By 1949, Rufus Heald had entered the jet age, flying Gloster Meteors — a significant leap from his wartime piston-engine aircraft. He also flew Martinets for target towing duties, which he described as “a little different,” reflecting the varied demands of post-war RAF service.

In 1951, he transitioned to the de Havilland Vampire jets, and it was in one of these that he experienced a harrowing escape at the old Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. Following an engine failure, Rufus chose not to eject but instead glided the powerless aircraft toward the runway. With no braking capability, he hurtled toward a concrete wall. In a split-second decision, he applied full aileron, causing one wing to dig into the ground and spin the aircraft — striking the wall rear-end first. It was a daring maneuver that likely saved his life.

Another dramatic incident occurred in 1957 during a map-reading training flight from RAF Valley in a Vampire T.11 (WZ496). When an engine fire forced a shutdown, Rufus realized they couldn’t reach RAF Shawbury. He instructed his student to eject and followed suit himself at just 600 feet, landing two miles from Wem in Shropshire. While the student escaped uninjured, Rufus suffered a foot injury after landing on a pile of bricks — a painful but survivable outcome.

In 1953, Rufus flew a Vampire in the massed flypast over London for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation — a proud moment in a distinguished career.

Following his time at RAF Valley, Rufus was posted to RAF Wildenrath in Germany as Station Adjutant, then returned to the UK to serve at the RAF College of Air Warfare at RAF Manby in Lincolnshire. From 1964, he held a post at MOD Whitehall, writing under the nom de plume “Wing Commander Spry” — authoring monthly aviation safety articles in the RAF magazine Air Clues until 1967.

That same year, Rufus became Commanding Officer of No. 4 Air Experience Flight at Exeter, flying Chipmunks and introducing generations of Air Cadets to the joy of flight. In the early 1970s, he helped found the Exeter Flying Club with fellow local pilots, operating from a corner of a hangar where the arrivals terminal now stands — a quiet legacy of community and mentorship.

Towards the end of his RAF career Rufus did a number of ground jobs including Hunter Simulator Instructor on 226 OCU at RAF Chivenor before being posted to RAF Mount Batten, Plymouth as a Survival Instructor and Trials Officer for all three Services tasked with the testing and evaluation of all new survival equipment for aircrew, Rufus was awarded the MBE for this work. Even when “flying a desk” on ground tours with the RAF, he managed to somehow get airborne frequently to keep himself current.

Upon leaving the RAF in 1980 after 38 years, Rufus worked for the Civil Aviation Authority for about four years and then became CFI at Bournemouth Flying School and then Skylane Flight Training at Southend before returning to instructing at Exeter and Plymouth.

During his time with Exeter Flying Club, he would provide air displays along with other club aircraft at some of the local displays including the Exeter Air Days.

After three attempts at retirement throughout the 1990’s, and a medical scare in the form of a benign tumour in 1992, he had another lifeline in the form of medical surgery that he survived minus one kidney!

He eventually became involved in writing flying training columns for a magazine called ‘European Flight Training News’ which was published monthly. He also wrote columns for Flyer magazine and his autobiography called ‘ Rufus Remembers’ which was published in 1997. His autobiography notes him as one of Britain’s most experienced pilots and who could doubt that.

Needless to say, with so many flying hours in the log books, Rufus had many scrapes and prangs but like a cat with nine lives, he lived to tell his story. His log books proves that he could fly many different types of aircraft and he was responsible for training so many young men to fly.

I for one am proud to not only know Rufus, but to have flown alongside him. He was a truly remarkable and talented man. 
 

​Sadly, Rufus who was born in London in 1925, passed away in his beloved County of Devon on 1 December 2022, aged 97.