Captain John Laming AFC, photographed in an Air Nauru Boeing 737 in 1988.

(Photo: John Laming collection)

John Laming migrated at age 15 from the United Kingdom to Australia in 1947 after the war.

He worked for Sydney Morning Herald Flying Services at Camden from 1948 to 1951 as a "general dogsbody". One of his tasks involved throwing out newspapers from Lockheed Hudsons and a Douglas DC-3 on newspaper delivery flights to outback New South Wales.

In 1951 John Laming joined the RAAF as a pilot where he flew a wide variety of types including Mustang, Vampire, Lincoln, Convair, Viscount, Dakota, and HS748. He even once flew a borrowed RAN Sea Fury! Spending spells as a flying instructor at Uranquinty, NSW, and Townsville, Qld., John accumulated lots of hours on Wirraways, Winjeels and Tiger Moths. His wide experience also led to a tour as an aircraft accident investigator with the RAAF's Directorate of Flying Safety.

In 1962, then Flight Lieutenant Laming was awarded the Air Force Cross for his services as a Captain, Qualified Flying Instructor and Instrument Rating Examiner with 10(MR) Squadron flying mostly Lincoln Mk 31 maritime patrol aircraft.

After 18 years in the RAAF John Laming left in 1969 and joined DCA Head Office in Melbourne as an Airways Surveyor. Shortly after that he moved to the Flying Unit at Melbourne/Essendon flying DC-3s and F.27s on airways calibration duties.

In 1976 he moved on to the commercial aviation world and joined Air Nauru, initially flying the F.28 and then the 737-200 on routes throughout the South Pacific. After 13 years in the tropics, John left Air Nauru in 1989 and went to England to fly for Paramount Airways on 737s covering Europe and Middle Eastern routes. When Paramount Airways went out of business John moved to Hapag-Lloyd where he flew various types of 737s based in Hamburg and operating Europe-wide, to North Africa and to the Middle East.

In 1992 he had no choice but to "retire" due to the age 60 rule in Europe, and thus returned to Melbourne. There he engaged in General Aviation charter and instructor flying, and also 737 flight simulator work plus consultancy on aircraft accident investigation.

With more than 23,500 flying hours, John Laming holds a current ATPL, CASA Delegation for instrument rating tests on the Boeing 737 simulator, and current a Grade 1 instructor rating. He is also an accomplished author with many published articles on a variety of aviation subjects to his name.

Read more about Air Nauru in John Laming's story, A Merry Tale of Air Nauru

Left: John Laming, photographed at the Airways Museum in September 2005

(Photo: Phil Vabre/CAHS Collection)