Coningsby on 14 July, and a Friends and Families Open Day on 22 July. The 41 Squadron Association was also formed to coincide with the Centenary. The squadron's Panavia Tornados were phased out in late 2017, and the last flight in this aircraft type took place on Friday, 13 October 2017. 41 Squadron retains its Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4's and will continues to fly these aircraft into the future. Notable pilots Captain Valentine Baker MC AFC served with 41 Squadron from 1916 – June 1917, and served briefly as a Flight Commander. He left the RAF in 1922 to work for Vickers-Armstrong. In 1934, however, he formed the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company with his colleague James Martin, to design new aircraft and offer flying lessons. One of their more notable pupils was Amy Johnson. The company went on to manufacture and market four different propeller aircraft, but Baker himself was killed in a flying accident in 1942, whilst test-flying the third of these. It was his death, however, that caused his business partner to rethink safety and develop a means of assisted escape for pilots. As a result, Martin-Baker began to manufacture ejection seats in 1946, and still does today for both fixed wing and rotary military aircraft. Amongst 80 types of aircraft into which their seats have been fitted are the Jaguar, which 41 Squadron flew from 1977–2006, the Harrier, which the squadron flew from 2006–2010, and the Tornado and Typhoon, both of which they fly today. Martin-Baker ejection seats are now being fitted into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Over 70,000 Martin-Baker ejection seats have been delivered to 93 air forces, which have saved almost 7,500 lives. It is a squadron legacy that in giving his own life, Baker has saved the lives of thousands of others. American Lieutenant Eugene Barksdale served with 41 Squadron from July–October 1918, during which time he claimed two victories and was wounded in action. In October 1918, he transferred to the American Expeditionary Force and returned home to become as USAAF test pilot. Clearly a talented pilot in this early era of flight, he is perhaps best known for having flown an Airco DH-4 light bomber from McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, to Mitchel Field, which became Mitchel AFB in New York, a distance of some 600 miles solely on instruments. However, in August 1926, whilst testing a Douglas O-2 observation aircraft for spin