George Errington: A Test Pilot’s Story

George Errington was a well-known and popular test pilot from 1935 to 1955. His name appeared frequently in aviation magazines of the time and he ranks with the likes of Cunningham, Duke, Falk and Lithgow. He joined the Airspeed company at Portsmouth in 1934 and became their Chief Test Pilot in 1939, when test flying was vastly different from today. During the Second World War he was responsible for much of the testing of the Horsa assault glider, which included a number of incidents. After the war he was responsible for testing the elegant Ambassador airliner prior to its service with BEA. When de Havilland took over Airspeed, George moved to Hatfield in 1953, where he was involved in the flight testing and delivery of Comets, Herons and Vampire trainers.

In this book, written in cooperation with George’s son, Mike Phipp tells George’s story.