LASHAM Gliding Society has paid tribute to one of its key members, killed when his glider crashed into a rocky hillside in South Africa.

The accident happened during a solo flight on November 19 - Peter Reading’s 60th birthday.

An experienced commercial pilot, and rated as one of Britain’s top 100 glider pilots, having flown gliders all over the world and competed in the British Nationals, Mr Reading died when the JS1c glider he was flying stalled, sending it spiralling out of control into the hillside at 150mph.

Gliding society colleague John McCullagh said: “Peter was a brilliant engineer and worked for Air Products on compressed gases.

“In his own time he built up his flying hours until eventually he got a job as a commercial pilot flying newspapers and other freight in the early morning to Jersey until he had enough experience to fly passengers. He became the training captain at FlyBe.

“Peter joined Lasham Gliding Society in December 1983 and was the chairman in 2014-15. We jointly owned a glider together for a while.”

Mr McCullagh continued: “I had flown with him on many occasions, including two vacations in Austria. He could make his big ASH25 glider fly with amazing precision and he had done several cross-country flights over 750 kilometres in it. His practical skills earned him the qualification to undertake major repairs to gliders as an authorised inspector.

“He was a key member of our airspace team, bringing massive technical knowledge of how airliners and other commercial traffic use the airspace in and around us. He was given life membership in 2017 in recognition of his work for LGS on the TAG Farnborough airspace change proposal. The fact that we have been granted leave for a judicial review is a fitting tribute to his hard work while also doing the day job.

“How he could also work through the night on FlyBe’s simulator was beyond me.”

Bill Bullimore described Mr Reading as “a superb pilot and a great man who will be sadly missed”.

“Peter compressed 120 years of life into his meagre 60. He had great intellectual prowess combined with competent hands-on engineering skills. Lasham, you owe him,” he added.

Mr Reading, who lived in Milford, near Godalming, was cremated in South Africa. He leaves a wife, Ingrid, a son, Guy, and a daughter, Gemma.