Brigadier General Richard Stanley 'Dick' Lord (20 June 1936 – 26 October 2011) from Johannesburg, South Africa was a South African Air Force and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot. He was born in Johannesburg and attended Parktown Boys' High School. He joined the Royal Navy in 1958 and trained as an engineer at RNEC Manadon, before he qualified as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

in 1959. Whilst serving in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, he flew Sea Venom and

Sea Vixen The de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen is a British twin-engine, twin boom-tailed, two-seat, carrier-based fleet air-defence fighter flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the 1950s through to the early 1970s. The Sea Vixen was designed by ...

aircraft and qualified as an Air Weapons Instructor. In 1968 Lord did a two-year exchange tour with the US Navy at NAS Miramar flying A-4 Skyhawks and F-4 Phantoms. There he wrote the USN Air Combat Manoeuvring Manual and his training methods were instrumental in the creation of '

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...

' in 1969. His theory was put into practice by other British pilots on exchange, or lent from UK-based training units, such as 764 NAS Air Weapons Instructors (AWI) Course at RNAS Lossiemouth. He completed tours of air warfare instruction flying Hunters from the naval air stations at Lossiemouth, Scotland and Brawdy, Wales. He returned to South Africa in the early 1970s and joined the South African Air Force, flying

Impalas The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in East Africa, eastern and southern Africa. The monotypic taxon, only Extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first ...

, Sabres and Mirage Ills. During the Border War, he commanded No 1 Squadron, flying Mirage F1AZs. His last tour of duty was as commander of the Air Force Command Post. He was mentioned in Dispatches and awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for his role in the very successful rescue of all 581 people from the ill-fated cruise-liner ''

Oceanos MTS ''Oceanos'' was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when she suffered uncontrolled flooding. Her captain, Yiannis Avranas, and some of the crew were convicted of negligence for fleeing the ship without helping the ...

'' in 1991. Before retiring in 1994, he was tasked to organise the fly-past at the inauguration of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nationa ...

. Upon retiring he took up a very active and successful career in writing, documenting his military career in a number of popular books. * ''Fire, Flood, and Ice: Search and Rescue Operations of the South African Air Force'' (1998) * ''Vlamgat: The Story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force'' (2000) * ''From Tailhooker to Mudmover: An Aviation Career in the Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm, United States Navy and South African Air Force'' (2003) * ''From Fledgling to Eagle: the South African Air Force during the Border War'' (2008) * ''Standby! South African Air Force Search and Rescue'' (2010) (an updated edition of ''Fire, Flood and Ice''). Brigadier General Dick Lord died on the 26 October 2011 after a long illness.

References

South African Air Force generals 1936 births 2011 deaths South African writers Alumni of Parktown Boys' High School {{SouthAfrica-mil-bio-stub