John Giddens

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John Giddens was born in 1960 into a family with an aviation tradition. His father Peter was a Royal Air Force pilot for 35 years and his grandfather served as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps at the end of the First World War and transferred to the Royal Air Force when it was formed.

A professional Biography for John can be found on the Hallin Marine Website: Here

Having spent a career in Marine and Underwater operations, John's interest in aviation was rekindled in 1998 when he moved with his wife Lily, son Hallin and daughter Jasmine to Seletar in Singapore. Their house is an old 1930s era RAF "black and white" style colonial bungalow, beside Seletar airfield (WSSL), an airfield at which John's father had been based and flown Spitfires and Meteors between 1952 and 1954 with RAF No81 Squadron. Today this is the home of the Republic of Singapore Flying Club which John joined and learned to fly on Socata TB9 aircraft. He gained his Singapore Private Pilot License in 2004.

The range and speed of Socata TB9 and TB200 aircraft limits the possibilities of flying in SE Asia given the distances to travel. John started to search for a modern aircraft with range and speed to carry out a (typical) 700 nautical mile journey in comfort, and with enough safely margins to carry his family with confidence. Although Diamond aircraft were a serious contender for a short period, the Cirrus SR22 looked the best choice.

John selected the Cirrus SR22 in 2005 and the idea of the delivery flight from the Cirrus factory in Duluth USA to Seletar in Singapore quickly evolved from that point into detailed planning. To utilise the full instrument flight capabilities of a Cirrus SR22 it is necessary to hold an Instrument Rating (IR), and this is not available in Singapore for Private Pilots. John therefore decided to obtain a US FAA Pilot license and then add the Instrument Rating qualification, which he did in Hawaii in 2006, so that the new Cirrus SR22 could be kept on the US FAA "N" register. The tail number N238JG that John selected is the US "N" number plus his birthday date and initials.

The aircraft was ordered in September 2006 for a scheduled 1st May 2007 delivery. In March 2007, just six weeks before delivery, and with great secrecy, Cirrus advised John that N238JG would be one of the first of the new 2007 design G3 aircraft with great improvements over the previous G2 model. The excitement for the trip was building!