Arreton resident Mr Noel Justin (Bud) Lewis dies

Sad to report that only after weeks after moving to his new Bungalow he had built next to his old Bungalow on his land in Main Road Arreton, Arreton resident Mr Noel Justin (Bud) Lewis dies

Obituary from Isle of Wight Country Press

ISLAND-born aircraft engineer, Noel Justin Lewis, who helped modify strategic bombers during the Cold War and develop the earliest British jet aircraft, died suddenly at his Arreton home last month, aged 82.

Mr Lewis, best known as Bud, was born in Nettlestone on December 16, 1933.

Just after the Second World War, he began his working life as an assistant to a poultry farmer.

But when he was called up for National Service, as an 18 year old, in 1952, he enlisted in the RAF, where he trained as an engine mechanic.

Mr Lewis was posted to RAF Strubby, Lincolnshire — a wartime base for Lancaster bombers — where he worked as an engine fitter.

He worked on many of the early jet aircraft, such as the Meteor, Vampire, Canberra and Hunter — most of which were being used to train fighter pilots of traditional piston-driven aircraft.

It was at the nearby town of Mablethorpe he met his wife, Audrey. After he was demobbed, the couple married at St Mary’s Church, Mablethorpe, on May 21, 1956.

They recently celebrated their diamond wedding.

Following similar work on civilian aircraft in Little Shelford, Cambridge, he took on the most fascinating job of his career — the modification of V-Bombers (Valiants), which were used during the Cold War.

With a desire to switch over to aircraft inspection, Mr Lewis returned to the Island in 1967 to join Britten-Norman, at Bembridge, and settled in St Helens, where he once lived as a child.

Production of the Islander was transferred to BHC, in East Cowes, where Mr Lewis continued in the role, before he went on to become a quality assurance manager at Westland Aerospace. He took early retirement in 1992.

Mr Lewis, a keen gardener, leaves his wife, three children, Richard, Stephen and Teresa, and five grandchildren. His funeral will be held at the IW Crematorium, Whippingham, on Friday, July 22, at noon.