Cliff Spink

Last updated

Clifford Rodney Spink
F86A Sabre - Duxford (12677776795).jpg
Spink piloting an F-86A
Born (1946-05-17) 17 May 1946 (age 77)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Air Force
Rank Air Marshal
Commands held No. 11/18 Group
Royal Observer Corps
RAF Mount Pleasant
RAF Coningsby
No. 74 Squadron
Battles/wars Gulf War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Other workPresident Historic Aircraft Association
Honorary President Royal Observer Corps Association
Vice-Patron RAF Halton Apprentices Association (Old Haltonians)

Air Marshal Clifford Rodney Spink, CB , CBE , FCMI , FRAeS (born 17 May 1946) is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer, who is now a Spitfire display pilot on the national air display circuit. The first Spitfire he ever flew belonged to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, during his tenure as Station Commander of RAF Coningsby. He also served as the 23rd Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps, the last but one officer to hold the post.

Contents

Royal Air Force career

Spink joined the Royal Air Force in the spring of 1963 with the 104th entry of the Aircraft Apprentice Scheme at No. 1 School of Technical Training, RAF Halton. On passing out of Halton, in the spring of 1966, in the rank of Sgt Aircraft Apprentice, he was granted a flying commission at the RAF College Cranwell, and initially learned to fly on the Jet Provost. [1] Later training took place on the Gnat and the Hunter, before Spink was posted to his first productive tour on No. 111 Squadron flying the Lightning. [1] Spink was later posted to No. 56 Squadron in Cyprus before returning to No. 111 Squadron. [1]

Spink served as the Commanding Officer of No. 74 Squadron before being posted to the South Atlantic in 1989 as the Officer Commanding RAF Mount Pleasant on the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. [1] In 1990 Spink underwent conversion training to the Tornado before becoming Station Commander at RAF Coningsby. [1] In 1991 Spink served as the RAF's Tornado Detachment Commander during the first Gulf War. [1] After attending the Royal College of Defence Studies, he became Senior Air Staff Officer of No. 11 Group in March 1993, Chief of Staff of No. 18 Group in 1995 [2] and Air Officer Commanding No. 11/18 Group in 1996. [3]

Spink also served as the last but one Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps, from 1993 until 1995. [4] Spink remains the honorary President of the Royal Observer Corps Association. [2] He is a Vice-Patron of the Royal Air Force Halton Apprentices Association Old Haltonians. [5]

Since the RAF

TD248 carries the codes 'CR-S' and the Tiger and motto of No. 74 Squadron RAF Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI NR.jpg
TD248 carries the codes 'CR-S' and the Tiger and motto of No. 74 Squadron RAF

Spink currently flies a restored Spitfire XVIe TD248. This is a former "gate guardian" from RAF Sealand which was rebuilt by Historic Flying Limited about 15 years ago. It initially appeared in a postwar No. 41 Squadron colour scheme but it has recently been repainted in wartime colours with the personal markings 'CR-S'. [2] Since retiring from the RAF he has formed his own Company, "Spitfire Limited", dealing in a range of aviation interests. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Coningsby</span> Royal Air Force main operating base in Lincolnshire, England

Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby, is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 13.7 kilometres (8.5 mi) south-west of Horncastle, and 15.8 kilometres (9.8 mi) north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and home to three front-line Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 units, No. 3 Squadron, No. 11 Squadron and No. 12 Squadron. In support of front-line units, No. 29 Squadron is the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit and No. 41 Squadron is the Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron. Coningsby is also the home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) which operates a variety of historic RAF aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tremayne Babington</span> Royal Air Force Air Marshal (1891-1979)

Air Marshal Sir John Tremayne Babington, was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. In 1944, he retired and the following year changed his name to Tremayne, his mother's maiden name, to avoid confusion with his younger brother, Philip Babington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Bernard, 5th Earl of Bandon</span> Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (1904-1979)

Air Chief Marshal Percy Ronald Gardner Bernard, 5th Earl of Bandon, was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat who served as a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the mid-20th century. He was a squadron, station and group commander during the Second World War, and the fifth Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps after the war. He was awarded the American Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star Medal in 1946.

