John Thompson

John was born in Westmorland, England, but moved with his family to
Ayrshire, Scotland in 1935. Later he attended Glasgow University while
doing an aeronautical apprenticeship with Scottish Aviation at Prestwick
Airport. Following graduation with first class honours in engineering, and
a year of post-graduate research at the university, he joined the Royal
Air Force. His time in the RAF was mostly spent as a technical officer on
a fighter station in Germany with the British Air Forces of Occupation. He
left the RAF in 1952. During that period he obtained his glider pilot
license.

Upon leaving the RAF he married Mary, his life-long love of over 60 years
and they moved to Manchester, England, where he worked for the A.V.Roe
company on the “Vulcan” delta-wing bomber.

In 1957 he and Mary and two-year old son Andrew emigrated to Canada. He
joined deHavilland Aircraft of Canada as a stress engineer working on the
DHC-4 Caribou. He stayed with the company for 35 years until his
retirement in 1992. During that period he was involved in all of the
company’s projects, including the Caribou, Turbo-Beaver, Buffalo, Twin
Otter, Dash-7, Dash-8 and the FHE-400 hydrofoil ship. Shortly after the
company was purchased in 1986 by the Boeing Company of Seattle, he was
appointed Vice-President of Engineering at at time when the DHC-8 Series
300 was under development. He was an active member of the Canadian
Aviation and Space Institute and served as its President in 1991-92. He
received the J.A.D. McCurdy Award in 1991 for his contributions to
Canadian aviation. Following retirement from deHavilland he worked as a
consultant to several start-up aviation companies and acted as a Design
Approval Representative - Structures, for Transport Canada until the age
of 80.

Apart from a life-long fascination with aircraft, he loved travel,
classical music, and ballroom as well as Scottish Country dancing; but
most of all his wife Mary, children Andrew (Lorna), Elaine (John) and Ian
(Jane), and grandchildren Jacquie, John, Stuart, William and
great-granddaughter Ella. John also leaves to mourn his sister Jean in
Scotland, cousins, nieces and nephews.