THE Isle of Wight branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society invites you to its first lecture of 2019 – Three Fighters from Three Wars, and what were they like to fly?

Delivered by retired RAF Wing Commander Mike Brooke AFC, this lecture offers a fascinating insight into British military aviation in the 20th century by a test pilot who is one of the very few people to flown all three iconic aircraft.

Mike joined the RAF in 1962 at the age of 17 and trained as a pilot.

His first assignment was in a low-level strike/attack Canberra squadron followed by tours of duty in flight instruction, experimental test piloting, radar research, helicopter piloting and as a test pilot tutor.

He is a graduate of the Empire Test Pilot School and RAF Advanced Staff College and held command of flying at RAE Farnborough and the position of Wing Commander Flying at Boscombe Down.

Mike retired from full-time RAF service in 1994 but remained active in the world of aviation — working as a test flying consultant for eight years.

Now retired, he lives on the Isle of Wight.

Mike was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1984 by the Queen and is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, a Master Pilot of the Honorary Company of Air Pilots and a Freeman of the City of London.

The free lecture is on Thursday, January 17 at 6pm in the conference hall at the Isle of Wight College, Newport.