David Ince

David Henry Gason Ince DFC (23 March 1921 – 2 August 2017) was a Royal Air Force pilot of the Second World War in Hawker Typhoons who flew nearly 150 sorties and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew the only raid in Europe to use napalm, near Arnhem in April 1945.

He was an experienced glider pilot and in 1958 he flew an Olympia 419 glider from Lavenham, Suffolk, to Land's End, a distance of 315 miles and a UK glider distance record at that time.

Early life Ince was born on 23 March 1921 in Glasgow to Douglas Ince, who was the director of an armaments firm which supplied Explosives for civil engineering, and his mother Isobel. He was educated at Kelvinside Academy, Aysgarth School and Cheltenham College.

Post-war

Empire Test Pilots' School and gliding After the war Ince joined the Empire Test Pilots' School. However, chronic sinusitis prevented his working with high altitude jet aircraft. Ince then turned his attention to gliding He was soon the Chief Flying Instructor of the Midland Gliding Club. He became a regular member of the squad for the British Gliding Team between 1952 and 1960 and flew in the National Championships over 27 years. He became National Aerobatic Champion in 1958 and did many displays including one at the Farnborough Air Show. He helped develop and test the gliders produced by Elliotts of Newbury from 1949 to 1968. He broke several UK records and was the first to fly over 500km in a straight line in the UK (from Lavenham in Suffolk to Land's End in Cornwall. He was a council member of the British Gliding Association for 21 years.

Civilian work Ince worked as an aviation expert for Elliotts, a company specialising in flight systems used in the Lightning, Buccaneer, Blue Steel, BAC 1-11 and subsequently Concorde.

He became managing director of Bryans Ltd transforming it into a specialist scientific instrument maker, and finally for eleven years he was a director of the Gascoigne Group, marketing livestock equipment internationally.

Author Ince penned two books, Combat and Competition in 1992 and Brotherhood of the Skies in 2010.

Personal life He married Joanne "Anne" Burton, a PR and advertising executive in 1954 with whom he had two daughters. Ince enjoyed fly-fishing for trout and painting. He was in demand as an after-dinner speaker. He bought a farm near Old Basing in Hampshire where his wife and daughters, all keen equestrians, could train their horses. After his wife died in 1993, he became a lay pastor.

David died on 2 August 2017 at Winchester in Hampshire. He was survived by his two daughters.

Publications Combat and competition. Newton Publishers, 1992. Brotherhood of the skies: Wartime experiences of a gunnery officer and Typhoon pilot. Grub Street, 2010.