Obituary Chris

Waddington MBE 1962 - 2022

Chris died in a tragic accident at Shobdon Airfield on Friday 26 August, practising for an Aerobatic Display, in aid of the Air Ambulance, which was due the following Sunday. Chris was well known for his displays, and in 2020 put on a show for the NHS over Hereford.

Chris was an army officer who joined 2 Parachute Regiment in 1982 and served in the Falklands War as a Second Lieutenant, aged 19. He recently featured in a BBC documentary Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story. He continued to serve in the SAS, finally leaving the army in 2005. He began his military career at Sandhurst in 1980, graduating in 1981. He attended the army Staff College in 1995, graduating in 1997.

His final qualification came in 2002 when he went to the University of Cambridge and took an MPhil in International Relations and Global Counter terrorism.

After leaving the army Chris went on to have a very successful career in the security industry, working offshore in North Africa, as well as many other locations where Chevron had oil and gas operations. He was also Head of Security for Control Risks in Saudi Arabia. More recently he moved into Cyber Security.

He bought his Pitts G-BOXV in 2001 and over the years improved his aerobatic skills, often giving locals an impromptu show. He achieved his Display Authorisation in 2015. He was also a flying instructor, recently teaching young trainee airline pilots how to recover from unusual attitudes.

Chris kept his Pitts in a private hangar on

Shobdon Airfield along with six other Permit to Fly aircraft, and we all joined in helping him with routine maintenance. On one occasion he asked for help with a compression test, and was horrified when we found No.1 cylinder had no compression at all. When we took the cylinder off the piston rings were like confetti. It turned out the engine was old, so he bought a Superior XP-10-360, which improved the performance of his Pitts.

Recently he was having trouble with the smoke system, which was resolved by cleaning out the injectors. I suggested he carry out a test flight over my house near Presteigne. He did – drawing hearts in the sky. The next day we heard half the women in Presteigne thought the hearts were for them. When Chris heard this, he roared, saying he’d ‘have to visit Presteigne’.

Chris’ sudden departure leaves a huge gap in the lives of the people who knew him and especially for his aviation friends at Shobdon and elsewhere. He had great integrity, and would only accept the best. His sense of humour and fun never left him.

Our condolences go to all his family.

David Johnstone.

The Dawson’s Field hijackings, (6 September 1970 – 28 September 1970) were an event that led to the creation of AVN48B and the emergence of war risk insurance policies. Three airliners were flown to Dawson’s Field in Jordan and eventually blown up with explosives. In 1970 an event like that was not that common, and measures had to be taken to address this kind of risk and the potential damage resulting from such an incident. For this reason, a different type of insurance policy, war risk insurance, was marketed, allowing insurers to face events such as hijacking.

War risk insurance covers hull (material damage to an aircraft), which is insured separately from the hull risk insurance; and covers passenger and third-parties war risk, which is, most of the time, added to the liability policy by an extension clause.

Events such as civil wars, strikes or invasion of a country may not seem threatening to your day-to-day operations. However, aviation war insurance also covers acts of malicious intent, as well as