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Auction: 12002 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 456

The Post War A.F.C. and ´Harrier Test Pilot´s´ Second Award Bar to Group Captain I.H. Keppie, Royal Air Force, Aide-de-Camp to H.M. The Queen, and Station Commander, R.A.F. Wittering, Together With a Vast and Historic Archive of the Recipient´s Original Research into Test Flying the Harrier, ´The Biggest Step Forward in Aviation Since the Invention of the Jet Engine´ Air Force Cross, E.II.R., reverse officially dated ´1964´, with Second Award Bar, reverse officially dated ´1972´, suspension loop re-constituted, otherwise good very fine, in Royal Mint case of issue, with the following related items: - The recipient´s two Flying Log Books, covering the period 11.10.1951 to 31.7.1962 and 1.8.1962 to 10.2.1976 respectively - Commission appointing Ian Haig Keppie a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force, dated 27.7.1954, in scroll holder - The recipient´s Airtour Pilot´s Flying Log Book, covering the period 17.12.1975 to 13.2.1976 - The recipient´s No.6 (tropical) uniform epaulette complete with the insignia of Aide-de-Camp to H.M. The Queen - The recipient´s Private Pilot´s Licence, dated 14.9.1950; Royal Aero Club Aviator´s Certificate, dated 6.9.1950; Joint Service Pilots Instrument Rating Card; R.A.F. Instrument Pilot Rating Card, dated 3.3.1969; R.A.F. Wittering cloth badge; and Royal Air Force Club Membership Card - Empire Test Pilot´s School Certificate, named to Flt. Lt. I.H. Keppie R.A.F. and dated 8.12.1960 - 1,000 Miles Per Hour Club Certificate, named to Wing Commander I.H. Keppie - Royal Aeronautical Society Certificate electing Ian Haig Keppie a Fellow of the Society, dated 28.11.1985 - Pat Rooney caricature of the recipient, entitled ´Jock´ and dated Cranwell, 1953 - Framed cartoon strip of the McKenna Dinner at the Empire Test Pilots´ School, 1960, showing Ian Keppie receiving the Hunter Trophy - Fourteen framed photographs of the recipient, the majority taken at R.A.F. Boscombe Down or R.A.F. Wittering, including five of the visit of H.R.H. The Princess Anne - Framed photograph of H.R.H. The Princess Anne at R.A.F. Boscombe Down, presented to the recipient - Photograph of the recipient with The Rt. Hon. Harold Macmillan - Framed painting of an R.A.F. Harrier, present to the recipient by the Officers of ´A´ Fighter Test Squadron, Boscombe Down, November 1972, with their signatures - Framed R.A.F. Wittering Crest, presented to Group Captain I.H. Keppie, Commanding Officer, February 1975 - Large framed oil painting by Chris Golds of the recipient at the controls of the Short SC1 XG900 after having achieved Vertical take-off, June 1962 - Eleven wooden painted Crests, of George Heriot´s School; R.A.F. College Cranwell; Empire Test Pilots´ School; Royal Aircraft Establishment; Aerospace and Armament Experimental Establishment; Central Fighter Establishment; R.A.F. Wittering; No.33 Squadron; No.264 Squadron; R.A.F. Staff College; and R.A.F. Fighter Command - Empire Test Pilots´ School Hawker Hunter Trophy 1960 silver Tankard (Hallmarks for London 1938), engraved ´Flt. Lt. I.A. Keppie.´ - Six silver-plated or pewter tankards, engraved ´Presented to Ian by the Officers and Aircrew of No.33 A.W. (F.) Squadron June 1955-November 1957´; ´A.W.D.S. Flt. Lt. I.H. Keppie. Nov 1957-Jan 1959´; Flt. Lt. I.H. Keppie Aero/Flight R.A.E. Bedford 1961-1964´; ´Presented to Sqn. Ldr. I.H. Keppie, A.F.C. by the Officers of the Empire Test Pilots´ School January 1965-May 1967´; ´Wing Commander Ian Keppie March 1969-November 1972, From the Officers of "A" Squadron A.&A.E.E. Boscombe Down´; and ´Presented to Gp. Cap. Ian Keppie A.F.C. A.D.C. R.A.F. Station Commander Royal Air Force Wittering Dec 72-Feb 75´ respectively, the last additionally engraved with the signatures of the Station Officers - The recipient´s Station Commander´s staff car pennant from R.A.F. Wittering - George Heriot´s School Session 1946-47 booklet - The recipient´s George Heriot´s School Scottish Leaving Certificate - Royal Air Force College Passing Out Parade programme, No.62 Entry, 27.7.1954 - Empire Test Pilots´ School Twenty Five Years list of Graduates - R.A.F. Wittering Programme for the Visit of H.R.H. The Princess Anne, 10.7.1974 - Wittering View, August 1974, featuring a review of the Royal Visit - Canadian Defence Quarterly, Winter 1973/74, featuring an article by the recipient entitled ´Operating the Harrier´ - Air Club, August 1970, featuring an article by the recipient entitled ´Three Men on a Boat´ - Harrier Communique, Spring 1973, featuring an article by the recipient entitled ´Harrier: The first aircraft of the 21st Century´ - Copies of various papers, lectures, and reports written by the recipient regarding the Harrier, including the deck trials on H.M.S. Eagle, 9-20.3.1970 - A large quantity of photographs of the recipient and his aircraft, including one of the recipient outside Buckingham Palace having received the Second Award Bar to his Air Force Cross, and other related ephemera (lot) Estimate £ 1,800-2,200 A.F.C. London Gazette 13.6.1964 Flight Lieutenant Ian Haig Keppie (607421), Royal Air Force A.F.C. Second Award Bar London Gazette 1.1.1972 Wing Commander