I have very strong memories of John and there is no doubt that he left a lasting impression on everyone who met him.
An individual in so many ways and certainly one who did not conform to the humdrum way of expected protocols.
John was thinking “outside the box” before the term was ever coined.
 
I recall that at College John never seemed to do any work but always came out top in his grades.
We used to travel to college together, one week in his Alvis 12/50 and the next in my Silver Eagle, which I still have.
We were all so very lucky to have been trained at Saunders-Roe and to have been given the chance to develop our natural skills afforded by the somewhat layback way of life on the Island.
 
I recall taking my mother out to Ryde for dinner and afterwards meeting John by chance.
He mentioned that he was just back on the Island that day and when I asked him where he was staying he said that he knew of a house he could get into overnight.
My mother was very concerned and offered him a bed. But John reassured her that he would be alright and he kindly refused.
So typical of the happy go lucky way that John lived his life.
 
I also remember that one afternoon I was at my wife’s parents home working in the drive on the Alvis engine when John came by in an ice-cream van.
He stopped and immediately started to help me with resetting the carburation then, after a quick ice-cream all round, John was off again.
 
John deserved the recognition that he received as a result of his engineering successes. He achieved so many inspiring first’s.
His book is a testimony to his tenacity and his ability to overcome the many challenges presented by the many projects he completed.
 
John was a talented  and natural Engineer and I consider it to have been a great privilege to have known him.
He was certainly unique and one of a kind.