David Gibbings joined the Royal Air Force as an Engineering Apprentice in 1949, and subsequently trained as a Navigator.He joined Fairey Aviation in 1955 working with air-to-air guided weapons.He moved to the Aircraft Division in 1960 as a Flight Test Engineer to work on Rotodyne and Gannet. (Rotodyne was the first helicopter he flew in)David moved to Yeovil in 1964 to work and fly with the whole range of Westland helicopters. When he retired as Chief Flight Test Engineer in 1993 he received the 'Kelly Johnson' Award from the Society of Flight Test Engineers for outstanding achievement in the field of Flight Test Engineering.A Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and Fellow of the Society of Flight Test Engineers, he claims to be an 'Aviation Enthusiast' and has continued to work as a Flight Test Consultant, Aviation Artist and Flight Historian, and more recently as an Author.His book 'Fairey Rotodyne' was winner of 'The Peoples Choice' Award in the Aviation Category, at the Hampshire Libraries special Collections Awards 2010.David makes no secret of the fact that he has 'Parkinson's Disease', which he defiantly refuses to allow to intrude too severely on his activities as a Flight Test Consultant,lecturer and Artist/Writer.Website www.davidgibbings.co.uk