"Are you a young man with the ability to sell aircraft?" So read the advert in Flight International in 1972.
Three months later David joined Britten-Norman, selling aircraft ever since navigating around wars, coups, aircraft accidents, bankruptcies, medical scares and economic collapse in Africa and Asia.
When joining Bombardier he started selling the Challenger, Regional Jet and Dash 8 aircraft but for 23 years focused on the sale of the ultimate aviation aircraft: the business jet.
"Having sold aircraft all my working life I was not of a mind to change direction, nothing else entered my mind."