Philip Birtles joined the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School in September 1957 serving a five year mechanical and production engineering apprenticeship. Having completed training Philip joined the test pilots' department as PA to John Cunningham, the chief test pilot. He then spent the rest of his career in aerospace marketing at Hatfield and Stevenage until the Aerodrome closed in 1993. He has spent many years at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum, where he is now president, and has written nearly 50 books mainly on aerospace subjects.
...an excellent account of the consolidation of the British aviation industry and the disappearance, over time, of some of the great names in British aviation. -- Air Power History