Yeovil Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society
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This site was last updated on 30th January 2012.
Keith Chadbourn recalls Peter Twiss OBE, DSC & bar, who died last month at the age of 90.
I joined Fairey Aviation at White Waltham early in 1959 after serving in the Royal Navy. Peter Twiss was Chief Test Pilot and already the well known and feted holder of the World's Speed Record in level flight of 1132 mph.
I joined Fairey Aviation at White Waltham early in 1959 after serving in the Royal Navy. Peter Twiss was Chief Test Pilot and already the well known and feted holder of the World's Speed Record in level flight of 1132 mph.
He was a modest and gentle man who disliked the occasional task of disciplining his pilots, though this was seldom necessary. During my training of Indonesian Navy pilots, I brought back to the airfield (which was somewhat confined, being well within the London TMA) a flight of three aircraft. The two Indonesian pilots were late in breaking into the circuit and overflew a neighbouring large estate belonging to an MP. He was quick to object and I was asked to attend on the CTP. Peter was quick to stress that it was not my fault, confined himself to saying, "Brief them not to do it again" and brought out the sherry bottle.
We had a number of aircraft at White Waltham, Swordfish, Fulmar, Dove, Tiger Moth, Tipsy Nipper and Junior plus the Douglas DC-3s belonging to Fairey Air Surveys. We were encouraged to fly the lot. Having come from a culture that demanded a longish course before being allowed to fly an unfamiliar aircraft I was astonished one Wednesday to be asked by Peter if I had flown a Fulmar. "No", said I. Whereupon he put the Pilot's Notes on his desk and said, "You'd better study these then, your taking it to Gaydon Air Day on Saturday".
My introduction to Faireys was civilised in the extreme. I was given not only a parking space but an open garage with my name over the top. When my wife occasionally came to pick me up from work (one car only in those impoverished days). She was told by the security guard " Good evening Mrs Chadbourn, your husband is having a drink with Mr Twiss in his office, Mr Twiss asks that you join them".
All very different from my arrival at Westland, some years later. There I was held at the gate while a lengthy investigation into my credentials was undertaken and then told to leave my car and walk to the Pilots' Office.
Peter was an affable and possibly vulnerable man. His fame led to many parties and receptions in London and elsewhere and it is no surprise that many of his marriages ended. His third wife Cherry Huggins was with him during the time at White-Waltham, daughter of a Governor of Jamaica, tall, lissome and blonde. They lived on a Thames sailing barge moored at Hurley, as a vessel it was nothing to look at but almost luxurious inside, a huge sitting room, a dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms. Peter said he often came topsides on a Sunday morning to find a dozen or so fishermen on his deck. Being Peter, he didn't turf them off. He and Cherry were very good to my wife as she waited, with a one-year-old, for a month or so before joining me in Indonesia.
According to his obituary, Peter married in all five times and I'm not surprised.
Peter Twiss ran a very happy ship, due mostly to his easy-going nature and his belief that as all his pilots were former officers they knew what they were about.
Keith Chadbourn