It is with great sadness that we report that David Page FRIN has died at the age of 86.

David was unique in that he had been a professional navigator both at sea and in the air, as a Master Mariner, holder of Pilot and Flight Navigator licences and authorised Navigator Flight Test Examiner.

At the age of 16 he joined the Merchant Navy and the Royal Naval Reserve, ultimately becoming a Master Mariner.

In 1957, however, he moved to the air by joining Air Charter Ltd, British United Airways and then British Caledonian as a flight navigator, becoming the latter’s Chief Navigator. For over 30 years he oversaw the practical navigation of fleets of aircraft ranging from the piston-engined Avro Tudor and Douglas DC-4 to the Airbus A-320 and Boeing B-747. His responsibilities included route planning and proving, specifying performance, aircraft evaluation and the introduction of computers.

This involved the introduction of navigation aids such as Loran-C, Decca, Dectra, doppler, Omega, inertial systems, satnav, area-nav, performance management and the adoption of CAT III landing operations.