My father, Ken Souter, who has died aged 104, was a second world war fighter pilot who later moved into civilian aviation. He also spent a year as the lead pilot for the 1955 film The Dam Busters, responsible for delivering its dramatic low-level flying sequences over water.
Ken was originally destined for art school, but as soon as war looked likely he enlisted with the RAF in August 1939. After training in Tiger Moths and Harvards he was let loose in a Hawker Hurricane, and joined 73 Squadron on operations.
In early 1941 the squadron was loaded on to HMS Furious, heading for north Africa. Despite never having operated off a carrier, the entire squadron took off without incident and, guided by a Blenheim bomber, flew via Sudan to the Western Desert in Libya.
Ken was credited with the shooting down of a Ju88 German bomber, and was lucky to emerge uninjured when he crashed his Hurricane while taking off in a sandstorm. In early 1942, his exceptional flying ability was recognised and he became a de facto test pilot for a vast range of different aircraft types operating in the Western Desert, a risky job often resulting in enforced belly landings.
In January 1943 a damaged eardrum ended his frontline operational flying. Glad to escape the flies and the heat of the desert, he returned to the UK for a spell at the Air Gunnery School in Scotland. At the end of his service in May 1945 he left with the rank of flight lieutenant.
Ken was born in Sunderland, the son of Jack Souter, a timber importer, and his wife, Lilibet. Ken’s brother, Harry, who served in the army during the war, emigrated to South Africa soon afterwards, and on demobilisation Ken joined him there in establishing an engineering business.
In 1951 Ken re-enlisted in the RAF, this time in Bomber Command, flying the Avro Lincoln for 83 Squadron. Two years later the squadron were sent to Singapore to assist in the Malaya crisis. They returned in 1954 to Britain and Ken was seconded to head a flight of four Avro Lancasters tasked with re-enacting the flying sequences for the celebrated film about the 1943 Dambusters raid by 617 Squadron. The extremely low-level day and night flying sequences demanded by the script led to some exciting moments, and on one occasion Ken’s Lancaster was low enough for the propellers to whip up spray from the surface of Derwent reservoir in the Peak District.
Once filming was over, in 1955 Ken made the conversion to flying fast jets, first the Gloster Meteor and then the new Canberra medium-range bomber, with 61 Squadron. After he left the RAF in 1958 he took itinerant flying jobs until the mid-60s, when he turned to piloting executive jets for multinational companies. He finally retired from flying in the 70s.
After that he enjoyed doing up houses, owned a chain of fish and chip shops, and lived for a period in southern Spain. His lifelong hobby was oil painting, and during his time in the RAF he produced caricatures of fellow squadron members.
Ken married Vera Wiseman in 1948, and I was born the following year. The marriage ended in divorce. His second wife, Birgitta Takerhead, whom he married in 1971, predeceased him. He is survived by me, two sons, Christian and Robin, from his marriage to Birgitta, and four grandchildren.
• This article was amended on 30 September 2024. An earlier version said that on one occasion Ken Souter’s Lancaster was low enough for the propellers to whip up spray from the surface from Derwentwater in the Lake District; that should have said Derwent reservoir in the Peak District.
