Tom Macfadyen – In memoriam
Oct 22, 2020 8:16:30 GMT
Post by Paul Jackson on Oct 22, 2020 8:16:30 GMT
Thomas J (Tom) Macfadyen MA – remembered by Chris Chatfield
Tom Macfadyen, who passed away on 26 August 2020, was born in Paisley in 1945 and joined Air-Britain in around 1962 (member 03853). He enjoyed a life-long interest in aviation centred around the Glasgow area, earning an unrivalled reputation for meticulous in-depth research.
After a career in the building and civil engineering sector, he changed direction in the mid-1990s, completing an MA in Scottish History and Archaeology at the University of Glasgow. Thereafter, he was a field archaeologist as well as teaching and tutoring history at the University of Glasgow. Upon retirement, he moved to Spain, staying there until he returned to the Glasgow area in 2019. He had gained a PPL at Perth (Scone) in 1967, and this indirectly led him to being part of the crew of the last surviving RAF LB-30 Liberator, Diamond Lil on its trans-Atlantic ferry flight from Texas to England in 1992.
Among his wide-ranging aviation interests, Tom specialized in Scottish Aviation, most recently the activities at Renfrew Airport at the end of the Second World War and later (from 1954-1960) when the company was responsible for the overhaul of RCAF, West German, Greek and Turkish Sabres and other RCAF jet fighters passing through the Renfrew workshops. He had also unravelled the complexities of the trans-Atlantic aircraft shipments through Glasgow’s King George V Dock.
Add to that his vast knowledge of Scottish Aviation Ltd; the Douglas DC-3/C-47; the histories of Glasgow and Prestwick Airports and the Fleet Air Arm; and his long-term contributions to BARG, and you will have some appreciation of his vast and probably unparalleled contribution to Scottish aviation history. He was the archetypal aviation history researcher and will be very greatly missed.
Tom “Pud” Macfadyen. A personal recollection by Ricky Clarkson
As with the majority of people who knew him, I first met Tom at an airport – Prestwick – his favourite. I took my first holiday from work in July 1966 and each weekend of the two-week holiday Tom turned up to take up residence in the Prestwick Airport Aviation Group clubrooms. Inevitably, each evening we ended up in some pub in Prestwick and spent the time talking aviation.
Two years later I joined the Glasgow Airport Aviation Enthusiasts Club and there he was, large as life, holding court on any aviation subject that rattled around in that fertile mind of his. He was a founder member of the GAAEC and was about to re-join after having returned from his lengthy sojourn in Spain.
There was a considerable period where contact was lost but whenever we met it was as if we had last seen each other the day before. He always popped up looking for a chat with whoever he could find to listen to his endless stories, of which there were many. Most were laced with some good humour or a joke or two. If you required any information, more, often than not he had the answer or knew where to glean the answer from.
Latterly, I met up with him in Spain and did a few trips to the local airports. Still the same, full of stories and good humour. After a bout of ill health he and his wife, Sheilagh, made the decision to return to Scotland and had settled in Falkirk to be near their children and grandchildren.
He was a man of many parts and gave his all to whatever he took on. We will never see his likes again and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
Tom Macfadyen, who passed away on 26 August 2020, was born in Paisley in 1945 and joined Air-Britain in around 1962 (member 03853). He enjoyed a life-long interest in aviation centred around the Glasgow area, earning an unrivalled reputation for meticulous in-depth research.
After a career in the building and civil engineering sector, he changed direction in the mid-1990s, completing an MA in Scottish History and Archaeology at the University of Glasgow. Thereafter, he was a field archaeologist as well as teaching and tutoring history at the University of Glasgow. Upon retirement, he moved to Spain, staying there until he returned to the Glasgow area in 2019. He had gained a PPL at Perth (Scone) in 1967, and this indirectly led him to being part of the crew of the last surviving RAF LB-30 Liberator, Diamond Lil on its trans-Atlantic ferry flight from Texas to England in 1992.
Among his wide-ranging aviation interests, Tom specialized in Scottish Aviation, most recently the activities at Renfrew Airport at the end of the Second World War and later (from 1954-1960) when the company was responsible for the overhaul of RCAF, West German, Greek and Turkish Sabres and other RCAF jet fighters passing through the Renfrew workshops. He had also unravelled the complexities of the trans-Atlantic aircraft shipments through Glasgow’s King George V Dock.
Add to that his vast knowledge of Scottish Aviation Ltd; the Douglas DC-3/C-47; the histories of Glasgow and Prestwick Airports and the Fleet Air Arm; and his long-term contributions to BARG, and you will have some appreciation of his vast and probably unparalleled contribution to Scottish aviation history. He was the archetypal aviation history researcher and will be very greatly missed.
Tom “Pud” Macfadyen. A personal recollection by Ricky Clarkson
As with the majority of people who knew him, I first met Tom at an airport – Prestwick – his favourite. I took my first holiday from work in July 1966 and each weekend of the two-week holiday Tom turned up to take up residence in the Prestwick Airport Aviation Group clubrooms. Inevitably, each evening we ended up in some pub in Prestwick and spent the time talking aviation.
Two years later I joined the Glasgow Airport Aviation Enthusiasts Club and there he was, large as life, holding court on any aviation subject that rattled around in that fertile mind of his. He was a founder member of the GAAEC and was about to re-join after having returned from his lengthy sojourn in Spain.
There was a considerable period where contact was lost but whenever we met it was as if we had last seen each other the day before. He always popped up looking for a chat with whoever he could find to listen to his endless stories, of which there were many. Most were laced with some good humour or a joke or two. If you required any information, more, often than not he had the answer or knew where to glean the answer from.
Latterly, I met up with him in Spain and did a few trips to the local airports. Still the same, full of stories and good humour. After a bout of ill health he and his wife, Sheilagh, made the decision to return to Scotland and had settled in Falkirk to be near their children and grandchildren.
He was a man of many parts and gave his all to whatever he took on. We will never see his likes again and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
