If anyone was born to fly, Ron Fowler was. From the age of 17 he flew constantly, and never once had a mishap in 54 years of airborne barnstorming.

The Moray businessman and former wartime Spitfire pilot - known to friends and flyers as Fearless Fowler - played out his most famous stunt on the nearby river Spey, flying under the iron span of the Old Spey Bridge at Fochabers while two friends were fishing below.

With daredevil skill and exceptionally cool thinking, he took his 37ft-span Spitfire through the centre arch at more than 120mph and less than 10ft above the river.

For this he was carpeted and severely reprimanded by his commanding officer, though what really hurt him was being temporarily grounded.

On another occasion he buzzed a haystack, from which leapt a surprised and very frightened farmhand.

Fowler was born in Winnipeg of a London father and Icelandic mother, and came to Scotland as a 10-year-old.

Always fascinated by aircraft, he joined the RAF at 17, and found irony in the fact that he was sent back to Canada to train as a fighter pilot before gaining a posting to Lossiemouth with the Fleet Air Arm. The war ended before he could take any active role. This saved him, he later recalled, from having ''to be beastly to any Germans''.

His passion for flying and the skill with which he handled aircraft made him natural choice to be leader of the post-war Fleet Air Arm display team, and he proved equally at home in Bearcats, Sea Furies, Spitfires, and Seafires. He and his colleagues performed in many parts of the UK, and as far away

as Malta.

His ultimate test formed no part of aerobatics at all. This was the business of landing a Seafire on an aircraft carrier. The Seafire - naval version of the Spitfire - never gained the same affection as its famous sister, and could prove the devil's own job to bring down on a moving deck.

When the first post-war jet fighters were delivered to Lossiemouth, Fowler was the pilot selected for testing them. In contrast to today's intense preparatory ground training, Fowler was guided solely by notes on a single quarto sheet. Laconic to the last, he studied the instructions - then left them behind as he set out on what proved a successful test mission.

He left the service and settled in his adopted Moray, flying at weekends with the RNVR. One time when his family were journeying through Sutherland by the local mailbus, he flew north from Lossie, identified the bus, and made several low passes with his trademark waggle of the wings.

''That's my Daddy,'' his

excited daughter informed the rest of the passengers.

During the Korean war he was recalled to train new pilots,

finally retiring with the rank of lieutenant commander.

He immersed himself in business with the same gusto as he approached flying, managing a local transport company. By more than happy chance, the company owned a restored DH Tiger Moth, and in this 1930s biplane, Fowler thrilled new audiences with charity displays of aerobatics. The adventurer in him never failed, and he and Gladys Simpson, his partner of more than 30 years, also used the Tiger Moth for picnics, flying across Scotland and landing on whatever suitable site showed up.

His love for the air ensured that, until health disbarred him from retaining his pilot's licence six years ago, he flew at least weekly, and in more than half-a-century airborne, never had a

single accident.

He died of a heart attack as he returned from a trip to Loch Ness with two Canadian cousins.

He is survived by his daughter, Jane, grandchildren Joanna and Grant, and partner, Gladys.

Ronald Gates Fowler, pilot and businessman; born November 12, 1924, died September 16, 2002.