Southport-born pilot to feature in Air Show

The Royal Air Force Tutor Display Pilot, appearing at the Southport Airshow this weekend, is Flight Lieutenant David-John Gibbs.

David-John is known to most as DJ or Gibbo. He was born in Southport and started his career in the Royal Navy in 1996, where he trained to fly the Sea King in the Support Helicopter Role.

He grew up in the Churchtown area of Southport, attended Christ The King School in Birkdale and was a member of Number 281 (Southport) Squadron Air Training Corps, where he undertook a gliding scholarship and was a Flight Staff Cadet with No 10 Air Experience Flight at RAF Woodvale.

DJ said: “It is an absolute delight and privilege to display in front of friends and family in my hometown.

“I remember attending the inaugural Southport Airshow in 1991. Little could I imagine at the time that I would one day be displaying here myself.

“Displaying at Southport is the highlight of my airshow calendar”.

Operationally, DJ has flown the Sea King in a variety of areas including Sierra Leone and the Persian Gulf.

He also spent 3 years flying Search and Rescue missions off the Cornish coast.

DJ is now serving in the Royal Air Force and when not displaying he is responsible for training qualified military pilots to become instructors on the Grob Tutor.

During his varied career DJ has amassed over 6000 flying hours on 50 different aircraft types.