Ray DeaconBorn in Farnborough, Kent, in 1942, RAY DEACON grew up in South-East London and went on to study at William Penn Technical School before joining the Royal Air Force. On passing out in December 1959, he was posted to the Central Flying School (CFS), Lttle Rissington where he worked on the Vampire T.11 line. Much to Ray’s delight, the squadron was also responsible for handling the CFS Hunters whenever they paid visits from their base at RAF Kemble. The opportunity to work on the ‘queen of the skies’ kindled a passion that has remained with Ray ever since. His career in the RAF included two years-service in Aden, working on a front-line operational squadron equipped with ground attack and fighter reconnaissance versions of the Hunter. Returning to Little Rissington, he worked on the Varsity squadron for a while, before moving on to the CFS Base Engineering Team at Fairford, where he became familiar with Gnats operating with the Red Arrows Aerobatic Team and Course Gnats with 4 Squadron CFS. Ray left the RAF in May 1967. A year in the control tower at RAE Farnborough was followed by a 25-year career in computing with IBM. Early retirement enabled Ray to dedicate much of his time studying his favourite subjects; RAF Little Rissington during the CFS years, The Hawker Hunter’s service world-wide and in operations in the Middle East, and the history of the Folland Gnat. Read More Read Less