John Ponsonby (RAF Officer)
Air Vice-Marshal John Maurice Maynard Ponsonby (8 August 1955 – 21 October 2022) was a British businessman and a senior officer of the Royal Air Force. Background Ponsonby was born on 8 August 1955 to Myles Ponsonby (1924–1999) and his wife Anne Veronica Theresa Maynard (1924–2023). Charles Ponsonby, 2nd Baron de Mauley, was his great-great-grandfather. He had two sisters. Military career British Army After graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets as a second lieutenant on 8 March 1975. He was promoted to lieutenant on 8 March 1977, and to captain on 8 September 1981. He relinquished his commission on 7 March 1983, therefore retiring from the British Army. Royal Air Force Ponsonby was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in April 1983 as a pilot, after nine years service as an infantry officer in the British Army. On 10 April 1983, he was appointed to a permanent commission and promoted to flight lieute ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. Air vice-marshal is usually equivalent to the naval rank of rear admiral or a rank of major general in an army. The rank of air vice-marshal is immediately senior to the rank of air commodore and immediately subordinate to the rank of air marshal. Since before the Second World War it has been common for air officers commanding RAF groups to hold the rank of air vice-marshal. In small air forces such as the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Ghana Air Force, the head of the air force holds the rank of air vice-marshal. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Women's Auxiliary Australian ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms of short take-off and landing (STOL) or short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft cannot perform without a runway. The Focke-Wulf Fw 61 was the first successful, practical, and fully controllable helicopter in 1936, while in 1942, the Sikorsky R-4 became the first helicopter to reach full-scale mass production, production. Starting in 1939 and through 1943, Igor Sikorsky worked on the development of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, VS-300, which over four iterations, became the basis for modern helicopters with a single main rotor and a single tail rotor. Although most earlier ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Air Vice Marshal
Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. Air vice-marshal is usually equivalent to the naval rank of rear admiral or a rank of major general in an army. The rank of air vice-marshal is immediately senior to the rank of air commodore and immediately subordinate to the rank of air marshal. Since before the Second World War it has been common for air officers commanding RAF Group (air force), groups to hold the rank of air vice-marshal. In small air forces such as the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Ghana Air Force, the head of the air force holds the rank of air vice-marshal. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Air Commodore
Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. Air commodore is immediately senior to group captain and immediately subordinate to air vice-marshal. It is usually equivalent to a commodore or a brigadier/ brigadier general. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was "air commandant". Canada The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian air commodores then became brigadier-generals. In official Canadian French usage, the r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of List of sovereign states headed by Elizabeth II, 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign, longest of any British monarch, the List of longest-reigning monarchs, second-longest of any sovereign state, and the List of female monarchs, longest of any queen regnant in history. Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon Abdication of Edward VIII, the abdic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1999 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom. Honours are split into classes ("orders") and are graded to distinguish different degrees of achievement or service, most medals are not graded. The awards are presented to the recipient in one of several investiture ceremonies at Buckingham Palace throughout the year by the Sovereign or her designated representative. The Prince of Wales (now Charles III) and The Princess Royal deputised for The Queen. The orders, medals and decorations are awarded by various honours committees which meet to discuss candidates identified by public or private bodies, by government departments or who are nominated by members of the public. Depending on their roles, those people selected by committee are submitte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Group Captain
Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group captain is immediately senior to Wing commander (rank), wing commander and immediately below air commodore. It is usually equivalent to the rank of Captain (naval), captain in the navy and of colonel in other services. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force, Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was "group officer". Canada The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force until the 1968 Unification of the Canadian Armed Forces, unification of the Canadian Forces, when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian group captains then became colonels. In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was . India United Ki ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wing Commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately senior to squadron leader and immediately below group captain. It is usually equivalent to the rank of commander in the navy and the rank of lieutenant colonel in other services. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and the Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and in Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was wing officer. The equivalent rank in the Royal Observer Corps (until 1995) was observer commander, which had a similar rank insignia. Canada The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian wing commanders then became lieutenant colonels. In official Canadian French usage, the rank title wa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Squadron Leader
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediately senior to flight lieutenant and immediately below wing commander. It is usually equivalent to the rank of lieutenant commander in the navy and of the rank of major in other services. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was "squadron officer". Squadron leader has also been used as a cavalry command appointment (UK) and rank (France) since at least the nineteenth century. In Argentina it is used as a command appointment by both the army's cavalry and by the air force's flying units. The cavalry rank of squadron leader in France is equivalent to a major, and the cavalry appointment of squadron leader in the UK gene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |