About us
the de Havilland Educational Trust
the de Havilland Educational Trust
G-TIGA and the DHET people
Trustees are professionals in their field with a wide variety of industry and aviation backgrounds, covering vintage and modern, commercial and military flying and engineering.
G-TIGA was built by Morris Motors Ltd in 1940 and served with the RAF as T7120. Registered to Field Aircraft Services as G-AOEG in 1955 she subsequently found her way to the Leatherland family, a partnership that was to last until 2022 during which time her current registration was adopted. Derek Leatherland kindly bequeathed her to the de Havilland Educational Trust in his will. DHET, together with much appreciated support from Thomas Castle Aviation Heritage Scholorship https://www.tcah.co.uk, operate ‘TIGA’ so she can continue training the next generation of 21st century pilots and engineers.
Stuart is a Northamptonshire farmer with a long association with flying, he first flew in a Tiger Moth, G-ADIA, with his uncle John Beaty in 1976. Stuart learnt to fly in 1995 at Sywell and acquired Tiger Moth G-ADIA in 1998, since then he has flown extensively through the UK, Europe and Africa flying a Tiger Moth with John Baxter down the Nile to Khartoum. He gained his South African licence in 2012 and has flown a number of trips into Botswana with his family. Stuart has amassed nearly 2500 hours flying mostly vintage types.
Stuart joined DHET as Trustee in 2024 and became Chairman in 2025, he has a passion for vintage aviation especially encouraging the next generation in flying and maintaining de Havilland types.
Malcolm Ward’s inspiration for flight came from his father, Harry Ward, who was a parachutist with the air circuses of the 1930s and who took his pilot’s licence on a DH60 Gipsy Moth in 1932.
Malcolm himself learned to fly on modern aircraft, but converted to the Tiger Moth in 1983 and has amassed over 300 hours on Tigers since then. He served in the Royal Air Force as an engineer officer for 35 years, retiring as a Wing Commander in 2014. He is a former Secretary of the UK’s Historic Aircraft Association and, later, Secretary of the Air Pilots Flying Club, within the Honourable Company of Air Pilots (formerly GAPAN), of which he is a Freeman. He has been a member of the Reading Flying Group since 2006, flying the film star Tiger Moth G-ANFM from White Waltham. He has also recently taken a share in Chipmunk G-BBND, which is operated by the aptly named Bernoulli syndicate at Old Warden. Malcolm describes the 50-year journey from being an air cadet in the back seat of Chipmunks to the front seat as long, but worth it.
He was appointed as a trustee of the de Havilland Educational Trust in 2024. He is currently the Secretary and temporary Treasurer.
Being interested in vintage aviation Steve took the traditional approach in learning to fly and undertook his private pilot’s licence on the DH82A Tiger Moths of the Cambridge Flying Group in the early 1980s. Enjoying the experience so much he remained and went on to become an instructor in 1988, an examiner in 2005 and the Chief Flying Instructor in 2009. Away from Tiger Moths Steve has also flown and instructed on DH Chipmunks and has flown other DH types, including flying Rapides commercially. Naturally he has also been a (co-) owner of Tiger Moth and a Tiger Moth derivative called a Thruxton Jackaroo. He presently co-owns a DH87B Hornet Moth fresh out of restoration.
Away from aviation Steve has had careers both in both business systems, including working alongside for and later for Aston Martin, and commercial aviation. The latter flying corporate jets in the business aviation industry.
Invited to be a founding member of DHET in 2006 he presently oversees the operation of the Trust’s own Tiger Moth, G-TIGA.
The successor to the Tiger Moth the DHC-1 Chipmunk was designed by de Havilland's Canadian arm and had its first flight in 1946. Using an updated version of the engine from its predecessor 'nearly all' Chipmunks were retired from active military service in mid 1990's having given thousands of cadets and military pilots their first taste of flight. 'Nearly all?' The RAF retain two examples with the BBMF mainly used for converting pilots to tailwheel aircraft.
Both G-BWUN (WD310) and G-BXGO (WB654) happily assist DHET with introducing people to classic aviation at events each year.
Ben is a passionate private pilot and de Havilland aficionado, flying his co-owned 1950 de Havilland Chipmunk, and is an active member of numerous aviation organisations, including the Honourable Company of Air Pilots, the Air and Space Power Association, The Air League and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
After a 20-year career in journalism, Ben moved into public relations before joining aviation and aerospace company 2Excel Group to oversee all external communications, from marketing to investor relations, media relations to government relations. He previously led the aerospace and defence practice at a leading City of London communications firm, advising and representing some of the biggest international brands in those industries, including aerospace giant Airbus.
Ben has also advised several warbird owners and operators, both in the UK and overseas, most recently leading media operations in the UK and Normandy for the D-Day 80 commemorations on behalf of the US D-Day Squadron and Commemorative Air Force.
He has been fortunate enough to have experienced flying 30 different types of aircraft, from the Spitfire and Mustang to Hawk and L-39 jet trainers, numerous private jets and turboprops and an assortment of taildraggers, including the Tiger Moth and Moth. He is also a Trustee of disabled flying charity Aerobility.
Inheriting the aviation bug from his father, Joe Brown started to learn to fly at Cranfield in the year 2000. After working as an aerial survey pilot he joined the Jersey based airline Blueislands where he flew the Islander & Trislander before moving on to the Jetstream 32 fleet. Joe changed fleets as the airline transitioned to the ATR 42 & 72, ending his time with the airline as a Line Training Captain in 2016. After being approached by Cranfield University Joe joined the National Flying Laboratory Centre as Head of Training where he flies the Saab 340, a Bulldog and Slingsby Firefly delivering practical aviation experience to aeronautical engineering students.
Having grown up about 4 miles away from the iconic Shuttleworth Collection and attending many airshows as a child an interest and passion for vintage aviation was present from a young age. Around 2009 he purchased a share in a Chipmunk-based syndicate and started to get involved in classic aviation. Leaving the syndicate in 2020, now regularly flying from Old Warden in Chipmunk G-BWUN he can frequently be found taking part in formations and enjoying the ‘sweet spot’ of aviation.
