Les Evans is a former RAF Harrier pilot, weapons and tactics instructor and qualified test pilot, having graduated from the UK’s Empire Test Pilot School in 1985. He went on to Command Flight Systems Squadron at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), Bedford, UK which conducted wide-ranging blue-skies research with advanced technologies. Whilst there he helped pioneer the use of Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) and Forward-Looking IR (FLIR) sensors on fast jet aircraft at low level and provided support to the US Marine Corps in their progression into this field with the AV-8B. This period helped Les develop a sound understanding of electro-optics and related physics and a strong appreciation of the scientific method.

Les completed his RAF service as a staff officer on the Strike Attack Operational Evaluation Unit, Boscombe Down, where he helped shape the tactical use of electro-optics in the RAF’s fast jet fleets. He spent time as a flight test tutor at the International Test Pilot School, Cranfield before joining British Airways in 1991. He flew B747, B757, B767, B777 and Concorde aircraft with British Airways, retiring as a B757/767 Training Captain in July 2006. Earlier he had been a training co-pilot and technical management pilot on B747s.

Running concurrently with his time as a line pilot, Les set and jointly owned Ibis Aerosystems Training Ltd and Ibis Flight Test Ltd, providing test pilot training and consultancy services to the aerospace industry and military forces, with a particular emphasis on EO systems and their testing. Through Ibis he also constructed and ran systems flight test courses at ETPS, ITPS and other flight test academies. Retired, Les now spends time lecturing on aviation, space and technology on cruise ships, at aeronautical associations and to local groups. He has lectured at the Royal Aeronautical Society, Heathrow.

A long-time sceptic of the climate change narrative, Les is actively working on the development of lectures and written material to help educate the public on the realities of CO2 science.