Page 8 - Alan John Leslie Ridge

One can speculate that as Officers had to pay for their own accommodation and food whereas
NCO’s did not, Jack choosing to be an NCO. The other possibility is Jack not wanting the pomp
and regulation of the peacetime officers mess. One will never know the answer to that.

At 11.00 am on Sunday 27 November 1949 Jack, flying his Spitfire out of the squadrons Base at
th
RAF North Weald accompanied by the Adjutant and Assistant Adjutant also flying Spitfires plus
two other squadron pilots found on their return to the airfield it being covered in a low cloud base
down to 150 feet. The two officers made successful Landings at the airfield with the other two
pilots diverting to RAF Hendon but Jack with an unserviceable radio had to make a precautionary
wheels up landing in a field in the vicinity of Grange Hill Station near Chigwell, Essex.
The Spitfire received damage to its underside with Jack escaping the aircraft without injury.

From 1955, Jack having left the Air Force was in Lebanon flying civil airliners with Skyways
Limited, a Middle East Airline company. This company it is known did transport 604 Squadron
personnel to Malta on training exercises in the early 1950’s but it is not clear if Jack was working
for the company at the start of the 1950’s or did he having been acquainted with the company
crew’s decide to join the company and retain his part time Auxiliary Air Force pilot role.
Skyways Limited was an early post-World War II British airline formed in 1946 that soon became
established as the largest operator of non-scheduled air services in Europe. Its principal activities
included the operation of worldwide non-scheduled passenger and cargo services, including
trooping and oil industry support flights, inclusive tour and ad hoc charters for automobile industry
executives as well as specialist freight services. The newly formed airline operated its first flight in
1946 with an Avro York that had been chartered by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company to carry oil
personnel and freight from Langley to Basra via Manston, Malta, Cairo and Lydda.

Skyways was a major civilian participant in the Berlin Airlift and became one of Britain's foremost
private, independent airlines during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Following the Airline's liquidation in 1950 and transfer of the bankrupt carrier's assets to a new
company incorporating the name Skyways, control passed to the Lancashire Aircraft Corporation
(LAC) in 1952. LAC's acquisition of Skyways resulted in concentration of the combined group's
operations at London Stansted Airport. Low-fare scheduled services commenced in 1953.

Launch of the world's first Coach-Air operation in 1955 resulted in a demerger that saw those
services transferred to new subsidiary Skyways Coach-Air Limited.
A number of financial reorganisations during the 1950s provided the funds for a major expansion
of Skyways’ activities and fleet, culminating in the buyout of the company in 1961 by Eric Rylands,
LAC's former co-owner and managing director.

Loss of a major freight contract that had accounted for 75% of Skyways’ revenue, a failed
investment in a regional Caribbean airline and an expensive aircraft lease led to renewed financial
difficulties in 1962. This resulted in Skyways’ takeover by newly formed charter operator Euravia
the same year.

A new Skyways emerged in 1975 when, still under Eric Ryland’s stewardship, Skyways Cargo
Airline assumed the original Skyways air freight business. Financial difficulties following a period of
expansion during the second half of the 1970s led to the cessation of operations in 1980, resulting
in the final disappearance of the Skyways name from the UK air transport scene.

The London Gazette notice dated 1 July 1959 confirmed Jack as retaining the rank
st
of Flight lieutenant.
th
Jack passed away at the young age of 71 years on the 15 April 1989 in Los Angeles, California.