The world’s longest serving Concorde pilot, Captain Jock Lowe, will be installed as President of the Royal Aeronautical Society tonight - the first time a serving commercial airline pilot has been appointed to the prestigious position.

Jock, 54, is Commercial Manager Concorde at British Airways and has been on the flightdeck of the world’s only supersonic passenger jet for more than 20 years, and will now be head of the world’s oldest aviation society.

“To be made President of the 132-year old Royal Aeronautical Society is a tremendous honour. In the coming year I’ll be working to boost the membership of our multi-disciplinary society from its current level of 17,000 members in almost 100 countries and to attract more people from a wide cross-section of the global aviation industry.” He also wants to improve communication to the members and to the aerospace industry as a whole.

Jock, an RAeS member for 10 years, is responsible for the business development and profit of British Airways’ flagship fleet of seven Concordes.

During his remarkable career, he has criss-crossed the Atlantic hundreds of times at twice the speed of sound and flown Concorde on special charter flights to many parts of the world.

He has had the honour of flying the Queen to Barbados, Washington and Ottawa, and has also flown the Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. This year, he took the Prime Minister Tony Blair to Washington.

A keen golfer, Jock, was thrilled to take the US Ryder Cup team from New York to Malaga, Spain last year and be part of a new record - the longest putt in history. As Jock flew Concorde at 1,330 miles an hour, Brad Faxon made a 23-second putt 120 feet down the cabin into an overturned teacup - as the aircraft covered a distance of 8.5 miles.

When Jock’s not flying the British Airways flagship or trying to cut his handicap, he can be found in the skies flying his Chipmunk or Monsun.

The Royal Aeronautical Society is the oldest body of its type in the world, founded in 1866, and is dedicated to serving the global aerospace community.

The RAeS is a multi-disciplinary society and includes not only engineers and pilots, but also doctors, legal specialists, bankers, air traffic controllers, cabin crew, marketing executives and journalists. Any professional person working in the aerospace industry can be a member.

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