Desmond 'Dizzy' de Villiers
British test pilot
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Desmond ‘Dizzy' de Villiers AFC (7 November 1922 – 19 June 1976)[1] was chief test pilot at de Havilland,[2] the world's first open cockpit pilot to reach supersonic speed (albeit inadvertently, the cockpit canopy flew off mid-flight),[3] the second British pilot to exceed mach 2, chief experimental test pilot on the English Electric Lightning programme (making more than 1,000 flights),[4][5] and during his test career flew more than 6,000 hours in 130 different aircraft.[6]
Desmond ‘Dizzy’ de Villiers | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 7 November 1922 |
| Died | 19 June 1976 (aged 53) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
Branch |  Royal Air Force |
Service years | World War II |
Rank | Squadron Leader |
| Awards | AFC |
| Other work | Chief Test Pilot |
Life
Desmond de Villiers was born on 7 November 1922[1] and educated at Bedford Modern School.[7] During World War II he was a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force[8] (with No. 68 Squadron RAF) and awarded the AFC.[7] He principally flew Beaufighters in RAF Fighter Command and RAF Coastal Command.[9]
In 1943, de Villiers was seconded to de Havilland where he became chief test pilot,[2] the world's first open cockpit pilot to reach supersonic speed (albeit inadvertently, the cockpit canopy flew off mid-flight and landed in the garden of a house in Blundellsands near Southport),[10][3] the second British pilot to exceed mach 2, chief experimental test pilot on the English Electric Lightning programme (making more than 1,000 flights)[4][5] and who, during his test career, flew more than 6,000 hours in 130 different aircraft.[6] In 1951, de Villiers flew the Mamba Marathon at the Farnborough Airshow.[9]
De Villiers retired from test flying in 1967.[9] He died on 19 June 1976.[11]