Angus Crawford

As Bill Cosby once said, “I started out as a child”. I was born and raised in a small town about 40 miles south of San Francisco. I don’t remember when I first decided that I wanted to fly but by my teens the idea was well established. I reasoned that to get an airline job I needed to get the USAF to teach me and in order for that to happen I needed a college degree. I spent 5 very enjoyable years at New Mexico State University then the Air Force said time was up and I had to take life more seriously.

I went to pilot training in southern Georgia. The year of training was largely uneventful save for my first solo in the T-37 when I flew through a flock of starlings on my third circuit and hit three of them! The engines kept turning and the gear came down on cue but for someone with the grand total of 240 hours it was quite a solo ride! I always wanted to fly transports (give me an airplane with lots of engines and a toilet and I’m happy). Fortunately there was a C-141 based in California in the pipeline so I got my wish. Flying the 141 for MAC (Transport Command) was great fun. We did mostly the Pacific but occasionally went on exercises to Europe.

Between college and pilot training I met a lovely English girl that subsequently became my wife (26 years or so ago). She pined for the old country and so when it came time for me to make a decision about my (our) future (remember that I wanted to fly airliners one day) I figured that being unemployed in England would be about the same as being unemployed in California.

In 1981 there weren’t many jobs to be had and I only gotten one interview for my efforts. Fortunately that was with Orion and Ray Johnson, the DFO, had spent time on exchange in the USAF and looked kindly upon this refugee from the new world. I spent 7 good years with Orion. When Orion was “absorbed” into Britannia I decided that Air Europe looked a better bet and declined Britt’s kind offer to don a white hat. It was a good decision for the first 18 months, then the world came crashing in as Intasun went belly up. I rushed up to Birmingham the next Monday morning and was able to land a temporary job with TEA (UK). Although TEA (UK) did very well that summer of ‘91, TEA (BEL) didn’t and when it went into Belgian chapter 11 our little outfit was forced into liquidation. Twice on the dole in 7 months, agggh!

It transpired that there was a cunning plan and Excalibur rose from the TEA ashes in the spring of 1992. Jeff Llewellyn once again came to my rescue and I landed on my feet, in the left hand seat, at Gatwick. Excalibur was an excellent Airline with modern equipment and high standards. What we lacked was size. The company decided to go long haul with the DC-10. I spent a very pleasant spring in 1996 at the United Airlines training centre in Denver Colorado. Unfortunately the aircraft we finally got was a very old and tired Belgian DC-10 that proved most unreliable.

About an hour after I was told, “don’t come to work this afternoon”, I got a call from Trevor at the IPA. He asked if I would like to update my CV and send it out (yes) and also told me that Virgin was looking for A-320 pilots for their Athens service. I duly called Virgin, had an interview the next week, and was up at East Midlands in the sim about 3 weeks later. After about 18 months on the 320 it became “politically incorrect” for me to remain in the left hand seat, as Virgin did not have direct entry Captains. Rather than go on the 340 as a cruise pilot, I went to the 747-200 (Classic). Less than 9 months later I was called into the Chief Pilot’s office and asked if I’d heard of Virgin Sun (I had) and was then asked if I wanted my training command back (I did). Virgin Sun started on 1 May 99 with 2 bright yellow aircraft. This fleet grew to 4 for 2000 with a 320 and a 321. For reasons of their own, Virgin decided to cancel Sun at the end of October 2001. As events transpired, in the aftermath of Sept 11, VSun was the only part of the Virgin empire making a profit. As a result of the rapid contraction in Virgin’s flight deck force, I once again found myself back in the right seat; this time the 340 was unavoidable. The idea of spending 3 of my last 10 flying years as a highly paid clerk and cruise pilot didn’t appeal, so when the opportunity arose in the spring of 2002 to fly again in the left hand seat and again at Gatwick for easyJet I just couldn’t resist.

When easy announced its decision to buy Airbus for their future expansion I was a very happy boy and am now the Airbus Project Pilot for the introduction in the UK (in addition to taking on the chairmanship of the IPA for the next 2 years, I must be mad!).

What ever the future holds, it won’t bear any resemblance to what I imagine or try valiantly to plan for. But as Chuck Yeager says at the end of his autobiography: “if I die tomorrow it won’t be with a scowl on my face; I’ve had a ball”.

Happy landings to all,

Angus M Crawford