Vale George Alfred ‘Peter’ Lloyd AC OBE
Esteemed Member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame
15/12/1920 – 16/08/2022
For many Australians, Lloyd is considered the ‘Father’ of sport aviation in Australia and around the world.
He was a soldier in World War II and later qualified as a pilot in 1955. He was mentioned in dispatches for bravery in World War II during AIF service in the Middle East and Papua New Guinea. He had nearly 11,000 hours of flying experience on general aviation and aerobatic aircraft as well as additional experience in gliding, parachuting, and ballooning.
Lloyd was founding president of the Australian Aerobatic Club (AAC), its president for seven years from 1970 to 1977. Through the AAC, Australia competed in FAI world events. He remains honorary governor of the Australian Sport Aviation Confederation, which is now the Australian FAI representative.
He became a member, freeman, and later liveryman of the London based Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators and was chairman of its Australian regional branch in 1975 and 1976, the first non-professional airman to be elected.
He was founding Chairman of Directors of Helicopters Utilities Limited, which operated up to 118 helicopters in Australia and other countries, including Korea, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. His work did much to have helicopters recognised as a rural tool in Australia as well as a military and industrial one. For 14 years he served as an honorary director of Australia’s famous and unique Royal Flying Doctor Service, which brings medical aid to people who live in the vast and largely inaccessible outback of Australia.
George Alfred ‘Peter’ Lloyd. A man whose life stories would make you laugh, cry and stand in awe of how one man could have accomplished so much and inspired so many, will be dearly missed.
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Chair John Bertrand AO said, “Peter, the ‘father of sport aviation’ lived an extraordinary life and had an extraordinary career.
After returning from World War II as a soldier, he oversaw and promoted the growth of general and sport aviation. His feats, too many to say.
Peters’ accomplishments and dedication went beyond aeronautics in Australia and sport in general. He facilitated in the recognition of gliding and parachuting as Olympic sports, as well as working with the USSR’s Gorbachev and US President Regan to free a teenage German flyer held after flying into Moscow.
An 11,000 hours’ logged pilot, qualified balloonist and parachutist, Peter’s passion for aviation, for aviation safety and for his country led to the successful growth of Safeskies Australia which now, some 30 years on, continues to serve all who fly, fuelled by his vision of safe skies for all.
In 2020, Peter celebrated his 100th birthday in true Peter style – jumping out of an aeroplane.
He is a familiar and seemingly eternal presence in Australian aviation safety, whose legacy will live on.
Our thoughts are with Peter’s wife Jan, his family and everyone who he left an indelible mark on the aviation industry.
Read ‘Peter’ Lloyd’s full biography here.
