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Ian William Strachan MBE, AFC, FRAeS was a Wing Commander in the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) and was a Test Pilot at Farnborough and Boscombe Down, later specialising in Flight Simulation in the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). He was also an author of articles on military subjects, particularly on training and flight simulation. As a glider pilot and was twice UK National Champion. For international committee work including the certification of GPS recorders in gliders, in 2007 he was awarded the highest annual gliding award of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the Lilienthal Medal.

In 1959 he graduated from the RAF College, Cranwell, with pilot "wings" after flying the Miles Magister and Provost piston aircraft, the Vampire and Meteor jets.

In 1960, he became a co-pilot on the Valiant bomber aircraft that was part of the NATO deterrent against the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. In this role he flew from the UK to air bases in Canada, Germany, and the USA.

On becoming a Valiant Captain in 1963 he was posted to a squadron that specialised in Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR). In that role he refuelled fighter aircraft including Exercise "Shiksha" which refuelled Javelin fighters out to India. After India, he flew to Singapore, the HQ of the Far East Air Force (FEAF) of the RAF and then returned the Javelins to the USA.

In 1965 The Valiant suffered from metal fatigue due to turbulence at low levels, and flying was reduced except on tanker squadrons that had always flown at high altitudes. However, the entire Valiant fleet was grounded in December 1965 and Strachan may have flown the last Valiant sortie, refuelling Lightning fighters over the North Sea.

Flying Instructor

He then became a Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) on the Jet Provost aircraft, progressing through instructional categories B2, B1, A2 and eventually A1 in 1968. He sent students solo and prepared others for their Final Handling Text (FHT) before they were awarded their RAF "Wings" at the end of the course.

Test Pilot

In 1969 he completed the Empire Test Pilot School (ETPS) course and became a Test Pilot at Boscombe Down near Salisbury, UK. This included flying and testing multi-engined aircraft including the UK "V" bombers (Vulcan and Victor), and 7 marks of Canberra. He also flew the Hunter and others with one engine, the Sea Vixen with 2, Tristar with 3, the Comet and others with 4, to a version of the Shackleton with 6 engines (4 piston and two jets).

Expert in operational Training

He was then posted to the Air Force Collage as a lecturer in training for military functions. After experience in the USA and other NATO countries, he became an expert in this area. He was able to increase the fidelity of training functions in "war games" at the College and in lectures in the UK, Germany, and Iran. For this work he was awarded an MBE.

Further Test Flying

He then returned to Farnborough to command its test flying activity. He tested the use of TV to enable flight at low level at night. This started with "low-light" monochrome TV imagery and finished with intra-red images. Speeds were increased to 420 knots and heights lowered to between 200 and 300 feet above the ground at night. In addition, he tested pressure-breathing under high "G" and reached 9.2G in a centrifuge and 6G for over 2 minutes in a Hunter aircraft. For this work he was awarded the AFC.

Ministry of Defence Flight Simulation Expert

He was put in charge of the Flight Simulator office in London. He soon found that due to opposition to flight simulators by people who wanted training to be on the aircraft, military flight simulators had become less capable than those used for civil airliners. However, simulation could include situations that were dangerous in the aircraft itself, and others that could not be flown in the aircraft such as those including a variety of both friendly and enemy aircraft. He pushed these advantages of simulation within the Ministry, and became unpopular with some senior officers for this policy, which may have prevented further promotion in rank. He retired in 1995 after a final year in which he was asked to analyse the future of the ETPS course and was able to conclude that it was still cost-effective and should continue.

Writer on Flight Simulation

For several years he edited the annual publication "Janes Simulation and Training Systems" (JSTS) and wrote articles in Flight Simulation for publications in the UK and USA.

Gliding Committee activities

In 1995 he became inaugural chairman of the GNSS Flight Recorder Committee (GFAC) of the International Gliding Commission (IGC) of the Federation Aeronautical Internationale (FAI). This produced rules for Flight Recorders (FRs) that still continue today after refinements over time. Over the years, some 60 different Approval documents have been published after testing of individual FRs both on the ground and in flight tests from Lasham, UK. In 2007 he was awarded the FAI "Lilienthal Medal" for this and other work in sporting aviation, which was presented to him at the annual FAI conference in Santiago, Chile.

In 2023 Pete Purdie succeeded as GFAC Chairman and Strachan remains as a member of the GFAC Committee.