Sqn Ldr Trevor Sidney "Wimpy" Wade, DFC, AFC (27 January 1920 – 3 April 1951) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter ace, one of The Few and later a test pilot.

[1][2] In April 1938, aged 18, he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as an Airman u/t (under training) and learned to fly at No.

On his first day (26 May) he borrowed Tony Bartley's Spitfire to get more flying hours on type, performing a low level roll immediately after takeoff.

[5][6] On 2 December Wade was engaged in combat, he claimed one Bf 109E but yet again was hit by return fire forcing him to land at Gravesend.

While there, he received notification that he had been awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts during the first part of the war and achieving seven confirmed victories.

[1] The citation, published in the London Gazette on 15 July 1941, read: This officer has displayed great skill and determination in his numerous engagements against the enemy and has destroyed at least six of their aircraft.

602 Squadron for what would be a short tour, because during a raid on the Marquise Shell factory, on 17 September, he received a wound which ended his career as a combat pilot.

[10][11] He was promoted to Squadron Leader (temporary) on 30 October 1942 [12] and in late 1943 he was made the Officer Commanding at the Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU).

Within a year (October 1947) he had joined Hawker Aircraft as an assistant to the Chief Test Pilot Bill Humble.

When Humble became a sales manager in June 1948, Wade became Chief Test Pilot and focussed on the development flying of the latest Hawker jets.

[14][15][16] In August 1948 Wade made the first public demonstration of the P.1040, flying it from Langley Airfield (Hawker's flight test centre).

[citation needed] The rear fuselage of the second P.1052 prototype (VX279) was rebuilt to use a straight-through jet pipe and a swept tailplane.

[28][Note 3] Trevor Wade married Josephine Clow Gibbins on 2 August 1940 at Oxted, with many of his 92 Squadron colleagues attending the service and the reception, which was held at the White Hart in Brasted, Kent.