Introducing John Stephens

Interviewer Gareth McCray OAM

John was in the Australian Air Force for 21 years.  He retired as a Flight Sergeant Radio Technician Air.  In the Air Force he worked on Matra missiles, Mirages and Macchis.  He had 2 postings to Butterworth Air Force Base in Malaysia.

After leaving the Air Force, he spent 5 years in Technical Offline Support for the FA18.  This was followed by 12 years with University Newcastle.

A very interesting part of his life is happening right now at Fighter World Museum where he is building a replica of a Sopwith Camel to be ready for the RAAF Centenary.   The Sopwith Camel, Great Britain’s most famous fighter of World War I, was also the most effective fighter deployed by any nation in the war. Camels were used to destroy about 1500 enemy planes – more than any other aircraft of WWI.