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Alan Cassidy
Alan Cassidy is 52, married and lives in Maidenhead, Berkshire, where he is
an aerobatic instructor and display pilot. As well a Chartered Aeronautical
Engineer, Alan holds an Airline Transport Pilot's Licence with over 4,600 hours
experience, 3,000 of these on the Pitts Special.
Alan learned to fly in 1967, and was awarded a Royal Air Force Flying
Scholarship. Already a private pilot in Trinity College, Cambridge, he studied
Mechanical Sciences, and as a member of the University Air Squadron in 1970, was
selected to represent Cambridge in the annual flying competition against other
Universities, and won the de Havilland Trophy for his Squadron. After
graduating, he served as an engineering Officer in the Royal Air Force, before
retiring to civilian life in 1990. His last RAF appointment was as a Wing
Commander on the Staff of the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham.
Alan flew as a commercial pilot for 18 months before setting up Freestyle
Aviation in 1991.
Since 1984, Alan has been a competitive aerobatic pilot and has progressed from
beginners to unlimited level in aircraft as diverse as the French CAP-10B,
British Cranfield A1, Pitts Specials and Russian Yak 55M and Sukhoi 26. In 1998,
Alan acquired one of the very first French-built Giles 202 aircraft, now
designated CAP 202, and in 1999 became the British National Aerobatic Champion
flying this innovatibe new type. This was the first time a 200 horsepower
aircraft had won the Unlimited Championship since Mark Jefferies in the Laser in
1994. Since 2000, Alan has flown a CAP232 in top level competitions, and won the
Unlimited National Championship again in 2001 in this aircraft. Since 1995, Alan
has represented the UK each year in international competitions, including 2
Advanced and 4 Unlimited World Championships. He has been head of Contest
Organisation at the British Aerobatic Association since 1991 and is currently
the UK''s delegate to CIVA, the International Aerobatics Commission of the FAI.
Alan is also well known as the developer of Aresti for Windows, computer
software package used for making the special drawings used by pilots to describe
the intricacies of the sequences of maneouvres they fly.
Profile updated December 2001
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