COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

CHAPTER THIRTEEN FRONTIERS OF WHAT?
behind it. He was even trying to point our inertial guidance people in
the direction of various French missiles, although they were right
outside his brief.
Thanks to Tony I was able to organise a meeting for Pasley-Tyler
and Jack Pateman with a certain General of Aviation, who was reputed
to be very influential on Concorde. Flying back afterwards, I kept
thinking about the letter which had arrived in the previous day's post.
It offered me an appointment as Sales Director in a company which
was likely to move away from the aircraft industry - although they
had yet to find this out.
I had applied for the position months before, in the early days of
the Wilson Government, and now this had come right out of the blue.
Elliotts and aviation had been part of my life for a long time. The idea
of leaving either was almost unthinkable. Yet there were other
considerations.
A few days later I found myself in Jack's office, listening to P-T.
I can still hear his words:
"I'm sorry David. We can't all be Managing Directors."
His reaction was so far from the reality of my decision. But there
seemed no point in explaining my feelings to him. Had I done so it
would have been to savage the politicians for the damage which they
were doing to the aircraft industry. For the last crop of cancellations
had finally convinced me that I could make a more valuable
contribution elsewhere.
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