Adrian Anthony Akers-Douglas was born in the English Midlands on
17 September 1943. He is the son of Major Anthony George
Akers-Douglas and Dorothy Louise Gage. He is a great-grandson of
the 1st Viscount
Chilston, 1st Baron Douglas of Baads.
He joined the RAF in 1962, training as a pilot at the RAF
College, Cranwell. He later served as a co-pilot on The Queen's
Flight and was ADC to two Chiefs of the Air Staff.
He left the
RAF in 1973 and - dismayed by the British weather - happily accepted
a job with Cyprus Airways. He lived with his newly-married wife in
Kyrenia and all went well until 20th July, 1974, when the Turks
invaded and divided the island. Nicosia Airport was left in No Man's
Land and Cyprus Airways was grounded.
Adrian spent the next year
bush flying in light aircraft in South Africa, the most
professionally challenging period of his career. However, the
Mediterranean beckoned and he was recalled by Cyprus Airways in
early 1976 as they rebuilt their operation from Larnaca Airport.
Sadly, the company's Tridents had been destroyed during the fighting
in Nicosia and so now a series of ever-larger aircraft were acquired
as the new airport grew: DC-9s, BAC1-11s, Boeing 707s, a DC-8, and
then suddenly - in a mighty leap of technology - the Airbus 310,
where Adrian began his love affair with Toulouse.
It was during this time that he became aware of how many people
were nervous of flying, and not only when he was the pilot. He felt
many of these could be helped by a book which explained flying in a
simple, non-technical, and occasionally light-hearted way.
Adrian moved to sister-company Eurocypria, becoming Head of
Training on the fly-by-wire Airbus A320, before joining Airbus in
Toulouse as an instructor and examiner in 2003. From Toulouse he was
despatched worldwide to introduce Airbus aircraft to new customers.
Apart from the 'day job', Adrian is a committed 'green' and
reluctant vegetarian. He founded Friends of the Earth (Cyprus) in
1980, and is now a director of two environmental organisations in
Cyprus: Terra Cypria, formerly the Cyprus Conservation Foundation,
and the Laona Foundation for the Regeneration of the Cypriot
Countryside.
Since 2007, he has been a freelance Airbus instructor and
examiner. He and his second wife divide their time between homes in
Toulouse and Cyprus. He has two daughters by his first marriage, one
of whom produced a delightful grand-daughter in 2011.
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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