TRIBUTES have been paid to two Dorset men who died in an air crash at the weekend.

Doctor Shorland Hosking was piloting the two-seater to Bourne-mouth after a visit to Duxford in Cambridgeshire on Saturday when the plane developed problems and came down in a field near Andover, killing him and businessman Richard Wheeler.

Prayers were said at churches connected with the men yesterday. The friends, devout Christians, met through St Mary’s, Longfleet, in Poole, and shared a love of flying.

Vicar, the Rev Andrew Perry, said: “They were both well-respected and well-loved members of the church. We feel privileged to have known them. They were men of real integrity; great husbands and strong family men who were also widely respected in their careers. We feel a huge sense of loss, especially for their families.”

Mr Hosking, who was in his fifties, had worked as a consultant at Poole hospital for 16 years and specialised in gastrointestinal surgery. He leaves a widow, Helen, and a grown-up son and daughter.

A hospital spokesman said: “This has come as a great shock. He was a valued and respected colleague who will be very much missed.”

Bob Cooper, a church leader at Mr Hosking’s former church, Lansdowne Baptist in Bourne-mouth, said: “He saved my life, operating on me in the middle of the night.”

Mr Hosking’s friend Bob Berry, boss of Pilatus at Hurn, said: “He had time to put out a mayday sign to say the cabin was filling with smoke.”

Mr Wheeler, 50, was managing director of Space Industries, an industrial and commercial interiors company. Two years ago, he bought and refurbished the old Hurn Chapel on Avon Causeway as his office, keeping its illuminated God is Love sign.

He leaves a widow, Pauline, two grown-up sons, and a daughter.

Son Tom said: “He was a devoted, kind, loving man, very successful in life and business. He’d always had a passion for flying.

“His devotion for God was demonstrated in all he did.”

The cause of the crash is being investigated.