Pat Fillingham
| Pat Fillingham | |
|---|---|
| Born |
William Patrick Ingram Fillingham 27 February 1914 Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England |
| Died | 17 July 2003 (aged 89) Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England |
| Occupation | Aeronautical Engineer and Test Pilot |
| Known for | de Havilland test pilot |
Pat Fillingham FRAes (27 February 1914 – 17 July 2003) was an English test pilot for the de Havilland company. Fillingham flew 120 different types of aircraft during his career including all variants of the de Havilland Mosquito.
Fillingham was born in 1914 as William Patrick Ingram Fillingham in Sutton Coldfield and he was educated at Worksop College and the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School. Fillingham learned to fly with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at Perth in Scotland, he flew his first solo in February 1937. He graduated from the de Havilland technical school in 1939 as an aeronatical engineer and joined the parent company de Havilland as a test pilot.
With the start of the Second World War the company had an increase in aircraft production and by April 1940 Fillingham was test flying 150 de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers a month. By September 1942 he was the chief production test pilot flying new de Havilland Mosquito twin-engine light bombers. In 1943 he went to the de Havilland subsidiaries in Toronto and Sydney to advise them how to test fly the Mosquito, during his stay in Canada he demonstrated the Mosquito at a number of Canadian air bases and also to the United States Army Air Force. With production of the Mosquito in England increased to a five a day Fillingham flew a record 2,200 flights in the Mosquito. As well as the Mosquito he also flew the twin-engined De Havilland Hornet, at the time the fastest propeller aircraft in the world.
With the end of the war Fillingham still had plenty to do as de Havilland produced the Dove and Heron commercial transports. He flew the prototype de Havilland Canada Chipmunk in Canada in 1946. Military aircraft were still produced and as well as the Dove and Heron, Fillingham is also recorded as flying in the same month de Havilland Vampire jet fighters, de Havilland Canada Chipmunk trainers and Mosquitos.
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