David Gold - Flying
Flying Today, Part One
David Gold's life appears to be one of targets set and goals achieved. As an out-of-work 'brickie' in 1960s London, he wanted to move up in the world and taste some of the finer things in life. In the years since then, he has become one of Britain's wealthiest and most successful businessmen, and was recently listed among the country's 100 richest entrepreneurs.
A football enthusiast, he recognised that the early promise he showed playing left back for local youth teams would never be quite enough to put him alongside his heroes, Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney. Instead, he went on to become chairman of one of the top premier division football clubs in the country, Birmingham City.
(above) Gold Air's latest Lear 45 Bitten by the aviation bug as a 16-year-old air cadet, he progressed towards earning his helicopter and fixed wing licences, winning the Malta Air Rally twice, and setting up his own charter air service, Gold Air International.
Today home for 68-year-old Gold is a delightful rural retreat which comes with its own golf course, tennis courts and three helicopter landing pads (to allow a safe landing, no matter what direction the wind blows from), all just a five-minute flight away from Biggin Hill. Blessed with a friendly, welcoming nature, he was more than keen to reminisce about his love of aviation, smiling as he recalled his first experience in the cockpit.
"I remember the pilot looping it and spinning it, and I was just holding on for grim life."
"I actually went up in a Tiger Moth when I was probably 16 years of age and an air cadet in Hornchurch, and I was absolutely terrified. They put me in a parachute and I have to say, if the engine had stopped and we'd have had to jump out, I just wouldn't have known what to have done - health and safety wasn't top of their agenda in those days."
"I remember the pilot looping it and spinning it, and I was just holding on for grim life. The straps were too big - I'm wobbling around - and the whole experience was just me trying to survive the 20 minutes I was airborne. It wasn't a matter of enjoying it - it was more a challenge to stay alive and not fall out.
"But you know, whilst I was terrified, it was also a very thrilling and amazing experience."
