10 Jan 1981: AOA/AOC, Directly Administered Units, HQ Strike Command.
xx xxx 1981: Pilot, No 6 AEF
On leaving school he became an apprentice at Bristol Aircraft, but returned to his old school, Bryanston, to teach Games and Maths. He then joined the RAF College at Cranwell, where he was one of the first post-war entrants and one of the last to do his training on theTiger Moth.
Whilst at HQ Fighter Command between 1952 and 54, he was involved in the plans for te introduction of new types such as the Swift, Hunter, Gnat, Javelin anmd Lightning. With No 23 Squadron, he was involved in the first air refuelling trials with the Javelin, which resulted in a two aircraft deployment to Singapore.
In Malaya he broke the record for the land journey from Singapore to Bangkok and return, which at that time stood at 96 hours by train. He completed the 2,400 mile journey in 59 hours 40 minutes (just inside the magic 60) in his Audi 90.
Always preferring flying to staff work, he retired from the RAF but continued to fly cadets of the ATC and CCF with No 6 Air Experience Flight at Abingdon. By the time he finally retired from this role, he had flown a total of 5,000 hours, 1,500 hours on the Chipmunk and given air experience to 3,000 cadets.
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