THE family of a decorated former military pilot have paid tribute to him after he sadly passed away in February.

John Anthony Foster passed away at York Hospital on February 7 aged 80, after a short battle with illness.

John was born in Scunthorpe in November 1940. He joined the RAF in 1961, and after initially being rejected, he went back and said "as a tax payer, I own the aircraft and jolly well intend to fly them."

The force invited him back and decided to take a risk on him, which proved to pay off as John went on to have a 34-year flying career, qualifying on 24 different aircraft types and clocking up over 10,000 flying hours, flying as far as Canada and Indonesia.

Back in England he was appointed command officer on exam wing, when he travelled to Israel and Saudi Arabia to test their air force pilots

John flew the Vampire as part of The RAF vintage pair display team performing at air shows. He also lead and flew in the '25 formation flypast' for the Queen's silver jubilee celebrations.

In 1992 John earned A1 category examiner title and went on to teach many pilots at Linton on Ouse and Church Fenton for a number of years.

John retired from the RAF in 1995 only to be re-employed the next day by the Ministry Of Defence to instruct pilots on the simulator at Linton on Ouse.

He retired for good 10 years later and enjoyed travelling with his wife Phyl and playing golf at Forest Park Golf Club.

He received many awards during his career, including The Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air and a Green Endorsement for safely landing a stricken aircraft.

In 2018 John flew a celebration flight in the spitfire at Duxford with all of his family watching him.

John leaves his wife, son Paul, daughter Joanne and six grandchildren, who are all "extremely proud," of him.

John's funeral was held on Friday March 5 at York Cemetery Chapel.