Alan Colin Campbell-Orde was educated at Sherborne School, Sherborne, Dorset, England. He fought in the First World War, seeing active service in Belgium,where he was wounded. He gained the rank of Flight Sub-Lieutenant in the service of the Royal Naval Air Service and the the rank of Flying Officer in the service of the Royal Air Force. He was decorated with the Air Force Cross (A.F.C.) in 1919.
He was one of the original commercial pilots on London-Paris route with Aircraft Transport 7 Travel Ltd. He was Instructor and Advisor to the Chinese Government in 1921 at Peking, China.
He became an Instructor and then Chief Test Pilot for W G Armstrong-Whitworth Aircraft Ltd between 1924 and 1936. During his time here he flew the maiden flights of several aircraft including the AW.15 Atalanta on 6th June 1932 and the A.W.38 Whitley Bomber on 17 March 1936 .
He was Operational Manager for British Airways and Imperial Airways between 1936 and 1940 and was Operational Director of BOAC between 1940 and 1943. He was on special duties for BOAC with Transport Command, Royal Air Force between 1943 and 1944. and then became Assistant to the Chairman of BOAC between 1944 and 1946. Between 1946 and 1957 he was the Development Director for BOAC. He became an aviation consultant in 1958.
He was invested as a Fellow, Royal Aeronautical Society (F.R.Ae.S.). and was made a Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in 1943.
