Flt Lt John Hamilton FAA

John was a Scout Leader with17^th Tonbridge from 1969 through to 1997. In 1972 with large numbers of scouts at 17th it was decided to establish a separate Air Troop and John became the first Leader of the 17^th Tonbridge Air Troop – only the second Air Scout group in Kent at the time.

He had a Pilot Licence having served in the Fleet Air Arm where he flew a number of different warbirds including Supermarine Seafires (the naval version of the Spitfire which he also flew) on and off Air craft carriers.

He became County Air Activities Advisor for Kent in 1979 and served in that capacity until 2002. During that time he helped to set up the Kent Scout Microlight Club in 1989 which evolved into the Kent Scouts Microlight Team.

One of the Scouts from 17^th, when John was the Leader, Richard Hearsey, went on to become one of the current pilots for the Microlight Team and will now be flying scouts in the Lt John Hamilton FAA airplane.

John continued to take an active role in Scout Activities after those official roles in particular at Air Camps where he would show scouts how to make model aeroplanes. He was a member of Tonbridge District Active Support Team from 2010 until 2016.