Flt Lt John Cooper, Lancaster/Lincoln pilot

[DavidIsby]

from Facebook: Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome
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It is with immense sadness that we inform you of the peaceful passing of Flt Lt John Cooper RAF (Rtd.), aged 100 years. Flt Lt Cooper was a great supporter of Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome and a friend to many, particularly in the #Airside team.
Bravo Zulu, Sir. Watch out for icing in those clouds.
Flt Lt Cooper made his first ever RAF flight in Tiger Moth T6055 on April 14th, 1944. It was renumbered as G-AIDS in 1946. On Sunday 14th April 2024, he was reunited with the aircraft at the our museum, 80 years later. This was made possible by the pilot co-owned the Tiger Moth at the time – Stow Maries’ pilot Terry Dann. Terry and his co-owner, Keith Pogmore, spent over 8,000 hours restoring and maintaining the Tiger Moth, originally flown for the first time in early 1941.
On the day of the reunion, Flt Lt Cooper commented “Flying is always so special and today has been a wonderful day. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself.”
Flt Lt Cooper went on to great things after his first flight in 1944, becoming a bomber pilot and subsequently an instructor. Then, as a reservist, John flew over 6,000 hours for Air Cadets while having a very successful career as an Air Traffic Controller. There is an oral history interview with him available here: https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.a.../document/3381
Per ardua ad astra.