December 2023 – Pilkington's World of Aerobatics

December 15, 2023

Flight Instructors Protect Thyself

This coroner’s report on the accident to Martinus Van Hattem is essential reading for aerobatic flight instructors. There are four main lessons for us in this:…

David J Pilkington FRAeS

started flying in 1966 and commenced aerobatics a few years later. He was twice Australian Advanced Aerobatic Champion. He specialises in aerobatic instruction and is a Flight Examiner for spin and aerobatic instructors.

Over the years he has owned a variety of aerobatic aircraft – Airtourer, Decathlon, Laser, Pitts S-2A and most recently a Super Decathlon and Pitts S-2C.

David has been a flight instructor since 1995 and prior to that was approved to teach advanced aerobatics and test for low level aerobatic approvals.

In 2011, David was awarded the Paul Tissandier Diploma by the FAI for his services to sport aerobatics over many years. David has a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering from RMIT and a Master of Science from Cranfield University in the UK. His early career was in aircraft aerodynamic design, flight & wind tunnel testing, flight performance, handling qualities and flight loads including work with the NASA Spin Research Center.

He was Vice President, Engineering and Test Pilot at Aviat Aircraft, Inc (USA) in the mid-nineties then Chief Engineer – Air Vehicles at ASTA Components (Boeing Australia) prior to joining GKN Aerospace Engineering Services in 2001.