
Ben Griffiths
17 articles
Columnist
Ben Griffiths is a communications director, an aviation writer and an adviser to organisations across the industry. He was named the 2021 'Aerospace Communicator of the Year' in the annual Aviation Media Awards. Ben is a Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots and a member of its prestigious Trophies & Awards Committee, as well as an active member of the Air and Space Power Association and the Aviation Focus Group. During 2018 he was seconded to Airbus UK as the Head of Communications, where he helped lead the company's involvement in the RAF 100 centenary celebrations including its major presence at the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough Air Show. He is a former external panel member of the Civil Aviation Authority's 'Aviation Futures' think tank and the Royal Aeronautical Society's Policy Committee. One of Ben's earliest memories is seeing Concorde soaring over London. Since then, aviation has been close to his heart. Having trained as a journalist and specialising in aerospace and defence coverage, Ben has been lucky enough to experience flying more than 30 types of aircraft from vintage trainers to modern military jets. He is a keen private pilot with a particular enthusiasm for historic taildraggers, and co-owns a 1950 de Havilland Chipmunk based at Old Warden, home of the renowned Shuttleworth Collection. In 2012 he fulfilled a childhood ambition by flying the Spitfire for the first time.
Ben Griffiths is a communications director, an aviation writer and an adviser to organisations across the industry. He was named the 2021 'Aerospace Communicator of the Year' in the annual Aviation Media Awards. Ben is a Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots and a member of its prestigious Trophies & Awards Committee, as well as an active member of the Air and Space Power Association and the Aviation Focus Group. During 2018 he was seconded to Airbus UK as the Head of Communications, where he helped lead the company's involvement in the RAF 100 centenary celebrations including its major presence at the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough Air Show. He is a former external panel member of the Civil Aviation Authority's 'Aviation Futures' think tank and the Royal Aeronautical Society's Policy Committee. One of Ben's earliest memories is seeing Concorde soaring over London. Since then, aviation has been close to his heart. Having trained as a journalist and specialising in aerospace and defence coverage, Ben has been lucky enough to experience flying more than 30 types of aircraft from vintage trainers to modern military jets. He is a keen private pilot with a particular enthusiasm for historic taildraggers, and co-owns a 1950 de Havilland Chipmunk based at Old Warden, home of the renowned Shuttleworth Collection. In 2012 he fulfilled a childhood ambition by flying the Spitfire for the first time.
Supermarine S.5 restoration scheduled to mark Schneider Trophy win centenary
Almost a century ago, the Schneider Trophy air races thrilled millions on both sides of the Atlantic as…
2023-04-22
Chinook Crew Chick: author Liz McConaghy talks PTSD, military life and memoir
AeroTime caught up with Liz earlier this week and also appointed her as the latest AeroTime Aviation Champion…
2023-03-08
Doncaster Sheffield Airport: on board the final Boeing 727 departure
Final flights have a sense of enduring poignancy. Favorite aircraft types leaving service following illustrious careers or familiar…
2022-12-10
Taking on Tom Cruise’s Top Gun jet trainer
As Top Gun: Maverick hit theatres this summer, a clip of British TV presenter James Corden of The…
2022-09-21
AeroTime Flight Test: Grob Able motor glider
As a pilot of fixed-wing aeroplanes, you are taught, from very early on in your training, what to…
2022-08-07
Flying with disabilities
Reconnecting post-pandemic with the good people behind UK charity Aerobility was a timely reminder of aviation’s power to…
2022-06-23
Flight Test: Spitfire – The iconic British fighter thrilling a new generation
I can scarcely remember a time when the Spitfire wasn’t part of my life in some tiny but…
2022-05-25
Sports Aviation’s enduring appeal
Just six years after the Wright Brothers took to the skies above Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the world’s…
2022-04-29
Sports Aviation Special: Extra300 stunt plane remains king of aerobatics
Mention sports aviation and one aircraft immediately springs to mind: the Extra300. Straddling the disciplines of competition aerobatics…
2022-04-22
Aviation innovation: how a new wave of ideas aims to tackle net zero
Mounting pressure on the global aviation sector to reduce pollution and hit net zero emissions targets by 2050…
2022-03-25