Air Chief Marshal Sir William Gore Sutherland Mitchell, was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the first RAF officer to hold the post of Black Rod.

Air Marshal Sir Kenneth William Hayr, was a senior Royal Air Force commander who served as Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Strike Command and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Commitments).

Air Commodore David Harrison, BSc RAF, is a retired RAF Officer and former Commandant of the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertine Sutton</span> Royal Air Force Air Marshal (1886-1946)

Air Marshal Sir Bertine Entwisle Sutton, was a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and a senior officer in the Royal Air Force from the 1920s to the 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Stewart (RAF officer)</span> British Royal Air Force officer

Air Commodore Ian Richard William Stewart is a retired British Royal Air Force officer. His last posting was as the United Kingdom National Military Representative at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. He was Commandant Air Cadets between 2008 and 2010, and Air Commodore, Royal Air Force Reserve from 2014.

Air Vice Marshal Henry Meyrick Cave-Browne-Cave, was an engineering officer in the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War and senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Ambler</span> Royal Air Force air marshal (1904–1978)

Air Vice Marshal Geoffrey Hill Ambler, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. Ambler served as the third Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps, the first serving RAF officer to hold the appointment as his predecessors were retired air commodores.

Air Commodore Gordon Herbert Vasse, was a fighter pilot in the First World War and a senior Royal Air Force commander during the Second World War and into the early 1950s. During most of the Second World War he was Director of Air Tactics for the RAF.

Air Vice Marshal John Frederick George Howe, was a senior Royal Air Force officer in the 1970s and 1980s. He flew combat missions in the Korean War and North Sea interceptor air patrols during the Cold War, finishing his career as the Commandant General RAF Regiment and RAF Provost Marshal and Director General Security. Howe also served as the sixteenth Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps between 1977 and 1980.

Air Commodore John Herbert Thomas Simpson, was a bomber pilot during the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) staff officer during the 1950s. In his final appointment before retirement in 1959, Simpson was the eighth Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps.

Air Commodore John Mortimer Warfield CBE RAF was a bomber pilot during the Second World War, a senior RAF staff officer and commander during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s and, as an air commodore in his final tour, the ninth Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps.

Air Commodore Cathcart Michael Wight-Boycott, was a British fighter pilot during the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force officer during the post-war years. In 1961, Wight-Boycott became the 10th Commandant Royal Observer Corps.

Air Commodore Raymond John Offord, AFC was a senior Royal Air Force officer in the Cold War period, and the seventeenth Commandant Royal Observer Corps. Offord was Station Commander of RAF Lossiemouth from 1974 to 1975 and held the dual appointments of Air Officer Commanding Air Headquarters Cyprus and Deputy Commander, British Forces Near East / Cyprus from 1983 to 1985.

Air Commodore Martin Keith Widdowson was a senior Royal Air Force officer in the 1980s and 1990s and the 24th and last Commandant Royal Observer Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus Walker</span> Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (1912-1986)

Air Chief Marshal Sir George Augustus Walker, was a Second World War bomber pilot, a jet aircraft pioneer, and a senior Royal Air Force officer in the post-war era, as well as a rugby player.

Air Vice Marshal Michael Phillips Donaldson, is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) officer who became the 22nd Commandant Royal Observer Corps from 1992 to 1993.

At the end of the Cold War in 1989, the Royal Air Force (RAF) structure was as follows:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cliff Spink CBE". Boult bee flight academy. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Profile of the new master=Air Marshal Chris Spink" (PDF). Air Pilots. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Groups 10–19". rafweb.org. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Units directly responsible to Ministry level". rafweb.org. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Triennial Registration Form" (PDF). Royal Air Force Halton Apprentices Association. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
Military offices
Preceded by Commandant Royal Observer Corps
1993–1995		Succeeded by
New title
Group formed on merger of No. 11 Group and No. 18 Group
Air Officer Commanding No. 11/18 Group
1996–1998		Succeeded by
Other offices
Preceded by
Owen Epton
 Master of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators
2012–13		Succeeded by
Tudor Owen
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.