Peter John Griffiths
Speaker Topics
General Interest, History, Other
Locations Covered
South East, London
Fees
£150 - £500
Availability
Short Notice
Profile Bio
I started flying in 1967, for BOAC, the forerunner of British Airways. My career spanned the time from "steam driven" aircraft, navigated by map, compass, sextant and a certain amount of hope, to the highly sophisticated aircraft of today, accurate to within a few feet. The Senior Captains I flew with then, had started their careers with Imperial Airways, on flying boats, before World War ll. Their attitude to junior officers was to treat them with indifference, contempt, or to ignore them completely, not an attitude that would be allowed today! It was said that, " The difference between God and a BOAC Captain, is that God only thinks he's a BOAC Captain".
I left BOAC as a First Officer and Flight Navigator, joining Cathay Pacific Airways in 1975, based in Hong Kong, where I spent the next 29 years. After leaving Cathay, I flew executive jets until I retired in 2013.
During my time in Cathay, I rose to be Fleet Manager B747, managing 19 aircraft and spent 20 years training and checking other pilots. I evacuated people from China, after the Tiananmen Square massacre and flew a freighter during the First Gulf War.
Talk Description
Sextant to Sat Nav. 45 Years in Aviation. (With a fear of heights.)
The talks include a rich fund of stories, both humorous and serious, about the days of flying before the cockpits became so automated and the foibles of the rich and infamous on their private jets.
I am happy to take questions after my talk and will attempt to put minds at rest about the more lurid stories, so beloved of the tabloid press.
The talk on my career is in two parts, each of about an hour. As I have given the talk, over the years, I have added more stories, slides and a short film. There came a time when, rather than remove interesting content, I decided to divide it. If you enjoy the first half, I am more than happy to return for the second.
Other Talks
“Coal Gas to Concorde”. The race to cross the Atlantic, from the early days of balloons, to Concorde. This talk is also in two parts. From the 1800s until 1939 and from 1939 until the final flight of Concorde.
For something completely different, "The History of Champagne." From the earliest grape fossils until the present day. The talk covers the development of Champagne, its making and lots of interesting and unusual facts about it. There are no free samples!
All the talks last about one hour. They can be trimmed, but you do then tend to lose some of the interesting stories.