Tony Carlisle

We feel the utmost sadness is recording the death from a heart attack, of Tony Carlisle. I first met Tony many years ago, when Kent Karslake was writing of two of the more sprightly single-cylinder De Dion Boutons. We went to try the one Tony owned, at White Waltham aerodrome.

After leaving the RAF, where he flew with distinction, earning a DFC amongst other honours, Tony – a modest and charming man – took a keen interest in restoring his cars for use in VCC and VSCC events, in which he was usually accompanied by Mrs Carlisle.

He meticulously rebuilt a 9.5 hp Renault and a touring GN, and his Trojan was one of the more effective hill-ascenders in VSCC trials, endowed with extra-low-gearing of Tony’s own creation. There was the occasion when he ran-up a Clerget rotary aero-engine . . . tethered to a tree in his Berkshire garden. It just about got away. . .

He was a great enthusiast, who loved playing with old machinery, and he will be greatly missed. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife and family.

W B