Ian Haig Keppie, A.F.C. (607421), Royal Air Force. Group Captain Ian Haig ´Kipper´ Keppie, A.F.C., was born in Edinburgh, 22.7.1933, and educated at George Heriot´s School and R.A.F. College Cranwell, where he won the J.A. Chance Memorial Prize. The seeds of a Service career had obviously been sown early, for, whilst only an eight-year-old, he had written to the War Office in 1942 on the subject of a design of a new gun. Commissioned Pilot Officer, 27.7.1954, his first operational posting was to No.264 Squadron (Meteors) at R.A.F. Linton-on-Ouse. Promoted Flying Officer, 27.7.1955, at the end of that year he embarked upon a four month course at the Fighter Weapons School. Advanced Flight Lieutenant, 27.7.1957, Keppie transferred to No.33 Squadron (Meteors) in September 1957, based at R.A.F. Leeming- his stay with the Squadron was brief, for having helped them win the Ingpen Trophy, awarded annually to the all-weather Squadron recording the best air-firing in Fighter Command, he was seconded to the All Weather Development Squadron, where he was involved in the trials of the Gloster Javelin. From this point on Keppie´s career was effectively one of a test pilot, and after 14 months with the A.W.D.S. he transferred to the Guided Weapons Trials Squadron in January 1959. The following year he was selected for the No.19 Course at the Empire Test Pilots´ School, a training school for test pilots founded in 1943 at R.A.F. Boscombe Down- of the 502 pilots who had graduated from the previous 18 E.T.P.S. courses, 92 of them- almost 20%- had been killed in flying accidents, a measure of how dangerous the work of a test pilot was. Amongst Keppie´s intake of 24 was John Cochrane, who later became heavily involved with testing Concorde, and was the co-pilot for the maiden flights of both the prototype and pre-production Concordes. Having flown a variety of aircraft, including Hunters, Canberras, Vampires, Varsities, Devons, and Provosts, Keppie completed the Course in December 1960, and moved to the Aerodynamics Flight based at R.A.E. Bedford. It was here that he first flew the Short SC1, the first British fixed-wing Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, designed to study the problems with VTOL flight and the transition to and from forward flight. After three years at Bedford, which culminated in the award of the Air Force Cross, Keppie enrolled in the No.54 Course at the R.A.F. Staff College Bracknell in January 1964, his main research paper whilst at the College being on the Communist threat to the West since the Sino-Soviet rift; promoted Squadron Leader, 1.7.1964, he only took to the skies once in the entire year- a 40 minute Open Day demonstration flight in a Whirlwind. His year at the Staff College over, Keppie took up an appointment as Flying Tutor back at the Empire Test Pilots´ School at Farnborough, where he stayed for the next two and a half years. In 1969 he moved to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at R.A.F. Boscombe Down, and it was here that he first flew the Harrier jet, instantly forming the belief that ´the Harrier is the biggest step forward in aviation since the invention of the jet engine...once a pilot has flown the Harrier, no other aircraft will ever satisfy him´ (Harrier Communique refers). Promoted Wing Commander, 1.7.1969, the following year he was involved in the Harrier deck trials on H.M.S. Eagle, as part of the MoD requirement that the Harrier should be capable of operating from an aircraft carrier. The aim of the trials was to establish the performance of the Harrier from the angled deck in various configurations and wind conditions, and to develop approach and vertical landing techniques. Typically flying up to three times a day, in total 58 sorties were flown from H.M.S. Eagle during the period 9-20.3.1970 off the coast of Cornwall, work which contributed to his award, in 1972, of a Bar to his Air Force Cross. In 1969 the first Harriers arrived at the new ´Home of the Harrier´, R.A.F. Wittering. As part of the Station´s re-structuring, as a training ground for Harrier pilots, it was decided that the Station Commander should have experience of the aircraft, and in December 1972 Keppie was appointed to the post, being advanced Group Captain, 1.1.1973. The highlight of his period at Wittering was the visit of H.R.H. The Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips on the 10.7.1974; prior to the Royal Visit Keppie had been appointed an Aide-de-Camp to H.M. The Queen, 1.1.1974. Sadly though, opportunities to take to the skies were limited, with his last flight in the Harrier taking place in October 1974, shortly before his retirement from the Royal Air Force, 29.3.1975, where in total over the past 24 years he had clocked up 3,171 hours´ flying, and been awarded the Air Force Cross and Bar. Following his retirement from the R.A.F. Keppie worked for British Caledonian Airways, as the General Operations Control Manager, and then, from 1980 to 1987, in Hong Kong as the General Manager (Operational Services) of Cathay Pacific. He died at home, 27.2.2006. Note: Owing to the large and bulky nature of this lot it is unsuitable for postage and we would recommend collection.

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