Brian Lecomber

Brian Lecomber’s Firebird Aerobatics team completed more than 2800 daredevil displays, with Brian flying solo and in formation, entertaining millions of spectators. At the time it disbanded in 2003, it could boast a spotless safety record, having performed all over the world, and at the height of its success Firebird was possibly the UK’s most accomplished civilian display company, reaching its peak of fame in the 1990s. Brian himself learned to fly in 1967, and before Firebird he was a member of the Rothmans Aerobatic Team. He had also been a racing motorcycle mechanic, journalist, wing-walker in a flying circus, flying instructor in the Caribbean and crop-spray pilot. He was known as the ‘Dick Francis of Aviation’ for his three gripping novels set in the aviation world: [italic]Turn Killer[italic], [italic]Dead Weight[italic] and [italic]Talk Down[italic]. Brian died after a long illness in 2015, and his friendly nature and after-dinner speaking prowess remain much missed.