It is with sadness that we report that Sir Thomas Sopwith's
son,Tommy Sopwith, died peacefully aged 86 on May 4th. Tommy has been a
high profile supporter of the Kingston Aviation Centenary Project from
the very beginning when he opened the Kingston Aviation Festival in
Kingston Marketplace in 2012. Tommy was a keen motor car and powerboat
racer. He had considerable success in a Cooper-Climax before being
runner-up in the first British Saloon Car Championship in his Jaguar in
1958 and winning the first Cowes to Torquay International Powerboat
Race in 1961.
XX154, the first Hawk TMk1, made its final flight on December 19th
2018. First flown on August 21st 1974 by Duncan Simpson it remained
with the HSA/BAe Hawk development fleet at Dunsfold until January 1982
when it was transferred to the Ministry of Defence who posted it to
Llanbedr where it was used to support trials on the missile range.
Latterly XX154 was part of the Empire Test Pilots’ School fleet at
Boscombe Down.