Celebrated test pilot, AW (Bill) Bedford died suddenly on 20 October, aged 75. After wartime service in the Royal Air Force and training at the Empire Test Pilot School, and service with the Royal Aircraft Establishment, he joined Hawker Aircraft, becoming chief test pilot in 1961. He made the first tethered flight of the P.1127, and test-flew the later Kestrel and Harrier vertical-take-off-and-landing aircraft. From 1967-86 he worked in international marketing at British Aerospace.
Source: Flight International