Wings Like Eagles

David Marfleet is a remarkable pilot.  At 20, the youngest helicopter pilot in the newly formed Army Air Corps, he learned operational flying the hard way – with the Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland, overseas in the desert, and later with the SAS.

Soldier first and pilot second, David flew with a machine-gun under his sea, aware that death could face him at any moment.  The shocking loss of a comrade affected him deeply.  Still more testing was flying the high mountain valleys of remote Irian Jaya, where David’s calling led him next – working with Mission Aviation Fellowship among the stone-age warriors of South-east Asia.

His ruthless professional approach to flying, strong personal convictions and ‘Para’ discipline brought him through many extreme circumstances, from confrontations with cannibals to engine failure over the jungle.

The climax of his unique career in the air came when called on to rescue hundreds of villagers from the jaws of an earthquake, a highly dangerous mission which prompted his special flying award, the Helicopter Association International 1990 Pilot of the Year.