[1] He pioneered the ground attack capabilities of the Typhoon and led the air-to-air campaign against the V-1 flying bomb In 1945 he commanded the Air Fighting Development Squadron at RAF Central Fighter Establishment, before leaving the service in 1947.

Thereafter, Beamont saved all his pocket money to spend it on flying books and model aeroplanes [4] His second fight was in 1932 in a Fox Moth piloted by C.W.A.

[5][3][6] He spent his school holidays, cycling to nearby Tangmere aerodrome [7] to watch the RAF Hawker Furies fly.

[14] As a result of a high fever, he was sent to a hospital in Dieppe, but after two weeks absence he risked being removed from squadron strength and put into the pilots pool.

In September he transported a Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) cipher officer to a dance at RAF Pembrey in his single-seat Hurricane because the squadron's de Havilland Tiger Moth was unavailable.

[30][31] Fighter Command had concerns about the Typhoon's safety and serviceability because during the first nine months of its introduction, the losses due to structural and engine failure were greater than caused by enemy action.

[32] As commanding officer of the few Typhoon squadrons, Beamont was instrumental in arguing for keeping the aircraft in RAF service against increasing establishment resistance.

He was called to meetings with Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh Mallory and AOC Hugh Saunders to discuss the future of the Typhoon.

Beamont argued that he had faith in the manufacturers to correct its faults and that the basic design of the aircraft was sound: it was easy to fly, a stable firing platform, it was both faster and more manoeuvrable than contemporary Luftwaffe fighters.

[34] No 609 squadron was relocated to RAF Manston and in November standing patrols were set up from dawn till dusk to intercept raiding Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter bombers (Jagdbombers).

[50] On 2 October 1944, now based on the continent at Volkel, the Netherlands, he achieved his ninth and final kill of the war when he shot down a Fw 190 near Nijmegen.

On 12 October, on his 492nd operational mission, while attacking a heavily defended troop-train near Bocholt his Tempest's radiator was hit by flak.

[53] At RAF Chilbolton Beamont formed the first wing of Hawker Tempest IIs in preparation for planned invasion of Japan.

In October 1946 he was interviewed by Teddy Petter and Freddie Page for chief test pilot at English Electric, who at that time were designing Britain's first jet bomber.

[64] At this time English Electric were manufacturing D.H Vampires under licence but had no original aircraft to conduct research, particularly to explore the effects of compressibility.

Through William.G.A Perring (the director of the RAE) he was able to persuade the US authorities to give him permission to fly one of the only two XP-86 Sabres then built, based at Muroc Field.

[67] Briefed by test pilot George Welch, Beamont flew the XP-86 in May of that year, exceeding an indicated Mach 1 on his one and only flight in the aircraft, the third person to do so in the XP-86.

[70] Due to its reserves of power and low wing-loading the Canberra was highly manoeuvrable at any altitude, and Beamont would use this to advantage in his flying.

[72] This display was only marred by the inadvertent jettison of the 'automatic-observer' when Beamont opened the bomb bay doors to slow the aircraft, necessary because the prototype had no air-brakes.

[73] On 23 February 1951 he presented it to US Department of Defense officials contributing to the decision in the April for Canberras to be built under licence by the Glenn L. Martin Company as the B-57.

Taking advantage of a delivery flight to Glenn Martin, he set a new record of 4 hr 18 min 29.4 sec, from Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, to Gander, Newfoundland, on 31 August 1951.

[75] The following year, Beamont had the distinction of being the first pilot to make a double-Atlantic crossing by jet, when on 26 August 1952, flying Canberra B.5 VX185, he again flew from Aldergrove to Gander and then back again to Aldergove, in 10 hours 3 minutes.

To gain relevant experience, Beamont flew the Short SB.5 fitted with the 60° sweep wing and Hunter II (WB202) (with the AS Sapphire Engines)[Note 6] in April 1953.

[78] On 4 August 1954 he made the first flight, [79] which he described this as "classic technical success", albeit with a complete breakdown in radio communication between the pilots and ATC.

By September 1964 the flight test programme was 18 months behind schedule, the undercarriage was complex and unreliable; the engine development (Bristol Olympus Mk.320) had been delayed by a series of catastrophic failures.

Once airborne he noted poor forward vision, which he initially thought was due to glare from the low sun until he realised that his instrument panel also appeared blurred.

He understood that this could cause a catastrophe on landing and offered the project navigator, Don Bowen, the opportunity to "use the Martin-Baker Mk.5 ejection seat".

Beamont was confident in the XR219's precise flying, so made a long approach at low descent rate (0.12 m/s) and successfully rotated the bogies by using the weight of the aircraft on landing.

[Note 11] As TSR-2 was designed to follow contours at high speed, Beamont decided to fly it down Boscombe's runway at 100 ft and 450 knots, commenting later that it had "beautiful control".

[23] An AI companion based on Roland Beamont appears in several installments of the military science fiction franchise Halo.