One of the island’s most famous residents has celebrated his seven decades of flying at an event where he was joined by two Lieutenant Governors.

Dr John C Taylor OBE, celebrated 70 years of flying at a celebratory event at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridge, earlier this month.

Having first flowing aged 10, when his father took him and a friend up in a two-seater glider in which they flew over Derbyshire, Dr Taylor flew solo for the first time when he was 16 at RAF Lichfield in Staffordshire.

From there, he obtained his silver ‘C’ certificate at the Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club and in 1976 became a gliding instructor there, before going on to become a private pilot.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) there are fewer than five people aged over 85 years old with a private pilot’s licence and an instrument rating.

Dr Taylor said: ‘There’s a pleasure in taking off from Ronaldsway, when it’s blowing a hoolie, to fly to Duxford entering cloud at 200ft, rising to 27,000 ft and flying all the way seeing nothing whatsoever until landing at Duxford! A feat made safely possible by instruments, GPS and faith.

‘Flights such as these are the true joy of aviation.’

Also attending the event was two Lieutenant Governors, Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfayden (2000 to 2005) and current Lieutenant Governor, Sir John Lorimer.

During the Second World War, when John was a young boy, his father, Eric Hardman Taylor was heavily involved in supporting the war effort and worked in several roles, including as a gliding flying instructor, training Spitfire pilots at the weekends.

Eric H Taylor was also an inventor and he designed life-saving clothing for bomber crews, with many of his inventions being documented in the Haynes Royal Air Force Technical Innovations manual.

He also invented The Taylor RAF electrically heated Flotation Suit, worn by Second World War RAF and Commonwealth bomber crews to allow them to operate in temperatures as low as -35C.

Eric H Taylor also designed the Parachute Regiment’s Windak Smocks used in Second World War and worn extensively by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery.

The Regiment’s Airborne Assault Museum, located within the Imperial War Museum Duxford, put on a special exhibition showing Eric H Taylor’s inventions relating to the regiment.

Sir John has a particular connection with Duxford as he was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment in 1982, retiring as their Lieutenant General.

He noted: ‘John’s father designed and made the smock that the Parachute Regiment and airborne forces wore during the war. The design is still being worn by those in the regiment 80 years later.’

Like his father, Dr John C Taylor is a prolific inventor, with more than 400 patents to his name, celebrated for innovation in component manufacturing and his switch designs for electric kettles that revolutionised the industry.

Aged 86, he was recently awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Cambridge, with an honorary doctorate being the highest accolade offered by the institution.